Wireless Access

 View Only
last person joined: yesterday 

Access network design for branch, remote, outdoor, and campus locations with HPE Aruba Networking access points and mobility controllers.
Back to discussions
Expand all | Collapse all

USB console serial cable on Macbook with USB-C ports only

This thread has been viewed 19 times

  • 1.  USB console serial cable on Macbook with USB-C ports only

    Posted May 03, 2019 07:16 PM

    Wondering if anyone has had success using the AP-CBL-SERU (JY28A) USB serial cable with a newer Macbook that has USB-C ports only.

     

    Using the Apple USB-C/USB adapter (A1632) to convert USB-C to a standard USB port, and after installing the FTDI driver from here, the cable is not detected as a serial port.

     

    The same cable works fine on an older Mac with standard USB ports (same OS version), so I suspect the problem is with the USB-C adapter. The cable also works fine on a Windows PC.

     

    FTDI has been helpful in troubleshooting but has not found a solution for me. Has anyone else run into this?



  • 2.  RE: USB console serial cable on Macbook with USB-C ports only

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted May 03, 2019 07:18 PM
    I’ve had no issues and didn’t even need a driver.


  • 3.  RE: USB console serial cable on Macbook with USB-C ports only

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted May 06, 2019 07:24 AM

    No issues here either. I use the 'serial' program though which is the most stable serial console interface I've found for mac.

     



  • 4.  RE: USB console serial cable on Macbook with USB-C ports only

    Posted May 06, 2019 10:25 AM

    Thanks for the replys guys.  The Macbook is basically new out of the box, and I did try using the cable once before installing the driver from FTDI. The cable is not shown in System Information at all on this computer.  Are you both using the apple-branded USB-C adapter?

     

    I can see in System Information on an older Mac that the cable has a maximum speed of 12Mbps.  I wonder if my adapter cannot operate at the slow USB 1.1-era speed...



  • 5.  RE: USB console serial cable on Macbook with USB-C ports only

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted May 06, 2019 12:30 PM

    Not that it has any markings readable by human eyes, but yea I'm using the Apple adapter (white USB-C male to USB A female, then plugging in the orange cable that connects to the AP). If it is not showing up in the SysInfo page, do you have a USB-C to USB-A hub you can try, then plug the orange cable into the USB hub?

     



  • 6.  RE: USB console serial cable on Macbook with USB-C ports only
    Best Answer

    Posted May 08, 2019 11:56 AM

    Thinking I might have a hardware issue with the Mac itself, I opened a case with Apple, and found the following:

     

    The adapter does work on this computer, but only on one specific port - the front port on the left hand side.  It is not recognized at all on the other three USB-C ports.  At an Apple store, the behavior was the same on another Mac of the same model, 15-Inch MacBook Pro (2018).

     

    Apple didn't have an explaination or a fix, but knowing that it works in this specific port, I'm able to use the cable.



  • 7.  RE: USB console serial cable on Macbook with USB-C ports only

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted May 08, 2019 05:34 PM

    So weird, I use both left and right side ports all the time and never had that issue. So very weird! Thanks for the followup!