Well, my arduino has suddenly stopped powering up over USB, and won’t show up in the computer when powered externally. I’ve tried another cable I had laying around, still wouldn’t work. In addition, when powered externally, the power regulator gets very hot and judging by the heat of some of the components hooked up the the 5v output, seems to also be failing to regulate properly. I’d test it some more with my multimeter to confirm, but I don’t wanna do any additional damage (if any). Previously (like an hour ago) it was operating an H-bridge for some 6v gearmotors just fine. What’s going on, and is it fixable?
If you have an atmega in a dip package, I would start by removing the chip and see if the regulator gets hot.
Check the usb cable for power by plugging something else into it. I’ve caused an accidental short in my connections over usb a time or two and the computer shutdown that port. A full power down of the computer made it all work again.
Actually, it’s all working now and I can program it now, strangely. The heat may have actually been caused by a halogen lamp I have on my desk, but I’ve never known it to get things this toasty (in addition, the arduino wasn’t under the lamp for long, especially in comparison to other times when it’s continued to work fine and hasn’t gotten hot, so…) Could the inability to connect have been caused by the heat, and could anything have been damaged?