Mac not showing serial ports, unable to connect to Sparkfun RedBoard

I don't see any ports in the tools menu, other than two bluetooth ones, which I am not using. I hope someone can help. I think is is a problem with my Mac. During a class, with the same computer I use at home, I had this problem too. It went away eventually after plugging in/ unplugging, or trying different cables. I encountered this problem several times in class. Now, at home, I have the same problem of not having a port appear and thus I cannot connect. I have tried many things but it still doesn't work.

When I connect the board to the computer, the Rx light goes on for a split second and the green on light stays lit.

Mac OS X Yosemite 10.10.5
MacbookPro retina, mid 2012
2.7 Ghz Intel core i7
16gb memory

Sparkfun RedBoard

Arduino 1.6.5
Tools: Board: Arduino Uno (tried other options too)
Tools: Programmer: ArduinoISP (tried other options too)

This is the error when I try to upload:

avrdude: ser_open(): can't open device "/dev/cu.usbmodem1272001": No such file or directory
ioctl("TIOCMGET"): Inappropriate ioctl for device

My mac System Report USB device tree shows:
USB 3.0 Hi-Speed bus
USB 30 SuperSpeed Bus
USB Hi-Speed Bus -> Hub -> Facetime HD Camera (Built-in)
USB Hi-SpeedBus -> Hub -> Hub -> Apple Internal Keyboard/Trackpad, and BRCM20702 Hub -> Bluetooth USB Host Controller

I have two physical USB ports, tried both, tried unplugging and plugging back in, tried rebooting computer, tried restarting Arduino. but still couldn't find a port in the tools menu.

I installed FTDIUSBSerialDriver_v2_3 and rebooted. Didn't fix problem.

I tried two different cables. I also added external power to the board.

I have reset the board too.

I'd really like to get this working.
Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Wendy

wrichard:
unable to connect to Sparkfun RedBoard

The board is supported by Sparkfun. What did their tech support say?

wrichard:
Mac OS X Yosemite 10.10.5

You might want to check this thread, for issues related to FTDI introduced started with Mavericks.
https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=198539.0

However...

wrichard:
USB 3.0 Hi-Speed bus
USB 30 SuperSpeed Bus
USB Hi-Speed Bus -> Hub -> Facetime HD Camera (Built-in)
USB Hi-SpeedBus -> Hub -> Hub -> Apple Internal Keyboard/Trackpad, and BRCM20702 Hub -> Bluetooth USB Host Controller

If those are the only USB devices being detected, really indicates the board isn't being detected at all. So may not be driver related.

Very possible you have two "power-only" cables.