FTProg

FT_Prog fix your FTDI RS485 DMX Interface

FT_PROG is a free EEPROM programming utility for use with FTDI devices. It is used for modifying EEPROM contents that store the FTDI device descriptors to customize designs.

Requirements
  • Windows PC
  • your non-working DMX Interface:
    rs485dmxadapter
Software Installation

Download here : http://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Utilities.htm

FT_Progdownloadpage

Unpack the downloaded zip file and run the installer:

FTProgSetup

Click next and accept the license agreement, then select the required components, select your installation folder and click install:

FTProgSetup1

When the installation is finished, connect your FTDI DMX interface  (make sure all DMXcontrol software is closed) and wait till windows installed the drivers:FTProgwindowsdriverinstallation

A new desktop icon should be made, open FT_Prog :

FTProgshortcut

Backup your FTDI device

when FT_Prog has opened, press F5 to search for FTDI devices or navigate to “Devices” and click “Scan and Parse” :

FTProgdevices

A device should appear under “Device tree”, on the right side you  should see properties of the selected device :

FTProgdeviceinfo

Now to backup all your device settings, click “File” and select “Save As Template” :

FTProgsavetemplate

Save your file somewhere safe, this file will be used to restore to “Factory” settings.

Warning! When you change the default FTDI VID and PID descriptors, matching against the original, FTDI drivers will not work anymore! Which means that any subsequent attempt to use FT_Prog with the serial to USB converter will not work! You cannot revert back the changes because the device is not longer discovered by the drivers.

Fix your DMX Interface

I NEED YOUR FEEDBACK:
Since there are many different versions of the RS485 board being sold, I cannot confirm these settings working on your device, however when you try these settings please leave a comment below with your result. This will help me and others get a better and correct guide. THX.

I cannot test all different devices but there have been reports that changing the C2 to “SLEEP#” fixes the problem:

FTProgC2sleep

Now to update your device, click “Devices” and click “Program” :

FTProgprogramftdi

A new window should open :

FTProgProgramftdidialog

Click “Program” to save your settings.
Do not disconnect your device until the status says “Finished Programming”:

FTProgfinished

The programming should only take a few seconds, then close FT_Prog, disconnect and reconnect your device.

My (Working) FTDI settings

These settings have not yet been tested on other devices, these are settings from a device that came working out of the box, please leave a comment below confirming these settings or post your (working) settings:

USB Config Descriptor:

FTProg_USBConfigDescription

USB String Descriptors : (never change Serial Number or Prefix!)

FTProg_USBStringDescriptor

Hardware Specific:

FTProg_HardwareSpecific

Invert RS232 Signals :

FTProg_InvertRS232Signals

IO-Controls :

FTProg_IOControls

Extra - Personalize your device

Under USB String Descriptors there is a field called “Product Description”, this will be the device name displayed in”Device Manager” and windows driver installation, this can be changed to anything you like up to 46 characters. :

FTProgdiydmxinterfacename

Now to update your device, click “Devices” and click “Program” :

FTProgprogramftdi

A new window should open :

FTProgProgramftdidialog

Click “Program” to save your settings.
Do not disconnect your device until the status says “Finished Programming”:

FTProgfinished

The programming should only take a few seconds, then close FT_Prog, disconnect and reconnect your device.

RESULT:

Mac :

FTProgmacname

Windows :

FTProgdiydmxinterfacename

dmxhead

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45 Responses

  1. It’s been a while since the last time I visited this post.
    The las updates are awesome! Thanks!!!
    PD: The Sleep option worked for me!

  2. Do you use this as a substitute to not having to lifting the two pins and soldering them to the ground pin. Or is this used in conjunction to lifting pins and soldering. If so do you do the programing first then the pin lift and soldering.

  3. Using the ‘Sleep’ fix worked for me, however I also needed to enable ‘High current I/O’ to make it work reliably.

  4. I cannot program the device, while the software first finds the device. When I try to program the software says “Programming Failed, Has the device been removed?” Do you know what that could be ?

