Arduino not Detected? This Solution will Help!
In this post we are going to solve Arduino software and driver related issues which are driving some beginners crazy and we will also address some of the problems related to Arduino hardware.
We will see:
- Why your Arduino is not detected by your computer?
- Solutions for not detection of Arduino boards.
- Driver Download Link.
- How to install the driver.
- Troubleshooting Arduino board and IDE.
You landed on this page because you could not upload your sketch to Arduino or it is not even detected by your trusty computer. Here we will discuss the possible problems why your Arduino board is not detected or why you couldn’t upload the sketch/code and we will see the recommended solutions.
Let’s starts with a common issue.
Why your Arduino is not detected by your computer?
This is a very common issue faced by most Arduino beginners and sometimes even who has intermediate experience with Arduino. Your IDE will not show the connected Arduino board and you device manager will say “unknown USB device”, when you try to fix with windows tools you will still end up not fixing the issue.
To find out why the Arduino boards are not detected, let’s inspect the Arduino board’s USB to serial converter chip.
A USB to serial converter module is utilized on all Arduino boards to uploading sketches to the microcontroller and also for serial communication between the computer and the main microcontroller.
Here is an Arduino UNO clone with ATmega16U2 controller which is used as USB to serial converter, the same converter is also utilized on genuine Arduino boards.
The clones which utilize ATmega16U2 as USB to serial converter for the microcontroller won’t have any issues with detection.
Now let’s inspect another Arduino board clone, which doesn’t utilize ATmega16U2 for USB to serial conversion.
The above Arduino board is SMD type; this board has exactly same specification as genuine Arduino UNO. As you can see there is a difference in the USB to serial converter chip. This is called CH340G USB to serial converter chip.
You can see this on cheap Chinese Arduino clones; this chip will not be detected neither by your computer nor the IDE. You have to install CH340G driver to your computer only then your computer will recognize the device and able to upload sketches.
You can also find this CH340G chip even on Arduino nano clones as illustrated below:
- Download CH340G Driver:
You can download the CH340G driver for these kinds of Arduino boards: Click Here
How to install CH340G Driver to windows Computer:
- Download the CH340G drive from the given link.
- Now double left-click on this icon:
- It will ask for administrator permissions, click YES.
- Now it will prompt you with 3 options: Install, uninstall and help.
- Click on Install.
- Click Install, once the driver installed it says “Driver Install Success”.
- Restart your computer after installation (Important).
NOTE: Some users notified that Arduino clones which use CH340G chip are not working properly on USB 3.0. Please comment if you face similar issue.
By now majority of the problems would have been solved with Arduino boards. Now let’s discuss some other issues faced by arduino enthusiasts.
Program/sketch not uploading solutions:
These are the possible explanations why you are not able to upload sketches to Arduino and their solutions.
-
Incorrect COM port selected:
Most beginners make this mistake, they select wrong COM port. Each computer has different COM port numbers and you have to select the right one for your PC. If your Arduino board sport ATmega16U2 chip it will show you to which COM port number your board is connected to and select that one.
If your Arduino board sport a CH340G chip, it won’t show you the connect COM port number and you have try each of them that is displayed.
-
Selected wrong board at tools menu:
You have to select the correct board name. If you choose Arduino Nano for Arduino Uno, you code will not get uploaded.
-
Selected wrong processor:
You should select the right microcontroller IC number at tools menu, otherwise the code will not get uploaded.
-
Tx and Rx pins are connected to your circuit:
Whenever you are uploading a code to your Arduino board, make sure that Tx and Rx pins are not connected anywhere else in the circuit. Once you finish uploading the code, you may reconnect the Tx and Rx pins to your circuit. The Tx and Rx (pin number 0 and 1) are the pins where the code gets uploaded to the microcontroller.
-
Defective USB cable:
A defective USB cable can make your Arduino board undetectable on your computer, not even detectable on your device manager and also may cause frequent disconnection from your PC. If you find yourself in this circumstance, please replace the USB cable that connects to your computer and Arduino board.
