FTDI FT232RL USB to Serial Module (AZ-Delivery) Detailed Review

[@lunatunny7594]

you rock. just an unending onslaught of useful info and enthusiasm and you never linger

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Thank you very much for the praise! It took me a while to get to the "never linger" part right 😅 You should watch my videos from 5 years ago - just for entertainment purposes 😉

[@tjaartkotze4394]

wow..wow... wow love your style of explanation and knowledge. Job well done

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Thanks for the praise! I'm blushing here 😊

[@hssnov]

Very nice explanation, i used ftdi for long time but never explored it. Thank you

[@robertssmorgasbord]

I thank you for the praise 🙂

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Hi Hassan, unfortunately your follow up comment got swallowed by KZbin. All I could recover from my bell menu was: "I tried to change the current in the same way you did but it didn't work. nonetheless, i changed the current in the same environment but i did it in different way. First i entered the USB..." Would love to hear how you solved the problem! It would be also OK if you deleted your comment, because after posting you realized it didn't work after all - happens to the best of us. Just don't let me hanging on, trying every "enter USB..." in FT_PROG 😉

[@hssnov]

@@robertssmorgasbord My apologies, i deleted it. I tried to alter the current and it was working but when i turned off and on the ftdi, it return to default 90ma. So i deleted my comment 😅. I was tring hardly to hack it but no way. It works only when its ON when i restarted it, it returns to the default state. So i wrote my comment before i restart then i deleted it later. My apologies

[@robertssmorgasbord]

@@hssnov First, thank you very much for the reply! And no apologies needed 🙂 I also thought at one point that I had successfully set the current. But I was never able to replicate that. Afterwards I thought that maybe I just imagined things. Your post explains me eerie experience. Thanks again!

[@Gocast2]

Thanks for the very detailed deep dive. I told you in a previous video that I was going to try and get optically isolated serial communication between a PC and a microcontroller, to prevent damage caused by both the MCU and PC being powered by the same mains power supply. the opto-isolation would also allow me to power the MCU without the FTDI converter's power supply, so I don't have to worry about the current limitations of the FDTI. Using this exact FTDI converter, an ESP32 and 2 high speed optocouplers (connecting the RX and TX lines of both modules), it worked great. I even managed to upload a sketch automatically (without having to press the reset button) through adding two more optocouplers, which connect RTS and DTR on the FTDR to EN and GPIO0 on the ESP32 respectively. Given that it makes all these extra pins available, I've found the FT232RL to be very versatile.

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Good on you 🙂 I have to admit that I never fumbled about with the RS232 RTS and DTR lines (besides soldering a RS232 cable in the late 80s to connect a little Mitsubishi industrial robot arm to a PC - it was a high school project). But I'll will make use of the FT232RL in the near future too: Connecting my Chinese U-Blox NEO-M8N GPS module directly to a PC (video coming up this Sunday) and prototyping an isolated (of course) USB to RS-422 / NMEA 0183 HS adapter.

[@Gocast2]

@@robertssmorgasbord cool! looking forward to it :).

[@robertssmorgasbord]

@@Gocast2 The video about the Chinese U-Blox NEO-M8N GPS module (plus the FT232RL) is up now: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKjdl4NthpatoJI 🙂 It will be a while until I come around doing the USB to RS-422 / NMEA 0183 HS stuff though.

[@muruganandhamem]

Thank you so much for your detail explanation. I learnt from you a lot, I mean it.

[@robertssmorgasbord]

You're very welcome! I'm always happy if my videos are useful to somebody.

[@holgerwikingsen713]

Great video. You are very good at speaking your mind and definitely love your accent. I recently got my first FT232RL board+chip (seems to be original, it's programmable) and I was confused as to when should I invert the RS232 signal. My ESP32 microcontroller works with both signal logics but have one router device that only works with the default logic. Thank you for your time and dedication.

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Thanks for the praise! And for liking my accent 😅 As for the inverting of the RS-232 signal: 0s and start bits are high, 1s and stop bits are low. The USARTs of many MCUs (e.g. ATmega) do just that and don't even have the option of inverting the I/O signal. It's nice that the ESP32 does have such an option though. If in doubt, just have a look with an oscilloscope 😉

[@Cindercuboid]

So much knowledge! I have the same device from Amazon but my chip says FTDI, whether that makes a difference in it's writing capability I have no idea... I'm trying to retrieve an original 2001 Xbox's EEPROM currently and only have this little thing at hand. The problem is: the retrieval method is done using SDA and SCL lines. Is there any possibility to do this with this device or am I SOL? Thanks! Also, your accent, ist du Deutsch??

