I am new to Arduino, trying to prepare to help middle school kids explore the cool world of the Arduino microcontrollers. I have purchased Mega2560 kits from Sunfounder. I am using a MacBook Air with Yosemite. I have installed the Arduino IDE successfully and been able to compile the program for project one--blinking LED. I believe I have found the right board and serial port under the Arduino Tools menu. I have received the "upload complete" message after compiling and uploading the code, but I have no blinking light. My breadboard configuration also seems right.
But no blinking light. What am I missing? And, what information do I need to post for someone to diagnose my prob?
I would suggest that you try the example "blink" sketch that comes preloaded with the IDE to determine if it actually a programming error or a definite problem with your Arduino(s). This would blink the on-board led that is connected to pin 13.
The example sketch can be found under File ==> Examples ==> Basics ==> Blink. Also be sure to check that the correct board is selected under the Tools ==> Board menu.
And you actually learned some things:
The LED has to be in the right orientation: Anode to +, Cathode to -/Ground
How to tell which LED pin is Anode and which is Cathode.
johnwasser:
And you actually learned some things:
The LED has to be in the right orientation: Anode to +, Cathode to -/Ground
How to tell which LED pin is Anode and which is Cathode.
He also learned that a LED is one of the few things we can connect backwards that has no nasty side effect!