Linux – PL2303/PL2303X USB-Serial driver

driverslinuxttyusbusb

OS: Linux Mint 19 Tara (also tested on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and Ubuntu 14.04 LTS)

Kernel: 4.15.0-20-generic

I have a USB-Serial adapter with the PL2303X chip to connect hardware to a Linux host. The device appears connected via lsusb, however I cannot send and receive data. I've tried sending/receiving data using moserial and putty; when attempting to send commands, no response data is returned and I notice no changes in dmesg or /var/log/syslog.

The same USB-Serial adapter connects and works on the same Dell laptop model with Windows 10; on Windows it can receive commands and return data configured with the port settings below.

I'd like to use the following port settings, though I've tried variations of the following to no avail using moserial and putty (i.e. no parity, different baud rates, hardware/software handshaking, etc.):

Device: /dev/ttyUSB0 (permissions 666, $USER added to `dialout` group)
Baud rate: 9600
Data bits: 8    
Stop bits: 1    
Parity: Even    
Handshake: none    
Access mode: read and write

Windows also works with changing the above settings (i.e. no parity, 7 data bits, lower/higher baud rate, etc.).

I need to be able to send commands and receive data similar to how the device works using Windows, preferably with the above port settings.

Any ideas on how to fix or debug this? I appreciate it.

More info:

lsusb output identifies the device as
Bus 001 Device 016: ID 067b:2303 Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port

Based on

$ lsusb -v -d 067b:2303
bMaxPacketSize0 64

I believe the adapter has the PL2303X chip instead of PL2303 (source: PL2303 & Pl2303x usb serial device).

I notice messages "not an MTP device" and "unhandled action 'bind'" in /var/log/syslog:

kernel: [ 7436.378438] usb 1-2: new full-speed USB device number 18 using xhci_hcd
kernel: [ 7436.528244] usb 1-2: New USB device found, idVendor=067b, idProduct=2303
kernel: [ 7436.528250] usb 1-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
kernel: [ 7436.528253] usb 1-2: Product: USB-Serial Controller
kernel: [ 7436.528256] usb 1-2: Manufacturer: Prolific Technology Inc.
kernel: [ 7436.529219] pl2303 1-2:1.0: pl2303 converter detected
kernel: [ 7436.530024] usb 1-2: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0
mtp-probe: checking bus 1, device 18: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-2"
mtp-probe: bus: 1, device: 18 was not an MTP device
upowerd[1238]: unhandled action 'bind' on /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-2/1-2:1.0
upowerd[1238]: unhandled action 'bind' on /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-2

I found an old patch in Linux kernel module patch for Prolific PL-2303X USB-serial adapter, though it mentions the main kernel tree includes PL-2303X support starting from 2.6.8.

$ lsusb -v -d 067b:2303

Bus 001 Device 018: ID 067b:2303 Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x067b Prolific Technology, Inc.
  idProduct          0x2303 PL2303 Serial Port
  bcdDevice            3.00
  iManufacturer           1 
  iProduct                2 
  iSerial                 0 
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           39
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0xa0
      (Bus Powered)
      Remote Wakeup
    MaxPower              100mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           3
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x000a  1x 10 bytes
        bInterval               1
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x02  EP 2 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x83  EP 3 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0

dmesg after plugging in device:

[ 7436.378438] usb 1-2: new full-speed USB device number 18 using xhci_hcd
[ 7436.528244] usb 1-2: New USB device found, idVendor=067b, idProduct=2303
[ 7436.528250] usb 1-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 7436.528253] usb 1-2: Product: USB-Serial Controller
[ 7436.528256] usb 1-2: Manufacturer: Prolific Technology Inc.
[ 7436.529219] pl2303 1-2:1.0: pl2303 converter detected
[ 7436.530024] usb 1-2: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0

Also have seen the error sending break = -19 message below, but am having trouble reproducing it:

[ 1382.828306] usb 1-2: new full-speed USB device number 6 using xhci_hcd
[ 1382.977353] usb 1-2: New USB device found, idVendor=067b, idProduct=2303
[ 1382.977357] usb 1-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 1382.977360] usb 1-2: Product: USB-Serial Controller
[ 1382.977363] usb 1-2: Manufacturer: Prolific Technology Inc.
[ 1382.978125] pl2303 1-2:1.0: pl2303 converter detected
[ 1382.978753] usb 1-2: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0
[ 1481.678435] usb 1-2: USB disconnect, device number 6
[ 1481.678645] pl2303 ttyUSB0: error sending break = -19
[ 1481.678821] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303 converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
[ 1481.678859] pl2303 1-2:1.0: device disconnected

Best Answer

(Edit: updated based on @dirkt's comment. thank you)

I found an old manual for the device which explained "commonly communication cables use only 3 pins (RXD, TXD, and GND). This device has a hardware reset pin that is controlled by DTR signal from host."

I confirmed DTR = 1 by running sudo statserial /dev/ttyUSB0:


    Device: /dev/ttyUSB0
    
    Signal  Pin  Pin  Direction  Status  Full
    Name    (25) (9)  (computer)         Name
    -----   ---  ---  ---------  ------  -----
    FG       1    -      -           -   Frame Ground
    TxD      2    3      out         -   Transmit Data
    RxD      3    2      in          -   Receive  Data
    RTS      4    7      out         1   Request To Send
    CTS      5    8      in          0   Clear To Send
    DSR      6    6      in          0   Data Set Ready
    GND      7    5      -           -   Signal Ground
    DCD      8    1      in          0   Data Carrier Detect
    DTR     20    4      out         1   Data Terminal Ready
    RI      22    9      in          0   Ring Indicator

I then modified my C code to set DTR = 0 by adding the following:

#include <sys/ioctl.h>
...
// then on connect, added the following:
int DTR_flag = TIOCM_DTR;   // modem constant for DTR pin.
ioctl(fd, TIOCMBIC, &DTR_flag);   // sets DTR = 0

[Thank you @dirkt for your help, and everyone for viewing.]

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