Windows 10 Pro installation with 2015 Arduino

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

I just bought a new Arduino on Amazon and received it today. I set up the Arduino hardware fairly quickly and easily and was pleased that when I added a 9VDC power source, the board came alive and started blinking, showing me the blinking LED program is loaded and running. I am happy about that.

My problem is this. The Arduino Starter Kit I purchased from Amazon is apparently from 2015. At least that's when the book that came with the kit said that it was last reprinted. The directions for installation are for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. Nothing for this decade. So that doesn't help me install the necessary software and set up the COM port at all.

I found the Arduino official site and downloaded the "HOURLY BUILDS" software from the site and saved it on my hard drive on my laptop. I extracted the Zip file and found a number of files which included several that looked like they might be the software installation executable. However not knowing which file is the correct file led me to stop the process and ask here: Which file is the Arduino IDE software???

Also, what steps do I perform to install the USB COM port driver(s) on my Windows 10 laptop??? I see there is an INF file and also a drivers subdirectory, but what to do. I don't want to screw this up.

I know this problem must have been addressed somewhere else in the Forum. It seems quite up to date. Too bad there's no readme.txt file included in the downloaded zip file that tells you what to do.

Any and all help will be much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read all of this and I hope you can answer my questions.

Respectfully,
bob3d

2

bob3d:
The directions for installation are for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. Nothing for this decade.

There's no change between Windows 7 and Windows 10. However, an Arduino Starter Kit from Amazon might not have the best directions to begin with. Often the people who sell Arduino products never bothered to learn how the Arduino IDE actually works because they only care about making money off the Arduino community.

bob3d:
I found the Arduino official site and downloaded the "HOURLY BUILDS" software

Hourly builds are only to be used for beta testing. As a complete beginner you should absolutely not be using the hourly build.

bob3d:
I extracted the Zip file and found a number of files which included several that looked like they might be the software installation executable.

With the hourly build, no installation is necessary. You just unzip the download and run arduino.exe and that starts the Arduino IDE. You can move the unzipped folder to any location on your computer where it's convenient to store it if you like.

bob3d:
Also, what steps do I perform to install the USB COM port driver(s) on my Windows 10 laptop??? I see there is an INF file and also a drivers subdirectory, but what to do. I don't want to screw this up.

That depends on which USB to TTL serial chip your Arduino board has. The Arduino IDE comes with drivers for all the official Arduino boards but many of the Arduino boards you find online are not made by Arduino and some of these will require you to download a separate driver.

bob3d:
I know this problem must have been addressed somewhere else in the Forum. It seems quite up to date. Too bad there's no readme.txt file included in the downloaded zip file that tells you what to do.

I suppose so, but there is plenty of information here on this website:

My recommendation is to use the "Windows ZIP file for non admin install" to download the latest release version of the Arduino IDE from:
http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

Unzip that file and move the unzipped folder to a convenient location on your computer. Congratulations, you have now installed the Arduino IDE.

Then we have the drivers issue. If you plug your Arduino board into your computer and the drivers aren't already installed, you can point Windows to search the drivers subfolder of the Arduino IDE installation folder you downloaded and unzipped. If it doesn't find the drivers there then you need to come back here and post a link to where you bought the Arduino board, then we'll tell you where to download the drivers for you non-official board.

3

Thank you for your prompt reply.

The Arduino kit I bought from Amazon is an authentic starter kit from Arduino and is in fact made in Italy. The Arduino board itself is identical to those I have seen pictures of or in YouTube videos. It is definitely an Arduino Uno R3. I understand your caution when buying through a large faceless company such as Amazon. However, I did my homework to ensure it was the real thing prior to purchasing it.

I deleted the "hourly builds" files as you suggested. Thank you. I should have known those were beta files and that I should be starting with a known stable release. I just now downloaded the version 1.8.6 ZIp file for non-administrators and unzipped it into a handy location for me to use.

I haven't yet set up the COM/USB ports just yet, although I will (once everyone in my house finally wakes up). I will endeavor to do that this morning and I'll use the "plug it in and see what Windows does" method to install the drivers.

Thank you for the www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/HomePage site. It will prove to be useful. And thanks for all your help. I want to start my Arduino experience off on the right foot and I see I've come to the right place in order to do that.

Respectfully,
bob3d

4

Supplemental information: The 170-page book that came with the Arduino kit is copyrighted "2017 Arduino AG". The "2015" i have in the subject line of this thread is incorrect. It is in fact an Ardino product from 2017, not 2015.

I also did the installation not from the standalone package on Arduino's website, nor did I get the App from the Windows App Store, but instead I downloaded the executable file from the "Windows Installer, for Windows XP and up" link. I executed the installation package and everything installed including the windows drivers.

I then hooked the USB cord from my laptop to the powered-up Arduino and Windows did not ask me to install any drivers. So I went to my hardware settings and device manager on my laptop and looked under "Ports (COM & LPT)" and saw that the Arduino Uno (COMS) was installed there. This bodes well I thought. let me run the IDE software and see if I can load a sketch onto the Arduino.

Unfortunately, I got an error since I had no sketch loaded according to the error message. Then I loaded an example (Basic > Blink) and tried uploading again and got the following error:

"Arduino: 1.8.6 (Windows 10), Board: "Arduino/Genuino Uno"
Sketch uses 930 bytes (2%) of program storage space. Maximum is 32256 bytes.
Global variables use 9 bytes (0%) of dynamic memory, leaving 2039 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 2048 bytes.
avrdude: ser_open(): can't open device "\.\COM1": The system cannot find the file specified.
Problem uploading to board. See http://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Troubleshooting#upload for suggestions.
This report would have more information with
"Show verbose output during compilation"
option enabled in File -> Preferences."

Now, I'm taking a break from it, since I don't know what to do next. This should be easy, but I keep running into roadblocks. I am quite disappointed at this time.

  • bob3d
5

Even more information with further perplexing conditions: I rebooted my laptop thinking that this may solve the driver problem. Boy, was I wrong. Now when I look in the Windows Device Manager, I don't even see anything that's called "Ports" It's gone. So I thought I'd reinstall the "Windows XP and above" executable file after uninstalling Arduino. There is still no "Ports" listing in my Device Manager.

When I run the Arduino IDE software, the "Ports" selection under the "Tools" menu is grayed out. I guess I'm not creating the Port for it somehow.

After all this failure, I hooked up the Arduino with the laptop and suddenly the Ports appear in the Device Manager. I then opened Arduino IDE and went to tools and selected the "COMS" selection under the now not-grayed-out Port selection. I ran Tools, "Get Board Info" and magically worked! I got the board info. After that success, I loaded a sketch and clicked compile and upload and that worked too! Somehow something I did made this thing connect.

So. That's it for now for my running commentary on how not to and then ultimately how to connect a Windows 10 laptop to an Arduino Uno R3.

  • bob3d (befuddled, but happy)
6

I'm glad to hear it's working. Enjoy!
Per