No uploads to Arduino UNO R3 on Mac OSX 10.7.5 (programmer is not responding)

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

I got my first Arduino today and unfortunately have not been able to upload anything through the Arduino software.

  • It's an Arduino UNO R3 (ATMEGA328P-PU)
  • I'm on Mac OSX 10.7.5 (on a Macbook Air)

When I connect the Arduino to a USB port the ON-led starts burning red and the L-led starts blinking slowly (after three short blinks).
When I try to upload a programme this same sequence of blinking on the L-led start (I believe it's a reset?). Also both the TX-led and the RX-led start blinking green, the one after the other, for a short period of time together, then they turn off.
I get this error message on every attempt:

Binary sketch size: 466 bytes (of a 32,256 byte maximum)
/Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/tools/avr/bin/avrdude -C/Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/tools/avr/etc/avrdude.conf -v -v -v -v -patmega328p -carduino -P/dev/tty.usbmodemfa131 -b115200 -D -Uflash:w:/var/folders/tm/8sr726h54svgvxsrd0mv81s80000gn/T/build8031375796420734825.tmp/BareMinimum2.cpp.hex:i 

avrdude: Version 5.11, compiled on Sep  2 2011 at 18:52:52
         Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/
         Copyright (c) 2007-2009 Joerg Wunsch

         System wide configuration file is "/Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/tools/avr/etc/avrdude.conf"
         User configuration file is "/Users/erwinelling/.avrduderc"
         User configuration file does not exist or is not a regular file, skipping

         Using Port                    : /dev/tty.usbmodemfa131
         Using Programmer              : arduino
         Overriding Baud Rate          : 115200
avrdude: Send: 0 [30]   [20] 
avrdude: Send: 0 [30]   [20] 
avrdude: Send: 0 [30]   [20] 
avrdude: ser_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding

avrdude done.  Thank you.

I have chosen the right board (Arduino Uno) and the right port (/dev/tty.usbmodemfa131) from the tools menu.
I started out with a simple test circuit on a breadboard and a simple programme. Without anything connected to the Arduino and with the Bare Minimum example results are the same.
I went through the Troubleshooting Guide.
I also tried from a Windows laptop, but wasn't able to select COM ports in the Arduino app, so I stopped that attempt.
I've Googled for several hours and spent some time searching the forums, but don't know what I should do next. I did find some stories of missing bootloaders, but believe the blinking L-led indicates that's not the case? I also found stories of "broken" Arduino's that were returned, but would like to rule out other possibilities first.

I hope someone is able to help me out. Any ideas on what to do or try?

2

Does the loopback test work?
http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=73748.0

3

Thanks Louis, I tried the loopback test now. I think it failed, but I'm not sure:

An empty screen opens when I connect to the Arduino from Terminal like this:

screen /dev/tty.usbmodemfa131 9600

On every keystroke the RX-led and the TX-led blink green. Nothing is echo'd in the Terminal window, all I see is the cursor.

4

And you have RX/TX jumpered and you have the RESET/GND jumpered?

If so and you are not getting anything echoed back, then that is a problem.

I would try a different USB cable.

The loopback is trying to verify you have good USB to Serial communication, until that works, you will not be able to upload anything.

5

It turned out to be the USB cable indeed. I've got my first blinking led now :slight_smile: Thanks so much Louis!