Now when everything is set, it is time to meet Arduino IDE and your first code.
FTDI DRIVER INSTALLATION, WINDOWS 7

INTRO
In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to install FTDI drivers on Windows 7 operating system. You can use this tutorial to install drivers for any FTDI adapter, but I assume that you are going to use them to control Croduino Basic or some other Arduino boards. Therefore, before you continue with the tutorial, you should install Arduino IDE in your computer.
Croduino Basic use FT232RL which is most commonly used IC for converting USB to UART signal. You can find more in serial communication tutorial.
QUICK AND EASY
Reference: Although the images are taken from Windows 7 OS, the process is very similar to other versions of Windows. However, there are tutorials for WinXP and Win8 OS.
1. FTDI drivers aren’t integrated into Windows OS. Connect Croduino board to you PC and open Arduino IDE. Now click on “Tools – Serial Ports” and if you aren’t finding anything there, you’ll need drivers. Let’s get you some drivers.
2. Download drivers for 32bit or 64bit OS. If you aren’t sure what to choose, check out step 4. and 5. advanced installation.
3. Run the file you’ve just downloaded and follow the installation steps. If everything is alright, under “Tools – Serial Ports” in Arduino IDE COM port showed up.
Croduino is ready to use! If you are experiencing problems with this installation, follow the more advanced installation below.
ADVANCED INSTALLATION
Reference: Although the images are taken from Windows 7 OS, the process is very similar to other versions of Windows. However, here are tutorials for WinXP and Win8 OS.
1. When connecting Croduino to PC (when there aren’t any pre-installed drivers on it) there is a message telling you that new hardware is found. Click on a pop-up in the bottom right corner of your screen and you’ll notice message “No driver found” from the already known reasons.
2. Follow the next link for official FTDI website and choose “VCP” (Virtual Com Port) option found at the bottom of the webpage.
3. Choose 32 bit or 64 bit version. If you know which version of an OS you are using, skip steps 4. and 5.
*REFERENCE: If you are more agile regarding PC usage, you can check the version with following command: “wmic OS get OSArchitecture” in CMD.
4. Open Start menu, right click on “Computer”, then left click on “Properties”.
5. Look under “System Type” for your OS version. A picture below shows 64 bit OS.
6. Let’s return to the FTDI website. Right click and choose “Save as” at column which corresponds to your OS. Alternatively, you can follow these direct links: 32bit or 64bit.
7. Choose, and remember, a location in which you’re going to save your drivers. Drivers will come with .zip extension. Right click on .zip file, choose “Extract All…”. Before you click on “Extract”, put a tick on “Show extracted files when complete”. After the extraction, a folder will open. It contains drivers so remember its location.
9. Open Start menu, right click on “Computer”, left click on “Manage”.
Reference: For this step, you’ll need administrative rights. If you are a professor and you want to install drivers to PCs which are used by students, you’ll need to allow administrative rights to the users. If you don’t know how to do that, please contant your IT administration.
10. Click on “Device Manager” in the left column. Here we can check the hardware which wasn’t installed properly.
11. There is also our FTDI driver, so right click on “FT232R USB UART”, then left on “Update Driver Software”.
12. Now choose “Browse my compute for driver software”.
13. Left click on “Browse”, find a folder in which you extracted previously downloaded drivers. Select parent folder “CDM v2.10.00 WHQL Certified”. There is no need to enter subfolders. Then click “OK”.
14. Before you click on “Next” icon, make sure that “Include subfolders” is selected.
15. Few moments after, message will show up telling you that driver is successfully installed. Left click “Close”.
16. The device manager will refresh itself and now you’ll be able to see that there is a new icon “USB Serial Port” under “Other Devices”. You’ll need to install other driver for the same device. Repeat steps 1.-15. with the other driver.
17. After it is done, Device manager will refresh again and this time it will show “USB Serial Port (COMxx). xx stands for a number. That is the sign that you’ve successfully installed you FTDI drivers. Enjoy programming.
CONCLUSION
It is meant to do this process only once. Every next device you connect to PC (device is using FTDI drivers), will work fluently without any additional driver installation.
If you are having more than one FTDI devices connected to PC at the same time, each of them will be shown in Device Manager. We suggest you write down the COM ports (COMxx) corresponding to their devices so you could select which device you want to program inside Arduino IDE, under Serial Ports. You can check which device you are using by disconnecting and connecting it again in both, Serial Ports and Device Manager. COM port which shows up with connecting, or disappears with disconnecting is COM port of your device.
There are more detailed manuals on the official FTDI website about installing FTDI drivers.
If you previously installed drivers which aren’t working, follow our tutorial about uninstalling FTDI drivers.
WHAT NEXT?
Products used in this tutorial
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