Download D2XX Drivers for Mac

$ wget http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP/MacOSX/FTDIUSBSerialDriver_v2_3.dmg
$ wget http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/D2XX/MacOSX/D2XX1.2.2.dmg

Direct Driver Installation

Simply to open FTDIUSBSerialDriver_v2_3.dmg and install the FTDIUSBSerial.pkg.

Driver Library Installation

  1. Open a Terminal window (Finder->Go->Utilities->Terminal).
  2. If the /usr/local/lib directory does not exist, create it (sudo mkdir /usr/local/lib)
  3. if the /usr/local/include directory does not exist, create it (sudo mkdir /usr/local/include)
  4. Copy the dylib file to /usr/local/lib (sudo cp Desktop/D2XX/bin/libftd2xx.1.2.2.dylib /usr/local/lib/libftd2xx.1.2.2.dylib)
  5. Make a symbolic link (sudo ln -sf /usr/local/lib/libftd2xx.1.2.2.dylib /usr/local/lib/libftd2xx.dylib)
  6. Copy the D2XX include file (sudo cp Desktop/D2XX/Samples/ftd2xx.h /usr/local/include/ftd2xx.h
  7. Copy the WinTypes include file (sudo cp Desktop/D2XX/Samples/WinTypes.h /usr/local/include/WinTypes.h)
  8. You have now successfully installed the D2XX library.)
# mount D2XX1.2.2.dmg (assume mounted to /Volumes/release)
$ cd /Volumes/release
$ sudo cp -f D2XX/bin/libftd2xx.1.2.2.dylib /usr/local/lib/
$ sudo ln -sf /usr/local/lib/libftd2xx.1.2.2.dylib /usr/local/lib/libftd2xx.dylib
$ sudo cp -f Samples/ftd2xx.h /usr/local/include/
$ sudo cp -f Samples/WinTypes.h /usr/local/include/

Issue

Problem

Even with direct driver installed without any error, My Mac (OS X 10.11) doesn’t recognize FTDI device. The device does not appear in the /dev directory.

Investigation

Found an article with the similar issue: Empty serial port details on OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) Beta 3.

And another article - How to Install FTDI Drivers.

Yet another article - OS X Mavericks (10.9): USB/Serial Driver Setup.

Yet another article with detailed steps on OSX Leopard (10.5.8) - Installing FTDI USB Serial Driver on Mac

Solution

The problem comes from FTDI USB productID and vendorID is not listed in driver plist file. Will need add its ID manually.

Steps refer to FTDI chip and OS X 10.10.

If using AppleUSBFTDI.kext, steps as below:

  1. Get FTDI device productID and vendorID (System Information -> Hardware -> USB)
  2. Disable System Integrity Protection. Steps refer to Operation Not Permitted in Mac OS X

  3. Edit /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBFTDI.kext/Contents/Info.plist, add productID and vendorID of your device

     <key>AppleUSBEFTDI-FT2232HQ-TI</key>
 <dict>
 <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
 <string>com.apple.driver.AppleUSBFTDI</string>
 <key>IOClass</key>
 <string>AppleUSBFTDI</string>
 <key>IOProviderClass</key>
 <string>IOUSBHostInterface</string>
 <key>InputBuffers</key>
 <integer>8</integer>
 <key>OutputBuffers</key>
 <integer>16</integer>
 <key>bConfigurationValue</key>
 <integer>1</integer>
 <key>bInterfaceNumber</key>
 <integer>1</integer>
 <key>idProduct</key>
 <integer>49962</integer>
 <key>idVendor</key>
 <integer>1105</integer>
 </dict>

  4. Load driver

     $ sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBFTDI.kext
 $ sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBFTDI.kext

  5. Plug your FTDI device and check if USB device can be listed:

     $ ls -l /dev/cu.* /dev/tty.*
 crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel   17,   5 May 18 13:43 /dev/cu.usbserial-cc3101B
 crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel   17,   4 May 18 13:43 /dev/tty.usbserial-cc3101B
  6. Congratulations if you can see the result above.

If using driver by FTDI, same steps except the kext is located at /Library/Extensions/FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext.

Reference