FTDI SpitFIRE III User manual

© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
Future Technology Devices
International Ltd.
Windows 98 Installation Guide

Table of Contents
Part I Welcome to the Windows 98 Installation Guide 2
Part II Installing FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and
FT8U245AM Devices 3
................................................................................................................................... 41 Installing D2XX Drivers
................................................................................................................................... 82 Installing VCP Drivers
Part III Installing FT2232C Devices 13
................................................................................................................................... 141 Installing D2XX Drivers
................................................................................................................................... 212 Installing VCP Drivers
Part IV Uninstalling FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and
FT8U245AM Devices 31
................................................................................................................................... 321 Uninstalling D2XX Drivers
................................................................................................................................... 342 Uninstalling VCP Drivers
Part V Uninstalling FT2232C Devices 36
................................................................................................................................... 371 Uninstalling D2XX Drivers
................................................................................................................................... 392 Uninstalling VCP Drivers
Part VI Troubleshooting 41
................................................................................................................................... 411 Windows 98 cannot find drivers for my device
................................................................................................................................... 422 Windows 98 forces a reboot after installing a device
................................................................................................................................... 433 Driver installation fails and Windows 98 gives error code 10
................................................................................................................................... 44
4FT232BM or FT245BM device hangs randomly during operation under Windows
98
................................................................................................................................... 455 Windows 98 complains about missing .CAT files
................................................................................................................................... 466 Windows 98 complains about missing ftccomms.vxd file
................................................................................................................................... 47
7Windows 98 installs FT2232C device as VCP even though D2XX drivers are
selected in the EEPROM
Part VII Revision History 48
Index 49
Windows 98 Installation Guide
I
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005

2
Welcome to the Windows 98 Installation Guide
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
1Welcome to the Windows 98 Installation Guide
The purpose of this document is to provide users of FTDI chips with a simple procedure for
installing drivers for their devices under Windows 98. The procedure is also applicable to Windows
ME.
Please note that if Windows 98 Gold Edition is being used, you must have all the latest patches
from the Microsoft website installed for the system to be USB compatible.

3Windows 98 Installation Guide
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
2Installing FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and
FT8U245AM Devices
FTDI's 1
st
and 2
nd
generation of USB UART and USB FIFO chips can be installed with one of two
sets of drivers.
The first driver type is the D2XX direct driver. This provides direct access to the device via a
dynamic link library (DLL) supplied with the driver. Applications can then be written which use the
functions available in the DLL to directly control the device.
The second driver type is the virtual COM port (VCP) driver. The VCP drivers emulate a standard
PC COM port. These can be communicated with in the same manner as any other COM port on
the PC.
Under Windows 98 and ME, the Found New Hardware Wizard should be used to install devices
when they are connected to the PC for the first time as this is the recommended procedure for
reliable device operation.

4
Installing FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM Devices
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
2.1 Installing D2XX Drivers
To install D2XX drivers for an FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM or FT8U245AM device under
Windows 98, follow the instructions below:
·
If a device of the same type has been installed on your machine before and the drivers that are
about to be installed are different from those installed already, the original drivers need to be
uninstalled. Please refer to the
Uninstalling FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM
Devices section of this
document for further details of this procedure.
·
Download the latest available D2XX drivers from the
FTDI website
and unzip them to a location
on your PC.
·
Connect the device to a spare USB port on your PC. This will launch the Windows Add New
Hardware Wizard. Windows may display a message reading "Building driver database" at this
point which may take a few minutes to pass. Click "Next" to proceed with the installation.
·
Select "Search for the best driver for your device. (Recommended)." as shown below and then
click "Next".
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·
Check the box next to "Specify a location" and uncheck all others as shown below. Click
"Browse" and locate the driver files. Once the files have been located, click "Next" to proceed
with the installation.
·
Windows may display a message reading "Building driver database" at this point which may take
a few minutes to pass. Once Windows has found the required files, click "Next" to install the
device.

6
Installing FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM Devices
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
·
Windows should then display a message indicating that the installation was successful. Click
"Finish" to complete the installation. The device is now ready for use.
·
Open the Device Manager (located in "Control Panel\System" then select the ""Device Manger"
tab) and select "View devices by type". The device appears as a FT8U2XX Device connected to
a USB port.

7Windows 98 Installation Guide
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005

8
Installing FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM Devices
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
2.2 Installing VCP Drivers
To install VCP drivers for an FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM or FT8U245AM device under
Windows 98, follow the instructions below:
·
If a device of the same type has been installed on your machine before and the drivers that are
about to be installed are different from those installed already, the original drivers need to be
uninstalled. Please refer to the
Uninstalling FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM
Devices section of this
document for further details of this procedure.
·
Download the latest available VCP drivers from the
FTDI website
and unzip them to a location
on your PC.
·
Connect the device to a spare USB port on your PC. This will launch the Windows Add New
Hardware Wizard. Windows may display a message reading "Building driver database" at this
point which may take a few minutes to pass. Click "Next" to proceed with the installation.
·
Select "Search for the best driver for your device. (Recommended)." as shown below and then
click "Next".
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9Windows 98 Installation Guide
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
·
Check the box next to "Specify a location" and uncheck all others as shown below. Click
"Browse" and locate the driver files. Once the files have been located, click "Next" to proceed
with the installation.
·
Windows may display a message reading "Building driver database" at this point which may take
a few minutes to pass. Once Windows has found the required files, click "Next" to install the
device.

