WARNING - blue screen from cheap Arduino

Using Arduino Installation & Troubleshooting
#1

I bought a Mega 2560 on Ebay (silly me). It was very cheap. Three weeks later (after the 14-day return warranty had run out) I connected it to my little Acer laptop using the USB cable. The Acer suddenly died and wouldn't restart after I had unplugged the Mega. I got worried. I found that I could get the Acer booted after I had removed and re-installed its battery. I thought the Mega might be taking too much power from the little Acer and it had tripped out the Acer. So I plugged the Mega into my bigger Dell laptop (silly me). The Dell died immediately and has never booted beyond the blue screen of death. Guess I will be dumping a cheap Mega and a Dell.

Question: I have noticed that when I plug the wall power supply into the Mega it flashes two fast and then continues to flash slowly. My Uno flashes four fast flashes then one slow flash when I plug in the power. Are these diagnostic codes? What do they mean?

#2

Uh what??

Pictures would be nice.... maybe the tr/recv pins are shorted?!

#3

Want me to draw a picture? It wouldn't be pritty. I compared the pin to pin and pin to ground resistance of all USB lines and the Mega reads the same as my Uno. Tried different USB cables. I'm sure its the Mega that's the problem but looking at the Mega its not obvious that there is anything wrong.

#4

warren631:
Question: I have noticed that when I plug the wall power supply into the Mega it flashes two fast and then continues to flash slowly. My Uno flashes four fast flashes then one slow flash when I plug in the power. Are these diagnostic codes? What do they mean?

Not diagnostic codes. Just a little feedback from the bootloader to let you know it's waiting for an upload attempt.

#5