Manually setting up GRBL device (Creallity Laser 10W). Lightburn doesn’t detect any COM port.
The controller board chip has Espressif ESP32-S2-MINI-1.
V2.2.S2.113 is printed on the board, I see V2.2.S2.113.
Win10 Device Manager “sees” the USB connection to the controller: When I plug in the USB cable in the back of the computer, “USB Serial Device (COM3)” appears and when I unplug the cable, that port disappears.
Are you saying Win10 device manager shows COM3 when the laser is connected, but Lightburn is not showing COM3 as a choice?
Correct. Win10 device manager shows COM3 when the laser is connected, but Lightburn is not showing COM3 as a choice.
I’ve been trying to use ChatGPT (Plus) to troubleshoot this so as not to annoy any people, but I think in the end it has been hallucinating or running me down multiple rabbit holes.
At the risk of TL;DR, here are some of the instructions which you might scan through:
Step 1. Completely remove the broken driverIn Device Manager, right-click
Silicon Labs CP210x USB-to-UART Bridge (COM3) → Uninstall device.
Check “Delete the driver software for this device.”
Click Uninstall.
Unplug the laser’s USB cable.
Reboot Windows.
Step 2. Install the current signed driverDownload the latest signed package directly from Silicon Labs:
https://www.silabs.com/developers/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers
Under Windows Downloads, choose
“Windows CP210x VCP Driver (v11.x or newer)” → click Download ZIP.
Unzip it somewhere (e.g. C:\CP210x_NewDriver).
Right-click CP210xVCPInstaller_x64.exe → Run as Administrator.
(Do not manually pick .inf this time; let the installer register the new, signed driver.)
When done, reconnect your laser’s USB cable.
If successful, Device Manager → Ports (COM & LPT) should show:
Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COM3)
Step 3. Confirm functionalityRight-click → Properties → Driver Details.
You should see something like:
Provider: Silicon Laboratories
Driver Date: 2023-08-30
Driver Version: 11.3.0.0
If so, you’re good to go.
Step 4. Test in LightBurnOnce the COM port is clean:
Open LightBurn → Devices → Create Manually
Controller: GRBL
Connection: Serial/USB
Port: COM3
Baud Rate: 115200
Open the Console tab — you should see:
Grbl 1.1f ['$' for help]
Once you confirm the driver shows without the warning icon, I can walk you through the correct LightBurn device profile and origin setup for your Falcon 10 W. Would you like me to outline that next?
After running CP210xVCPInstaller_x64.exe as Administrator, I do not get Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COM3) in Device Manager under Ports.
Perfect — this confirms the installer ran, but Windows didn’t associate the correct driver with the device yet (it fell back to the generic “USB Serial Device (COM3)”).
That means the driver is installed, but not bound to the hardware.
Let’s manually link it to the new, signed Silicon Labs driver that’s now on your system.
Step-by-Step to Rebind the Correct CP210x DriverRight-click “USB Serial Device (COM3)” → Update driver.
Choose Browse my computer for drivers →
then Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.
You should now see a list that includes:
USB Serial Device (the default Windows one)
Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge
Select Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge and click Next.
Approve the warning about compatibility (it’s safe — the new driver is signed).
Wait for the installation to finish. You should then see:
Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COM3)
with no yellow triangle.
If “Silicon Labs…” Doesn’t Appear in Step 3That just means Windows hasn’t yet loaded the catalog entry.
Do this:
Click Have Disk…
Browse to:
C:\Program Files\Silicon Laboratories\CP210x\Windows Drivers
Select the .inf file (usually silabser.inf or slabvcp.inf) and click Open → OK.
Then select “Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge” and click Next.
Verify SuccessWhen done, check:
Device Manager → Ports (COM & LPT) shows
Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COM3)
Driver Details show Silicon Labs as provider, date 2023 or newer.
Once that’s set, LightBurn will finally detect the Falcon on COM3.
Would you like me to give you the exact LightBurn device setup parameters (controller type, baud rate, origin, etc.) to confirm communication right after this?
Thought for 2m 16s
That error (“The system cannot find the file specified”) usually happens when Windows is trying to bind the wrong driver to the device. Let’s confirm exactly what chip your board exposes and then take the right path.
In Device Manager, right-click USB Serial Device (COM3) → Properties.
Go to Details tab → Property drop-down → choose Hardware Ids.
Note the VID/PID you see, e.g. USB\VID_10C4&PID_EA60.
