What Is Adafruit Industries LLC Ports in Cura Installation?

Cura is a name that every 3D printing enthusiast must have heard at some point, considering that it’s one of, if not the most used slicer software.

While both installing and using Cura are as easy as it comes, there is a slight detail during the installation process for Windows users, which has drawn the attention of many community members.

In a nutshell, a popup appears at some point during Cura installation, asking the user to install a device driver with the name Adafruit Industries LLC Ports, which prompted many community members to inquire about what it really is.

So, what is the Adafruit Industries LLC Ports driver that comes up during Cura installation?

The Adafruit Industries LLC Ports driver is part of the set of drivers Cura installs when you check the Install Arduino Drivers checkbox, which is necessary for your PC to connect to your 3D printer through USB.

If you wish to skip installing the driver, you can uncheck the Install Arduino Drivers checkbox.

Moving forward, we will take a deeper look into what these drivers are, if they are necessary, whether they are safe for installation or not, and how you can uninstall them if you wish to.

What Is Adafruit Industries LLC Ports In Cura Installation?

We can’t deny that seeing a foreign name that you haven’t heard of before during the installation of Cura can be worrisome, as installing drivers you don’t know about is never a good idea.

Without further ado, let’s clear the air.

The Adafruit Industries LLC Ports device software is a necessary component of the Arduino USB driver suite, required for Cura to recognize your printer through a USB connection between your 3D printer and your PC.

You will also notice the installation of other Arduino-related drivers alongside the Adafruit Industries one, which further proves that this driver is part of Arduino USB drivers.

The Cura installer will only install this driver (and other Arduino-related drivers) if you check the Install Arduino Drivers checkbox before the installation process starts.

The reason behind the driver having the Adafruit name instead of Arduino is due to Adafruit being the developer for the driver, which they have developed as a contribution to Arduino.

Is Adafruit Industries Device Software Safe?

Another question regarding the Adafruit Industries device driver installation in Cura is whether it’s safe to install it or not.

The Adafruit Industries device software is part of the official Arduino USB drivers and is completely safe.

Since all Cura does is installing the standard Arduino USB drivers, you can also encounter the Adafruit Industries device software during the installation of the Arduino IDE if you check the Install USB driver box, which is further proof.

As Adafruit is a reputable company with a sizeable amount of contributions in the maker space, we don’t think that there is any reason to worry about the safety of these drivers.

While it’s a good idea to be vigilant about what you install on your computer, especially when it comes to drivers, you can be sure that the Adafruit Industries device software won’t cause any harm.

How Do I Uninstall Adafruit Industries LLC Ports Drivers?

If you don’t need the Adafruit Industries LLC Ports drivers and would like to uninstall them, here are the steps we recommend taking for the uninstallation process.

  1. Bring the Start Menu up, type “cmd” into the search input, and press Enter to launch Command Prompt.
  2. Run the command SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1 in Command Prompt, which will cause Windows to show hidden drivers in Device Manager.
  3. Right-click the Start Menu button, and click Device Manager.
  4. Click the View button on the menu, and choose the Show Hidden Devices option.
  5. Locate the Adafruit Industries LLC Ports drivers in the list, right-click the entry, and click Uninstall.
  6. Check the box with the text “Delete the driver software for this device” if it appears.
  7. Click the OK button.

Upon following the steps above, the Adafruit Industries LLC Ports driver will disappear from the list, meaning that it’s uninstalled.

Does Cura Need Arduino USB Drivers?

While Cura asks you to install the Arduino USB drivers during the installation process, it doesn’t give a lot of information about whether these drivers are necessary for Cura to work or not.

Cura only installs Arduino USB drivers if you choose to, meaning that the drivers aren’t entirely necessary for Cura to operate.

As the Arduino USB drivers are only necessary for Cura to recognize your 3D printer through a USB connection between your PC and your 3D printer, you can skip installing these drivers if you aren’t planning on connecting your 3D printer to your PC through USB.

To skip installing the Arduino USB drivers, uncheck the box before the installation process starts.

Since the Adafruit Industries driver is also a part of the Arduino USB drivers, you will notice that the installer won’t prompt the installation of this driver if you aren’t installing the Arduino USB drivers.

As you can always install these drivers later down the road when you need them, you won’t be losing out on anything by opting not to at the current time.

On the other hand, installing these drivers and not using them won’t cause any harm to your computer either, meaning that you can feel free to install them now if you think that you will be using them later on.

Wrapping Up

We certainly understand that seeing the installation of third-party drivers that aren’t related to Ultimaker themselves while installing Cura can be worrying and confusing.

Fortunately, the Adafruit Industries LLC Ports drivers are nothing to worry about, as the developer of these drivers is one of the most reputable companies in the maker space, Adafruit.

While these drivers are only necessary for a USB connection between your computer and your 3D printer, installing them on your computer won’t do any harm regardless of whether you use them or not.

We hope that it has been an informative read, and we will see you next time!