Serial port not showing  in Arduino on Ubuntu 8.10

Hi!
I managed to get Arduino to work on Ubuntu 8.10. Meaning I can write and compile programs with it, but when I want to upload the program to my Arduino Diecimila I can't do it due to the fact that the serial port menu is grayed out. Also, when I plug the Diecimila into my computer, nothing happens, the lights don't go on, etc.

I have installed all the packages required, even changing the Java version to that of Sun's.

Any ideas?

Thanks
svenofix

Connect the Arduino to a usb port, open a terminal window and type

dmesg|tail

What messages do you get, if any, for the usb device?

For example, on my pc I get

[22146.520012] usb 5-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 5
[22146.722901] usb 5-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[22146.727106] ftdi_sio 5-2:1.0: FTDI USB Serial Device converter detected
[22146.727738] ftdi_sio: Detected FT232RL
[22146.728513] usb 5-2: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB1

I know that on earlier versions of Ubuntu, a bug in the brltty package forced the arduino to be recognized as a braille device. I think it was fixed before Ubuntu 8.10 was released but, just in case, you can remove that package (always assuming that no one using that computer needs to use a braille device).

HTH

Ver

After running 'dmesg|tail' I got:

[28660.627485]  [<c0370000>] ? enable_nonboot_cpus+0x60/0xc0
[28660.627496]  =======================
[28660.627501] ---[ end trace 42d933c9e91933f0 ]---
[28660.673671] input: b43-phy0 as /devices/virtual/input/input14
[28660.884274] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 410.2160 (2007-05-26 15:32:10)
[28661.023192] Registered led device: b43-phy0::tx
[28661.023264] Registered led device: b43-phy0::rx
[28661.023324] Registered led device: b43-phy0::radio
[28671.964054] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
[28690.624076] wlan0: No active IBSS STAs - trying to scan for other IBSS networks with same SSID (merge)

When I ran dmesg in the terminal I had a USB Mouse, flash drive (or at least a memory card reader), turned off camera, and of course the Arduino attached to my computer (laptop actually).

Thing is, I ran dmesg again after disconnecting everything except for the Arduino and got the following (I probably should have waited at least 20sec before running dmesg again, but still):

[29165.887490] scsi 2:0:0:0: rejecting I/O to dead device
[29165.887505] scsi 2:0:0:0: rejecting I/O to dead device
[29165.887515] scsi 2:0:0:0: [sdb] READ CAPACITY failed
[29165.887521] scsi 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Result: hostbyte=DID_NO_CONNECT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK,SUGGEST_OK
[29165.887532] scsi 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Sense not available.
[29165.887545] scsi 2:0:0:0: rejecting I/O to dead device
[29165.887557] scsi 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[29165.887563] scsi 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
[29165.887570] scsi 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[29169.432114] usb 4-1: USB disconnect, address 4

I also tried one last time with just the mouse and Arduino hooked up and got the following:

[29165.887532] scsi 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Sense not available.
[29165.887545] scsi 2:0:0:0: rejecting I/O to dead device
[29165.887557] scsi 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[29165.887563] scsi 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
[29165.887570] scsi 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[29169.432114] usb 4-1: USB disconnect, address 4
[29256.384088] usb 4-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 5
[29256.564183] usb 4-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[29256.608057] input: Microsoft Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse[ch65533] 1.0A as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.3/usb4/4-1/4-1:1.0/input/input15
[29256.638322] input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.11 Mouse [Microsoft Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse[ch65533] 1.0A] on usb-0000:00:1d.3-1

I honestly don't know what's going on here... :-/

Also, I had already removed brltty before with no luck.

Hmm, try connecting just the arduino again and do a

sudo tailf /var/log/messages

Again on my PC this results in :

Apr  4 15:14:37 main kernel: [ 1408.252013] usb 6-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 2
Apr  4 15:14:38 main kernel: [ 1408.510901] usb 6-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Apr  4 15:14:38 main kernel: [ 1408.585677] usbserial: USB Serial support registered for FTDI USB Serial Device
Apr  4 15:14:38 main kernel: [ 1408.586375] ftdi_sio 6-2:1.0: FTDI USB Serial Device converter detected
Apr  4 15:14:38 main kernel: [ 1408.586954] ftdi_sio: Detected FT232RL
Apr  4 15:14:38 main kernel: [ 1408.588151] usb 6-2: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB1
Apr  4 15:14:38 main kernel: [ 1408.588180] usbcore: registered new interface driver ftdi_sio
Apr  4 15:14:38 main kernel: [ 1408.588183] ftdi_sio: v1.4.3:USB FTDI Serial Converters Driver

Maybe you'll see some error messages that will help in tracking down your problem.

