Arduino Nano no serial port for MacBook Air 2013

Question

Problem

I have an Arduino Nano connected via a USB cable (Type A to Mini Type B) to my MacBook Air (Mid 2013 Model). The PWR LED is on while the arduino is connected.

Opening the Arduino software, pulling down the Tools > Serial Port menu does not show me a valid serial port. All I see is:

/dev/tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port
/dev/cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port
/dev/tty.Bluetooth-Modem
/dev/cu.Bluetooth-Modem

What I've tried and did not work

• I have installed the correct FTDI driver (v2.2.18). x64 for my MacBook Air's Corei5, file FTDIUSBSerialDriver_10_4_10_5_10_6_10_7.mpkg. Restarted after installation.

• Tried connecting arduino to both USB ports on my Air.

More Info

• Running Mac OSX 10.10 Yosemite
• Same arduino and cable work when connected to a Windows machine or a Raspberry Pi.

If it helps, I can see the USB Serial in my Apple Logo > About This Mac > System Report under Hardware > USB

USB2.0-Serial:
 Product ID: 0x7523
 Vendor ID: 0x1a86
 Version: 2.54
 Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec
 Location ID: 0x14100000 / 8
 Current Available (mA): 500
 Current Required (mA): Unknown (Device has not been configured)

I'm out of ideas and options. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance :)

• PhillyNJ: Is your nano a clone or a real nano?
• Mecha: It's a clone. Thought I've read that it's a real good one. Anyway, I found something that solved it for me. Going to put it as an answer.
• PhillyNJ: Did you have it plugged into a Windows machine first or before you plug it into your Mac?it might've been bricked but the good news is you can unbrick it.
• Mecha: First time I tried it on my Windows. But it turns out that I needed some additional driver for Mac. See my answer.

Answer 1

This solved it for me.

• Download this driver
• Install it
• Run sudo nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1"
• Reboot

Serial ports now showed up in the Arduino IDE and also when I used ls -1 /dev/tty*

Hopes this helps someone.

Reference: This thread

• user6274: I have the same problem and using your link solves my problem. Thanks for sharing the information. Best Regards, Jo
• Dave X: On 2016年04月13日, I downloaded the (version 1.2?, dated 2015年11月19日?) driver from there, did the required reboot, and did not need to do the unsigned driver kext setting. On plugging it in, the device showed up as '/dev/cu.wchusbserialfa130' in Arduino/Tools/Port.
• Paul-Sebastian Manole: Please update your answer to reflect the fact that it's not longer necessary to tinker with the OS X kernel to allow unsigned drivers to be loaded in kernel space which is a gigantic security risk. Latest OS X recognises these vendor and product IDs correctly, without the need to install any drivers. Product ID: 0x7523, Vendor ID: 0x1a86.
• Nick Gammon: Yes, I am familiar with dates. For a novice, it isn't obvious which part of the answer is tinkering with the OS/X kernel, and which part isn't. I suggest you post your improved answer.
• Pankaj Jangid: Beware! Kernel Panic! on macOS Sierra, as of 25th September, 2016.