Hello Arduino Experts,
This is the first time I am trying to program ESP32-CAM using Arduino IDE. My ESP32-CAM + ESP32-CAM-MB setup is connected to my computer via a micro-USB port on ESP32-CAM-MB.
When I first installed Arduino IDE, it prompted me to install some 3rd party drivers to which (and being a newbee) I said No to all of them. When I connected my EPP32-CAM baord to my computer, I see that the port on my Arduino IDE is disabled. After some research I installed CDM2123620_Setup and CH341SER.EXE but it did not help.
I am positive that my USB cable is good. I used to different cables to make sure.
I do not see Ports branch in my Windows 11 Device Manager and Arduino does not show up under "Other devices" either.
I tried to uninstall and reinstall the IDE many times but I could not make it prompt me for the driver installation after the installation.
Can you please help me what I am not doing right here?
Thank you so much for all your help in advance!!
Best regards,
JNP
Hi @jitendra-pandey-in
This is probably not the cause of the problem you are experiencing. The driver installation that was offered are mostly to provide convenient support for the official AVR-based Arduino boards (e.g., Arduino UNO R3). They likely wouldn't support your ESP32-CAM board (depending on which USB chip your ESP32-CAM-MB has, but it is unlikely it has one of the chips supported by the drivers). Even if they would happen to have provided support for the ESP32-CAM board, you can always just get the drivers directly from the USB chip manufacturer's website.
Excellent work on eliminating the most common causes of the "no port" symptom!
It is possible for a short or external circuitry connected to the Arduino board to cause it to no longer produce a port.
Make sure the board is not sitting on anything conductive that could short the contacts on the bottom of the board. Make sure there isn't any conductive debris (e.g., loose beads of solder, strands of wire, or component leads) on the board or on the surface the board is sitting on.
To go even further, please check whether the ESP32-CAM-MB by itself will produce a port. Obviously the ESP32-CAM-MB alone can't be used for Arduino projects, but it should produce a serial port (all the USB interface circuitry is on the ESP32-CAM-MB). This experiment will determine whether the problem might be caused by something about the ESP32-CAM board interfering electrically with the functionality of the ESP32-CAM-MB.
- Disconnect the USB cable of the Arduino board from your computer.
- Unplug the ESP32-CAM from the ESP32-CAM-MB. You should not have any external circuitry, etc. connected to the ESP32-CAM-MB for this experiment.
- Connect the ESP32-CAM-MB to your computer with a USB cable.
Now check to see whether a port is shown for the board in Arduino IDE's Tools > Port menu. If it does, you know the problem was caused by the ESP32-CAM (or perhaps by additional external circuitry that was connected to the board). You can then focus your attention on identifying the specific problem with the circuit and resolving it.
If you don't see a port, also check Windows Device Manager to see if it might now be producing a device under the "Other devices" section.