Did you add any udev rules for your card reader or camera ? If so, can you just comment them out, reboot the laptop and connect up only the Arduino ?

Ver

Hi sevenofix,

I have noticed that the ports menu item in tools is always greyed out unless the board is connected. Is that part of your problem?

bjs

No, even with the board connected, the ports menu is still greyed out. I've also tried it with a previous version of the Arduino Software (0013), same problem as with 0015...

Check your user permisions and make sure your account has the permisions to use a modem.
Someone else had a similar problem a little while ago and this turned out to be the problem.

Gordon

I changed my permissions, tried it, but it didn't work. I even tried restarting my computer, still no luck. I think I'm going to try asking on the Ubuntu Forums, maybe there's a file I have to change to allow Arduino to use the USB Ports...

You should put your login in the dialout group. This will give you all the necessary rights over the /dev/ttyUSBx device created when plugging in your arduino.

By the way are you using a 64-bit OS ?

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but when I go to System > Administration > Users and Groups and then try to change my Group, I don't see the dialout group listed... :-?

Also, I'm not using a 64-bit OS, but rather the other one (32 or 86 or something, the standard one :)).

EDIT:
I completely missed one post! So sorry!! :-[
But when I type in 'sudo tailf /var/log/messages' I get:

Apr  6 19:19:33 Monkey pulseaudio[12753]: ltdl-bind-now.c: Failed to find original dlopen loader.
Apr  6 19:19:33 Monkey pulseaudio[12755]: main.c: setrlimit(RLIMIT_NICE, (31, 31)) failed: Operation not permitted
Apr  6 19:19:33 Monkey pulseaudio[12755]: main.c: setrlimit(RLIMIT_RTPRIO, (9, 9)) failed: Operation not permitted
Apr  6 19:29:53 Monkey -- MARK --
Apr  6 19:36:56 Monkey kernel: [10049.865154] CE: hpet increasing min_delta_ns to 33750 nsec
Apr  6 19:49:53 Monkey -- MARK --
Apr  6 20:09:53 Monkey -- MARK --
Apr  6 20:18:33 Monkey kernel: [12547.066882] nautilus[13708]: segfault at 98000020 ip b77acc46 sp bfdcd6e0 error 4 in libgconf-2.so.4.1.5[b778c000+2e000]
Apr  6 20:26:23 Monkey kernel: [13017.564290] nautilus[14290]: segfault at de000020 ip b77d5c46 sp bfdf7f10 error 5 in libgconf-2.so.4.1.5[b77b5000+2e000]
Apr  6 20:49:53 Monkey -- MARK --

As far as I know, there is no mention of any USB Devices (the Arduino and my mouse were the only two connected when I did the command).

Can you rule out a fault with your usb port, cable and your arduino ( ie. does it work on another comp? does it work on another usb port on this computer? )

if theres no lights on you board (ie no tx/rx) I wouldn't be suprised if your dmesg is empty - more likely a power/hardware issue than a software issue

Sorry! I completely missed the part where you said the leds don't light up at all on your board.

As dikkie said, this may indicate a problem with your usb port. Are you by any chance using a USB hub? Is it powered ?

I feel sooo f-ing stupid!! :-[ [smiley=lipsrsealed.gif] :-[
It's been awhile since I have used the Arduino, but the whole problem was that I had the power supply on 'EXT' instead of 'USB'!!!! :o
So everything works great now, serial port is showing up in the Arduino software, lights are blinking on the hardware, I have yet to test if I'm able to upload a program, but I'm not expecting any problems.

So, I'm so sorry for wasting everyone's time! :-/
So just for future reference (for whoever happens to read this post), if you have communications problems with your Arduino, check to see that the power supply is on 'USB' and NOT -I repeat- NOT on 'EXT'! :wink:

Live and learn...

Svenofix

heh,

And I missed it completely because I have a Duemilanove which doesn't have that jumper/switch.

Glad you got it working!