FTDI Configuration

The FTDI Chip provides a USB interface for common micro-controllers and is included many prototyping toolkits, such as Arduino.

Installation

There are three ways to communicate with FTDI devices connected via USB:

Name	Device Access	Documentation
Virtual Com Port (VCP)	AMSerialPort	AMSerialPort Documentation
D2XX	Direct	D2XX Documentation
LibFTDI	Direct	LibFTDI Documentation

Virtual Com Port (VCP)

The Virtual Com Port is provided via a Kernel Extension (/System/Library/Extensions/FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext). The Extension provides access to connected devices through a COM port located at /dev/tty.usbserial-DEVICEID or /dev/cu.usbserial-DEVICEID.

• FTDI VCP Homepage
• AMSerialPort Framework

After installing the VCP Kernel Extension, direct access to FTDI devices via D2XX or LibFTDI is no longer possible.

The VCP can be configured by editing /System/Library/Extensions/FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext/Contents/Info.plist (see FTDI Tech Note 105 for a complete reference). The computer must be restarted to apply changes. Download pre-configured low-latency Configuration for Arduinos (add to IOKitPersonalities dict).

D2XX

The D2XX library provides direct access to the FTDI device through its own API. It must be compiled from source (default installation in /usr/local/). To use it in Xcode add appropriate search paths (Header -> /usr/local/include, Lib -> /usr/local/lib).

• Download D2XX Library
• D2XX API Documentation

LibFTDI

LibFTDI provides, similar to D2XX, direct access to the FTDI device through its own API. The library can be installed from MacPorts (port install libftdi).To use it in Xcode add appropriate search paths (Header -> /opt/local/include, Lib -> /opt/local/lib).

• LibFTDI API Documentation