El Capitan - Arduino IDE serial port problems

Using Arduino IDE 1.x
17

I have two boards with issues.

Using El Capitan + Arduino IDE 1.6.6 10/14/15 build

  1. Chinese clone.
    Following https://www.kiwi-electronics.eu/blog?journal_blog_post_id=7 solves the serial port driver load issue.

When uploading a sketch I get avrdude stk500v2_getsync() errors.

Is this due to a lack of a boot loader on the board?

I tried ISP with a redboard to the clone and this fails.

Followed the hookup in this link http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11635

Programmer: Arduino as ISP
Tools->Burn Bootloader

Result:

“avrdude: Yikes! Invalid device signature.
Double check connections and try again, or use -F to override
this check.”

Believe my connection are the same as in the link. I do not have a 10uF Cap between the reset and ground like some links indicate.

Can I update the boot loader with just a mac and the clone board?

  1. Official Arduino Mega 2560 board
    Not detected. What driver should this use? FTDI driver?

I have sparkfun Uno compatible board - I install the FTDI driver and it works, but the official Arduino Mega 2560 fails.

Any advice appreciated. Please let me know what info I can provide to help troubleshoot this.