I purchased a clone Mega 2560, along with a clone REP-RAP, and a clone LCD panel. I was determined to solve the programming problem with my Arduino Printer that I had experienced building the machine. I configured the boards in a hand held arrangement and proceeded to try and program the Mega 2560 using the Arduino writer 1.6.4 that was available at the time.
I hooked the boards to the computer using the 8.1 Win platform and looked at Device Manager and observed that the board was listed as a Arduino 2560 on port 9. What I also found was that Win 8.1 also showed that ports 3,4, and 5 were in use. This was strange as I do not have any com devices attached other than the Mega 2560. I bought up the Arduino writer and tried to program the Mega 2560. I kept getting an error saying that the writer could not find the board. I surmised that perhaps the Mega 2560, being a clone was not quite as adaptive as a genuine Arduino Mega 2560, but this was the same problem that I had with the "genuine." I decided to re-set the clone to port 3 and force the issue. I got an error on the first try, but on the second try, the writer produced the desired code and wrote it to the clone Mega 2560. Looking at the Device manager, there it was on port 3 and the attached LCD panel showed the correct information. I could cycle through all of the information using the adjustable pot.
Looking back at the device manager, I still saw port 4 and 5 showing "in use" and I remembered that I had tested out a couple of USB to serial cables. I be darned, Windows remembered the port that I had put them on and reserved those ports, for future use. Could this be the problem? I then ran a check on the internet to see if anyone else had this problem. I found: Overview | How to Find Hidden COM Ports | Adafruit Learning System This told me what I had been experiencing, "Ghost Ports"
I just "re-invented the wheel."
BTW I expect to use the additional Mega 2560 and other to make a printer from scratch, but in the mean time it will serve as a backup for my Materia 101.