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

Sun Jul 11 12:21:53 EDT 2021

Stephen -
Thank you for that detailed reply. Before I gave up last night, I was
wondering if Kenwood was using a "rebranded" driver. You saved me a lot of
time trying to track that info down. Regrettably, I'm still getting the "
Device Cannot Start (Code 10)" error message, even with the Silicon Labs
drivers. It wouldn't surprise me if recent Win 10 updates are the culprit.
Back to the drawing board on my end.

Matt
N8SHA

On Sun, Jul 11, 2021 at 8:10 AM Stephen H Smith <WA8LMF2 at aol.com> wrote:

> 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>
> <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/>
> <https://ftdichip.com/drivers/vcp-drivers/>
>
> -  Prolific PL-2302
> <http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProduct.aspx?p_id=225&pcid=41>
> <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>
> <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> <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.
> ------------------------------
> Stephen H. Smith    wa8lmf (at) aol.com
> Skype:        WA8LMF
> EchoLink:  Node #  14400  [Think bottom of the 2-meter band]
> Home Page:          http://wa8lmf.net
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