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Ja, ich bin Deutscher 😉 Regarding your problem: SDA and SCL lines belong to an I2C bus, which is synchronous (SCL - Slave CLock) and incompatible with RS232/UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter). So I'm sorry to report, that you can't use those FTDI modules to read out your Xbox EEPROM. However, if you want to invest the time and effort, you can get yourself an Arduino (or any other) microcontroller. Those things connects to your PC via USB and have an I2C interface. Though, some programming is required.

[@devilvortex1]

I use a tablet and ftdi. Rx Tx and shared gnd on arduino. The arduino is not powered. How it is possible that the ftdi put voltage on the arduino? I notice that is the tx pin

[@robertssmorgasbord]

That module routes the USB 5V directly to its 5V power output pin. If you have a 3.3V Arduino you connect the 5V power output pin to the Arduino VIN pin (that also works with some 5V Arduinos, e.g. the Arduino Nano Every). If you have a 5V Arduino you connect the 5V Power Output directly to a 5V pin of the Arduino (note that for some 5V Arduino, like the Arduino Nano Every, you can use the VIN pin, which is the better/safer solution).

[@devilvortex1]

@@robertssmorgasbordI found the error. There was a bad solder that bridged the VCC and TX

[@robertssmorgasbord]

@@devilvortex1 Uh, you got lucky there. A bad solder bridging VCC to RX might have killed whatever you want to connect to that board. That said, the short between VCC and TX might have killed the FTDI chip, since TX is an output.

[@eddieds312]

Excellant presentation

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Thank you very much 🙂

[@andymouse]

Interesting deep dive...cheers.

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Yes, it was. Unfortunately, the deeper you dive with a Chinese product, the muddier the waters get. Well, in this case it wasn't too bad. Though, it would have been really great to have a FT232RL with a writable EEPROM.

[@andymouse]

@@robertssmorgasbord That would be interesting to.

[@robertssmorgasbord]

@@andymouse Yup, I'm planning on getting some other breakout board with an original FT232RL. Will definitely cost more than 4 bucks, but it might be worth it.

[@matthewjames4268]

Trying to use this to connect my radio transmitter. Ground, VCC, and Signal wires connected to receiver. But receiver doesn't seem to be getting power. I might try jumping to 5V.

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Well, before you change the jumper to 5V, make sure your radio transmitter cant take 5V. Also, the 3.3V supply out of that thing is pretty meager. It might break down powering a radio transmitter.

[@matthewjames4268]

@@robertssmorgasbord 5V worked. Now trying to get signal to software.

[@robertssmorgasbord]

@@matthewjames4268 Good for you 🙂 Whish you luck with with the signal/software part!

[@rotem2116]

What is the name of the cable that connects to the right side of the unit ?

[@robertssmorgasbord]

It's a Mini (not Micro) USB connector for an, well, USB cable. If you mean the other right, that's just an 2.54mm / 0.1'' 6 pin header, not intended for any specific cable.

[@anuragnayak324]

Can I use it to program lilypad? Also what other modules can be used to program lilypad which can be plugged into a windows system....

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Never worked with Lilypads, so I can't say for sure, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Have a look at this, were they are using an FTDI based USB to serial converter to program a Lilypad: www.instructables.com/Arduino-Lilypad-Tutorial/

[@theodorostsolos9983]

Congratulations! Do you know how can i connect a rc receiver to that usb adaptor? The receiver has 3 pins, ground, Vc+ and a signal pin.

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Three question: does your RC receiver speak RS232 on the signal pin? What supply voltage does your RC receiver expect on the Vc+ pin and how much current does it draw? What is the signal level on your RC receivers signal pin?

[@theodorostsolos9983]

@@robertssmorgasbord oh...i have no idea about these specs. The receiver is an rc airplane receiver AR7350. I dont know what is RS232. The receiver works with 5volts and consums about 50mah. And I don't know about signal level.

