Hey guys!
A couple months ago I bought an Arduino Uno SMD. I loaded the drivers and started programming like mad (The arduino functioned as expected). Recently I bought some XBEE series 1 Modules, and during my experimentation with these I seem to have done something horrible to my device.
When I plug in the arduino to my USB port, the green power light comes on, but the "Serial Ports" menu in the IDE remains greyed out. (tools-> Serial Ports)
I hopped over to the troubleshooting page (http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/Troubleshooting#toc15) and was lead to my control panel to try to change the COM port number.
When I open the device manager while the arduino is plugged in I do not get a dropdown menu icon labeled "ports".
I have a second (working) arduino uno , so for comparison's sake I plugged it in and, as expected, a little icon labeled "ports (COM & LPT)" appeared with a dropdown arrow.
I perused the internet for a couple of hours trying to figure out what the issue is with the malfunctioning arduino and I stumbled upon a couple of possibilities:
The first is that the microcontroller chip is "bad" (http://www.me.umn.edu/courses/me2011/arduino/technotes/debug/arduinodebug.html)
The second is that I have somehow broken the bootloader. (I drew this conclusion from various readings)
Because the chip is SMD I cannot (easily) remove & replace it to see if that is the problem.
My questions for you guys are as follows:
What exactly does it mean for a chip to be "Bad"? (internal melting? something else?)
What do you think is wrong? and
What can I do about it!?
Tjclark:
Hey guys!
A couple months ago I bought an Arduino Uno SMD. I loaded the drivers and started programming like mad (The arduino functioned as expected). Recently I bought some XBEE series 1 Modules, and during my experimentation with these I seem to have done something horrible to my device.
When I plug in the arduino to my USB port, the green power light comes on, but the "Serial Ports" menu in the IDE remains greyed out. (tools-> Serial Ports)
I hopped over to the troubleshooting page (http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/Troubleshooting#toc15) and was lead to my control panel to try to change the COM port number.
When I open the device manager while the arduino is plugged in I do not get a dropdown menu icon labeled "ports".
I have a second (working) arduino uno , so for comparison's sake I plugged it in and, as expected, a little icon labeled "ports (COM & LPT)" appeared with a dropdown arrow.
I perused the internet for a couple of hours trying to figure out what the issue is with the malfunctioning arduino and I stumbled upon a couple of possibilities:
The first is that the microcontroller chip is "bad" (http://www.me.umn.edu/courses/me2011/arduino/technotes/debug/arduinodebug.html)
The second is that I have somehow broken the bootloader. (I drew this conclusion from various readings)
Because the chip is SMD I cannot (easily) remove & replace it to see if that is the problem.
My questions for you guys are as follows:
What exactly does it mean for a chip to be "Bad"? (internal melting? something else?)
What do you think is wrong? and
What can I do about it!?
Cheers and thanks in advance
-Tommy
If the chip is warm = broken, replace needed.
Check Serial Loopback test, and in another PC
I attempted the Loop-Back Test but could not complete Step 6 because the arduino is not being recognized by my computer. When I try to open the serial Monitor I get the Error "COM 4 not found", and as I mentioned before the "Serial Port" option in the IDE is greyed out so I can not change the Port #. As before, the Uno does not appear at all in the control panel. Additionally, no "unknown devices" appear in the control panel.
After leaving the Uno plugged in for 5 minutes nothing on the board becomes hot. :S
Tjclark:
I attempted the Loop-Back Test but could not complete Step 6 because the arduino is not being recognized by my computer. When I try to open the serial Monitor I get the Error "COM 4 not found", and as I mentioned before the "Serial Port" option in the IDE is greyed out so I can not change the Port #. As before, the Uno does not appear at all in the control panel. Additionally, no "unknown devices" appear in the control panel.
After leaving the Uno plugged in for 5 minutes nothing on the board becomes hot. :S
Do you still suspect a broken Chip?
Cheers & thanks for your response
-Tommy
But, at least there is something connected? I mean, you hear like "error sound" when you plug the arduino?
When I plug in the malfunctioning arduino I get no sound at all from my computer. The LED labeled 'L' on the board blinks 3 times then stays off , and the "ON" Led turns and stays on. Other than that I get nothing
When I plug in my working arduino I get the typical windows "device connected" sound.
Tjclark:
When I plug in the malfunctioning arduino I get no sound at all from my computer. The LED labeled 'L' on the board blinks 3 times then stays off , and the "ON" Led turns and stays on. Other than that I get nothing
When I plug in my working arduino I get the typical windows "device connected" sound.
Oh, if there is no unknown device, it is possible that the small chip is dead (the 8u2), check in another usb port or pc to be sure, attempt to put it in dfu mode, at least to know if it answers something
Tjclark,
Another check is to use your working Arduino as ISP and upload the Blink example. If it works you have probably fried the 8u2 or 16u2? USB chip that your board uses. Since Pin 13 LED flashes the 328 chip might still be working.
BTDT, now I have a board that won't work on USB. Tried changing the 16u2 out on my Uno, no luck with smt soldering.
TomJ