-
Defective USB port:
A dusty / rusted USB port on your computer may cause frequent disconnections or may prevent uploading of the code altogether, this could be because the rusted USB lines may not establish proper physical contact with the USB cable.
Always connect your Arduino board to a good USB port of your computer and make sure that USB port on the Arduino board also has no physical defects. If problems arise from a particular USB port, don’t use that again.
-
Inspect for physical damages on Arduino board:
Grab a magnifying glass and take a closer look at the traces and solder joints in the board, especially on USB to serial converter chip and microcontroller IC, if you find any, try to bridge them by soldering it. If you find any physical damage on any of the components, such as cracks or burn marks, you may need to replace the component or replace the whole board.
There could be problems with microcontroller IC or with other components which are not visually inspect-able / visible or replaceable, in such case replacing the whole board is the only solution.
-
Try Reinstall the Arduino IDE:
Download a fresh copy of IDE from the official website of Arduino and install it to your computer. Re-installing the latest / same version of Arduino IDE may solve some installation issues with your computer.
There could be situations where the newer IDE didn’t work well with your Arduino board, if so please try roll backing to the previous version which you have been using before.
-
Try to upload a sketch from another computer:
This is the final troubleshooting step if you can’t get your Arduino board to work. Connect your board to another computer (with proper drivers) which is known for uploading Arduino sketches without any issues. If the issue still persist, your board has some problem and please replace your board.
By now you should be able to find issues with your Arduino and able to fix it.
If you have any further questions, please comment below, you will get a guaranteed reply from us.
Blogthor
My nick name is blogthor, I am a professional electronics engineer specialized in Embedded System. I am a experienced programmer and electronics hardware developer. I am the founder of this website, I am also a hobbyist, DIYer and a constant learner. I love to solve your technical queries via comment section.
Hi guys, i want to share my experience (at this very moment) I have the same problem my pc is a windows 7 64, after a lot off web investigation and nothing i went back to my problem and i noticed that the controller was in the proteus carpet (absolutely crazy!) so i got rid of the proteus Labcenter carpet and that is it! My arduino is now installed and working, you should check that (Not the program files X86 carpet but the program files carpet)
Thanks for sharing you experience.
do you know how to fix with atmega16u2 chip?
Hi Linh,
Can you elaborate your issue?
Regards
the esp is conected but not data to thingspeak just line with t =0
Please tell us which project you are referring to and the exact issue, we will sort it out.
Regards
i have problem where arduino mega 2560 is running latest code but pc is not even detecting it , it started happen to me when i accidentally connected arduino 5v pin with 12 v external power supply , i was in process of swapping 12v input to circuit with 5v arduino voltage but i forgot to shutdown my external 12v power supply and it turn on arduino for movement i disconnected quickly as i noticed that i messed up and next when i try to connect arduino with pc it not detected but it would run latest code uploaded to it , so it seems primary serial channel is burned up . i can connect arduino to pc using serial1 through ttl usb but am not able upload code to it , so it will be exciting if there is way to upload code to arduino through serial1 channel ,
Hi,
I understood your issue.
Search online for how to upload code to Arduino pro-mini, follow the wire connections for your Mega using USB to serial programmer.
You can also search for how to upload code using ICSP pins. Both are easy.
But if your microcontroller’s hardware serial is damaged (or) the your microcontroller’s hardware serial is kept pulled-up or pulled-down by your damaged Mega’s (built-in) serial programmer IC, you cannot upload the code.
Regards
Nice
Hi,
I am using an arduino clone (maker uno) which utilizes the CH340G chip mentioned. When i try to install the driver , i am seeing the following the following notification ” The drive is successfully Pre-installed in advance ! . I dont see the driver install success message.
Note that i have already connected the arduino device to one of my usb ports when i am installing the driver. In addition, there is no Ports (COM&LPT) in my device manager.