Use this key:
VID_10C4 = Silicon Labs CP210x (use CP210x driver)
VID_1A86 = CH340/CH341 (use WCH CH34x driver)
VID_303A = Espressif (ESP32 native USB CDC — use Windows’ built-in “USB Serial Device”, no extra driver)
VID_0403 = FTDI FT232 (use FTDI driver)
Tell me what you see and we’ll lock it in. Meanwhile:
Nothing else to install—the generic “USB Serial Device (COMx)” is correct.
If LightBurn doesn’t talk yet:
Close LightBurn completely.
Plug in the Falcon (leave it powered on).
Re-open LightBurn → Devices → Create Manually → Controller GRBL, Connection Serial/USB, pick COM3, Baud 115200.
Open Console in LightBurn. You should see a Grbl ... banner after you power-cycle the laser. If not, type $$ or $I and press Enter.
Your earlier Code 10 + “file not found” means the old INF was referenced or the driver store got messy. Do a clean reinstall:
A. Remove broken entries
Unplug the USB.
Device Manager → View → Show hidden devices.
Uninstall any Silicon Labs CP210x or USB Serial Device (COMx) entries related to the laser (right-click → Uninstall device → check Delete the driver software when offered).
Open an elevated Command Prompt and remove stale packages:
pnputil /enum-drivers | findstr /i "silicon cp210"
For each oem##.inf it lists:
pnputil /delete-driver oem##.inf /uninstall /force
B. Install the current driver
Run CP210xVCPInstaller_x64.exe as Administrator (use the newest package you downloaded).
Plug the laser back in. In Device Manager you should now see
Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COM3).
C. If it still shows “USB Serial Device (COM3)”
Right-click it → Update driver → Browse my computer → Let me pick → select Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge.
If it isn’t listed, click Have Disk… and browse to
C:\Program Files\Silicon Laboratories\CP210x\Windows Drivers\
(make sure the folder contains the .inf, .cat, and the x64\silabser.sys subfolder).
Finish install, then unplug/replug USB.
Install the WCH CH34x driver instead. After install, it will appear as USB-SERIAL CH340 (COMx). Then set LightBurn to GRBL / COMx / 115200.
Try a different USB cable (must be data-capable) and a USB 2.0 port directly on the PC (avoid hubs).
Power the laser ON before opening LightBurn.
In LightBurn, if the port list looks stale, close/reopen LightBurn after plugging in the cable.
Reply with the Hardware Ids you see and I’ll give you the exact next step (and, if needed, the correct driver link for that VID/PID).
I am not familiar with any of those drivers. Any chance you saw mention of the CH340 driver for USB?
Yes, I did. I started with that one and it didn’t seem to work so I kept prompting ChatGPT. It concluded that because I had the Expressif chip on the controller, that the CH340 was not the correct driver.
I have the files I downloaded for the CH340 - but I don’t know if I’ve kludged things up badly by following the other ChatGPT suggestions.
This is one of the messages I got from ChatGPT regarding CH340:
Because your board isn’t a CH340 device. The Espressif VID/PID (303A:4001) indicates the Falcon’s controller exposes a native CDC-ACM serial port (COM3) and optionally a USB-JTAG interface. Windows 10/11 loads usbser.sys automatically for CDC-ACM, which is exactly what you’re seeing. If you ever need the JTAG/WinUSB side for development, that’s when you’d use the Espressif driver package from the esp-win-usb-drivers releases page.
Here is another:
1. Your Falcon does NOT use a CH340 chipYour hardware IDs:
This belongs to Espressif (ESP32-S3), not WCH (CH340).
A CH340 would show:
VID_1A86 & PID_7523 or
VID_1A86 & PID_5523
You do not have those.
So even if you ran a CH340 installer earlier, Windows is not using those drivers for COM3.
Hmmm. Just playing around, I viewed “Hidden Devices” and uninstalled and deleted drivers for the Silicon Labs com driver (which had a yellow triangle on it anyway).
Then, when the standard USB serial driver came up, I changed it from COM3 to COM4.
When I went to Lightburn, COM4 showed up with the GRBL device, however, the CONTROL window said that the port was in use by another device.
I wonder if this helps me along in troubleshooting efforts?
Not sure how to respond to that. A.I. typically has a 30% accuracy rate with 100% confidence. I guess only you can verify the validity of the returned text. Did you search the Forum for USB and Creality for possible information?
I seem to be saying this too much lately, but you might email Support@LightburnSoftware.com with a link to this thread. They have a wealth of information and machines to call upon.
Email sent. If I get a solution, I may post it here. I don’t think I’m the only one who has had trouble getting the Creality Falcon 10W and Lightburn to play nicely together.
My problem DID seem to start after a Windows upgrade. I just happened across this article which includes the Creality Falcon 10W among those machines affected:
