What happens when you plug the board in? The first time it should have came up with the USB Serial Converter like you suggested, but my other computer didn't need to install anything to get it to work. I'm guessing you tried in the IDE?

Sorry if some of these are obvious, but some of the reasons my board won't show:

I have 4 USB ports, my board only shows up correctly on 2.

I have the wrong COM selected in the Arduino IDE (along with the correct board! both under Tools in the Arduino program)

The first installation on my computer, it installed the wrong drivers (my computers mentally retarded sometimes) I had to un-plug the board, uninstall, and re-plug it in, and when it asks for the Driver folder, do the advanced part, where you enter where to find it. And direct it to the windows default driver folder:
C:\windows\inf

Shouldn't need any Third-Party programs to get it up and running, definitely. Sorry if it wasn't much, but that's as far as I've ever needed to go to get a board to work on my computer. (I have 2 arduinos, I use 3 different computers)

Best of luck, if this doesn't help hopefully somebody can offer their uber-experience!:D

How do you go about creating a "Buffer Zone"  The best I've done is only display if it changes.. but even with a twitch.. is there anyway to make it display only if it changes say.. 20?

I think he's looking to print the Value only when it changes. I looked into this same thing when I started, but have been playing more with LCDs than anything.. still kind of curious myself.

I hate saying this.. but try updating Windows.

I'm pretty sure there were some Java updates a while back (Arduino IDE is based off Java if I remember correctly) that might help.  Or could do a search for Java updates.

Best of luck:X

Here's one you can download that will give you examples of most of the basic code, including some of the variables used in the Arduino environment:
I printed this one out, since it's basically just text, doesn't waste an ish-ton of ink, and it's a good reference, gave one to my friend so he can start learning before he even gets his board
http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_63/1108000/1108699/4/print/ARDUINO_NOTEBOOKv6.pdf

Also, here's an AWESOME book that will give you some basic code, and pictures for examples on how to hook up the hardware with the code. Explains in detail all the code and hardware setups that are used, and he adds to it every so often.

You should just save a copy, or you'll find yourself running back to the website to load it while you're trying to work.
http://earthshinedesign.co.uk/ASKManual/ASKManual.pdf

This is exactly what it outputs Coding, plus it stops right at 1023.

Code:

