I just got an UNO and I tried uploading the blink sketch, but I get an error saying "Serial port 'COM1' not found", and it says to check the Tools > Serial Port menu, but it's grayed out for me. I made sure that UNO is selected in the board type and I tried 2 different USB cables in 3 different USB slots. Made sure my drivers are there. Not sure what else to check really. The board is running blink right now (because it's the default sketch), so it is operating, but I can't figure out how to get my serial port menu working.
The Serial Port menu is unavailable because the driver isn't installed correctly.
Assuming Windows, since you didn't say. What shows up in your Device Manager when the Uno is connected?
Also, where did you buy the Uno from?
It makes the 3 sounds when I connect it but it's not showing up as a removable device thing. The drivers should have been installed when the arduino software was installing, right?
The drivers should have been installed
Downloaded, but not installed. Did you follow the instructions at http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/Windows ?
ModestMau5:
It makes the 3 sounds when I connect it but it's not showing up as a removable device thing.
It won't show up as a "removable device thing". It will show up in the Device Manager as a COM port.
dxw00d:
The drivers should have been installed
Downloaded, but not installed. Did you follow the instructions at http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/Windows ?
Specifically, http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/UnoDriversWindowsXP
My bad, I thought that windows tutorial was just another link to download the software. Went pretty smoothly, but I had a lucky guess in that my arduino was listed as an unrecognized device instead of under Ports or something (which didn't come up in device manager). Anyways, I can select the serial port now and it's uploading smoothly. Thanks guys, sorry about that.