  5. The same happens to me, please help..

    ” I cannot program the device, while the software first finds the device. When I try to program the software says “Programming Failed, Has the device been removed?” Do you know what that could be ? “

  6. I’m having trouble saving changes to my module. Everything looks fine my PID is showing 0x6001, FT Prog reports Finished Programming but the changes I made is not save on my device. Anyone have the same issue? I have purchased my device on ebay. It seems that eeprom is closed for writing.

      1. Thanks Steve actually this is my second project. the first one went perfectly fine. I cant tell if this is fake since the PID is correct and FT Prog is able to recognize the device. This second device looks identical to the first one but doesn’t have the BAITE or BATE logo printed on board.

  7. Hi,

    I realized the interface with the board USB-RS485-PCBA from FTDI. It works after configuring C2 to #SLEEP (test wit QLC+ on Linux).
    Thanks a lot !

  8. * Sorry , I do not speak much English; P *
    When I click the software program , I run all the steps, but it still gives me trouble , I open the programming software and the changes are not saved.
    C2 continues as TXDEN not as schedule : SLEEP # .

  9. Had read the guide, but I wanted to find a solution before making welds, my PID is 6001, etc.
    I believed that everything would work ( the FT_Prog ) ……. but nothing, with the first solution ( lift pin 2 & 3 and welding them together ) has done very well .
    SP485EE my DIP8 is also,for if it helps someone.

    Habia leido la guia, pero queria buscar una solucion antes de hacer soldaduras, mi PID es el 6001, etc.
    Creia que todo debia de funcionar (el FT_Prog)…….pero nada, con la primera solucion (levantar pin 2&3 y soldarlos entre si) me ha ido muy bien.
    mi dip8 es el SP485EE tambien, por si le sirve a alguien.

    MUCHISIMAS GRACIAS!!!!!

    1. Question, are you sending DMX with the SP485EE DIP8 chip?

      Pregunta , ¿estás enviando DMX con el chip DIP8 SP485EE ?

  10. Yes, no problem for now, but I want to try the whole team to see if it is able to withstand 30 meters hose FOH and all devices at once ( 18 dimmer channels and 16 channels 6 fixtures ) .
    why you ask? people can not with that chip?

    si, sin problemas por ahora, pero quiero probar el equipo entero a ver si es capaz de soportar los 30mts de la manguera de FOH y todos los aparatos a la vez (18 canales de dimmer y 6 fixtures de 16 canales).
    porque lo preguntas? la gente no puede con ese chip?

    1. My current setup is about 12 fixtures(dimmers,pars,scanners,strobes,smoke machine…..) about 80 tot 90 channels and it’s working perfectly. (even without dmx terminator)

  11. For 1,5 year the board was forgotten and getting dust in a drawer beecause it didn’t work. Today I found the ProgFix and I runs right away. (Date on the Board 2013/06/4)

  12. Hi there, great little diy tutorial! I’m having a little trouble though, I made the interface as the first tutorial suggested, the laptop recognised it, installed drivers and all seems fine, however when I open freestyler, I get one red led come on, and when I connect a fixture I get another red led on, but for some reason I can’t seem to control the fixture with freestyler. :/ I’m new to the program, so I’m not sure if it’s something I’m not doing, or would this fix suggested be what I need perhaps?
    Any suggestions would be great thanks!!

  13. Hi,
    Did you ever find a solution or reason as to why FT_PROG wasn’t working for some chips? I have tried two chips and this method doesn’t work (the programming doesn’t save when the chips is re-connected).

    I tried the other fix on one of the chips by lifting the DE and RE pins although I haven’t tried the 2nd solution as I don’t have the equipment to do it. This didn’t work either and only resulted in one of the green LED’s flashing but not the other

    Both chips work for 5 minutes or so and then ‘stop responding’. The green LED’s stop flashing and freestyler becomes unresponsive. This is the problem I am trying to fix. Are the solutions posted relevant for this problem? If not, do you know if there is anything I could try to fix this issue?

