[aprssig] Connecting TH-D74 as KISS TNC to PC

[Stephen H Smith]

On 7/10/2021 11:30 PM, Matthew Adair wrote:
> Hi folks,
> I know the last time I tried connecting my TH-D74 to my PC as KISS TNC, 
it 
> worked fine. However, my PC no longer recognizes when I attach my radio 
to 
> it. I've removed and re-installed the Kenwood Virtual ComPort drivers, but no 
> luck. The Kenwood programmer doesn't recognize it either. Nothing shows 
up in 
> the Com ports under the device manager. I've also tried multiple USB cables.
>
> I also tried adding it manually through the device manager. When I do that, 
> it reports that the "Device Cannot Start (Code 10)"  Most of the resources I 
> see say to update the drivers. I've made sure I have the latest from the 
> Kenwood website, but those are still dated 2016.
>
> Hoping somebody out there might have some solutions - Thanks!
>
> Matt Adair
> N8SHA

The "driver" in question is nothing Kenwood-specific.  it is the software for 
the Sllicon Labs a.k.a. "Silabs" CP210x USB-to-Serial bridge chip. This is  one 
of the common chips widely used in USB<-->serial cable "dongles", along with 
the Prolific 2302 and the FTDI chip.  The only difference is that the 
USB<-->serial conversion is inside the device, instead of in an external cable 
assembly.     The "Silabs" chip is particularly popular with the Japanese radio 
manufacturers and is used in a wide variety of Kenwood and Yaesu products.

A characteristic pattern is that mfrs adopt a particular USB<-->serial chip in 
their product designs,   put the then-current version of the chip's driver on 
their web site as through it was something proprietary,    
and then forget 
about it.  Unfortunately, like most software, these device drivers are forever 
being updated to play catch-up with newer versions of operating systems.  
Especially the incessant every-6-months FORCED updates of Windows 10.  
The 
problem is even worse for products that have been discontinued -- most mfrs 
just don't bother to check for software changes in 3rd party components used in 
their products.

For radio programming interfaces, GPS devices, soundcard interfaces, etc that 
use one of the known USB<-->serial interfaces, NEVER use the driver provided on 
a CD-ROM or linked on the manufacturer's website.  It is virtually guaranteed 
to be several versions out of date.   Go to the chip vendor's website instead.  
For the Silabs chip, the latest version was released in January of this year:

<https://www.silabs.com/developers/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers>

The best way to do the update is to first completely remove all signs of the 
previous driver.  When you remove the device in the Windows Device Manager, be 
sure to check the box for  "Delete the driver software for this device"  in the 
Uninstall dialog.   Then run the setup for the newly-downloaded version.


These are the direct links for the updates for the other popular USB<-->serial 
chips:

-  FTDI chips: <https://ftdichip.com/drivers/vcp-drivers/>

-  Prolific PL-2302 
<http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProduct.aspx?p_id=225&pcid=41>

-  Mysterious Chinese "CN340" chip used in many generic programming cables on eBay:
     <http://www.wch.cn/download/CH341SER_ZIP.html>     Page is all in Chinese 
and will look like a mess if you don't have a Unicode font installed,, but the 
link works anyway.

___________________________________________________________

NOTE:   I always have the latest versions of all these drivers in my "Ham 
Software DVD MegaPack" collection which is updated monthly, and is downloadable 
for free from my website here:

     <http://WA8LMF.net/HamDisks>

I sell DVDs and flash drives of this collection at hamfests and radio club 
meetings, but the ISO image of the DVD is downloadable for free from the web site.

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