SparkFun Forums

[sullivan]

Hi,

I'm a linux buff but new to electronics and just got the Arduino
starter kit. Cool! So now I'm attempting to run the Arduino
Duemilanove ATmega328 with Debian Linux 2.6.26-2-686.

I made sure brltty was NOT installed, and installed:
avr-libc avrdude avrdude-doc
binutils-avr gcc-avr gdb-avr simulavr

I plugged in the board via USB and the green PWR light is on, and
the yellow "L" light flashes a few times per second.

I started the Arduino GUI and copied in the beginner's flashing
light code, and the "verify" step reports ok.

But when I click "upload" I get
processing.app.SerialException: Serial port 'COM1' not found.
Did you select the right one from the Tools > Serial Port menu?

But I cannot select the port, as it's greyed out on the tools menu.
I checked google for answers but haven't found anything
meaningful to me.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks,

Steve

[tetsujin]

First thing: does your kernel have support for the FTDI serial chipset used by the Arduino? If it's loaded as a module I believe it's called "ftdi_sio". If it's working then you should be able to see the device when you run "lsusb" from the command line (or any USB tree viewers in the GUI, if you prefer) and (assuming a typical, modern setup of udev, etc.) you should have a device file called /dev/ttyUSB0 or something...

Look for that stuff first. If your system's support for FTDI devices is working properly, then the rest (accessing the device from the Arduino GUI, etc.) should be pretty straightforward. I'm primarily a Linux user myself (Debian, even), and also fairly new to Arduino...

[sullivan]

Hi, Thanks for the note. Here's what I see:

# lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 USB-Serial (UART) IC
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

# ls /dev/ttyUSB*
crw-rw---- 1 root dialout 188, 0 2010-03-03 13:27:00 /dev/ttyUSB0

Still I get the "Serial port COM1 not found" message, and on the Tools tab
the "Serial port" option is grayed out so I cannot select it.

Thanks,
Steve

[tetsujin]

OK, then probably the FTDI device is working... (can you confirm this with "lsmod | grep ftdi"?) Next question: do you have permission to access the device? (run "groups" under your regular user account and see if you are in group "dialout") There are, I understand, cleaner ways of granting yourself access to the device by configuring udev and whatever, but I've never quite figured them out... Adding yourself to the "dialout" group if you're not already in it is an easier way...

[sullivan]

Hi GEC,

Many thanks! I added the group "dialout" for the account, and now
can use the Tools tab to select port /dev/ttyUSB0. Now the upload
works and the board works! Cool!

Steve

[flaco]

Hi,

Posting to this older thread because I am having the same issue and I've tried everything mentioned here. using arduino0022 on debian. I am a novice user for both linux and microelectronics.