501   0      
502   0      
503   0      
504   0      
505   0      
506   0      
507   0      
508   0      
509   0      
510   0      
511   0      
512   0      
513   0      
514   0      
515   0      
516   0      
517   0      
518   0      
519   0      
520   0      
521   0      
522   0      
523   0      
524   0      
525   0      
526   0      
527   0      
528   0      
529   0      
530   0      
531   0      
532   0      
533   0      
534   0      
535   0      
536   0      
537   0      
538   0      
539   0      
540   0      
541   0      
542   0      
543   0      
544   0      
545   0      
546   0      
547   0      
548   0      
549   0      
550   0      
551   0      
552   0      
553   0      
554   0      
555   0      
556   0      
557   0      
558   0      
559   0      
560   0      
561   0      
562   0      
563   0      
564   0      
565   0      
566   0      
567   0      
568   0      
569   0      
570   0      
571   0      
572   0      
573   0      
574   0      
575   0      
576   0      
577   0      
578   0      
579   0      
580   0      
581   0      
582   0      
583   0      
584   0      
585   0      
586   0      
587   0      
588   0      
589   0      
590   0      
591   0      
592   0      
593   0      
594   0      
595   0      
596   0      
597   0      
598   0      
599   0      
600   0      
601   0      
602   0      
603   0      
604   0      
605   0      
606   0      
607   0      
608   0      
609   0      
610   0      
611   0      
612   0      
613   0      
614   0      
615   0      
616   0      
617   0      
618   0      
619   0      
620   0      
621   0      
622   0      
623   0      
624   0      
625   0      
626   0      
627   0      
628   0      
629   0      
630   0      
631   0      
632   0      
633   0      
634   0      
635   0      
636   0      
637   0      
638   0      
639   0      
640   0      
641   0      
642   0      
643   0      
644   0      
645   0      
646   0      
647   0      
648   0      
649   0      
650   0      
651   0      
652   0      
653   0      
654   0      
655   0      
656   0      
657   0      
658   0      
659   0      
660   0      
661   0      
662   0      
663   0      
664   0      
665   0      
666   0      
667   0      
668   0      
669   0      
670   0      
671   0      
672   0      
673   0      
674   0      
675   0      
676   0      
677   0      
678   0      
679   0      
680   0      
681   0      
682   0      
683   0      
684   0      
685   0      
686   0      
687   0      
688   0      
689   0      
690   0      
691   0      
692   0      
693   0      
694   0      
695   0      
696   0      
697   0      
698   0      
699   0      
700   0      
701   0      
702   0      
703   0      
704   0      
705   0      
706   0      
707   0      
708   0      
709   0      
710   0      
711   0      
712   0      
713   0      
714   0      
715   0      
716   0      
717   0      
718   0      
719   0      
720   0      
721   0      
722   0      
723   0      
724   0      
725   0      
726   0      
727   0      
728   0      
729   0      
730   0      
731   0      
732   0      
733   0      
734   0      
735   0      
736   0      
737   0      
738   0      
739   0      
740   0      
741   0      
742   0      
743   0      
744   0      
745   0      
746   0      
747   0      
748   0      
749   0      
750   0      
751   0      
752   0      
753   0      
754   0      
755   0      
756   0      
757   0      
758   0      
759   0      
760   0      
761   0      
762   0      
763   0      
764   0      
765   0      
766   0      
767   0      
768   0      
769   0      
770   0      
771   0      
772   0      
773   0      
774   0      
775   0      
776   0      
777   0      
778   0      
779   0      
780   0      
781   0      
782   0      
783   0      
784   0      
785   0      
786   0      
787   0      
788   0      
789   0      
790   0      
791   0      
792   0      
793   0      
794   0      
795   0      
796   0      
797   0      
798   0      
799   0      
800   0      
801   0      
802   0      
803   0      
804   0      
805   0      
806   0      
807   0      
808   0      
809   0      
810   0      
811   0      
812   0      
813   0      
814   0      
815   0      
816   0      
817   0      
818   0      
819   0      
820   0      
821   0      
822   0      
823   0      
824   0      
825   0      
826   0      
827   0      
828   0      
829   0      
830   0      
831   0      
832   0      
833   0      
834   0      
835   0      
836   0      
837   0      
838   0      
839   0      
840   0      
841   0      
842   0      
843   0      
844   0      
845   0      
846   0      
847   0      
848   0      
849   0      
850   0      
851   0      
852   0      
853   0      
854   0      
855   0      
856   0      
857   0      
858   0      
859   0      
860   0      
861   0      
862   0      
863   0      
864   0      
865   0      
866   0      
867   0      
868   0      
869   0      
870   0      
871   0      
872   0      
873   0      
874   0      
875   0      
876   0      
877   0      
878   0      
879   0      
880   0      
881   0      
882   0      
883   0      
884   0      
885   0      
886   0      
887   0      
888   0      
889   0      
890   0      
891   0      
892   0      
893   0      
894   0      
895   0      
896   0      
897   0      
898   0      
899   0      
900   0      
901   0      
902   0      
903   0      
904   0      
905   0      
906   0      
907   0      
908   0      
909   0      
910   0      
911   0      
912   0      
913   0      
914   0      
915   0      
916   0      
917   0      
918   0      
919   0      
920   0      
921   0      
922   0      
923   0      
924   0      
925   0      
926   0      
927   0      
928   0      
929   0      
930   0      
931   0      
932   0      
933   0      
934   0      
935   0      
936   0      
937   0      
938   0      
939   0      
940   0      
941   0      
942   0      
943   0      
944   0      
945   0      
946   0      
947   0      
948   0      
949   0      
950   0      
951   0      
952   0      
953   0      
954   0      
955   0      
956   0      
957   0      
958   0      
959   0      
960   0      
961   0      
962   0      
963   0      
964   0      
965   0      
966   0      
967   0      
968   0      
969   0      
970   0      
971   0      
972   0      
973   0      
974   0      
975   0      
976   0      
977   0      
978   0      
979   0      
980   0      
981   0      
982   0      
983   0      
984   0      
985   0      
986   0      
987   0      
988   0      
989   0      
990   0      
991   0      
992   0      
993   0      
994   0      
995   0      
996   0      
997   0      
998   0      
999   0      
1000   0        
1001   0
1002   0
1003   0
1004   0
1005   0
1006   0
1007   0
1008   0
1009   0
1010   0
1011   0
1012   0
1013   0
1014   0
1015   0
1016   0
1017   0
1018   0
1019   0
1020   0
1021   0
1022   0
1023   1

It starts at 0.. but for some reason, I can't copy that much. (I tried in Serial monitor and Hyperterm, lol.)

