PL-2303 Mac OS X Driver Installation Guide

Document Rev 1.2

PL2303 Mac OS X 10.6 and Above Driver Installation Guide


ProlificTechnologyInc. -1of10- September2,2013

All information herein is subject to change without prior notice. Prolific Technology Inc. does not make any warranties regarding
the accuracy and completeness of this document and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

PL-2303 USB-to-Serial Bridge Controller
Mac OS X Universal Binary Driver Installation Guide
(for Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7, 10.8 Only)


Introduction
ThisinstallationguidedocumentshowstheprocedureforinstallingtheMacOSXdriverfortheProlific
PL-2303devices.ThedrivercanbedownloadedfromtheSupportwebpageoftheProlificwebsite:
http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProduct.aspx?p_id=229&pcid=41

System Requirement
Thefollowingrequirementsareneeded:
MacOSX10.6to10.8operatingsystems(includes64-bitsupport)
AppleMacOSXcompatiblecomputers
PL-2303USB-to-SerialCableAdapter
PL-2303MacOSXUniversalBinaryDriver:
md_PL2303_MacOSX-10.6up_v1.5.0.zip (orabove)

Mac OS X Driver Installation
ThefollowingstepswillshowhowtoinstallthePL-2303deviceunderMacOSXoperatingsystem:

1. DownloadtheMacOSXUniversalBinarydriverfromProlificwebsite.
http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProduct.aspx?p_id=229&pcid=41

PL-2303 Mac OS X Driver Installation Guide

Document Rev 1.2
PL2303 Mac OS X 10.6 and Above Driver Installation Guide


ProlificTechnologyInc. -2of10- September2,2013

All information herein is subject to change without prior notice. Prolific Technology Inc. does not make any warranties regarding
the accuracy and completeness of this document and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

2. Clickonthedriverinstallerfiletorunthedriverinstallationprocess.ClickContinuetoproceed
andfollowthesucceedinginstructionstocompletetheinstallation.

3. Attheendoftheinstallation,youwillneedtorestartyourcomputer.Closeallprogramsandclick
Restarttocompleteinstallationandrebootthesystem.

PL-2303 Mac OS X Driver Installation Guide
Document Rev 1.2
PL2303 Mac OS X 10.6 and Above Driver Installation Guide


ProlificTechnologyInc. -3of10- September2,2013

All information herein is subject to change without prior notice. Prolific Technology Inc. does not make any warranties regarding
the accuracy and completeness of this document and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

4. Afterrebootingthesystem,youcannowplugthePL-2303USB-to-Serialadaptororcabletothe
USBport.YoucanfirstruntheSystemProfilerprogramundertheApplications-Utilitiesfolder.
ClickUSBhardwareinsideSystemProfilerandlookforUSB-SerialControllerorUSB-Serial
ControllerD.ThismeansthatthehardwaredeviceisdetectedbyyourMaccomputer.

5. YoucanthenproceedtocheckiftheUSBserialportdeviceissetupproperly.Youcanrunthe
TerminalprogramunderApplications-Utilitiesfolderandtypethefollowingcommands:
cd /dev
ls tty.usbserial*

PL-2303 Mac OS X Driver Installation Guide

Document Rev 1.2
PL2303 Mac OS X 10.6 and Above Driver Installation Guide


ProlificTechnologyInc. -4of10- September2,2013

All information herein is subject to change without prior notice. Prolific Technology Inc. does not make any warranties regarding
the accuracy and completeness of this document and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Youshouldseethet t y. usbser i al devicewhichmeanstheUSBserialdeviceisalready
setupproperly.IfyoutrytopluganotherPL-2303device,youshouldalsoseeseveral
tty.usbserialxlistedwherexistheassigneddevicenumbersimilartoWindowsCOMport
assignment.

6. NOTE:MacOSmayalsopop-upanewnetworkinterfacewhenitdetectsanewUSB-Serial
Controllerdevice.Seenextsectionformoreexplanation.

PL-2303 Mac OS X Driver Installation Guide

Document Rev 1.2
PL2303 Mac OS X 10.6 and Above Driver Installation Guide


ProlificTechnologyInc. -5of10- September2,2013

All information herein is subject to change without prior notice. Prolific Technology Inc. does not make any warranties regarding
the accuracy and completeness of this document and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

How to Connect Serial Modem

ThefollowingstepswillshowhowtoconnectaSerialModemusingthePL-2303cable:

1. Onecommontestistoconnecta56KserialmodemtothePL-2303adapter.GotoSystem
PreferencesandclickonNetwork.

2. Theleftsidecolumnshowsyoualltheexistingportsandstatus.IfyoudonotseetheUSBSerial
Controllerdevice,clickonthe+addbuttontolookforthedevice.

