CH340K ESP32 shows up in macOS USB tree but no /dev/cu.usbserial port (macOS Tahoe 26.4.1)
What does work:
In System Report → USB, when I plug in the ESP32 I see this device:
USB Serial
USB Vendor ID: 0x1A86 (WCH)
USB Product ID: 0x7522
Link Speed: 12 Mb/s
So the Mac definitely sees the CH340K at the USB level. Power LED (“P”) on the ESP32 is solid red, so it’s getting power.
What doesn’t work:
In Terminal, ls /dev/cu.* doesn't show my esp32
No /dev/cu.usbserial…, no /dev/cu.wchusbserial…, nothing new appears when I plug or unplug the ESP32.
What I’ve already tried:
Cables / hardware sanity:
Tried multiple known‑good USB‑C cables, including ones that can transfer data to other devices.
Tried different USB‑C ports.
Board powers up; red power LED is solid. USB device always shows up as above in System Report.
WCH CH34x driver install:
Downloaded and installed the latest CH34xVCPDriver / ch34xser_macos package I could find.
After installing:
Went to System Settings → Privacy & Security and clicked Allow for the WCH system software when prompted, then rebooted.
Went to System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Driver Extensions and made sure CH34xVCPDriver is toggled ON.
Rebooted multiple times with the ESP32 unplugged, then plugged it back in.
Still no new /dev/cu.* device.
Cleanup + reinstall attempts:
Removed old CH34x kexts from /Library/Extensions and receipts under /var/db/receipts (per various guides), rebooted, then reinstalled the latest WCH driver and repeated the Allow + toggle + reboot process.
Behavior is unchanged: USB device appears (0x1A86 / 0x7522), but no tty/cu device is created.