[@robertssmorgasbord]

@@theodorostsolos9983 Well, I had a quick look at the AR7350 (not much documentation available), and I'm pretty sure that the FTDI FT232RL is not suitable for connecting it via USB to an PC. Sorry!

[@theodorostsolos9983]

But this receiver is supposed to be programmed via the spektrum usb cable SPM3065 which has the ftdi ft232 chip...

[@robertssmorgasbord]

@@theodorostsolos9983 Ah! Now we're getting somewhere! The original FTDI FT232 chip allows you to do a lot more that just adapt USB to logic level serial. With the right software (on the USB side) you can use it as a general I/O. NOTE: The chip on the module reviewed in the video has NOT an original FTDI FT232 chip! The chip on that module does NOT support all functionality of the original FTDI FT232 chip! Also, I had a look at the SPM3065 cable, and it's not clear HOW they use FTDI FT232 and what additional parts are in there. Since the SPM3065 cable goes for about 25 bucks, I would recommend to just buy it, instead of trying to reverse engineer it and build your own around an (original) FTDI FT232. It's just not worth it.

[@ciano5475]

Are you sure it is an original FTDI chip?

[@bimsbarkas]

Yes, don't be ridiculous, of course it's a Chinese fake.

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Well, I'm pretty sure it's not an unauthorized fake. As I mentioned the chip is stamped FT232-AZ. My best guess it's from an OEM batch made by FTDI for AZ-Delivery. AZ-Delivery probably choose to have a "fuse" (one-time programmable element on the chip) set to disable writing the EEPROM. As for why they've done that I can only speculate: A) They sell that chip on a breakout board with marked pins (e.g. power and sleep), but via the EEPROM users could redefine the pins and they wanted to avoid the support hassle that definitely would have come with that. B) FTDI was only willing to sell them a "castrated" OEM batch, because they didn't wanted to cannibalize their own sales. C) Your best guess here ...

[@robertssmorgasbord]

@@bimsbarkas I don't think there unauthorized copies (fake). AZ-Delivery is an incorporated company here in Germany, and German authorities take product fakes very seriously. See also my answer to ciano.

[@dokterzorro]

@@robertssmorgasbord Most people don't even notice it's fake because for small programming tasks it will do. It's when you start using the fakes for serious communications that they will fail and throw errors. Since it's not branded FTDI but AZ delivery they might get away with claiming a generic version of the original FTDI one, they have learned from previous batches that were branded FTDI and got burned because of copyright and fake product laws. Rest assured, these are still fake, not made by FTDI and will not perform as good as the real ones. Ask FTDI if you will, they will tell you that they will NEVER sell their chips with custom branding for dubious box-pusher companies on Amazon. AZ delivery might have an office in Germany, they are 100% china-made junkers selling exactly the same junk as Ali, they only operate tailored to EU laws, avoiding the blatant fakery we've seen from other sellers.

[@robertssmorgasbord]

@@dokterzorro Again, thanks for the info (see also my reply to your other comment). I will put AZ delivery on my blacklist and we can declare that chip a fake.

[@wireless80211x]

Champion !

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Well, not quite 😅 But thank you anyway.

[@balamohan5641]

hi, i am doing 32ch relay board, so .I buy ft232 and ft4232 board, but I don't how to control shift resister with this. could u help? and please put video about Fd4232

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Interesting project! I've never used the FT232/FT4232 in that manner. I'm guessing you want to use the CBUS pins in bit bang mode to control a 32-bit shift register. FTDIs application note AN_232R-01 (google for "FTDI AN_232R-01") describes that in detail. Regarding the FT4232: I'll put that on my wall of video ideas. No promises though! Especially because I normally don't do any Windows/Linux programming stuff.

[@balamohan5641]

@@robertssmorgasbord thank you very much for your reply

[@balamohan5641]

please make 32ch digital output with ft4232

[@robertssmorgasbord]

@@balamohan5641 You're welcome!

[@robertssmorgasbord]

@@balamohan5641 As I've said, I've put it on my wall of video ideas 😉

[@radiosparks13]

Golly Gee, I should have watched this video first, would have saved me some time. Mine looks like yours, I bought it for $4CAD and has a fake FTDI logo on the chip. Still, it's OK, as a plain vanilla (NOT programmable) serial interface. My serial number is A5XK3RJT, see if anybody else has this. I did buy a real (programmable and at way more cost) chip and use it to CAT my Kenwood HF radio. The radio needs inverted signal levels.

