Getting cheap china arduinos with CH340 chipset to work.

Not an Anything Arduino video, but still has to do with Arduinos so... :)

UPDATE: So the driver error seems to mostly be a problem on Windows 7 machines with older Arduinos (like my 1.0.5r2). Windows 10 with IDE 1.6 seems to work fine for most people...

The really cheap Arduinos on ebay and Amazon has replaced the ATMega16u4 USB interface with the CH340. This creates a problem when you want to use the arduinos in the IDE. I show how to download the driver for CH340 and make sure the Arduino works. Please know that the soldering on these Arduinos is really bad, and chances are that even with the right driver, the Arduinos might not work anyways... You get what you pay for. If possible try to buy from official Arduino partners.

Link to the driver that I used in this video to get the Arduinos to work:

Hope this helps someone...

[milenaspiridonova]

Thanks Kristian, I fought 4 hours with my controller UNO R3 until I finally discovered your video, no one explains that the port is on the seller's description and how to set it right. Thanks a million!

[mikelunatiko]

I've bought a few nanos with the CH340 chip, and never had a problem under Linux (Ubuntu, Mint, Manjaro). A friend with a Macbook didn't had either. And I'm talking as of 2012-2013, when we started to play around with Arduino. Those first boards still working in 2020 (one of the CH340 not working because someone messed the power... ¬¬ - but I can use a second arduino as a serial replicator to program it)
And for those people saying these are "fake" or "clone" boards: Arduino is open hardware, everybody is free to modify or sell boards.
Even the "original" boards are made in China, so please stop this "chinese made = poor quality" non-sense.

[ezequielacevedo]

Thanks Kristian! currently i'm runnin onto 1.8v IDE and that was it, only a driver problem with a ch340/chinese UNO board. great video, great channel. greetings from AR!

[fjdarling]

Dude!!! Your place looks like mine. Great minds think alike and love disorderly environments. Thanks for the CH340 info.

[mahmoodmarhoon]

I have problem can you help me about port its not found in device manager

[jp]

When the CH340 first came out about 6 years ago it was a pain to get going. You had to go to a Chinese web page and download the driver. When I got mine about 2 years ago Windows 7 and 8 auto loaded the driver for the CH340 when I plugged it in. I like and use the Nanos. They are really small. They have a CH340 on board and a micro USB interface and they have solder points for all the I/O pin ports for incorporating the entire board into your projects.

[jim]

It's more accurate to say "You don't get what you don't pay for."

[chetronics]

Got my knockoffs working!! Thanks man! Loving your material! You have a big role resurrecting my lost interests in electronics.

[kevinantony]

It didnt work for me, i had to change settings on windows developer mode/enable portal. Search portal on search bar on desktop

[katemoon]

Great video Mr. Swede. The Chinese stuff is so cheap, but it doesn't work the way it is supposed to. "Driver failed to install" was incorrect. It succeeded enough for it to work.

[schillaci]

Any ideas how to flash the Chinese clones using the Atmel FLIP tool? The 16u2 is apparently integrated into the 328 so not directly accessible. Following guides for genuine UNOs to short Pins 5&6 does not put the device into DFU mode. It still shows up as a COMM port.

[puntodamarprihambodo]

doenst not work for ch340g nano with catalina

[takethatl]

I bought a 14 inch handbrake for logitech G29 racing games from china on lazda platform got it on sale for a good deal, way cheaper than branded handbrakes, so im wondering if this Arduino device is that handbrake?

[ezenelex]

you sir are a LIFE SAVER thank you so much

[jp]

When I plugged in my first Nano with the CH340 the PC found the driver and loaded it all by itself. I was shocked. I expected to have all kinds of problems per the many YouTubers that said they had problems. I guess I was lucky since I was a late adopter of the CH340 equipped Arduinos. I have WIndows 7.0 and 8.1 on 2 laptops I have. I have bought a lot of product from Alice1101983. All parts have worked fine. The only counterfeit part I got from them was a set of LM338 regulators in TO-3 form factor. They were so cheap I expected them to be crap. Alice refunded my money immediately. Great customer service also.

[neilbarnett]

And if that doesn't work...? BIN is not just a description of binary files...

I go back to the ESP32, always works, better processor, except the massive memory-eating Bluetooth driver!

[daskasspatzle]

I also never had any issues with the ch340 devices on Arduino IDE 1.6.x and Windows 10.

[TheSateef]

not working for me, the com port looks fine and i can get info from the board but cannot download

[MrKockabilly]

I use this cheaper version with ch340 driver and they work ok so far with my projects. However, recently, in my last project, I got this error in uploading the code:
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 10 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x10
I was doing fine coding, debugging, and uploading from time to time in that project then suddenly - without making any changes to the hardware or drivers or to the connections - got this upload error. To check, I used good proven codes but then they now don't upload as well.

[unglaubichuberlieber]

unzip, . ran it, it reported successful and aus device manager, it appeared: usb serial ch340, then i received msg from win saying, install was not successful...arduino(1.8.12) tools->port...nothing showed, just blank
any help ???