USB Connection Not Working

[HurryfortheCurry]

Hi guys, sorry if I'm posting in the wrong category.

I had my Arduino uno connected to my laptop tonight when I tried to upload a sketch, only to find that it didn't detect my board. When I reached to plug/unplug the connection, the port on the board was hot to the touch. I quickly unplugged it, waited for it to cool, then tried again on several different USB ports to no avail. When I plug the Arduino into the wall, it appears that the board still can be powered on, but I was wondering why my USB connection is somewhat useless now. It's pretty disheartening because I was just getting my feet wet, and somehow it already doesn't work. Can anyone help?

[Franklin97355]

Did you have anything other than the Arduino connected? Does anything look damaged on the board?

[HurryfortheCurry]

Just my keyboard and mouse. No, there's no apparent damage from what I can see.

[Franklin97355]

Please do not double post. Your other post has been removed. Follow along here for any answers to your query. Have you tried a different USB cable? Could you post clear pictures of your board and the connections to it while working?

[HurryfortheCurry]

Yes I have tried another USB cable. Sorry, I don't know what to take a picture of seeing as the board does not illuminate and my laptop doesn't recognize the device when plugged in. You would just see a picture or my desktop accompanied by a picture of a plugged in but unpowered board.

[Franklin97355]

When did you buy the board and did you buy it from Adafruit?

[HurryfortheCurry]

Yup, I ordered the starter kit! My order was confirmed on June 18th, and I remember it coming in a few days later although I can't remember the exact date at the moment.

[HurryfortheCurry]

Hey Franklin97355, the Uno now is recognized by my laptop but I can't upload sketches. I get the following when I try to upload a sketch to my Uno.
avrdude: stk500_getsync(): resp=0x00
The fixes I've found online don't seem to be working.

[adafruit_support_mike]

Are you sure you have the right COM port selected under the Tools -> Serial Port menu?

[HurryfortheCurry]

Yes.

[adafruit_support_mike]

Let's do a loopback test and see if the USB-to-Serial chip on the board is working:

Plug a jumper into the Arduino's headers from pin 0 (also marked RX on the PCB) to pin 1 (TX).

Connect the Arduino to your computer with the USB cable, and launch the Arduino IDE.

Open any sketch at all.. it doesn't matter which one because we won't be trying to load it. All we need is the Serial Monitor (magnifying glass icon in the upper right corner of the editing window).

Select the COM port for your Arduino under Tools -> Serial Port, open the serial monitor, and type a line of text into the input bar at the top of the window.

When you press return, you should see the text drop down to the output pane.

What we've done is connect the USB/Serial converter's output to its input. Anything the computer sends out on the TX line should come right back in on the RX line. If that happens, we'll know that data is making it from the computer to the Arduino PCB, and that the USB/Serial converter works.

[HurryfortheCurry]

This seem to work when I followed your instructions, my string appeared in the lower pane when I pressed return.

[adafruit_support_mike]

Okay, that's good. It means the basic data connection works as it should.

With the same settings, try uploading the standard Blink sketch to the Arduino. Let's see if the microcontroller responds.

[HurryfortheCurry]

Seems like it uploads fine now after I found help on an instructable page thanks anyway, man

[HurryfortheCurry]

Well, just as soon as it started working again it won't recognize my arduino. Again. Same issue and attempted fixes as before, but now I can't even monitor the serial port (when you told me to connect the rx and tx) because my device manager doesn't even recognize the arduino. Attached is a picture of two pins that used to accidentally be connected by the adhesive pads that came with the kit. In addition, my laptop warned me that my USB drive drew too much power, indicating some sort of short. Help would be appreciated, I've been trying to fix this for some time now. Thanks.

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