PL-2303 Mac OS X Driver Installation Guide

Document Rev 1.2
PL2303 Mac OS X 10.6 and Above Driver Installation Guide


ProlificTechnologyInc. -6of10- September2,2013

All information herein is subject to change without prior notice. Prolific Technology Inc. does not make any warranties regarding
the accuracy and completeness of this document and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

3. SelecttheInterfaceUSB-SerialController.YoucanalsochoosetochangetheServiceName
todistinguishthedeviceifyouhaveseveraldevicesattached.

4. NowtheUSB-SerialControllerdeviceisaddedtothelistandyoucanstarttoconfigurethe
serialmodemInternetdial-upsettingsattachedtothePL-2303cableadaptor.

PL-2303 Mac OS X Driver Installation Guide

Document Rev 1.2
PL2303 Mac OS X 10.6 and Above Driver Installation Guide


ProlificTechnologyInc. -7of10- September2,2013

All information herein is subject to change without prior notice. Prolific Technology Inc. does not make any warranties regarding
the accuracy and completeness of this document and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

5. ClicktheConnectbuttontostarttheInternetdial-upconnection.Makesuretheserialmodem
hasatelephoneconnectedandpoweredon.

6. Whenconnectionismade,youcanstarttouseMacOSXSafariwebbrowserandmonitorthe
modemconnectionstatusbydatasentandreceived.

PL-2303 Mac OS X Driver Installation Guide

Document Rev 1.2
PL2303 Mac OS X 10.6 and Above Driver Installation Guide


ProlificTechnologyInc. -8of10- September2,2013

All information herein is subject to change without prior notice. Prolific Technology Inc. does not make any warranties regarding
the accuracy and completeness of this document and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

How to Run Serial Port Terminal Program
Youcanuseanyserialportterminalprogramandanullmodemcabletoconnecttwocablestogether
andtransmit/receivedatafiles.Thefollowingstepswillshowhowtousetheprogram:

1. DownloadtheCoolTermprogramfrombelowwebsiteandinstalltheprogramunderMacOSX:
http://freeware.the-meiers.org/

2. RuntheprogramandselectthePL-2303devicebyclickingonOptions-SerialPort.ClickonPort
toselectusbserial.Setthedesiredbaudrateandotherportsettings.ClickOKandclick
Connecttoopentheport.

3. OpenanotherCoolTermFileandpluganotherPL-2303device.ClickonOptions-SerialPortand
clickonPorttoselecttheotherPL2303cable(usbserial1).

PL-2303 Mac OS X Driver Installation Guide

Document Rev 1.2
PL2303 Mac OS X 10.6 and Above Driver Installation Guide


ProlificTechnologyInc. -9of10- September2,2013

All information herein is subject to change without prior notice. Prolific Technology Inc. does not make any warranties regarding
the accuracy and completeness of this document and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

4. SetthesameserialportsettingstomatchtheotherPL2303cable.ClickOKandclickConnectto
opentheport.

5. UseaserialnullmodemcabletoconnectbetweenthetwoPL-2303cables.Click
Connection-SendTextfiletotransfertextfile.YoucanalsosendtextfilefromtheotherPL2303
cableatthesametime.

6. Youcanalsosimplyplugaloopbackconnector(TX-RXshort)tothePL-2303serialportand
typethekeyboardtoshowthesendcharactersonthelocalwindowdisplay.

PL-2303 Mac OS X Driver Installation Guide

Document Rev 1.2
PL2303 Mac OS X 10.6 and Above Driver Installation Guide


ProlificTechnologyInc. -10of10- September2,2013

All information herein is subject to change without prior notice. Prolific Technology Inc. does not make any warranties regarding
the accuracy and completeness of this document and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

How to Uninstall Driver

ToremoveanduninstallthePL-2303driversfromMacOSXoperatingsystem,youmustbelogged
onasroot.Youcanusethesudocommandoptiontosubstituteuserprivileges.

1. RunaTerminalsession(Applications-Utilities-Terminal)andenterthefollowingcommandsat
thecommandprompt:
sudo rm rf /System/Library/Extensions/ProlificUSBSerial.kext
sudo rm rf /var/db/receipts/*PL2303*.*
sudo rm rf /var/db/receipts/*ProlificUSbSerial*.*

2. Toremovetheportfromthesystem,gotoSystemPreferencesandselectNetwork.Selectthe
USB-SerialControllerdeviceshownfromtheShowmenuandclickonthe-removebuttonto
uninstalltheport.

3. Restartthecomputeragainbeforereinstallingthedriver.