Web Serial Help

co2mon.nz makes use of the Web Serial API provided by modern web broswers to enable the registration, configuration and provisioning of CO2 monitors not purchased directly from co2mon.nz.

If you purchased your CO2 Monitor directly from co2mon.nz you shouldn't need to follow any of the instructions of this page, you can manage your monitor directly from the dashboard. However if you've modified, broken or need to factory reset your CO2 monitor you can also use the method on this page to restore to a pristine state.

Requirements

To register a CO2 monitor using Web Serial, you will need:

  1. A computer with Google Chrome v89 or greater installed.
    • Other browsers such as Microsoft Edge have also been seen observed to work fine, but cannot be guaranteed.
    • Safari on MacOS is known NOT to support Web Serial and cannot be used.
  2. An ESP32 based CO2 Monitor compatible with the open source design published by Oliver Seiler.
  3. A MicroUSB to USB-A (or USB-C) cable to connect the CO2 Monitor to your computer.
  4. Appropriate serial drivers for your operating system installed (see below).

Usage Instructions

Once the above requirements are met:

  1. Connect the CO2 Monitor using the Micro-USB port on the left of the case, to an available USB port on your computer using the Micro-USB to USB-A (or USB-C) cable.
    • Note: You cannot use the larger (square) USB socket on the bottom of the CO2 Monitor, this connector is only wired up for power-supply purposes.
  2. Close any other applications/windows that may be opening or establishing a Serial port connection.
  3. Open Chrome and navigate to the Device Registration page (logging in to co2mon.nz first, if required).
  4. Once you have read and understood the instructions on that page, click Begin Registration.
  5. In the dialog box that pops up, you should see a entry with text similar to CP2102 USB to UART Bridge Controller. Click on this entry.
  6. With the CP2102 USB to UART Bridge Controller (or similar) entry selected, Click Connect at the bottom of the dialog.
  7. The page should now begin registering your monitor.
  8. Follow the onscreen instructions provided.

If you are still experiencing problems getting the Device Registration page to open a port to your CO2 monitor after meeting the requirements above and completing the steps below, please contact help@co2mon.nz and include the error code referenced in the failure. We will use our best-efforts to get you working, but we cannot guarantee or offer detailed support if you are unable to get the serial port of your PC/Mac working.

ESP 32 Serial Drivers

The "ESP32" is the main chipset that controls the CO2 Monitor. The high-level instructions of how to establish a serial connection with it are found in the ESP-IDF programming guide, in particular if you are on Windows or MacOS you will need to install the CP201x drivers listed on that page before attempting to make a Web Serial connection to your CO2 Monitor.

While the ESP32 documentation states that the appropriate drivers should be installed automatically when the CO2 monitor is connected, we have not observed that to happen reliably in practice, and recommend completing the manual installation steps for Windows and MacOS before proceeding further. For Linux, the drivers are included in all non-ancient kernels by default, so you should only need to check you have permissions to the serial port.

Windows

  1. Download and Unzip the CP210x Universal Windows Driver from https://www.silabs.com/developers/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers.
  2. From within the extracted zip file, right-click on the silabser.inf file and Choose the Install menu option (which may be hidden behind the More Options menu entry).
  3. Follow the installation prompts presented.
  4. Once the installation completes, you should be able to immediately return to the CO2 Monitor Registration page, click on the Begin Registration button and select your CO2 monitor from the presented list.
Windows Troubleshooting

If the above steps do not immediately work for you, try the following in order:

  • Reboot and then try the CO2 Monitor Registration page again.
  • Follow the ESP-IDF verification instructions to validate the drivers were correctly installed. When you reboot the ESP32 (by pressing the button above the MicroUSB port) you should see several lines of text appear in the serial console.
  • Try a different micro-USB cable to rule out cable faults.
  • Re-attempt the installation procedure.

Mac OS

  1. Download and Unzip the CP210x VCP MacOSX Driver
  2. From within the extracted zip file double-click on the SiLabsUSBDriverDisk.dmg.
  3. Follow the installation prompts presented.
  4. Once the installation completes, you should be able to immediately return to the CO2 Monitor Registration page, click on the Begin Registration button and select your CO2 monitor from the presented list.
MacOS Troubleshooting

If the above steps do not immediately work for you, try the following in order:

  • Reboot and then try the CO2 Monitor Registration page again.
  • Follow the ESP-IDF verification instructions to validate the drivers were correctly installed. When you reboot the ESP32 (by pressing the button above the MicroUSB port) you should see several lines of text appear in the serial console.
  • Try a different micro-USB cable to rule out cable faults.
  • Re-attempt the installation procedure.

Linux

Unless you have a particularly ancient Linux installation, in which case you're on your own, there are not specific installation steps required to enable connection via the CP210x serial chipset on Linux.

Linux Troubleshooting
  • Make sure the user you are running Chrome as has permissions to access the serial port as described ESP-IDF guide. Note: you will need to log-out/log-in after changing permissions before they will take effect.
© Copyright 2022 MKMBA Ltd. Terms Of Use Privacy Policy