I don't think my Arduino Uno is being detected by my computer.

Using Arduino IDE 1.x
1

Uploading sketches gives me this message:

avrdude: ser_open(): can't open device "\.\COM3": The system cannot find the file specified.

Problem uploading to board. See http://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Troubleshooting#upload for suggestions.

I have an Arduino ELEGOO UNO R3 and am running Windows 10. I've tried so many suggestions from different forum posts and one thing confuses me a lot. When I go into my Device Manager - Ports (COM & LPT) I only see one thing called "USB Seriel Device (COM3)". It doesn't say anything about an arduino board. I have the port selected in the IDE program.

The reason I think my Arduino board isn't being recognized is because when I unplug it from my PC entirely, the "USB Seriel Device (COM3)" stays. I've tried using multiple USB ports on my PC but that doesn't change anything.

I also tried connecting my Arduino with a Mac, but it doesn't even show me the right port there (just some bluetooth ports).

Also when I try to upload it through the online IDE it gives me a different error message (avrdude: ser_open(): can't open device "\.\COM3": Access is denied.)
What can I do about this?

Now obviously I am an absolute beginner when it comes to arduino and all of this has been really frustrating. Thank you in advance for all kinds of answeres.

2

Hi there!

If you look near the USB port on the Uno, do you see a small square black chip? If so can you tell me if there are any words on that chip?

Thanks

3

Thanks for the answer! The chip is incredibly small so it was hard trying to figure out what it says (there might be mistakes)

Here's what I got:

MEGA16U2
1640 PH
A8QT7A

4

Okay. So that little chip is a USB to Serial converter which allows communication with the big chip on the board. Often times with clones (boards not made by Arduino) such as your Elegoo, this chip can be different, and therefore not recognizable by the IDE or the computer. Your chip seems to be okay, so it must be something else.

First, try to connect your board to another computer and see if anything different happens. If that doesn't work, try a different cable. Some cables are solely meant for charging, and do not carry any signals except for power and ground. As such the device will only receive power, but will not show up in any ports or in the IDE.