how to connect to a com port

So the ESP32 is not recognized in the same manner as my screenshot examples... only those "unknowns" are shown? That's kind of a show-stopper.

It should be as simple as I wrote. Perhaps that's a consequence of newer IDE versions that presumably incorporate the required hardware drivers; I don't know.

I think the Arduino Community Forum would be the place to seek assistance, but before posting a new question have a look at this Arduino Support document: If your board does not appear on a port in Arduino IDE. That seems to describe what you're encountering perfectly.

bob.c wrote:

Hey John Galt, I gave this a shot but this time the IDE wold not open: I get an error msg saying "the app Arduino cannot be opened -47" and "There is no app available to open it."

You have to solve that problem first. Be sure to download the correct IDE for your Mac: either this one for Intel Macs running Mojave or newer, or this one for M series Macs running Big Sur or newer.

Then, drag it like so,

... which puts its components in the right place.

Launch it and throw caution to the wind

... upon which you will be asked to select which board you are using.

I am using the Arduino Uno in this example but the ESP32 ought to be identical.

If you can't get this far we need to resolve that problem first. Describe which macOS version you are using because if it's earlier than Mojave or Big Sur (Intel and M series respectively) we have to find the correct IDE to download for your systems. I did it before so I'm sure I can do it again.

At the bottom right you will see confirmation of the connected board and port:

Done.

Discussions regarding USB to serial port converters and ports are not relevant. You don't need anything like that. You just need a USB-C cable. macOS will recognize the Arduino and automatically assign it to the correct device in /dev as shown above. The same thing will occur on other Unix-like systems (such as Ubuntu Linux) that automatically detect connected hardware when it is connected.

As for Windows and its "COM ports" just forget about them. They are an outdated and antiquated holdover Microsoft stole from systems eons prior to it. The Arduino IDE is well-supported and works perfectly on Macs.

Download and install the Arduino IDE, here: https://www.arduino.cc/en/software

Use a USB-C cable. It will find the board and configure the port automatically. If you still need help please write back.

bob.c wrote:

…(But does a Mac use the comm port idea like Win does, to connect to a device?)…

MS-DOS and Windows via Microsoft and IBM and PC-DOS got its idea for a COM port from some earlier operating systems systems and mostly from the 1970s, and that probably including DEC RSX-11M and its schemes, while Windows NT arrived from DEC MICA and VAX/VMS, while Unix and macOS got their ideas for drivers and driver communications from some other inspirations. Similar purposes, same general function, but with differences. While interesting to some of us, none of the history here is particularly relevant to this case, either.

The serial port is long gone from Macs—last Mac I’ve worked with that sorta-kinda had a built-in serial port was Xserve—but you can get a serial port on most any Mac using a USB-to-serial adapter. Microsoft Windows officially dumped all that “junk I/O” (as it was sometimes called) with the end of legacy I/O, but various PCs still support legacy I/O.

For this case, I’ve found the Plugable brand USB-to-serial devices to work, though haven’t yet used one yet with Ventura. I’ve also used some of the older KeySpan adapters, but not those in recent years. An adapter with a Prolific PL-2303-derived series chipset will usually work. (There are counterfeits of this Prolific chipset and some other common chipsets around, so do try to avoid buying the cheapest available adapter choices. Some of the counterfeits don’t work all that well, and sometimes a vendor (such as FTDI) deliberately bricks counterfeits.)

There are some different command-line and UI tools to connect to the serial port including cu and tmux at the command line, and some UI-based Terminal emulators.such as Decisive Serial or Serial 2. There are other choices. The built-in Terminal app works dine, but doesn’t know from serial ports.

👍

Let me know how it works out. We have to at least get to the point at which the Arduino IDE app launches with a window resembling that in the screenshots.

If your Mac is not running a recent macOS version they have versions that will run on versions as early as Yosemite (OS X 10.10). They work equally well.

I see the dilemma. I'm using the most current IDE version, and if they need an older one it might not work on your Mac.

I'm reluctant to believe that they really need an older version. Obviously it's best, generally speaking, to use the latest version of whatever software runs on whatever Mac hardware you have.

I'll also admit to a little bias regarding the Dr. Duino website. Seems like they're selling really expensive stuff. The whole Arduino community philosophy is centered on open source software and inexpensive hardware supported by volunteers who aren't trying to capitalize on anything.

But... that's just my opinion.

Maybe you should get involved in the Arduino Community Forum. It's analogous to Apple Support Communities, and is certain to be more active with much greater participation than the Dr. Duino website. Just a thought.

Great! Glad to hear it.

I thought you had initially mistyped "73" but when you signed off with both I had to research the meaning of "72". Thanks for the history lesson.

Speaking of which I was active in the early days of packet radio, using an AEA PK-232 and a Macintosh SE. It occurred to me that if we could send (what we call now) "text messages" to one another over great distances with 2-meter repeaters, it should be possible to send computer programs the same way. It wasn't easy obtaining Mac software in those days, so why not try it? Other than floppy disks though the mail, the only other option was dialup and Compuserve — where what eventually came to be known as Apple Support Communities originated.

So I took a small program (ResEdit perhaps), compressed it (somehow), BinHex'd it, and sent the ASCII text file to another station using Red Ryder. It was abysmally slow even for those days. The receiving operator converted it, reassembling the pieces at the other end — and much to our surprise — it worked! Icon and everything.

For all I know we were the first to do it. We did it for laughs and never thought much about it after that.

k1qed is a cool call sign. I let my license lapse when talking to one another using a tiny handheld radio became mundane. I guess the novelty wore off.

there are likely usb to rs232 subD 32 pin connectors you can use