10
Installing FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM Devices
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
·
If the driver being installed does not have Microsoft WHQL signature files (.CAT files), the wizard
will request a driver disk to attempt to find them. Click "OK" on the "Insert Disk" message box.
The following window will appear to assist in locating the file. To proceed with the installation
without the .CAT file, click "Skip File".
If the driver being installed is Microsoft WHQL certified, then the .CAT files will be located with
the other driver files and should be installed automatically.

11 Windows 98 Installation Guide
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
·
Windows should then display a message indicating that the installation of the serial converter
driver was successful. The COM port emulation driver must now be installed. Click "Finish" to
complete the installation of the serial converter and proceed to the COM port emulation driver.
·
Under Windows 98, the COM port emulation driver will be automatically installed from the same
location as the serial converter driver. However, if the driver is not WHQL certified as explained
above for the serial converter driver, the wizard will ask for the location of .CAT files. Click "OK"
on the "Insert Disk" message box.
The following window will appear to assist in locating the file. To proceed with the installation
without the .CAT file, click "Skip File".

12
Installing FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM Devices
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
If the driver being installed is Microsoft WHQL certified, then the .CAT files will be located with
the other driver files and should be installed automatically.
·
Open the Device Manager (located in "Control Panel\System" then select the ""Device Manger"
tab) and select "View devices by type". The device appears as an additional COM port with the
label "USB Serial Port".

13 Windows 98 Installation Guide
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
3Installing FT2232C Devices
FTDI's 3
rd
generation chip, the FT2232C, is a composite device with two ports that can be
configured to behave as a USB UART or a USB FIFO interface by configuring an external
EEPROM. In addition, the FT2232C EEPROM determines which drivers the device will use.
The EEPROM is read on power-up and will configure the chip accordingly before the device is
enumerated. If no EEPROM is fitted, the device will default to both channels configured as USB to
UART interfaces using VCP drivers.
Under Windows 98 and ME, the Found New Hardware Wizard should be used to install devices
when they are connected to the PC for the first time as this is the recommended procedure for
reliable device operation.

14
Installing FT2232C Devices
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
3.1 Installing D2XX Drivers
To install D2XX drivers for an FT2232C device under Windows 98, follow the instructions below:
·
If a device of the same type has been installed on your machine before and the drivers that are
about to be installed are different from those installed already, the original drivers need to be
uninstalled. Please refer to the
Uninstalling FT2232C Devices
section of this document for
further details of this procedure.
·
Download the latest available FTCD2XX drivers from the
FTDI website
and unzip them to a
location on your PC. Please note that attempting to install the FTC combined D2XX and VCP
driver will result in an unsuccessful installation if the device EEPROM is configured for D2XX
drivers.
·
Connect the device to a spare USB port on your PC. As the FT2232C is a composite device, the
Microsoft composite device driver must be loaded first. This is not done automatically under
Windows 98. The Windows Add New Hardware Wizard will detect the new USB device as a
composite device and will guide the user through the installation. Click "Next" on the screen
below to continue with the installation.
·
Select "Search for the best driver for your device. (Recommended)." as shown below and then
click "Next".
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© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
·
Check the box next to "Specify a location" and uncheck all others as shown below. Normally,
Windows will find the composite driver already available in the system. If the composite driver is
not available on the PC, the "Microsoft Windows Update" option may be selected and a
composite driver will be downloaded from the Microsoft Windows update website.
·
Windows will display a message indicating that a composite driver file has been found. In the
case below, Windows has found a newer version of the composite driver already installed. It is
safe to install this. Continue by clicking "Next".

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Installing FT2232C Devices
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
·
To install the composite driver click "Next".
·
Windows should then display a message indicating that the composite driver installation was
successful. Click "Finish" to complete the composite driver installation.

17 Windows 98 Installation Guide
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
·
Once the composite driver is installed, the Add New Hardware Wizard will then detect a port of
the FT2232C device. Windows may display a message reading "Building driver database" at this
point which may take a few minutes to pass. Click "Next" when the screen below is shown.
·
Select "Search for the best driver for your device. (Recommended)." as shown below and then
click "Next".

18
Installing FT2232C Devices
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
·
Check the box next to "Specify a location" and uncheck all others as shown below. Click
"Browse" and locate the driver files. Once the files have been located, click "Next" to proceed
with the installation.
·
Windows may display a message reading "Building driver database" at this point which may take
a few minutes to pass. Once Windows has found the required files, click "Next" to install the
device.

19 Windows 98 Installation Guide
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005
·
Windows should then display a message indicating that the installation was successful. Click
"Finish" to complete the installation.
·
As the FT2232C has 2 ports available, the second port must also be installed. Under Windows
98, this will occur automatically.
·
Open the Device Manager (located in "Control Panel\System" then select the ""Device Manger"
tab) and select "View devices by connection". T
he device appears as a "USB Composite
Device" connected to a USB port with ports A and B respectively denoted as "FTCUSB.SYS