A quick note on installing the Prolific PL-2303 USB-to-Serial driver under Windows 7.
My Puxing PX-777 Plus radios can be programmed using a USB Programming Cable. The “6-in-1” programming software is only available for Windows. On my Mac, I run a virtual Windows 7 installation under VMware Fusion.
PL-2303 USB-to-Serial driver
I tried the supplied drivers from 409shop for Puxing; I also tried latest drivers from the Prolific website (PL2303_Prolific_DriverInstaller_v130.zip). These appear to install correctly, but upon inserting the USB cable Windows 7 returns an error “The Device Cannot Start (Code 10)” and claims the driver was not installed. Re-installation did not help.
After some Googling, I downloaded alternative USB Drivers from http://www.usglobalsat.com/download/546/win_drivers.zip (cached: win_drivers.zip). Unpack and install (PL2303_Prolific_GPS_AllInOne_1013.exe), insert the USB programming cable.
This worked for me; the cable now shows up as a serial port (COM3 here).
Puxing PX-777 Plus programming software
I downloaded the most recent 6in1 software from Puxing (either http://www.puxingradio.com/down.asp or http://www.pxdz.com/english/down.asp). If needed, install 7-Zip to unpack the RAR-archive.
Choose “Typical” installation. If the installer asks, enter serial number “pxdz” (not sure if this is needed), enter any company name.
Due to a permissions problem (explained here), the software runs in Chinese instead of English.
I copied the C:/Program Files/PX folder a shared folder and run it from there to avoid the permissions problem. I had to manually edit the .INI file, changed “LANGUAGE=CHINESE” to “LANGUAGE=ENGLISH”.
Note: Make sure that you select the correct COM-port every time you start the 6in1 software.
Update 2010.08: The most recent PX6IN1.EXE binary I found had a Modification date of 2009-03-17, 15:50.
Update 2011.04: The download-link at USGlobalSat apparently no longer works. You can download my copy of win_drivers.zip instead.
Update 2012.01: Removed links to cached copy of the PL-2303 drivers by request of Prolific. Their Technical Manager informed me: “Please bear in mind that those cables (mostly no-brand cables) that shows Error Code 10 on latest Prolific drivers are actually using counterfeit (fake) Prolific PL-2303 chips“, and “The only way right now to identify a fake chip is the Error Code 10“. It seems that the best way to avoid problems is to buy brand cables using genuine PL-2303 chips, for example from ATEN INTERNATIONAL CO., Ltd. or Good Way Technology Co., Ltd. (I have no affiliation with either of these manufacturers / brands).