Problem installing Mega : INF file is invalid [Solved]

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

Hello everyone! This is my first post here, and I hate being a trouble when I'm only arriving, but I'm having some issues with the installation that I've been trying to solve for the past six hour without success. So, first, the essentials:

Board: Arduino Mega 2560
OS: Win 7 Pro SP1 x64

Symptoms: Driver won't install. Reports error 28 and states that a part of the INF file is invalid.

Board status: ON Led: on. Tx: Off. Rx: Off. L: blinking at ~4hz.

I downloaded the last IDE version (1.6.7 right now) and installed it. In the device manager I installed manually the drivers (.../arduino/drivers/arduino.inf) and I get "Code 28: The drivers for this device are not installed" - "A service installation section in the INF is invalid".

I'm attaching a copy of my setupapi.dev file.

I don't understand why I'm getting this error there:

sig: FilePath = C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\arduino.inf_amd64_neutral_298a9936aef7c163\arduino.inf
sig: Catalog = C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\arduino.inf_amd64_neutral_298a9936aef7c163\arduino.cat
! sig: Verifying file against specific (valid) catalog failed! (0x800b0109)

I checked and the file is there. I don't know if it may be corrupted or something.
[Edit: I opened the .cat file and it said it wasn't valid (A file downloaded today? wtf?), so I downloaded another catalog file frome here but it still fails. I believe that's because it's from a different source.]

and near the end I got this part and I cannot figure out why:

flq: {_commit_file_queue}
flq: CommitQ DelNodes=0 RenNodes=0 CopyNodes=1
flq: {SPFILENOTIFY_STARTQUEUE}
flq: {SPFILENOTIFY_STARTQUEUE - exit(0x00000001)}
flq: {_commit_copy_subqueue}
flq: subqueue count=1
flq: {SPFILENOTIFY_STARTSUBQUEUE}
flq: {SPFILENOTIFY_STARTSUBQUEUE - exit(0x00000001)}
flq: source media:
flq: SourcePath - [C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\arduino.inf_amd64_neutral_298a9936aef7c163]
flq: SourceFile - [usbser.sys]
flq: Flags - 0x00000000
flq: {SPFQNOTIFY_NEEDMEDIA}
flq: {SPFILENOTIFY_NEEDMEDIA}
flq: {SPFILENOTIFY_NEEDMEDIA - exit(0x00000000)}
flq: {SPFQNOTIFY_NEEDMEDIA - returned 0x00000000}
!!! flq: source media: SPFQOPERATION_ABORT.
flq: {_commit_copy_subqueue exit(0x00000002)}
!!! flq: FileQueueCommit aborting!
flq: {SPFILENOTIFY_ENDQUEUE}
flq: {SPFILENOTIFY_ENDQUEUE - exit(0x00000001)}
flq: {_commit_file_queue exit(0x00000002)}

[Edit: It turns out the arduino.inf_amd64 folder I had, had another numbers in it, but I didn't bother to read them all. I tried copying the content of it into a folder with the name the installation was looking for, but it didn't work out either. I'm attaching a new log file in a message next.]

I already talked with the customer support of the place where I bought it, but since the board is running (That quite annoying blinking led seems to be a preloaded program) they figured out the board must be ok and there must be something wrong with my computer. They said they were going to look for a solution, but I'm not expecting much from that side.

I tried downloading an altenate IDE (from arduino.org) and got the same result. I tried an old one, and got the same. I tried downloading the FTDI USB drivers and forcing the installation, and the yellow exclamation mark went away, but the IDE wouldn't communicate with the board as it stated that the COM port assigned was busy. The TX and RX leds are always off and I got no PDA software (whatsoever) running, so I know there is nothing trying something funny with the board. The firewall and antivirus were down at the moment as well.

I even tried changing the cable in case the computer wasn't recognising the hardware properly, even if it seems like it is a file system problem, but no luck.

At the moment, I don't have another computer to try the board at, but that would be my next step (In any case, the computer I could get is an old laptop with XP). That or formatting and reinstalling all over. Gasoline and matches might be involved in the process.

So... I ran out of ideas for the moment. Any and every advice provided will be most helpful.

Thank you all for your attention.

Andrew.

Edit2: Tagged as solved-

setup api dev.txt (14.4 KB)

2

Since none of the alternatives I tried is working I uninstalled and reinstalled the whole IDE and drivers.

Now I'm getting Code 28 and "these driver is not intended for this platform".

I'm attaching the new setupapi.dev log.

setup api dev.txt (21 KB)

3

Is this a clone? Post the model numbers off the ICs. When is the last time you restarted the computer?

I am running W7 SP1 x64 and never had any trouble with drivers. I have a Mega, Nano, Micro, Uno (all genuine) and also lots of clones.

The explanation is you have Malware or a virus.

4

It is genuine, but it was a good question. I tried installing the alternative drives for Genuino and others, just in case, but it didn't work.

After several hours of reinstalling and reading error logs and ini files, I finally figured out the problem: The Arduino drivers rely on the compatibility with dial up modems. My notebook doesn't have a dial up modem (which is something to be expected on the 21st century) and has a preinstalled OS that seems to lack support for such devices. This means the mdmcpq.cab and mdmcpq2.cab modules were never installed, and so it lacks the files needed to make usbser.sys work. I tried extracting those cabinet files from a clean ISO and installing them manually but it doesn't work the same way as in a fresh installation, so it didn't solve the issue.

I feel like this is problem that should be assesed by Arduino developers. It's not that it is a prioritary problem, but I think it's going to be more and more common as dial up modems become more scarse and less supported, and relying the functionality of a system on a dying technology seems like a bad idea.

So... long story short, if you didn't install the OS yourself, always check if you are using an unmodified installation (all "lite" versions are likely to have this problem). If it is so, the quickest way to solve the problem is by reinstalling the OS with an unmodified ISO.

Thank you, Codlink for your suggestions, and thank you all for taking the time to read me. I hope this will be useful for someone else having this problem.

Andrew.