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[on:]

hey ive been messing around with my new arduino uno for the past 3 hours but i still cant fix the problem. i downloaded all the programs needed and drivers but when i plug in the arduino and try and download the "blink" sketch, it will load for 5 seconds then say "Serial port "Com1" not found" When i try to change the serial port in the tools menu it wont let me select it to change anything, its just grey'd out. i look through files and found out my arduino is on Com4. how do I change it?
thanks for any help,
Jake

[Reply #1 on:]

?? What computer and Operating system??

Then maybe we can help....

[Reply #2 on:]

You had the same problem a year ago with a Duemilanove (or at least you mentioned that one last time).  Did you ever fix that problem? 

http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,27365.msg202847.html#msg202847


Have you followed the direction in the trouble shooting guide for your operating system?

http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,52113.0.html

[Reply #3 on:]

sorry. but its on windows vista on a dell inspiron. last year I didnt have a port problem though, it was with some kind of error so after month i finally gave up on it. now though its just a matter of greyed out serial port which i know has to be on com port 4. sorry im very new to using arduino ( iive never even gotten a sketch to work)

[Reply #4 on:]

any ideas on how i can fix it?

[Reply #5 on:]

try and download the "blink" sketch, it will load for 5 seconds then say "Serial port "Com1" not found"

The 5 seconds is the IDE compiling the sketch and then trying to load.  It doesn't take more than 1 second for the Uno to get updated with the Blink sketch.

i look through files and found out my arduino is on Com4.

What files did you look at?  The only place you can determine what com port the Uno gets assigned is in the Device Manager.  Verify that when you plug in the Uno it shows up on the Com Port devices (in Device Manager.)

[Reply #6 on:]

yup i looked at the devise manager, I believe it said Arduino(Com4). but is there anything I can to to change it? thanks for the help James

[Reply #7 on:]

When I was mucking around yesterday booting Windows in "safe" mode, the Serial Port menu item became greyed out. Therefore I assume that the driver is not (fully) installed. Did you install the device driver as instructed?

You can directly edit the preferences.txt file (see the IDE preferences for its location). Once you have found the location, close the IDE, look for COM1 and change it to COM4. Save and restart the IDE.

However I found that even doing that did not help if the driver was not installed.

[Reply #8 on:]

the computer is running in safe mode so thats probley why its greyed out then... thank you so much!

[Reply #9 on:]

Better add that to the list, Site Administrators, to not attempt to use Arduino when booting Windows in Safe Mode.

[Reply #10 on:]

Better add that to the list, Site Administrators, to not attempt to use Arduino when booting Windows in Safe Mode.

As long as it is tagged with "Common Sense" I agree with this.

[Reply #11 on:]

Better add that to the list, Site Administrators, to not attempt to use Arduino when booting Windows in Safe Mode.

As long as it is tagged with "Common Sense" I agree with this.

I sure agree with that. Safe mode is a troubleshooting/diagnositic mode for windows. It's purpose is to enable the minimum needed drivers and resources needed to get a partially functional start-up so one can troubleshoot windows problems. I wouldn't think anyone would run that way normally, let alone run the Arduino platform.

Lefty

[Reply #12 on:]

I wouldn't have guessed people would routinely use "safe mode" but I suppose, given the choice between running your PC in "safe mode" and "unsafe mode" which would you choose?

[Reply #13 on:]

I wouldn't have guessed people would routinely use "safe mode" but I suppose, given the choice between running your PC in "safe mode" and "unsafe mode" which would you choose?

Hey it's not sex we are talking about here, or is it. 

[Reply #14 on:]

ok sorry, i didnt know that would happen in safe mode but now i do.