unable to upload any programs to the arduino

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

I just got my brand new arduino mega 2560 in the mail. i was never able to upload any programs to it at all. i have tried quite a number of different programs and they all result in the following errors:
avrdude: stk500v2_ReciveMessage(): timeout and
avrdude: stk500v2_getsync{): timeout communicating with programmer

If anybody else has had this problem and was able to fix it, please let me know how you did it. I need to get this fixed ASAP as this microcontroller will be used in a project for one of my classes that has a due date which happens to be closing in uncomfortably fast. Thank you in advanced to anyone who can help me get this problem resolved.

2

Did you read the troubleshooting guide?

http://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Troubleshooting#upload

Have you selected the Mega2560 board in the IDE?

3

Yes, I do have the ide set for the mega 2560, and nothing in the troubleshooting documentation has worked, got any other ideas?

4

Are any wires plugged into it apart from the USB cable?

Can you enable "verbose" uploading (see File -> Preferences) and then post what appears.

What operating system are you using?