Driver CP210x USB to UART bridge no recognized in Widows 11 ARM

[sderun]

Hi,

In first my config :

MacBook Pro Silicon M1 max 2021
MacOS 15.3.1 Sequoia

Vmware FUSION 13.6.2 (24409261)
VM : WINDOWS 11 Pro ARM 24H2 (Built 26100.3194)

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I  run a software X86 (with WOW64).  It use a card reader/encoder device.

This one need Silicon Labs drivers "CP210x USB to UART bridge" . I dowloaded and installed the ARM64 version (Silicon Lab Web site)

I download and install Wmware Tools (12.5.0)

But in the device manager driver appears in list( Ports COM and LPT)  with error and msg 'device can't start (code 10)'

and device is not recognized in the application.

Does anyone have any ideas ?

Is my attempt a bit too early ? 

Thanks

 EDIT : Just for information, on another MacBook Pro  2015 Intel (MacOS 12 Monterey)  + VMWare Fusion 13.6.2  + WIN 11 Pro X64, all was right ... but is dead :(

[Technogeezer]

There's been a rash of error code 10s for VMs trying to access USB devices lately. Seems to have been introduced with recent macOS security updates.

One thing I'd check is the macOS system settings > Security & Privacy > Files & Folders and see if VMware Fusion is granted access to Removable Volumes. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[HurcoMv]

Further to what Paul said, I've noticed that Sequoia (recent updates) quite often prompts you now if you want to allow a device to connect. I've had this recently with a Samsung Android tablet connected via USB. Might only be the first time you connect a new device - new from Sequoia'a point of view.

Possibly you've not noticied one of these prompts?

[sderun]

Paul , HurcoMv,

Thanks for your answers

It's not a USB issue :  I can mount read and write all amovible SSD.

The problem is a Port class driver that bridges USB <> UART for a specific device.  Although it is ARM64 type it seems not to work with a virtualized Windows 11 ARM.

Maybe the driver need support from Vwmare tools ?
Maybe something to add in the VMX file ?

[Technogeezer]

While I don't have that particular device, I do have two different Arduino microcontroller boards that present themselves as USB COM ports. Both work fine under Windows 11 ARM - but they're using out of the box Microsoft drivers.

I assume that you installed the latest Silicon Labs Windows Universal driver - which supposedly contains a Windows 11 ARM (arm64) driver? I've downloaded the driver and it does appear to be in there...

My first impression is that what you're seeing is a Windows driver issue. In the Windows Device Manger "Ports (COM & LPT)" section, open the Properties for your device and see what driver was chosen. If it's not the Silicon Labs driver, can you change it to use the Silicon Labs driver that you installed? Also, in the driver

Is it possible that this device has a non-standard USB VID or PID? If you again go to the Windows Device Manger, get the properties for the USB Serial device, click on the Details tab, and select the "Hardware IDs" drop down. What are the IDs that are listed (they contain the VID and PID of the device). If so, the default driver downloaded from Silicon Labs may not pick it up - i believe the .inf file in the installation package contains the VID/PID combinations that the driver will recognize. 

VMware Tools have nothing to do with USB device re-direction. If there's an issue that doesn't turn out to be a Windows driver issue, its with the core Fusion product. Can you post the vmware.log file for this VM so we can check if there's anything strange going on that might show up in the logs?

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- Paul (technogeezer)- Paul (technogeezer)
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[sderun]

Hello Paul, and thank you for your interest in my problem.

I just noticed something: the card reader device is already NOT able to mount under MacOs on this Macbook pro M1 2021 !!

However, on the one hand, it mounts perfectly on my Intel Mac 2015 (visible in "System report") and on the other hand it is important to know that there seems to be a USB / UART driver from Silicon Labs natively integrated into the ARM versions of Mac OS.

So, now I suspect the cable connection. Explanations:

The device comes with a USB cable type USB-C on the device side and USB-A on the computer side. Ideal for MBP 2015. On MBP M1 2021 I tried two approaches:

a) Using a small USB hub that provides 3 USB-A ports (and an RJ45). This hub is perfectly recognized by Sequoia and Win/VMware and works great with USB-A sticks or external SSDs. But when I plug the device into it, it does not recognize it in the MacOS system report. However, the power LED on the device lights up. Deduction: It is possible that this hub is not "transparent" in this situation.

b)        Using a direct cable with USB-C on both sides but it is a generic cable (whose origin I do not know). Does not work (not visible in "System Report") and the power LED remains off! Deduction: This cable does not even power the device.

I think that until this problem is solved, there is no point in blaming the Windows driver or VMWare Fusion. What do you think?

Kind regards

Steph