*Using windows 10 and my usb ports is 3.0
Hi,
If you get that message CH340G driver is already installed.
We already mentioned this issue in the post that USB 3.0 and CH340 chips don’t sync quite well. If you have a USB 2.0 port try connecting to it.
Currently we don’t have a solution for this…
Regards
I buy a arduino clone from local market and when I am try to connect it with with my computer I try every thing which is on youtube it does not work .the power led is blink when I connect the board to it what I can do help me
Things you may try:
1) Change the USB data cable.
2) Try on a different computer with drivers installed.
Hello,
Just like the previous comment, I am using an arduino clone (Blackboard C from SparkFun) which utilizes the CH340G chip mentioned. When i try to install the driver, i am seeing the following the following notification ” The drive is successfully Pre-installed in advance! . I dont see the driver install success message. (I saw your reply to this that said it is installed).
I had my device connected to one of my usb ports while installing the driver, but there was no device detected at all (not even under “other devices” and I made sure none are hidden). There are no Ports (COM&LPT) in my device manager.
*Using windows 10 and my usb ports is 2.0
At this point I want to assume that the cable is the issue even though the leds are lit, but the vendors said it supports serial applications and that it is a data cable so I am very confused.
Link to cable:{link}
I don’t know if it’s fair to blame the cable, but I don’t have another one to test with. Any advice would be awesome. Thanks in advance.
Hi,
1) You can try changing the cable.
2) Try it on a different PC with proper drivers installed.
3) Lastly, if possible try changing the board.
Regards
Worked perfectly, thanks a lot.
You are welcome..
Hello everyone,
I’m really joyful about your efforts. You are trully thoughtful. It took ca. 5 hours to find a solution. Your solution.
Best wishes!
Perfect, thank you.
My pleasure!
HI,
I posted a comment, but I can not find it anymore and when I post again the system comment “Duplicate post” :-(.
Please advise.
Regards Gerard
Your question is filtered by the spam filter, please ask your question again without many links.
Downloaded the installer and tried to install, get an unsuccessful install message. With second download same message so have stopped, waiting for your reply.
Hi,
There could be file permission issues with your computer which preventing the installation.
Hi please Help to me to fix this issue
I am getting an Error message when installing the driver that “The Driver Is Successfully Pre-Installed”
But my pc does not detect that after installing the driver
Hi,
If the driver is pre-installed then you don’t have driver issue. Try changing the USB cable with a good one after trying every troubleshooting steps mentioned in the article.
the downloaded program gives me Driver install failure! error. What to do?
Hi,
Sorry for the late reply, What error message do you get?
Hi!
I’ve been breaking my head trying to figure out why my computer suddenly stopped recognising Arduino boards, and voila! Your solution was stop on and now my devices are working perfectly again!!
Thanks a ton!
That’s great soumya!
Downloaded the CH340G driver and it worked for me. Thanks a lot.
Great!
Please help me out!!
The only port option available in my IDE is COM4 …and it shows error when the code is uploaded to the Arduino..I am an absolute newbie in this field. I don’t know if the board has any issue or the USB cable or my device. I tried every possible way but nothing worked. I do not have access to any other computer which has already been tested for working with Arduino boards. Please help me out. I have freaked out now and have become clueless.
Hi,
You need to try solutions one by one. Please tell what error message are you getting…
am getting the error message
Error: Request upload failed with message: 2 UNKNOWN: exit status 1
please help
Can please provide more information like which board you are using, is it compilation error or upload error.
I have arduino 16u2 uno board. when i plugged the UNO board
to pc com port not showing,
But I have another 16u2 UNO its working properly.
Hi Blogthor,
I’m a noob to arduino. I have an arduino uno board made in Italy. I downloaded the software, when I hooked up the board to my pc, the orange light started blinking non stop and it says windows does not recognise the device. Please can you assist me?
If this is a new Arduino board just unboxed, there could be a factor defect. You can try plugging the Arduino to a different computer.