Future Technology Devices
International Ltd.
Windows 98 Installation Guide
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005

---

I
Windows 98 Installation Guide
Table of Contents
Part I Welcome to the Windows 98 Installation Guide
2
Part II Installing FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and
FT8U245AM Devices
3
1
.......................
Installing D2XX Drivers ............................................................................................................ 4
2
.....................
Installing VCP Drivers .............................................................................................................. 8
Part III Installing FT2232C Devices
13
1
.........................
Installing D2XX Drivers .......................................................................................................... 14
2
.......................
Installing VCP Drivers ............................................................................................................ 21
Part IV Uninstalling FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and
FT8U245AM Devices
31
1
..............................
Uninstalling D2XX Drivers ..................................................................................................... 32
2
............................
Uninstalling VCP Drivers ....................................................................................................... 34
Part V Uninstalling FT2232C Devices
36
1
..............................
Uninstalling D2XX Drivers ..................................................................................................... 37
2
............................
Uninstalling VCP Drivers ....................................................................................................... 39
Part VI Troubleshooting
41
1
................................................................
Windows 98 cannot find drivers for my device................................................................... 41
2
..........................................................................
Windows 98 forces a reboot after installing a device......................................................... 42
3
........................................................................................
Driver installation fails and Windows 98 gives error code 10 ........................................... 43
4 FT232BM or FT245BM device hangs randomly during operation under Windows
98
................................................................................................................................... 44
5
....................................................................
Windows 98 complains about missing .CAT files............................................................... 45
6
..................................................................................
Windows 98 complains about missing ftccomms.vxd file................................................. 46
7 Windows 98 installs FT2232C device as VCP even though D2XX drivers are
...........................
selected in the EEPROM........................................................................................................ 47
Part VII Revision History
48
Index
49
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005

---

Welcome to the Windows 98 Installation Guide
2
1
Welcome to the Windows 98 Installation Guide
The purpose of this document is to provide users of FTDI chips with a simple procedure for
installing drivers for their devices under Windows 98. The procedure is also applicable to Windows
ME.
Please note that if Windows 98 Gold Edition is being used, you must have all the latest patches
from the Microsoft website installed for the system to be USB compatible.
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005

---

3
Windows 98 Installation Guide
2
Installing FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and
FT8U245AM Devices
FTDI's 1st and 2nd generation of USB UART and USB FIFO chips can be installed with one of two
sets of drivers.
The first driver type is the D2XX direct driver. This provides direct access to the device via a
dynamic link library (DLL) supplied with the driver. Applications can then be written which use the
functions available in the DLL to directly control the device.
The second driver type is the virtual COM port (VCP) driver. The VCP drivers emulate a standard
PC COM port. These can be communicated with in the same manner as any other COM port on
the PC.
Under Windows 98 and ME, the Found New Hardware Wizard should be used to install devices
when they are connected to the PC for the first time as this is the recommended procedure for
reliable device operation.
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005

---

Installing FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM Devices
4
2.1
Installing D2XX Drivers
To install D2XX drivers for an FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM or FT8U245AM device under
Windows 98, follow the instructions below:
· If a device of the same type has been installed on your machine before and the drivers that are
about to be installed are different from those installed already, the original drivers need to be
uninstalled. Please refer to the
Uninstalling FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM 32 Devices section of this
document for further details of this procedure.
· Download the latest available D2XX drivers from the FTDI website and unzip them to a location
on your PC.
· Connect the device to a spare USB port on your PC. This will launch the Windows Add New
Hardware Wizard. Windows may display a message reading "Building driver database" at this
point which may take a few minutes to pass. Click "Next" to proceed with the installation.
· Select "Search for the best driver for your device. (Recommended)." as shown below and then
click "Next".
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005

---

5
Windows 98 Installation Guide
· Check the box next to "Specify a location" and uncheck all others as shown below. Click
"Browse" and locate the driver files. Once the files have been located, click "Next" to proceed
with the installation.
· Windows may display a message reading "Building driver database" at this point which may take
a few minutes to pass. Once Windows has found the required files, click "Next" to install the
device.
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005

---

Installing FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM Devices
6
· Windows should then display a message indicating that the installation was successful. Click
"Finish" to complete the installation. The device is now ready for use.
· Open the Device Manager (located in "Control Panel\System" then select the ""Device Manger"
tab) and select "View devices by type". The device appears as a FT8U2XX Device connected to
a USB port.
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005

---

7
Windows 98 Installation Guide
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005

---

Installing FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM Devices
8
2.2
Installing VCP Drivers
To install VCP drivers for an FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM or FT8U245AM device under
Windows 98, follow the instructions below:
· If a device of the same type has been installed on your machine before and the drivers that are
about to be installed are different from those installed already, the original drivers need to be
uninstalled. Please refer to the
Uninstalling FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM 34 Devices section of this
document for further details of this procedure.
· Download the latest available VCP drivers from the FTDI website and unzip them to a location
on your PC.
· Connect the device to a spare USB port on your PC. This will launch the Windows Add New
Hardware Wizard. Windows may display a message reading "Building driver database" at this
point which may take a few minutes to pass. Click "Next" to proceed with the installation.
· Select "Search for the best driver for your device. (Recommended)." as shown below and then
click "Next".
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005

---

9
Windows 98 Installation Guide
· Check the box next to "Specify a location" and uncheck all others as shown below. Click
"Browse" and locate the driver files. Once the files have been located, click "Next" to proceed
with the installation.
· Windows may display a message reading "Building driver database" at this point which may take
a few minutes to pass. Once Windows has found the required files, click "Next" to install the
device.
© Future Technology Devices International Ltd. 2005

---

Document Outline

• ÿ
  • ÿ
• • ÿ
• ÿ
  • ÿ
• • ÿ
• ÿ
  • ÿ
  • ÿ
  • ÿ
• ÿ

---