I also ran the cd install whereas I seem to recall you didn’t. Maybe that tripped something else.
I have Version 1703 and OS Build 15063.674 - W10 Home 64-bit
Your MiniPro came with a CD install disk? Mine didn’t.
I have the same Windows 10 version and OS Build that you have, 64 bit as well.
So maybe you’re right that your running the CD install tripped something else and made it use the slightly older driver from the CD install disk. Maybe if you uninstall and let Windows 10 try to find its on built-in driver, then you’ll get the same driver version PVC and I have. But if your MiniPro is working fine then you may not care.
Yeah other than driver envy I don’t care it works.
On the device itself above the serial number it says LA0031 if that means anything.
Edit: I’m just now doing a manual windows update and it appears to be finding a version 1709. So I’ll see what happens after that.
Edit: Yeah that took a while. It’s now Version 1709 and OS Build 16299.19. No change in driver. Still works fine.
Yes I got a little disk in the box along with several bits of paper and a book all in Chinese.
Thank you all for continuing to kick this around while I got some sleep and did other things. You guys are amazing.
Lots of good ideas here. I have less time today to work on this than yesterday, but I will come back to it and try these.
To answer some general points, I do have the Batch No: LA0031 sticker on the bottom of my MiniPro. This one arrived in mid-September from Ali and I first tried installing then, but I didn’t have the CS44 cables yet, so I thought maybe that was the problem–that nothing was connected to the MiniPro. The Windows version on that PC then was Win 10 Pro 64-bit 1607, which has since updated to 1703 (current build 15063.608). Yes the reference to USB 1.1 was to a port–I tried running the MiniPro on both a USB2 port and a USB 1.1 port on the back of the PC.
Coroplast posted: Make sure nothing else is claiming com3. Plug the usb cord directly to the motherboard which would be one of the ones on the back if it is a desktop. Try each and every USB port. Manually change it to com1, 2, or 4. The nuclear option is kicking other devices off their com port if it is between 1 and 4 then using that. It shouldn’t be necessary but you may have to clear out old hi-pro and mini-pro registrations using Regedit. If you don’t know what regedit is then don’t even try to do this; you will screw up your computer.
Well now isn’t that interesting. Following the suggestion to make sure nothing else is claiming COM3, I used the procedure here to check COM port use: windows - How do I find the device which has Com Port X reserved - want to reclaim the port num for different device - Super User
Doing that revealed that nothing else is using COM3, and nothing else is using any other COM port (other than Communication Port COM1, of course), but more intriguing, HI-PRO USB (COM3) does now appear as a Hidden device in Windows as described at the above link. It appears greyed out in Device Manager when Hidden devices are shown. And if I right-click the hidden HI-PRO device and display the driver, I see that it’s trying to use an older driver than others report here:
HI-PRO USB (COM3)
Driver Provider: FTDI
Driver Date: 10/22/2009
Driver Version: 2.6.0.0
Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatability Publisher
and the Events tab at HI-PRO USB (COM3) shaws Device install requested, Driver service added (FTSER2K), Driver service added (Serenum), and Device installed (ftdiport.inf), all within a second of each other, six weeks ago. Interesting. I did insert the driver disk that came from Ali Express, which has older Windows drivers, but not Win 10, and run install.exe at that time.
When I click the General tab, Device Status, it says: Currently this hardware device is not connected to the computer (Code 45). To fix this probem, reconnect this hardware device to the computer. [But that’s not correct–it is connected and the POWER LED is illuminated.] So Win 10 sorta thinks it’s installed, and sorta doesn’t, but it’s installed with an old driver, and installed as a Hidden device. Without displaying Hidden devices in Device Manager as described above, I could not have told you which driver version was installed; that window was not available to me until I displayed Hidden devices in Device Manager
So more suggestions above I will try but haven’t yet: Different USB ports than the ones tried so far. Disconnect other USB devices. Right-click the Hidden device and Uninstall device from there. Backup the Registry and then edit the Registry to remove all traces of Hi-Pro and FTDI. Delete ftdiport.inf. Try try again. Maybe the MiniPro is indeed fine and, as suggested above, just a driver installation issue.
hamjor1: That driver version is the same one I started with and it seemed to work fine.
Did you ever perhaps try the idea of a System Restore back to before you installed or would that be too far back with too much other stuff done to the computer since?
I do not have a System Restore from mid-September, before the install. I do have an older backup I could use, but that would be a last resort, because rolling back to that would cause a lot of other issues.
Just to be sure we’re talking about the same thing…I’m not talking about a backup to restore…I’m talking about the so-called System Restore function in Windows where you can return to a so-called restore point. Restore points are often made automatically before something changes on the computer.
But yes either way if a lot has happened to the computer in the meantime then it could be disruptive.
If I were doing it, and I am not, I would disconnect the mini-Pro, then delete it from device manager, then manually clean the registery, reboot twice just to be sure, then insert the min-pro into a known usb 2.2 port on the motherboard. Windows would then go through its’ identification and driver installation.
You could probably skip the registery step.
It’s not working now so you have nothing to loose. Also the cables aren’t necessary for this at least they aren’t on my Hi-Pro. But if you have them, plug em in.
Thanks but the Win 10 System Restores available to me go back to early October, not mid-September, which is the point I would have to System Restore to in order to go back before the MiniPro was connected and an install was attempted. I cannot use Windows System Restore to try and fix this.
try with
Disable Driver Signature
follow steps
I just PMed you my cloud drive copy of the Mini Pro driver cd. Hope that helps …
Just wanted to give a heads up that we have the Original Hi-Pro in stock (not the mini) for $175.
And maybe a picture of the rear? Oh, I just saw the expensive Hi Pro 2 on sale on EBay for $600 + $15 shipping. That’s way too much!!
Back to this genuine Hi Pro for $175,
Sorry, but this is not a USB Hi Pro. I believe that it’s Serial Hi-Pro/old-junk, uses old serial cable, separate power cord, and USB-Serial adapter with sufficient adapter-speed and the back will look like this,
Some newbies end up getting the old-junk/Serial Hi-Pro for a slightly better price. If you get this old stuff with cables all over the place, you may have compatibility issues because today’s computers no longer have serial ports.
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Yes that’s the one we have. They include the power cable, serial to USB, and programming cables.
They all work just fine with modern computers.
I’ll say it again…we will beat any price. You know this by now though! 
this is junk now many manufacturer turned to wireless/ hipro 2 for special work like firmware upgrade… if you click they say notification to suggest to use at least hi pro 2…
Yes the Hi-Pro 2 and wireless are faster for sure, but they are not cheap…see above. (our cost on a Hi-Pro 2 is $1200!)
We use all of them in the office. Serial units are just as fast as USB Hi-Pro 1’s.
I’m not really understanding. I said we will beat any price @pvc.
If the device is cheaper, faster, and used exactly the same way…how is it not a good option?
How is it obsolete? The only thing you have mentioned so far is the older serial connection it uses. Which has been addressed because I will provide a serial to USB cable. How is that apples to oranges?