I have my first SparkFun processor board and it has been far from fun to start. I can not get it to connect to my computer.
I have the SparkFun RedBoard Qwiic DEV-15123. It has the new CH340C serial chip on it. I have tried 3 different computers running windows 10 and 11. I have tried 2 different cables, validated the cables work with other devices. No luck. When I plug in the board it lights up and seems to be running some code as the blue LED is blinking and the TX green LED blinks very quickly approximately every 1.5secs. But when I plug into computer I do not get any feedback from PC that a new device was added. No device was added to device manager, nothing happens on the PC, just the RedBoard powers up. Have confirmed driver for CH340C is installed but that should not matter as PC not even noticing USB device added.
Please help!
First, are you connecting to a USB 3 port, either USB A or USB C?
I would try a USB 2.0 port first, if you have one or use a USB 2.0 hub to have USB 2.0 speeds.
Make sure you are not using a cable only for charging, use a micro USB cable that is capable of data transfers like an Amazon Basics micro USB cable for under $8.
Also, check device manager to see is your board is being recognized, it may not be recognized as a COM port, but as a USB device that needs drivers, but most likely, that should not be the case.
Connecting to usb A 2.0 port.
Using a cable that was validated fully functional with power and data.
As I stated in original post, I tested pm 3 different computers and none of them even recognize that I plugged anything into the computer. No device manager update. Nothing happens. I am an electrical engineer so this stuff is not be to me. It seems to me the CH340 chip is not functioning
It seems to me the CH340 chip is not functioning
That’s what it sounds like to me too. The address below should get you to the returns page where you can ask for a replacement.
https://www.sparkfun.com/returns
Just the standards that you see in the SparkFun troubleshooting guide, on this page, https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/re … okup-guide , scroll down to Troubleshooting, and there is alink in that guide to this page, https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/sp … oting-tips.
Usually the initial program is a LED blink sketch, so that is what you are seeing, since the USB cable is supplying power to board.
You could try to use a TTL port to connect to the board through UART or USART and see if you can upload through that port, a YouTube tutorial here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBVna-CZZgk.
If you are able to upload a sketch and it works, then you would be correct that the chip is bad.
Ok I now have a Redboard QWIIC, a QWIIC PRO Micro USB-C, Pro Micro ESP32-C3, and QWIIC Pro Micro ESP32-C6. None of these work! I can not get any of them to connect to any PC I have. I have tried: Windows 11 laptop, two different Window 10 PCs, Windows 11 PC, Raspberry Pi 4 running Raspberry Pi OS and Ubuntu. No matter what I plug them into, I do not get anything on the PC, no device added, no driver install, no dmesg in linux, NOTHING! I do not know what I am missing here, are these things just pieces of junk or do they actually work for people? Please help explain how to get at least one of these things to connect to any computer… I have been able to connect my Arduino Uno R3 to all of these PCs without an issue.
have tried 2 different cables, validated the cables work with other devices.
What kind of devices and what do those devices do that validate the cables?
Yes tried like 6 different cables all of which worked perfectly fine. Connected to Phone and transferred files between phone and computer. Also connected hard drive to computer with no issues.
OK, your cables are good if you’re able to transfer data.
What I’m not understanding is how you have four, (FOUR!) bad boards. Getting that many bad boards would be exceedingly rare. You might consider buying some lottery tickets!
I can’t speak for sparkfun but they might be interested in getting those boards back to have a look at.