RocketPort USB Serial Hub II Driver Installation for Linux

This page describes how to:

System Requirements

The PC connected to the RocketPort USB Serial Hub II must meet the following requirements:

  • A Pentium-class CPU system with an available USB port (type A, flat connector, downstream). The RocketPort USB Serial Hub II supports USB 2.0 and is USB 1.0 and 1.1 compatible.

  • Linux distribution including the Prolific driver (pl2303) in the kernel, compiled in or loaded as a module.

How to Check for the USB Driver

The first installation step is to see if the USB driver is available on your system.

  1. Attach the USB cable from the RocketPort USB Serial Hub II to a USB port on your computer

  2. Login to the root account.

  3. At the command prompt, type dmesg | grep ttyUSB

    The following shows example results:

    usb 2-1.1: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0
    usb 2-1.2: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB1
    usb 2-1.3.1: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB2
    usb 2-1.3.2: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB3
    usb 2-1.3.3.1: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB4
    usb 2-1.3.3.2: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB5
    usb 2-1.3.3.3: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB6
    usb 2-1.3.3.4: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB7
  4. If you do see ttyUSB0, ttyUSB1, etc., the kernel already has the driver built in or the module is loaded, and you are ready to use your RocketPort USB Serial Hub II.

If you do not see anything in the output from the above command about ttyUSB devices, your kernel does not have the correct drivers compiled in or loaded in via module. In this case, recompile your kernel with the correct drivers.

Attaching the RocketPort USB Serial Hub II

Use the following procedure to attach the RocketPort USB Serial Hub II.

  1. If you have not done so, bring the machine back up.

  2. Attach the USB cable from the RocketPort USB Serial Hub II to a USB port on your computer. The system detects the device and creates ttyUSB0 through ttyUSB3.

Connecting Serial Devices

Use the following procedure to connect serial devices to the RocketPort USB Serial Hub II.

  1. Connect the serial device(s) to the serial port(s) on the RocketPort USB Serial Hub II.

  2. Disconnect the USB cable from the RocketPort USB Serial Hub II upstream port. The USB port is located next to the serial ports.

  3. Reconnect the USB cable to the RocketPort USB Serial Hub II upstream port. The PC automatically locates and configures each serial port on the RocketPort USB Serial Hub II.

Special Notes

If you switch the serial devices that are connected to the RocketPort USB Serial Hub II, make sure that you disconnect and reconnect the upstream cable (USB type B, square shape) from the device.


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