Phew, there are a lot of features on the FT232H breakout!  In fact more features than have been covered in this guide.  Check out some of the resources below for information on more things you can do with the FT232H:

  • Official FT232H Datasheet
    • The reference for all information about the FT232H.  You should consider at least skimming this document, or even reading it in depth in order to understand all of the chip's capabilities.
  • MPSSE Command Reference
    • This reference details the low-level commands that control the MPSSE component of the FT232H chip.
  • FTDI Utilities
    • Check out the FT PROG tool for a utility that allows you to write the EEPROM on the FT232H breakout and control the C8 and C9 pin functionality.  These pins can be configured to drive status LEDs, generate limited waveforms, or just act as a high or low signal.  Check the datasheet for more information on all of the parameters that the EEPROM can control.  Note that FT PROG unfortunately is only supported on Windows.  If you're planning to use FT PROG be sure to see the note about erasing the EEPROM further below!
  • FTDI App Notes
    • Search for FT232H or MPSSE on the page in order to find many useful app notes for using the FT232H to interface with different serial protocols.
  • libftdi
    • libftdi is a nice open source alternative to FTDI's binary drivers.  You can find more details here about interacting with the FT232H at a low level using libftdi.
  • libmpsse
    • This is a nice library to access the MPSSE functionality of the FT232H, and is an alternative to the Python GPIO library shown in this guide.  You might check out this library if you find the Python GPIO library is too limited.
  • OpenOCD Hardware
    • If you're doing development with ARM chips the OpenOCD debugger tool is invaluable for stepping through the execution of chips using the JTAG protocol.   FTDI chips with an MPSSE like the FT232H can even speak JTAG and work with OpenOCD for on-chip debugging.

Erase EEPROM For Programming With FT_PROG

To use the FT_PROG programming tool from FTDI you might need to erase the EEPROM of the FT232H to put it into a state where FT_PROG can detect the device.  To do this you can use a small eeprom command line tool from libftdi by following the steps below.  Note that these steps are for Windows users (since FT PROG is only usable on Windows).

First connect your FT232H board to the machine and follow the Zadig tool steps here to enable the libusb-based driver for the FT232H board.

Once libusbK is enabled as the driver for the FT232H then download the libftdi Windows binaries from here (at the time of this writing you want the libftdi1-1.1_devkit_x86_x64_21Feb2014.zip archive).  Unzip this archive and there should be a bin32 and bin64 subdirectory with a eeprom.exe and other command line tools.  Open a command line terminal and navigate to the appropriate directory for your system (32 or 64-bit), then run the following command to erase the EEPROM on any connected FT232H board:

eeprom -e -p 0x6014 -v 0x0403

Once erased the libusb driver needs to be uninstalled for the device to make it available for FT_PROG again.  Follow the steps here to use device manager to uninstall and remove the driver for the FT232H board.

Once the libusb driver is uninstalled unplug the FT232H from the machine and plug it back in again.  Run FT_PROG, slick the scan button (magnifying glass) and the FT232H should be detected.

This guide was first published on Nov 12, 2014. It was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

This page (More Info) was last updated on Nov 10, 2014.

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