Novice problems--Loopback failed

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

Hi all,
I'm a complete novice to most things computer/arduino related, but I think I've exhausted the resources I can find at the moment. I was hooking up a TMP36 to my Arduino Mega 2560 as outlined here for the first time and not getting any data. Moments prior, I'd hooked up up to a TSL235R (which worked without a hitch). As I was poking around my wires to see if something wasn't plugged in, I noticed that oh-so-distinctive burning electronics smell. As I was unplugging everything, my finger brushed the TMP36, which was hot enough to leave a small blister.
The TMP36 heats up if you connect it backwards, but I triple-checked that I had the pins as per the Ladyada link above. I figured it was just a defective part, so I tried to go back to the TSL235R, and....timeout error. Can't load any code at all. I poked around online and found out a loopback test as per this page and nothing echoed back at all.
I've found lots of instructions for how to do a loopback test, but I'm at sea as for how to interpret it. What's my next step? And can the arduino be salvaged?

Thanks!

Also--I may have had the dreaded triple exclamation mark in there somewhere, but I deleted the file and can't go back and check now.

2

What's my next step?

  1. Learn to replace SMD parts.
  • or -
  1. Buy a new board.

And can the arduino be salvaged?

From what you've described, salvaging the board is not worth the time and headache.

3

Thanks for the help. Is there anything I could have done wrong to provoke this? Is there anything I can do to ensure that I don't to this again?

4

Schx:
Thanks for the help.

You are welcome. Sorry for the bad news. =(

Is there anything I could have done wrong to provoke this? Is there anything I can do to ensure that I don't to this again?

Difficult to say because we don't know what went wrong. The best I can offer is general advice...

• Only connect and disconnect things when the board is not powered.

• Upload an empty sketch before changing projects.

• Before connecting power, double check the wiring.

• Before connecting power, triple check the wiring.

• Use a powered hub to add a bit of protection for the host computer.