IDE 1.6.8

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

I just installed IDE 1.6.8. I'm getting the following error message when I try to upload my sketch:

Arduino: 1.6.8 (Windows 10), Board: "Arduino/Genuino Uno"

Sketch uses 2,152 bytes (6%) of program storage space. Maximum is 32,256 bytes.
Global variables use 15 bytes (0%) of dynamic memory, leaving 2,033 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 2,048 bytes.
avrdude: ser_open(): can't open device "\.\COM3": Access is denied.

Nothing has changed since running 1.6.7 where I don't get the error message.

2

Access denied typically means something else is still open using the port in question. Could you have failed to close an instance of 1.6.7? Or left some other application open and using the port? Rebooting will exclude any issue with something incorrectly holding onto the port.

3

Gkgrotsky:
I just installed IDE 1.6.8. I'm getting the following error message when I try to upload my sketch:

Arduino: 1.6.8 (Windows 10), Board: "Arduino/Genuino Uno"

Sketch uses 2,152 bytes (6%) of program storage space. Maximum is 32,256 bytes.
Global variables use 15 bytes (0%) of dynamic memory, leaving 2,033 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 2,048 bytes.
avrdude: ser_open(): can't open device "\.\COM3": Access is denied.

Nothing has changed since running 1.6.7 where I don't get the error message.

I also upgraded to 1.6.8 and got the same problem. I am also on Windows 10 and it happened to me after I had already uploaded a sketch I was working on with 1.6.7.

I tried all the suggestions (reboot, close the port by disconnecting the USB cable, delete the port and reinstall, etc) and the port access was erratic. If I tried several times it would eventually work. The same thing happened if I tried to open the serial monitor.

I had the 1.6.7 installer saved so I reinstalled it and it works as expected.

Something I noticed after installing 1.6.8 was that previously in the Device Manager listing under Ports, the ports were named after the device (Arduino Uno (COMx), Arduino Mega 2560 (COMy)). After installing 1.6.8, the ports were named the same but I kept getting the error Access Denied when attempting to upload, and Port In Use when trying to open the Serial Monitor. After deleting the ports in the Device Manager to allow the drivers to be reinstalled, those ports were name Serial Port (COMx). After which it seemed to work most of the time.

After reinstalling 1.6.7, I deleted the ports in Device Manager and they are again named after the device (Arduino Uno, Arduino Mega 2560, etc).

I am going to try installing 1.6.8 again but this time try unchecking the box to install the drivers.

In any case, I believe there is a problem with 1.6.8 and Windows 10. I have not installed 1.6.8 on any other platform (I do have a Windows Vista and Ubuntu Linux system with older version installed).

I will report my findings.

Hope this helps!

4

Update:

I upgraded my Windows Vista machine to 1.6.8 from 1.6.2 and everything worked well. No errors in serial access from the monitor or uploading. I did notice the COM ports changed after the upgrade. I did notice that some sketches that use custom libraries gave me warnings I never had before or seen on the Windows 10 machine pop up. But the sketches worked without any problems. After researching the problem, it turned out to be a known problem since 1.6.6. No big deal there.

Now my Windows 10 machine is 64 bit and my Vista machine is 32 bit. I do not know if that is the problem. I do not have another machine with the opposite version (Win 10 32 bit or Vista 64 bit) to test on.

Bottom line is I think there is a problem on Windows 10 with 1.6.8. I might ask my wife to try her machine. She has Windows 8.1 64 bit. I cannot promise anything there since she does not like me experimenting with her computer. LOL

It would be good to get more info from anyone else.

For now, I am staying with 1.6.7 for now until more info comes about.

5

dmilton2004:
Update:

Bottom line is I think there is a problem on Windows 10 with 1.6.8. I might ask my wife to try her machine. She has Windows 8.1 64 bit. I cannot promise anything there since she does not like me experimenting with her computer. LOL

It would be good to get more info from anyone else.

For now, I am staying with 1.6.7 for now until more info comes about.

Been there, done that (screwed up my wife's machine). It does NOT make for "happy times" in the house when you do that and lends a whole new meaning to "under the gun to get it fixed" when you do that :slight_smile: I solved that (sort of) by setting her machine up dual boot - I have my own version to screw I mean experiment with that does not impact her. :slight_smile:

I was hoping the first posts I saw about 1.6.8 were going to be that most of the bugs were fixed and things were working good again.

6

I was hoping the first posts I saw about 1.6.8 were going to be that most of the bugs were fixed and things were working good again.

That means Arduino fixed some minor bugs that no one noticed but in the process, introduced more major bugs.

