Very weird. Can you try an older version of the IDE, like 0023? It's a long shot but might shed some light.

Since the driver is included with Linux, perhaps it changed in 11.04 , although according to the FTDI website it's been the same driver for years. Still, you might want to download from the FTDI site and compare versions:

http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm

I'm on Ubuntu 12.04 but I don't have an NG handy. I imagine this would cause trouble on any of the the Arduinos that use the FTDI. I'll see if I can check this out.

Congratulations! I don't know well enough the differences between 0023 and 1.0 to be able to explain this, but I'm glad you found a solution.

True, for the few dollars savings I would recommend buying from one of the reputable Arduino or Arduino compatible manufacturers.

Still, I am curious and would like to solve if possible.

If dx.com is just shopping, who manufactured the device? do they have a website? schematics? drivers? a close look at their site might shed some light.

Are you located near any other Arduino enthusiasts, that you might try your Arduino on another's computer, or their Arduino on your computer?

For this reason I almost exclusively use logic level MOSFETs, that is, MOSFETs designed to be driven by the relatively low voltage of 5V.

I like the 12N10L from Jameco, part # 1071214 $0.65.

Costs a little more but saves time and extra parts.

Indeed you have. Sorry I missed that.

So the driver and USB hardware seems ok; if I'm not mistaken, that turns suspicion on the microcontroller, bootloader, and avrdude.

Easiest way to check avrdude would be to test your computer with another Arduino Duemilanove. If you're in a big city there is a good chance someone around you has an Arduino; you might also try a local hacker space, robot club, or dorkbot chapter.

The microcontroller and bootloader is a little tricker. If you have another Arduino, you might try using the good one to re-burn the bootloader on the troublesome one.

I don't use Windows so I'm making educated guesses here.

Finally, have you asked DX.com? Do they have a forum or mailing list?

Easy way to check the serial port is using the loopback test described at

http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,73748.0.html

Let  me know what you find

Michael

What did you try?
I'd suggest uninstalling/re-installing, if you did a manual install

I would guess the Windows driver is not installed. Can you open your device manager and verify the FTDI USB serial driver? Write back and let me know; I'll monitor this thread.

You guess right, but I'll be in London Aug 5 - 19. Any chance you'll be in London then?

Where is the best place to find Arduino enthusiasts in London?

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I'll work on all these points.

If you are in Portland this week for OSCON or any other reason you are invited to meet with your new community manager.

If you are not registered for OSCON you can request a free pass for exhibts and BoF sessions by using code "FREEEXPO"

Meet the Arduino Community Manager and tell him what you'd like to see
Moderated by: Michael Shiloh
7:00pm Thursday, 07/19/2012
E145

I’ve recently been hired (part-time) by Arduino to wear a couple of different and flexible hats, the primary two responsibilities being community relations and educational materials.

If you use, teach, or are in general interested in Arduino I’d like find out what you wish I would do.

http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Loop

The link to the code (on Github) is broken.

Working on the problem I had last week, where my Arduino Duemilanove with ATMEGA 328 seems to have a corrupted bootloader.

I have borrowed a USBTinyISP and am trying to reprogram the bootloader, but I get the following error:

USB read error: expected 4, got -1
USB read error: expected 4, got -1
avrdude: initialization failed, rc=-1
         Double check connections and try again, or use -F to override
         this check.

I have tried both allowing the USBTinyISP to power the Arduino, and also powering the Arduino externally, via USB.
I'm using Ubuntu Linux and version 15 of the Arduino IDE.

Any suggestions?

Slightly different story, but I'm guessing it's the same bug:

Platform: Ubuntu Linux
IDE rev: 13 alpha
Arduino: Duemilanove with ATMEGA328

Error:
avrdude: verification error, first mismatch at byte 0x0006
         0x8d != 0x7d
avrdude: verification error; content mismatch

But there are two weird things:

1. It worked OK at first, through about a dozen downloads, then suddenly started exhibiting this problem
2. The same version Arduino is showing no problems when uploaded from a Windows computer running rev 14

At first I suspected a problem with the Linux version 13 alpha, but now I'm not so sure.

Suggestions?