USB to serial driver problem ...

Question

USB to serial driver problem ...

Hi,

I need to connect a Keyspan Adapter (USA-19HS) to my iMac. It worked perfectly with Mojave. Since a recent upgrade to Catalina, I need to uninstall the driver and do a fresh install.

The uninstall app is 32 bits so it does not work anymore with Catalina.

With a Finder search, I found 3 instances of the driver (KeyspanUSAdriver.kext). There normally should only be one. Cleaning that and doing a new fresh install is my objective.

Before I would like to know why there's 3. Here are the 3 locations:

Macintosh HD/Library/Extensions
Macintosh HD/Library/StagedExtensions/Library/Extensions
Macintosh HD/Library/SystemMigration/History/Library/SystemMigration/History/Migration-09C16998-CD82-446C-902E-DE6B765A1588/QuarantineRoot/Library/StagedExtensions/Library/Extensions

What is the difference between the 3 locations ?

If anybody have another driver to control the Keyspan Adapter, you are welcome.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Apr 23, 2020 6:34 PM

Reply

Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

155,060 points

Apr 24, 2020 12:13 PM in response to Robert Lesperance

As for your recommendation of SerialTools as replacement for the Keyspan driver,

Not quite. The Keyspan driver is just that: a kernel extension that allows the Mac to recognize the Keyspan hardware. You have to download and install it from its manufacturer (Tripp-Lite, who absorbed Keyspan a while ago). Then, you need an app to actually communicate with it, for which you have several choices ranging from free to expensive.

As for them, the Serial app works fine with both a Keyspan USA-19HS adapter as well as another Prolific device I use. Keyspan made a few different USB to serial adapters but they were all based on the same chipset, and the Serial app should work with them too.

I have at least two different models of the same thing, the primary difference among them being two Mini-DIN 8 ports of their USA-28x series (encompassing the -28xa, -28xb, -28xg models—all minor differences), or the single DB-9 connector of the USA-19HS.

Off the top of my head I don't know those older Keyspan devices were based on FTDI or Prolific chipsets but the following is definitely FTDI based and it appears to be current production:

https://www.tripplite.com/usb-to-rs485-rs422-ftdi-serial-adapter~U20930NIND

I think I paid $40 for Serial. I just updated it to their latest version for another ten bucks and confirmed it works with the Keyspan.

I'd try the SerialTools app first, but only because it's free.

You can purchase Prolific USB to serial converters for peanuts but you might have to wire them yourself. Drivers have never been an obstacle, bearing in mind all mine were installed prior to Catalina.

Reply

Answer 2

Apr 24, 2020 8:14 AM in response to Robert Lesperance

Hello John,

Thanks for your help. It seems you are one of the few last Keyspan pros out there. I am happy to see that I am not alone.

I use the Keyspan adapter for home automation with the Perceptive Automation Indigo app. I recently changed my Keyspan adapter. I bought the USA-19HS model because Tripp-Lite's support says that this model is still a good seller and that they intend to support it for many years. I don't know if it is much in use on OS X or if it is more a PC product. I was told that there is actually no plan for a Catalina update.

Recently, I installed Catalina , a result of Apple's automatic update feature. The Keyspan adapter worked perfectly after without any changes or new driver installation. Then I started experiencing Mail and system process crashes. Not finding the culprit and after many hours and days trying to avoid a new fresh OS installation, I was left with only that option.

Went in Recovery mode (restart + CMD + R), installed a fresh Catalina version and restored all my files and setup with Apple's Migration Tool. After restart, I had no more Mail and process crashes. Everything was back to normal ... except for my Keyspan adapter. It didn't work anymore. I also realized that the installation has extracted a few files and put them in quarantine. The Keyspan driver was one of them.

Next step ... a new Keyspan driver installation. I downloaded and installed the latest Tripp-Lite driver (USA-19HS Driver (Mac OS X 10.12 to 10.14.x) ... but that didn't work either. It's the 4.0.4 version. You suggested the 2.6 version (USA-19HS Driver (Mac OS X 10.9 to 10.11) and that recalled me that my ante Catalina (Mojave) driver was probably 2.6, not 4.0.4.

That's bring me to my present post. I wanted to uninstall the actual driver 4.0.4 version and replace with the 2.6 version. Finding 3 instances of the driver with a Finder search, I wondered which one was the good one. You replied that it was the Library/ Extensions one that was the active.

Since I thought that the driver installation was not a problem with the Keyspan package, I deleted the driver (Library/Extensions/KeyspanUSAdriver.kext) in the Finder with admin permission ... and was left with the new 2.6 version installation to do.

I then realized that the System Integrity Protection (SIP) prevented me of doing that. So, I deactivated the SIP and here I am now.

Just wanted to share this little saga with you, just in case you had some comments before I do the Keyspan driver v2.6 installation.

Also, after looking around, it seems that we, OS X users, have some other options to connect USB to serial adpaters. I found the Serial app, that is costly, but that has great comments. I don't know if that can be an alternative to the Keyspan driver that seem to be dying. I would appreciate your comments about that ?

Thanks again.

