FTDI basic breakout upload problem

I want to upload with an FTDI breakout board to this cheap board. The driver is installed on my Mac book but the sketch won't upload. The appropriate pins are connected. Any idea what I am doing wrong?

Oops forgot the link. http://baligena.com/shop/barebones-arduino-board/

What do you have connected?
Common issues:
Rx to Tx, Tx to Rx, are swapped.
No 100nF/0.1uF cap between FTDI's DTR and board's Reset - requires manual reset
Gnds not connected.

Sorry, here is a dumb question; when you say, "grounds not connected," I assume this is from the breakout pin to the Arduino? Can DTR be omitted altogether, at least for testing?

Yes, Gnd on breakout board must be connected to Arduino/equivalent board.
DTR can be omitted; Reset on Arduino/equivalent must be pressed when IDE shows "compiled xxx of 32xxx bytes", might take a few tries to find the right time.

The 1st pin on the left is VCC
2nd pin: GND
3rd pin: RESET/DTR
4th pin: RX
5th pin: TX

Now I also have a simple programmer.

The driver should automatically install when you connect the programmer to your computer however if it doesn't you'll need to install it manually. see link below.
http://baligena.com/setting-up-driver-for-breakout-board-for-ft232rl-usb-to-serial/

Thanks for the advise, Baligena. I sent you a message from your web store about this question. Appears that I have set it up correctly. This is the FTDI board. http://www.tinyosshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=186 I assumed the chip is Uno but have also chosen other 328 options with the same result. I am uploading to a Mac. Any other possible mistakes? Are you selling the programmer in the video?

Keith

Still wrestling with this breakout board. If I understand this tutorial, Serial Communication - SparkFun Learn TX from the board should connect to Arduino RX, TX to Arduino RX? The sketch doesn't upload, even if this is part of the problem. Whew! Getting a little frustrated. Also, I have read something about connecting both RX and TX for testing but don't understand the details.

When RX and TX are joined, the IDE says "download complete" but the simple "blink" sketch doesn't blink.

I am uploading with a Mac. Would that be a problem?

When your trying to upload the sketch this way you will need to press the reset button right before it says "uploaded" on the IDE. Its kind of a hit and miss situation that why it good to have a programmer that connects to the reset/DTR pin so it will reset when its ready.

That's what I suggested in replies #2 & #4.