Esplora Mountain Lion USB Not Recognized

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

Oh hai world,

I just got my first Arduino, and was able to use it briefly (played with RGB LED) before it stopped recognizing my USB port. Now it only recognizes my Bluetooth ports.

This looks like a common problem for anyone running OS X 10.8.X, but I'm not sure what I should do from here.

I've tried installing the FTDI VCP drivers (and followed the install docs for Mac OS X), but I still don't see /dev/cu.usbserial-xxx when I list everything in the dir.

I've tried different USB ports on my MBP and reset the NVRAM/PRAM, but that didn't work either.

HALP

2

Does a USB device show up after you press the reset button?

It should show up for about 8 seconds.

If so, you can upload a new sketch using this method:

Press and hold the reset button.
Select Upload to upload a new sketch.
When the IDE shows uploading, release the reset button.

3

So it does appear for 8 seconds like you said...but this seems a bit like a bandaid on a more problematic issue. Any ideas on what's going on underneath the hood with 10.8?

4

I don't think the issue you are experiencing is related to OSX.

I suspect the sketch that is loaded is not creating the virtual COM port correctly.

Pressing reset and seeing the COM port appear for 8 seconds indicates the bootloader is functioning properly, so you can install new sketches when necessary.

Since the Esplora is based off of the Leonardo, read this explanation of using a single processor for sketches and USB comms:

If you haven't seen this already, maybe this will help: