LED blinking only when Serial Monitor is not open

[amberdavey01]

I have a really simple code that is not behaving how I would expect it to.

Here's the code:

int i;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(13, OUTPUT);

}

void loop() {
  //digitalWrite(13, HIGH);
  i = random(1,5);
  Serial.println(i);
  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(13, LOW);

}

With this code the LED only blinks when Serial Monitor is on and stays on while Serial Monitor is off. Another problem I have is that if I comment out the current digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH) and replace it with the one I have commented out then the LED wont blink even if Serial Monitor is off.

I have Arduino Micro

[MicroBahner]

@amberdavey01

I have Arduino Micro

The micro uses ATmega32u4 which has a native USB interface. After Serial.begin() you must wait until the USB connection is established to get it working:

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  while( !Serial );    // wait until USB connection is running
  pinMode(13, OUTPUT);

If you don't have a USB connection you need a timout to detect that and should not use Serial.print in that case.

[Juraj]

it is already solved on Stack Overflow. one delay(1000) is missing

[MicroBahner]

@Juraj

one delay(1000) is missing

Oops, I missed that

Edit: I think what you see blinking when the monitor is open ist the transmit led, not the led on pin 13. Without the second delay, this led will never blink ( at least you cannot see it ).