    1. the reason ftprog is not working anymore is because of fake chip producers blocking their eeprom from being written to prevent the official ftdi driver from bricking the fake devices, I see the guides are confusing and i am working on an all in one guide. no clear solution for the “random stopping” problem :s

      1. Thanks for the reply! I suppose I’ll just have to buy another and cross my fingers. The guide is great btw, thanks for writing it! 🙂

  14. Hi!
    I have FT232R with MAX485 converter.
    I try to reflash C2 Pin with FT Prog. When I press “Program” FT Prog print “Finishing Programming” and “Ready”. When I reconnect the device C2 steel “TXDEN” mode.
    Do you have any solution to fix this?

    1. I am assuming you bought the device recently.. fake ftdi chip distributors have blocked the access to the ftdi’s configuration, this fix will only work for genuine ftdi chips

  15. Does this enable magicQ’s full features? If not has anyone tried copying a magicQ wings eeprom and writing it to one of these?

    1. This adapter will NOT work with MagicQ, MagicQ is only compatible with enttec dmx pro adapter which uses another protocol to communicate with the software.

      1. So the original post is wrong saying it is compatible with magicQ? as if I open the magicQ wing drivers folder there is a text document by FTDI. I also thought that I read magicQ used FTDI.

        1. From MagicQ FAQ:
          MagicQ has support for Enttec Pro (also DMX King), Digital Enlightenment, Peperoni, DMX4ALL, USBDMX, Velleman and Nicholaudie devices.

          The device we’re making is a “Enttec open DMX” clone which is not supported by MagicQ. I’m sorry.

          1. Ahh ok. Do you know the protocol for the Mq wings? After reading I think I discovered that magic q uses custom fetid drivers for there devices. If this is true could I connect a Mq wing and copy the eeprom and then put this on a cheap dongle. I am only in high school and do not have that much knolage of how the drivers communicate with the hardware so I am probably showing my ignorance asking these question!

            1. Did some research on building a Enttec DMX Pro adapter, it is possible but not by just copying the eeprom from one to another. I will not write a tutorial for this but following information should get you started:

              -The primary issue is Enttec Pro protocol adds a header to each DMX512 message, plus a trailing byte.
              -Open source DMX with RDM:http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showthread.php?11131-New-open-source-USB-DMX-with-RDM-(Enttec-USB-Pro-protocol)
              -Link to get you started : http://artemis.forumchitchat.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1281110891&postcount=16

  16. Hi Steve,

    Thanks for your work on this project. I have built a converter that is not quite working correctly. I have read all the posts and not been able to find a similar issue.

    I am using Mac OS X 10.10.5 and have tried QLC+ and JV Lighting and am getting the same results. Both programs recognise the board as Entec Open DMX USB.

    When I plug the board in I get a solid red LED on the board that remains on.

    If I send a DMX signal via a slider to it, a green LED on the board comes on and remains solid for a couple of seconds and then goes off. If you then try and send another DMX signal there can be a lag until the green LED comes back on. Sometimes this takes a second or two. Fading lights is impossible.

    If I set a light say to Blue and just wait, the green LED will come on and then drop out then come on again causing the light to flicker.

    It is as though DMX signals aren’t being constantly updated as the software changes settings.

    Have you seen this behaviour before?

    Cheers

    Mark

    1. Hi Mark, That’s weird, could you try another pc with windows and freestyler dmx? not sure but may be the new FTDI driver on mac.

      1. Hi Steve,
        I have made an attempt to get it to work on a PC. I made no progress at all with freestyler and wasn’t even sure whether I was getting DMX output. The monitor window wasn’t showing DMX output but I couldn’t see what I was doing wrong. I gave QLC+ ago on the PC as I am more familiar with that. The board was recognised by QLC+ but no output was observed. Even less success than my mac. At least I got a solid green light for short bursts on it. Anyway, maybe it is my board? Perhaps I should try some of the solutions mentioned in this discussion. My eyesight isn’t that good I and I don’t fancy trying to cut tiny little connections!

        Cheers
        Mark

        1. the soldering fixes are probably the way to go, most boards nowadays require this fix (thanks to ftdi company), you could try buying a usb rs485 adapter with rj45 connector, those still seem to work out of the box

  17. Hello, when I try to schedule Sleep C2 as this continues to TXDEN . Solution? As would be the lifting pins 1 and 2. And besides that the FTDI board or MAX485

    Thank you!!!

On Key

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