I found this review on Amazon for the exact same kit that I bought:
2.0 out of 5 starsWould not recommend.
April 15, 2019
Color: English Projects BookVerified Purchase
I could not program the included ATmega16u2 IC because the bootloader was never installed onto the chip, making the device basically DOA. I had to purchase another Arduino UNO directly from the Arduino website (one that was correctly pre-programmed) and use that second UNO to program the bootloader onto the first just to make it usable.
Don't waste your time buying this product from Amazon resellers and take it from me: buy yours directly from Arduino.cc
The only reason this product did not receive one star is because the rest of the components and instructional booklet arrived in this kit as advertised. Still, the main feature of this product (the Arduino UNO) did not work out of the box as expected and was overall a massive disappointment.
So it seems the problem is hardware related after all. I guess I should have read the reviews before I bought the kit.
That's interesting you got an Uno with the arduino.org VID/PID. arduino.org and arduino.cc merged back together after some legal scuffling so I'd guess Arduino still has the rights to use the arduino.org VID, but I wouldn't expect them to actually use it, since they can use the original VID (2341). Perhaps there is still some old stock from years ago still on the market. The arduino.org VID/PID should definitely be supported though.
My Uno has a different VID/PID than yours, which might explain why I couldn't reproduce the issue. I'll try to change the firmware on my Uno's ATmega16U2 to use the same VID/PID as yours later today and see if I can then reproduce the issue.
Please post a pic of your board near the USB connector and another of each side of the board.
If its what I think (CH340/CP2102) then hopefully we can get your board up.
FTDIgate was about a Windows driver update released by FTDI changing the VID/PID of counterfeit FT232 from 0403/6001 to 0403/0000. This "bricked" them because the new VID/PID was not supported by the FTDI driver.
OK, well now its up in the air again weather its hardware or software. Geeez this thing is so frustrating. I have ordered another Arduino Uno board. Will have to see what the VID/PID of that one is and if it will work. Thanks.
Just wanted to say that I was able to reproduce the error using Win 10 and having the Uno in DFU mode which then wanted drivers for the Atmega16u2 chip.
I am guessing your board probably doesn’t have the usb firmware loaded.
It is too bad you have run into this problem so early in your journey and it will be much easier to just return the board.
But, if you want some more fun, I would try one of the examples I will point you to.
I have used this one a few times and I like it because it uploads both the DFU program and the USB-firmware at the same time. You would have to turn your other Arduino into an "Arduino as ISP" or get a ISP programmer like a USBasp.
If your Arduino has the DFU program loaded, and I think yours does, it would also be doable using Flip.
I just used this today and it worked great for uploading the USB-firmware. You don't have to solder anything on the newer Arduinos.
Doesn't the Uno have a different VID/PID than 2A03/0043 when it's in DFU mode? On my Uno with the .org firmware installed on the ATmega16U2, the VID/PID when in DFU mode is 03EB/2FEF. krasnejv reported their VID/PID was detected as 2A03/0043. No word from ingineer_74.
I agree, the VID/PID 2A03/0043 changes when you go to the DFU mode and I also loaded the .org firmware. At the first of the thread they were both trying to get drivers for the Atmega16u2 and the only time you should even see the 16u2 is when you are in DFU mode as far as I know.
Anyway, this has been driving me crazy as I have followed the thread and I tried to come up with something else to check.
Hello kprims and thanks for the suggestions. I mean what's the worst that I can do--break a broken board?
I would like to try the procedure using FLIP first, however the link that he gives for the FLIP app is not valid. When I click on http://www.atmel.com/tools/FLIP.aspx it takes me to https://www.microchip.com/.
I've tried searching the web and can't seem to find it. Can someone point me to FLIP?
The procedure from instructables uses point to point wiring and I don't have the female to female wires to make those connections.
So if I can find the FLIP app, I could try that. If someone could point to where I could get it I would appreciate it. Thanks.
Microchip broke all the old URLs after they bought Atmel.
krasnejv:
The procedure from instructables uses point to point wiring and I don't have the female to female wires to make those connections.
You can use male to female wires as well. You just need to make the right connections to the female headers on your Uno. There is a table on this page that shows the Arduino pins that correspond to each of the pins on the 2x3 ICSP header under the "Connections" section of this page:
I very much recommend buying a selection of the male to male, male to female, and female to female jumper wires. They come in very handy for playing with Arduino.
I haven't been on this thread since Friday evening...looks like there has been a lot of activity/progress since then.
I was also able to get my board to sort of work and open up the COM port and get Windows to "see" the Arduino board. However, when I get into the IDE and try to upload the Blink Sketch, it hangs and attempts to load the Sketch 10 times with no success. (see attached verbose text file that was saved and Device Manager and Hardware IDs)
Any ideas? I think my board has been damaged...what is interesting is the Green and L Yellow/Amber LED stay lit when plugging in the USB cable and also when I hit the Reset button.
I'll look at some of the previous posts here to see if there may be something there that may help with my issue.
I very much recommend buying a selection of the male to male, male to female, and female to female jumper wires. They come in very handy for playing with Arduino.
Thanks. I only have the bare-wire-end male to male that came with the kit. I'll have to get some of the others.