7

Same here, I open a topic without knowing there is another similar thread talking about it:

Hi, I just install Arduino IDE v1.6.8 on my Win10 laptop. Trying to use it with Genuino UNO, downloaded few times of code, seem working fine.

But when I try to open serial monitor, sometime the serial monitor will fail to open and the status section of Arduino IDE shows:

Error opening serial port 'COM5'. (Port busy)

COM number is correct as I did not change the COM number since I have load sketch to Genuino UNO a few time and actually serial monitor works for few times.

BTW, I only see this with Arduino IDE v1.6.8. I have been using Arduino IDE v.1.6.7, no such problem. Anyone have similar problem?

8

DrAzzy:
Access denied typically means something else is still open using the port in question. Could you have failed to close an instance of 1.6.7? Or left some other application open and using the port? Rebooting will exclude any issue with something incorrectly holding onto the port.

I know for a fact that rebooting will not exclude that issue. I have already posted about my problems with IDE 1.6.8 and as I said, after rebooting, the Arduino circuit, when plugged into the same USB port, still flashed the LED at 1Hz which meant the program still had control of that port.

9

The problem with IDE 1.6.8 is the same on Win 8.1.
I solved that issue for the moment by reinstalling IDE 1.6.7 ...

10

Galoot:
I know for a fact that rebooting will not exclude that issue. I have already posted about my problems with IDE 1.6.8 and as I said, after rebooting, the Arduino circuit, when plugged into the same USB port, still flashed the LED at 1Hz which meant the program still had control of that port.

You have a program that connects to the Arduino and causes it to blink the LED at a 1hz rate??? Well if you're running that program, of course! Turn off whatever program that is - that's your problem. You can't have any other program trying to use the port.

Are you sure that's not just the previous sketch that had been uploaded to the Arduino? (ie, Blink)? It's not uncommon for new arduino boards to have blink preloaded to assist in testing and installation.

11

I have the same symptoms as OP with my Arduino Pro-Mini with Inland FTD232R (FTDI).
I have tried two different workstations, one with Win7 32bit and the other with WIn7 64 bit.

I have also experienced the flashing business after programming - as if the new program didn't "take".

Lastly, when I have run a sketch that flashes the onboard LED, the flash rate is intermittently inconsistent - interfered with through the serial ports somehow. As I need the USB connect to power the board I tried changing the port in the IDE to isolate the serial - the interference stops.

Yes, there is definitely something amiss with IDE 1.6.8.

I'll try two things this evening - running my Due, and reloading 1.6.7 - and report back.

12

Results of trials:
Reinstalled 1.6.7, ran over ten compilations with upload: no errors;
Reinstalled 1.6.8, ran ten compilations with upload: failed four of them;
Reinstalled 1.6.7, ran over fifteen compilations with upload: no errors.

I think it's pretty definitive that 1.6.8 is faulty in my Pro-Mini/Win7-64 configuration. As that's what I'm working on right now I haven't tried any other configurations, but I'll probably switch over to a Due platform today.

13

oberchoo:
BTW, I only see this with Arduino IDE v1.6.8. I have been using Arduino IDE v.1.6.7, no such problem. Anyone have similar problem?

Yes, I believe this problem seems to be consistent with Win10, 8, and 7. I am checking here to see if any one has anything different.

So far it seems that there is a problem with 1.6.8.

14

This might be related to a change in Arduino IDE 1.6.8 that was intended to make the Tools > Port menu more responsive. Maybe cross-platform jni implementation for serial port details discovery by facchinm · Pull Request #4211 · arduino/Arduino · GitHub or update libListSerials to 1.0.5 · arduino/Arduino@d3f96c6 · GitHub? I think this just constantly spams all the serial ports. I've noticed whenever I have IDE 1.6.8 open the rx lights on any of my Arduino Micros I have plugged in constantly blink. This doesn't happen with IDE 1.6.7. I have a virtual serial port controlled relay unit connected to my computer that won't work with IDE 1.6.8 running because "Port is already open". I've also experienced similar failures when uploading via serial that go away if I use any other IDE version.

15

Windows 10 and Arduino are not working together at all. I have done just about everything I can find on this forum and the Web to get Arduino to work, all to no avail.

I have uninstalled all phone software, Android Studio, updated Java to the latest, uninstalled Arduiino 1.6.8 just about every time I uninstalled software to see if it would work. To see if anything would take, I even rebooted the PC when I removed other software before reinstalling Arduino. I removed the Arduino from hardware, deleting the device, rebooted, and reinstalled - does not work.

