1 Port Professional USB to Serial Adapter Cable with COM Retention

Some driver installation packages may require you to disable driver signature enforcement in Windows 8, which will allow unsigned driver packages to be installed on your system.

Note: Before you continue, save any open documents and close all open programs.

To disable driver signature enforcement, complete the following:

1. Press the Windows key + C.
2. Click Settings > Change PC Settings.
3. In the left pane, click General.
4. In the right pane, under Advanced startup, click Restart now.

When your system finishes restarting, complete the following:

1. Click Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart.
2. Press 7.

When your computer restarts, driver signature enforcement will be disabled and you can install your drivers.

Note: When you restart your computer after you install your drivers, driver signature enforcement will be enabled again. This does not prevent your newly installed drivers from working, but does prevent any other unsigned drivers from being installed until driver signature enforcement is disabled.

Some driver installation packages may require you to disable driver signature enforcement in Windows 8.1, which will allow unsigned driver packages to be installed on your system.

Note: Before you continue, save any open documents and close all open programs.

To disable driver signature enforcement, complete the following:

1. Press the Windows key + C.
2. Click Settings > Change PC Settings.
3. In the left pane, click Update & Recovery.
4. In the left pane, click Recovery.
5. Under Advanced startup, click Restart now.

When your system finishes restarting, complete the following:

1. Click Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart.
2. Press 7.

When your computer restarts, driver signature enforcement will be disabled and you can install your drivers.

Note: When you restart your computer after you install your drivers, driver signature enforcement will be enabled again. This does not prevent your newly installed drivers from working, but does prevent any other unsigned drivers from being installed until driver signature enforcement is disabled.­­­­­­­

Before you install the device, make sure that your operating system is current (for example, the most recent service pack is installed).

1. Download the latest drivers from the StarTech.com website at http://www.startech.com/Support. The part number and product ID are on the product packaging.

Note: Windows usually saves the files to the Downloads folder that is associated with your user account (for example, C:\Users\your_name\Downloads).

2. After the download is complete, right-click the zip folder that you downloaded, click Extract All, and complete the instructions.
3. Press the Windows key + R, type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter to open the Device Manager.
4. Right-click StarTech.com Adapter, which will have a “!” or “?” next to it to indicate a driver issue.
5. Click Update Driver.
6. Click Browse my computer for driver software.
7. Select the Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer option.
8. On the Select your device’s type from the list below screen, click Show All Devices, and click Next.

Note: The Select your device’s type from the list below screen does not appear on all systems. If you do not see this screen, skip this step.

9. Select the Have Disk option.
10. Browse to the Drivers folder and open the 32-bit or 64-bit folder.

Note: To view your system type, click Start. Right-click Computer, and then click Properties.

11. Click the usbuart3410 file. Click OK, and then click Next.

If the installation is not successful, repeat steps 4 to 11 and click the usbuart3410b file.

Before you install the device, make sure that your operating system is current (for example, the most recent service pack is installed).

1. Download the latest drivers from the StarTech.com website at http://www.startech.com/Support. The part number and product ID are on the product packaging.

Note: Windows usually saves the files to the Downloads folder that is associated with your user account (for example, C:\Documents and Settings\your_name\My Documents\Downloads).

2. After the download is complete, right-click the zip folder that you downloaded, click Extract All, and complete the instructions.
3. Press the Windows key + R, type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter to open the Device Manager.
4. Right-click StarTech.com Adapter, which will have “!” or “?” next to it to indicate a driver issue.
5. Click Update Driver.
6. On the Hardware Update Wizard screen, click Install from a list or specific location (Advanced), and then click Next.
7. Select the Don’t search, I will choose the driver to install option, and then click Next.
8. On the Hardware Type screen, click Show All Devices, and then click Next.

Note: The Hardware Type screen does not appear on all systems. If you do not see this screen, skip this step.

9. On the Select the Device Driver you want to install for this hardware screen, select the Have Disk option.
10. In the Install from Disk dialog box, click Browse.
11. Browse to the Driver folder and open the 32-bit or the 64-bit folder, depending on your system type.

Note: To view your system type, click Start. Right-click Computer, and then click Properties.

12. Click the usbuart3410 file. Click OK, and then click Next.

If the installation is not successful, repeat steps 4 to 12 and click the usbuart3410b file.

Older applications that use serial communication often use legacy hardware addresses that do not work with PCI, PCIe, or USB to Serial products. We recommend contacting the software provider/support team to check if this is the case.

