Linux Ch340 Driver < Must See >
But here’s the paradox: The CH340’s very cheapness has made it the de facto standard for open-source hardware. And because of that, kernel developers have invested serious effort into making the driver bulletproof. The CH340 on Linux today is a success story of open-source pragmatism—a driver written not for a premium product, but for the components that actually ship in millions of devices.
But how well does it actually work on Linux? The answer, after years of a rocky history, is surprisingly well—thanks entirely to a robust, mainlined kernel driver that has matured into a model of stability and efficiency. linux ch340 driver
echo "blacklist ch341" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-ch341.conf sudo rmmod ch341 Fix : Add your user to the dialout group: But here’s the paradox: The CH340’s very cheapness
| Metric | CH340 | FTDI FT232RL | |--------|-------|---------------| | Sustained throughput | 11.2 KB/s | 11.5 KB/s | | Max baud rate (stable) | 2 Mbps | 3 Mbps | | CPU usage @115200 | 0.8% | 0.7% | | Latency (worst-case) | 4 ms | 2 ms | But how well does it actually work on Linux
To see what baud rate the driver actually set:
This feature explores the Linux CH340 driver: its architecture, performance characteristics, common pitfalls, and why it deserves more respect than it often gets. Early Linux users remember the CH340 with a shudder. For years, the default ch341.ko driver was a mess—plagued by dropped bytes, incorrect baud rate calculations, and complete failure at higher speeds. Many tutorials simply advised throwing away CH340 cables in favor of FTDI or Silicon Labs CP2102.