Why the port is missing
M5Burner talks to your board over a serial port. If the operating system doesn't create one, M5Burner has nothing to list. The usual causes are:
- The USB-to-serial driver isn't installed.
- The cable only carries power, not data.
- Another program already holds the port.
- The board isn't in download mode (on native-USB boards).
Which driver does your board need?
| USB chip | Typical devices | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| CP2104 (Silicon Labs) | Older Core, Fire, early devices | CP210x VCP driver |
| CH9102 (WCH) | Many newer Core2 batches, StickC Plus, others | CH9102 VCP_SER (Windows), CH34x/CH9102 (macOS) |
| FTDI | A few specific products | FTDI VCP driver |
| Native USB (ESP32-S3) | Cardputer, AtomS3, StickS3, others | Usually none on modern systems |
M5Stack notes that if you aren't sure which chip your board has, you can install both the CP210x and CH9102 drivers. All of them are on the official download page.
Windows checks
- Open Device Manager and plug the board in. A new entry under Ports (COM & LPT) shows the driver works.
- A yellow warning under Other devices means the driver is missing.
- For CH9102 on Windows, M5Stack offers VCP_SER and VCP_CDC drivers. Try VCP_SER first.
macOS checks
- After installing a driver, allow it in System Settings → Privacy & Security and restart.
- M5Stack's docs note that the CH9102 macOS installer may report an error even when installation actually completed.
- macOS may show two ports for one CH9102 device. M5Stack recommends choosing the one named
wchmodem. - Ignore
Bluetooth-Incoming-Port; it is not your board.
Linux checks
- Boards usually appear as
/dev/ttyUSB0or/dev/ttyACM0. Runls /dev/tty*before and after plugging in. - Add yourself to the serial group:
sudo usermod -aG dialout $USER(on Arch-based systems,uucp), then log out and in. - Remove
brlttyif it grabs CH34x-type devices on your distribution.
Enter download mode
Native-USB boards sometimes need to be put into download mode manually, especially after crashing firmware. The method varies by product. A common one is to hold the boot (G0) button while plugging in the USB cable. Check the product's page in M5Stack's documentation for the exact buttons.
Test the cable first
Charge-only USB-C cables are common, especially ones bundled with power banks and accessories. A quick test: connect a phone with the same cable. If the computer offers to browse the phone's files, the cable carries data. Keep one known-good data cable with your M5Stack kit and label it.
The port appears but burning fails
- Lower the baud rate in M5Burner (for example from 1500000 to 921600 or 115200).
- Close Arduino IDE, PlatformIO, Thonny or any serial monitor.
- Use a short cable and a direct port, not a hub or front-panel socket.
Get M5Burner v3.0
Official package for Windows, macOS and Linux x64, downloaded from M5Stack.
