Arduino Mega 2560

Using Arduino IDE 1.x
1

Hey!
Well I needed more pins for my project, so I got myself a mega board instead of the uno board I had used since forever. But while trying to connect my Arduino Mega 2560 with my desktop IDE using a USB cable ( the one I usually use with my UNO), the L, ON, TXT, RX LEDs of the board turned on, but the IDE didn't detect any ports. What could I do to fix this problem?

2

Welcome to the forum

Install the driver for the serial link

Does the PC recognise the Mega when you plug it in ? If not, then it will not be available in the IDE

3

For a new board, the ON-LED should be on and the L-LED should be flashing one second on, one second off (blink sketch). Tx and Rx should be off.

Sounds to me like you got a faulty board.

4

Well this board ain't brand new, I found it laying around in a laboratory, I don't know if it had been used before or not, but I concluded that there was no problem with the hardware since the the board received power.
About the L-LED , it doesn't blink, it stays on.

5

Ty!
Well yeah the Mega 2560 option is there when I go to the tools and select boards, the only problem I've got is the non detected port.
And about the driver, I saw some people who faced a similar problem downloading it but which one should I download for my Mega 2560? And I still don't get how it will fix the problem.

7

And by the way, when I open the device manager, the port is not detected with the arduino Mega, but detected with the arduino UNO

8

That sounds like "the lights on my car come on so there is no problem with the engine" :wink:.

Sorry, but I can't help you further.

9

This is very useful information. It is clear that you are not seeing an entry for the Mega under the "Ports (COM & LPT)" section of the Device Manager tree, but it is also possible that an Arduino board might produce a USB device that appears elsewhere in the Device Manager tree. So we need to know whether the board is producing a device, or if it is completely unrecognized by the operating system.

Please try this troubleshooting procedure and then report your results in a reply on this forum thread:

:exclamation: This procedure is not intended to solve the problem. The purpose is to gather more information.

  1. Disconnect the USB cable of the Arduino board from your computer.
  2. Open the Windows Device Manager.
  3. Select View > Devices by type from the Device Manager menus.
  4. Open the "View" menu.
  5. If there is a ✓ to the left of the "Show hidden devices" menu item, click on "Show hidden devices" to disable it.
  6. Take note of the contents of the "Other devices" and "Ports (COM & LPT)" sections of the Device Manager tree.
  7. Connect the Arduino board to your computer with a USB cable.
  8. Select Action > Scan for hardware changes" from the Device Manager menus.

Did you see any new device appear in the Device Manager tree after doing this? If so, please tell us where it is located in the tree and what it is named.

You can repeat steps 5-8 multiple times if you are not sure.

10

I just opened the Device Manager and showed the hidden devices, and the COM3 port that I was connecting my Arduino to appeared, but its icon color was light if you see what I mean, indicating that it's not currently used, then I plugged the arduino Mega to the laptop, nothing changed, then again I plugged the Arduino Uno with the very same USB cable, and the icon color bacame much brighter meaning that the port is being used, so I guess the problem is with the Mega Board.

11

Make sure the USB cable is completely plugged into both the Arduino board and the PC.

If that doesn't help, you may have a damaged/defective or charge-only USB cable. Try a different cable.

Either of the above can result in the power connections being made (and thus LEDs lit on the board), but no data connections (and thus no port for the board).

12

Thank you for your help!

13

You are welcome. I'm glad if I was able to be of assistance.

Regards, Per