This little cable works quite well. At first I didn't realize that it was one pin short of being a proper FTDI cable for programming devices like Arduino boards (or even the Raspberry Pi according to one reviewer). I haven't tried it on a 3.3V Arduino, but it does work very nicely on the 5V boards -- provided you do one little trick...
Since it doesn't have the DTR (only a transmit and receive -- Tx and Rx), it can't reset the Arduino circuit for you to put it in the bootloader. That's what the DTR signal is used for during FTDI programming of those devices. However, all you have to do is when you click 'upload' (if building from the Arduino IDE) or run the Makefile (if running from the command-line or other IDE as I do on Linux), is press the Reset button on your Arduino board manually when avrdude launches. Works like a charm.
Though you do have to get the baud rate correct -- I messed that up the first time when running manually from a makefile on Linux. The ProMini boards need 57600 whereas the Uno is 115200. That took me a bit to figure out. Though if you are running from the Arduino IDE, just select the correct board in the menu and you are set...
The other thing is to get the pinout correct. First time out, I got the Tx and Rx backwards too... Here's the pinout for connecting to the Arduino boards:
Red = +5V VCC (only needed if you aren't powering your board with its own supply)
Gnd = Gnd
White = Connect to the TXO pin of the Arduino (PD1)
Green = Connect to the RXI pin of the Arduino (PD0)
I've only tried this cable on Linux. There it just works with nothing special. Though it came up as device /dev/ttyUSB instead of /dev/ttyAMC0, so be sure you select the correct device on the menus or enter the correct one on the command-line. I think for Mac you need an FTDI driver installed -- as I know I had to do that on my MacMini once when talking to the USB port of an Uno board (the generic FTDI drivers should work for it), but I haven't specifically tested this cable there. And I haven't tried it at all on Windoze... Presumably it works there too.
Overall, I like this cable and am well pleased with it.
Compare with similar items
This Item  Armorview PL2303HX USB to TTL to UART COM Cable Module Converter | Recommendations  |  |  |  | |
| Price | Currently unavailable. | $8.99 | $13.98 | $9.29 | $18.99 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Saturday, Dec 28 | Get it as soon as Saturday, Dec 28 | Get it as soon as Saturday, Dec 28 | Get it as soon as Saturday, Dec 28 |
| Customer Ratings | |||||
| Sold By | — | Ferwooh-US | DTECH Co.,Ltd | HiLetgo | YTKJ_USA |
| cable type | USB | USB | USB | USB | USB to TTL-232R-RPI 3V3 |
| connector type | Usb | Usb | USB Type A | Usb | USB Type A |
| connector gender | Male-to-Female | Male-to-Male | Male-to-Female | Male-to-Male | Male-to-Male |
| compatible devices | Electronic devices with USB ports | Arduino, ESP8266 | computer, Laptop, Modem, Router, GPS Navigation System | Printer | Laptop, PC |
Ok I had written a good review but now I have to edit it
Ok I had written a good review but now I have to edit it. It gets so hot and stops working. Not only I have burned my hand, the plastic on the cable has actually melted.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2015
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Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2017
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G. Hewson
Works fine with Raspberry Pi
Kiran Kumar
