"FTDI USB Drivers", if it's the VCP ones the very latest ones have been reasonably stable for me. I've not had a system crash for quite a while now, whereas I was having them weekly with an older version.
Nope - I'm on the latest 2.2.18 drivers still flakey as can be - This has been an ongoing issue for me for about two years - it's a pain when you are working on a Cisco Router, and you unplug the cable and kernel panic. I guess on the (weirdly?) pro side, it's at least fairly consistent - about 20% of the time, the Macbook (two generations now for me, 2010, and 2013) kernel panics.
This is where Terminal.app (or possibly OS X 10.9 + Terminal.app) ability to show you your terminal history on recovery from Kernel Panic is really appreciated.
If only there was a reliable USB-Serial cable/controller/interface for the Mac. Unfortunately, RS-232 is so rare (except for consoling into Cisco Routers?) that there is no incentive for any vendor to actually write a half stable driver.
I don't know what sort of serial adapter you're using, but I've used a number of the PL2303-based ones over the years (currently a Trendnet TU-S9), and have never had them cause any sort of instability. Weird.
I've never found any one particular USB-Serial Adapter to be any more reliable. Currently using the Tripp Lite Keyspan, Model USA-49WG, SKU CU8037. Appears on the USB chain as: Product ID: 0x0131, Vendor ID: 0x06CD. Still kernel panics when I pull out the USB Cable.
I carry a Dell Laptop when going to customer sites+Putty for consoling into Cisco Routers because I've never found a Serial Cable/USB combination that doesn't cause the Macbook air to Kernel Panic.
I'll give the PL-2303 based device a chance - I see there is a nice comparison site here:
I've never found any one particular USB-Serial Adapter to be any more reliable with the FTDI drivers on the Mac. Currently using the Tripp Lite Keyspan, Model USA-49WG, SKU CU8037. Appears on the USB chain as: Product ID: 0x0131, Vendor ID: 0x06CD.
I carry a Dell Laptop when going to customer sites+Putty for consoling into Cisco Routers because I've never found a Serial Cable/USB combination that doesn't cause the Macbook air to Kernel Panic.
I'll give the PL-2303 based device a chance - I see there is a nice comparison site here:
This is where Terminal.app (or possibly OS X 10.9 + Terminal.app) ability to show you your terminal history on recovery from Kernel Panic is really appreciated.
If only there was a reliable USB-Serial cable/controller/interface for the Mac. Unfortunately, RS-232 is so rare (except for consoling into Cisco Routers?) that there is no incentive for any vendor to actually write a half stable driver.