FTDIChip-ID™ Projects
The examples posted on this page demonstrate the use of the FTDIChip-ID™ feature of the FT232R and FT245R devices. The FTDIChip-ID™ is a permanent, unique number programmed into each IC during production that cannot be changed by the end user. Since each number is unique, applications can be tied to specific devices, providing a dongle feature. The USB-Key is ideal for developers wishing to utilise only the FTDIChip-ID™ security features without a UART or FIFO interface.
An application note is available on the FTDIChip-ID™ on our Application Notes page. In order to extract the FTDIChip-ID™ from a FT232R and FT245R device, the FTChipID DLL is required and D2XX drivers must be installed.
The FTChipID DLL is available for Windows (V1.1.0), Linux (V0.1.0) and Mac OS X (V0.1.0). A FTChipID programmer’s guide is available from our Programming Guides page.
Example code showing how to use the FTChipID DLL is available for the following platforms:
- C Sharp (requires .NET interface DLL to be included in project)
- Delphi
- LabVIEW (7.0 and later)
- Visual Basic 6
- Visual Basic .NET (requires .NET interface DLL to be included in project)
- Visual C++(Console Application)
- Visual C++ (MFC)
- Visual C++ (Win32)
A 64 Bit DLL for Windows OS is also available for download here.
Example 1 - Web Registration Application
This web application example lists all of the FT232R and FT245R based devices connected to the client PC and allows the user to select which devices to register with a server. The registration works by reading the unique FTDIChip-ID™ from the device, encrypting it with date and time information and then writing the encrypted data back into the onboard EEPROM user area.
The encrypted FTDIChip-ID™ information is decrypted and checked against the permanent FTDIChip-ID™ to verify the registration. If the decrypted FTDIChip-ID™ does not match, then the device is not registered.
To download the example, click here.
Please note that the latest D2XX driver must be installed for this example to function.