But everythings 0 until 1023.

When I change it to
m = map( i, 0, 1023, 0, 2 );

It changes halfway, at 512.. I expected that with 0,1..   but then it stays 1 until 1023, then it turns to 2. So yeah.. that's not cool, lol

Are you sure you're implementing it correctly? Can we see which code EXACTLY you're using? (full code please)

I've never had a problem with the map function.. I've used it to set negative numbers as well, works like a champ! And with your example of mapping 1024 to a 0 and 1... works fine... I have a 10k  pot hooked up and once it's above ABOUT halfway, the LED will turn on.. else, it's off.

Maybe I'm missing something? I tend to have some horrible ADD.

Could you post your code?

I noticed that upgrading from the previous versions, 0017 has an upgraded version of LiquidCrystal, so you need to do an lcd.begin(16, 2);  in your setup line.

I'm confused on what you're trying to explain?

Your button won't work on 13?
Do keep in mind, the internal pull-ups won't turn on unless specified as HIGH and as an INPUT, other wise, it'll just output the 5v.. and hooking up a ground when it's set to high and NOT set as an input, could result in damaging the Arduino.

Code:

[glow]#include <NewSoftSerial.h>[/glow]

const int transPin = 2;
NewSoftSerial trans(255, transPin);

void setup()
{
   trans.begin(9600);
   Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop()
{
   while(Serial.available() > 0)
   {
      [glow]trans.print[/glow](Serial.read());
   }
}

Just need to add  #include <NewSoftSerial.h> to the top, and when you compile the sketch with trans.write, comes up with an error about it being private(error below), I found that changing to print works. (Only in terms of compiling, haven't tested the code)

Here's the error you get when used trans.write:

Code:

C:\Users\Admin\Desktop\arduino-0018\libraries\NewSoftSerial/NewSoftSerial.h: In function 'void loop()':

C:\Users\Admin\Desktop\arduino-0018\libraries\NewSoftSerial/NewSoftSerial.h:71: error: 'virtual void NewSoftSerial::write(uint8_t)' is private

error: within this context

Here's a simple example using VirtualWire:
http://letsmakerobots.com/node/12336

Best of luck!

Well, it's probably the easiest way I could think of someone using an Arduino.. you can use very simple code, even from the tutorials to do what you want to do.

Also, after making a "Sketch" in Processing, you an Export it to a .exe file, so it will run like a normal program, but keep in mind, you'll need to have it selected, just won't need to push enter.

For posting code, there's an icon with the '#' symbol, that's the one.  Or you can just put a [ code]  Code here [ / code]  (minus the spaces)


There are a couple other options that could open some possibilities.. GoBetwino http://www.mikmo.dk/gobetwino.html    and  AAC Keys (serial keyboard ) http://www.aacinstitute.org/downloads/aackeys/AACKeys.html  

This will connect to an Arduino and accept Serial commands such as Serial.print("P"); // to push a Capital P on the keyboard
Serial.println(); //  Serial.println  will push enter

I'm sure some of that is useless.. others might help, sorry for the mix up!

The only problem with that is.. if you're using the Arduino Serial monitor, you'll always need to push enter.

You could use Processing.org  to detect key presses and then talk to the Arduino via Serial like you are.

Here's an idea of kind of how it would look.. keep in mind that Arduino and Processing are nearly identical, just give different abilities. The code will seem very familiar.

http://processing.org/reference/keyPressed_.html

Instead of the "Value == 0"  and such, you could use  mySerial.print("K");// send value "K" from Processing to your Arduino

And I'm afraid using Digital Read on either pin 0 or 1 won't work when trying to talk to any serial device.

Hopefully this helps with some ideas.

As far as I'm aware, the 595 doesn't support PWM. (most common way to fade an LED) You're just going to be able to do an ON/OFF.

If you're looking to fade more than one LED, you can take a look at the TLC5940, able to PWM up to 16 outputs. (I haven't experimented so not sure if it's single LED capable or not)

Do a google search for TLC5940 and take a look at the datasheet. Should be exactly what you're looking for.

Yup, you're going to need to make one yourself.

Down near the bottom, it explains how to create the keywords file:
http://arduino.cc/en/Hacking/LibraryTutorial

Basically just need to make sure it's a tab and not spaces between the word and the KEYWORD define.

Have you even read the Wire page?

http://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/Wire

It states that the Wire library uses 7-bit addresses, and some devices require a 8-bit address.

The rest of the reading is up to you!~:)