When you troubleshoot issues with a serial device, there are some quick tests that you can complete to rule out potential problems. You can test to make sure that the following components are working correctly and are not the source of the issue:

• Serial cables

• Serial ports

• Serial devices

To test your setup components, try the following:

• Use the serial cable, serial port, and serial device in another setup to see if the problem is with the components or the setup.

• Use a different serial cable, serial port, and serial device in your setup to see if the problem persists. Ideally, you should test a component that you know works in another setup.

When you test your cables, it is recommended that you do the following:

• Test each cable individually.

• Use short cables when you are testing.

When you test the serial ports and serial device, it is recommended that you do the following:

• Press the Windows key + R, type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter to open Device Manager. Check to see if your device is listed under Ports (COM & LPT).

• Make sure that the COM port number is the correct number for the serial device and that the software being used to connect the computer to the serial device uses the correct COM port number. 

• If the device is listed with an error, follow the instructions on the website to reinstall the drivers.

Note: Some serial devices work only if the COM port number is between a certain range. For example, COM1 to COM4.

• Perform a serial loopback test.  See this FAQ on how to perform a RS-232 serial loopback test: http://www.startech.com/faq/serial_loopback_test_rs232_windows

To check whether or not an RS-232 serial port is working, perform an RS-232 loopback test by doing the following:

1. If your serial port is not female, convert it by taking a female/female cable or gender changer and plugging it into the serial port.
2. Take a metal paperclip or wire and cross pins 2 and 3. If you look closely at the female end, the pins should be numbered.
3. Open a telnet session on the COM port number of the device that you are testing. To find out the COM port number, refer to the following FAQ: https://www.startech.com/faq/com-port-listing-windows.

Note: To open a telnet session on the COM port, you need a telnet client like PuTTY or Hyper Terminal. Windows XP comes with Hyper Terminal.

4. When the session is open, anything you type into it you should see. The loopback test fails when you cannot see what you are typing.

If the loopback test fails, make sure that the serial cable or gender changer that you are using works and that the adapter is in the correct port. 

You can check multiple ports at the same time by opening multiple sessions, putting the loopback adapter on one port, and trying to type into each session.  When you can see what you are typing, you know that the COM port is working and you can see which port number the physical serial port is. Close the window for the port that you just tested to speed up the testing of the remaining serial ports.

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If the USB device does not work after your computer has been in extended hibernation, it is likely that Windows has automatically turned off the USB Root hub to save power. 

The steps below outline how to configure the USB root hub to stay on during hibernation, to prevent this from happening.
 

Windows 10 / 8

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows key + X and select Control Panel.
2. Click Hardware and Sound, then click Power Options.
3. Click Change plan settings for the plan you want to change.
4. Click Change advanced power settings.
5. Click the plus sign (+) next to “USB settings” and “USB selective suspend setting” to expand the options and change the setting to Disabled.
6. Click OK to apply the setting.

Note: You may need to disconnect and re-connect your USB device after applying these settings to re-establish the connection.

Windows 7 / Vista

1. Click the Start button and select Control Panel.
2. Click Hardware and Sound, then click Power Options.
3. Click Change plan settings for the plan you want to change.
4. Click Change advanced power settings.
5. Click the plus sign (+) next to “USB settings” and “USB selective suspend setting” to expand the options and change the setting to Disabled.
6. Click OK to apply the setting.

Note: You may need to disconnect and re-connect your USB device after applying these settings to re-establish the connection.

Windows XP

1. On your desktop, right-click the My Computer icon and select Properties.
2. Click the Device Manager tab.
3. Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers by clicking the arrow to the left of it.
4. Right-click the first USB Root Hub device and select Properties.
5. Click the Power Management tab.
6. Clear the box next to Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
7. Click OK to apply the setting.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 for any remaining devices in the Universal Serial Bus Controllers section with “Root Hub” in the name.

Note: You may need to disconnect and re-connect your USB device after applying these settings to re-establish the connection.

To confirm that Windows detects your USB device, complete the following:

1. Press the Windows key+R, type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter.
2. In Device Manager, under the appropriate heading, confirm that your expansion card is listed and that there isn't an exclamation mark next to it.  For example, a USB controller card would be under Universal Serial Bus controllers.

Your USB device is listed according to the name of the chipset. To determine the name of the chipset of your USB device, navigate to www.StarTech.com and look on the Technical Specifications tab for your product.