So I have a Makeblock Ultimate 2.0. It came with the MegaPi, a microprocessor that the manufacturers claim is a cross between an Arduino Mega and a Raspberry Pi. I've been working with Arduino (Uno and Mega) for years now. The only issue I've ever had is in my own programming. Never with communicating with the boards I've purchased over the years.
So I plug the MegaPi into the USB port (same port I've always used) and attempt to run the blink program as suggested by the Makeblock startup guide. There is no communication between my MacBook Pro with 10.12.x running on it and the MegaPi. During regressions I ensure the Mega I have still operates, it does, and so too does the Uno. I notice the MegaPi is not recognized in the ports list of the Tools menu in the Arduino IDE 1.8.0.
I contacted the folks at Makeblock through their forum and they say I need to unstall the USB drivers and install something that will allow Arduino boards with CH430/431 to run with the Sierra OS.
Firstly, is this true? Do new Arduino boards require manipulation of drivers on Macs running OS 10.12.x because of some conflict with the USB drivers? And if I do as they suggest will it elinimate the current seamless connectivity I have with my Arduino products?
I've read that the Ch430/431 drivers are on the cheaper Arduino copies, primarily apparently of Chinese origin. Okay, I understand people want to save a dollar, but seriously. Considering the Arduino's massive capability why would anyone serious about software and hardware development settle for anything but the original manufacturer product. The latter more rhetorical.
I'm about two shakes from scrapping the MegaPi, the cheap stepper motors, and building my own drive system with alternate motors and the Mega as the microprocessor platform.
Sounds like the manufacturer of the unofficial board you're using decided to go with the CH340G. The drivers for that on Sierra are a little fiddly.
Personally, if I were designing a board with an atmega on it like an Arduino board, I would use the CH340G hands down no question, not the 16u2 the mega/uno used. It was a great idea, but nobody actually uses the capability of the 16u2 (because Arduino never really did anything with it), and they seem to be easier to damage. I don't think I've ever seen a post here from someone who trashed a CH340G, but people blow out their 16u2's all the time. And the CH340G is dirt cheap and generally easy to make work.
Why do people use the cheap clones?
I do it because I use dozens of arduinos and would be in the poor house if I paid the official prices for all of them. A pro mini clone is $2, an official '328p-based board is $25 - and if you want to run either off batteries, you have to hack up the boards and pull parts off to get the power usage down. It's not like the official boards are monuments to good design practice or anything.
lochlewis:
Do new Arduino boards require manipulation of drivers on Macs running OS 10.12.x because of some conflict with the USB drivers? And if I do as they suggest will it elinimate the current seamless connectivity I have with my Arduino products?
The problem is the standard CH340 driver is incompatible with Sierra(unless WCH has fixed it by now). I'm pretty sure MakeBlock just meant that you need to uninstall the old CH340 driver and install the one that's compatible with Sierra. There's no reason you'd need to uninstall any other drivers. Thus this change will only affect boards using a CH340 and will fix problems rather than causing them.