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Yeah, for the price these Chinese clones are not bad. You just have to curb your expectations in regards to programming them. An original FTDI goes for 4.90€ + tax at Digikey. If the need arises I could simply swap the fake chip on the board with an original one 😅

[@David_11111]

yay

[@robertssmorgasbord]

🙂

[@dokterzorro]

Nonsense, true FTDI chips can be programmed. If you can't it is a fake chip, simple as that. No AZ delivery is not gonna get a special batch of FTDI made chips that can't be programmed because of a flag, that's just not how these chips work. They sell on Amazon and are just box-pushers who seem te have now upgraded to having the same chinese fake manufaturers to make them branded versions of the same fake chips we've been seeing a lot. For most applications the fake chips will do fine, for fast programming of microcontrollerchips it works. For some other stuff, like uninterrupted DMX sending it will crap out randomly and not work. Only REAL chips will do that 24/7 without faults. There is no excuse for these damn things, they make designing relyable hardware a nightmare. Ban them, burn them and hurray for FTDI trying to make all the fakes unuseable, maybe that way importers and resellers will take notice after the complaints start coming in. This needs to end, right now.

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Thanks for your input! I myself have become a wee bit more careful about shouting out "Fake Chip!" (see "Faulty Chinese MAX31855K Modules: Fake Chips? No! Just a Capacitor Missing!" kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqraeYmdf6aAq5o ). But in this case (FT232RL) you are probably right. I also stumbled lately over a indisputable fake U-Blox NEO-M8N GPS module ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKjdl4NthpatoJI ). In the past I constantly underestimated the Chinese manufacturing capabilities in that regard. I simply couldn't imagine that it would be profitable to develop (reverse engineer) and manufacture fake chips. But obviously I was wrong.

[@dokterzorro]

@@robertssmorgasbord The engineering is quite impressive, in the case of the FT232 they used pretty complex processorchips to emulate the outdated design of the original chip. Like I said, for simple programming it will work fine, great for hobbyists on a budget as the original ftdi chip is expensive. Just know the limitations, it's not real so it can't be expected to work 100%. At least AZ is honest in not putting FTDI logo on the thing but their own, so they are easily identifyable. How are these sold, do they advertise them as FTDI or just the FT232 name?

[@robertssmorgasbord]

@@dokterzorro Well, to be fair, if you look at their website ( www.az-delivery.de/en/products/ftdi-adapter-ft232rl ) there's no mentioning of FTDI or any of the original FTDI FT232 variants (FT232H/R/B etc.). They always call it a FT232-AZ and never use "FT232" without the "-AZ".

[@ariovaldovitisanchez9968]

NICE!!!!

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Thanks! But do you mean the review or the module?

[@HongPhucNguyen]

Thanks for your explain. I got a couple FT232RL fake chip, it cannot program. No way to buy real FTDI chip from China, all FTDI chip from China are fake, they cannot produce any real FTDI chip in china. Need order real FTDI chip from indonesia only

[@robertssmorgasbord]

You're welcome! I guess will all the cheap fake FT232RLs available in China FTDI has a hard time selling its original chips there. But it's interesting that you can get original FTDI chips in Indonesia.

[@NivagSwerdna]

"If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck."... given no FT-PROG looks like a clone. Decap it!

[@robertssmorgasbord]

I hope with "decap" you mean using solvent and/or a grinder to expose the chip, and not decapitate 😉 Anyway, I would love to do that and compare the chip to an original FT232RL. But unfortunately I don't have the equipment, respectively, never done that before.

[@bhoot1702]

😘

[@robertssmorgasbord]

😁

[@radekzmazur3389]

You have FAKE CHIP.If your serial number is A50285BI or 00000000 you have fake chip. You have "custom' fake chip :)

[@robertssmorgasbord]

Well, that explains why it doesn't behave in all respects like an original FTDI chip (like shown in the video) 🙂

[@mrmf4712]

Can you stop waving that hand into our face

[@robertssmorgasbord]

No I can't 😅 It's a obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) 😉