Initial setup on Elegoo Mega2560

[rickprice]

I'm net to the Arduino world but have 30 years in industrial (AB, GE Series 5 and 6, Modicon) controls and electronics. Hold Amateur Radio Extra class lic.
I bought the Elegoo Most Complete Mega2560 kit. and it arrived yesterday. Here are my problems.

I downloaded the Arduino IDE for Mac (iMac, MacOS 11.2) and installed it without any problems. When I start the IDE with nothing attached, I get Java errors. Jave is installed and at the current release. I also have xCode and Visual Studio Code with the PlatformIO plugin. Can't load or even browse libraies in the Arduino IDE due to the Java errors. I'm not real sure where to go from here.

When I apply power to the board, the ON LED comes on and the AREF LED begins to blink. My load cable is hooked directly to a USB port on the back of the iMac.

Any help on this would be appreicated.

[rickprice]

The web editor seems to work fine. I did notice that the 8.1.12 version of the IDE I got at Elegoo had no Java issues but had a folder of Java stuff in it as well as the Arduino.app. 8.1.13 had only the Arduino.app file.

[Ballscrewbob]

Being an ELGOO you may or may not need the CH340/341 drivers that are part of the web editor but NOT part of the regular IDE.

Other factors to be aware of are USB 3.0 issues where USB 2.0 can be more reliable.

Could you also take a few moments to Learn How To Use The Forum.

Other general help and troubleshooting advice can be found here.
It will help you get the best out of the forum in the future.

[pert]

rickprice:
When I start the IDE with nothing attached, I get Java errors.

Please post the full and exact text of the errors here.