Reply

Answer 3

John Galt

Level 10

155,060 points

Apr 24, 2020 8:34 AM in response to Robert Lesperance

In light of those difficulties I agree attempting to install the older driver may be justified. The only remaining suggestion is to create a Time Machine backup in the event things go awry.

I wish it weren't so expensive too, but the Decisive Tactics app is exemplary. I tried a number of others (including even more expensive ones) but theirs is unquestionably the best. Short of it, try using this one: ‎SerialTools on the Mac App Store. SerialTools may suffice for your needs and it's free.

Reply

Answer 4

Apr 24, 2020 11:28 AM in response to John Galt

Thanks John.

I never gave Time Machine really a chance, assuming that I would need to dedicate a very large hard drive to allow all those snapshots backups ... and that if I only did only a partial backup, that would not help me to restore a full bootable backup.

I am a long time and very satisfied Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) user. It's a great bootable backup utility with really incomparable support. It answers all my actual need and now more than ever because, since APFS, it allows also snapshots. When I had to restore my computer recently, CCC was of great help.

As for your recommendation of SerialTools as replacement for the Keyspan driver, have you experienced this utility with the Keyspan adapter ? The support for that app dates to 2018 and I read that it does not work since El Capitan. I thought that you were using the Keyspan USA-19HS driver ?

As for the Serial app, 35$ is a lot for an app, but if it works flawlessly now and in the future, that's a very small price to pay for peace of mind. Tripp-Lite's driver as been a lot of concern at each OS update. Do you think that I can be sure that it will work with the Keyspan adapter without problems ?

Reply

Answer 5

Apr 24, 2020 12:37 PM in response to John Galt

Thanks for that. I thought that when using a serial app (Serial, SerialTool, etc ...), I wouldn't need any driver, particularly the Keyspan driver ... that driver being the faible part of my Indigo setup.

So I completed the installation of the v2.6 driver. Everything is functional and up, working.

It was my error. Trying to install the latest version (4.0.4) while the version that worked before was the 2.6, the one you spoke me about.

Hoping that Covid-19 is not hard on you and your family.

Regards from Québec, Canada

Reply

Answer 6

John Galt

Level 10

155,060 points

Apr 23, 2020 8:44 PM in response to Robert Lesperance

The only one that is required and remains operative is the first. The others are not used and can be removed if you wish.

The latest Keyspan adapter can be found on this page: https://www.tripplite.com/support/USA19HS Tripp-Lite indicates support for Mojave but not Cat. There is no other driver for that adapter so I recommend you do not uninstall the existing one.

---

Am I to understand it is no longer working? Because it should:

KeyspanUSAdriver:

Version: 2.6

Last Modified: 8/12/09, 1:35 PM

Bundle ID: com.keyspan.iokit.usb.KeyspanUSAdriver

Notarized: Unknown

Loaded: Yes

Get Info String: 2.6 Copyright © 2000-2009 Keyspan

Obtained from: Not Signed

Kind: Intel

Architectures: i386, x86_64

64-Bit (Intel): Yes

Location: /Library/Extensions/KeyspanUSAdriver.kext

Kext Version: 2.6

Load Address: 18446743521822773000

Loadable: No

Signature Validation Errors: Not Signed

Dependencies: Satisfied

Signed by: Not Signed

The above is its entry in System Information > Extensions. As you can see it is 64-bit and precedes the age of the Mac by about a decade. I had no trouble installing it but I believe I was using Mojave at the time, which I am no longer using.

It should remain installable in Catalina but I have not verified that. Hence my recommendation to leave it installed. There is a lengthy explanation it remains installable despite the fact it is neither signed or notarized, but that ability is nearly certain to be removed in the next macOS upgrade.

Existing unsigned Extensions are likely to be rendered inoperative also; all the more reason to not uninstall it. If the next macOS version breaks it, and Tripp-Lite isn't interested in supporting that adapter any more, then we will need to find another product.

The above is a scan of an ImageWriter printout of that System Extension. The ImageWriter itself predates the age of the Mac by about three decades. It still works with Catalina using that adapter.

Reply

Answer 7

John Galt

Level 10

155,060 points

Apr 24, 2020 4:15 PM in response to Robert Lesperance

Great! Thanks for the update.

I know of at least one Discussion on this site regarding a similar if not identical question regarding a USB to serial adapter, but I seem to recall it was being used with someone's own unique project. Perhaps that was you?

Anyway, http://www.indigodomo.com (assuming theirs is the Perceptive Automation "Indigo" product you're using) appears to have migrated to an iOS-based solution which of course is the future of everything these days. Meanwhile Apple has been aggressively pushing wireless solutions everywhere, so the days of using USB to serial devices are numbered. Anything using the antiquated wire and cable things we used to take for granted is on the way out. USB itself is not far behind. Apple may have failed developing a wireless charging product but we haven't heard the last of that yet.

If you are sufficiently motivated to keep perfectly good serial devices in service, you're probably going to need to install Linux and build your own system. Or build a Raspberry Pi, or something else that is not as overwhelmingly obsessed as Apple protecting users from themselves all in the name of "security". Eventually those options will become more attractive than attempting to beat macOS into submission.

At the moment a Mac is not quite yet a hermetically sealed closed box, but it's getting there.

Reply

USB to serial driver problem ...

Similar questions