I have tried using an unzipped Arduino 1.5.8. Every time I tried, it has given me an error similar to this one:

Arduino: 1.6.8 (Windows 10), Board: "Arduino/Genuino Uno"

Sketch uses 1,106 bytes (3%) of program storage space. Maximum is 32,256 bytes.
Global variables use 9 bytes (0%) of dynamic memory, leaving 2,039 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 2,048 bytes.
avrdude: ser_open(): can't open device "\.\COM6": Access is denied.

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

This report would have more information with
"Show verbose output during compilation"
option enabled in File -> Preferences.

Just to make sure the hardware works, I have installed the latest Arduino, 1.6.8 on my Linux machine. The Uno, the Mega, and the Due all work on the Linux machine. There is something between the two that do not like each other - in Windows.

Here is something that might provide a clue to those designing Windows and Arduino:
When I click on the Upload button, the progress bar goes about 1/10th of the way and then jumps back a bit and then progresses to the end, and then the error. The jump back happens within the first few seconds.

Does anybody have any help in the way of getting this to work?

BTW, with the Arduino 1.6.8, the Boards manager is working to install the Due. That was not happening on the previous versions I tried.

More information: I am using an HP with an AMD processor.

16

playinmyblues:
Windows 10 and Arduino are not working together at all. I have done just about everything I can find on this forum and the Web to get Arduino to work, all to no avail.

Have you tried installing 1.6.7? It has been working very well for me and I am on Windows 10. Give that a try.

playinmyblues:
BTW, with the Arduino 1.6.8, the Boards manager is working to install the Due. That was not happening on the previous versions I tried.

More information: I am using an HP with an AMD processor.

1.6.7 has the Boards Manager and it has the Duemilanove listed. I have 3 UNOs and 2 Mega2560s. Bother are working. One of my UNOs is a clone that I use for programming ATTinys and that is working very well.

Give 1.6.7 a try and see if that works. I know that 1.6.8 will not work in Windows 10. Check my previous post.

17

Geez... Okay, this is clearly and definitively a major bug in 1.6.8. How was this not caught during beta testing (if there was any at all)?

The problem is that Arduino 1.6.8 is constantly polling all available serial ports, which has two major problematic effects: one, it opens every port every second (and triggers auto-reset), and two, it holds the port open when you actually go to use it.

Due to the ambiguous title of this thread, I didn't see it when searching, and ended up making my own thread for it: Arduino 1.6.8 constantly polling serial, resetting Arduino board, Access Denied - Installation & Troubleshooting - Arduino Forum

Just utterly baffling that it was released with an issue this big. :frowning:

18

I am also experiencing something weird with 1.6.8 and my UNO that hasn't happened with previous versions of the Arudino IDE. Basically, the on-board LED will flash intermittently (maybe 6 quick flashes followed by a half-second pause) until I run the serial monitor (Control-Shift-M). Then, the Uno isn't locked up anymore. It seems to be waiting for the serial monitor to be active. Otherwise, I can re-upload the program to the UNO, and that will do the job as well. I thought if I just didn't load the serial monitor, this problem would go away - but I was wrong! This occurs on Windows 10, and also Vista. (I know, I know, why am I still using Vista?)

Thought I would share, in case anyone has this problem.

19

The original issue described in this thread is a known issue with Arduino IDE 1.6.8, Windows and FTDI: https://github.com/arduino/Arduino/issues/4700 which has already been fixed. You can avoid it by using any IDE version previous to 1.6.8 or if you're feeling adventurous try the hourly build: http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software#hourly. @dndubins does your Uno use the ATmega16u2 or does it have a different serial adapter chip, FTDI FT232 or CH340. I haven't heard of people encountering problems with the ATmega16u2 and I'm not sure about CH340. It sounds like the issue #4700 is causing your board to be constantly reset so the blinking you're seeing could be the bootloader blink.

20

dndubins:
This occurs on Windows 10, and also Vista. (I know, I know, why am I still using Vista?)

I never did see that problem on Vista, but I have 32 bit version so maybe you have 64?

pert:
@dndubins does your Uno use the ATmega16u2 or does it have a different serial adapter chip, FTDI FT232 or CH340.

I have 2 genuine UNOs and one from 16Hertz. All of them have the ATMega16u2 and I had the same thing happen with all of them. When it first happened, I thought I had a bad USB cable. Then I thought I had a short in my test circuit. But the behavior stopped after I quit the IDE.

All that went away after going back to 1.6.7.

I hope that info helps. :slight_smile: