# Possibly defective Sparkfun Inventor's Kit?

**URL:** <https://community.sparkfun.com/t/possibly-defective-sparkfun-inventors-kit/67002>\
**Category:** SparkFun Inventor's Kit\
**Created:** [October 1, 2025, 1:03pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/possibly-defective-sparkfun-inventors-kit/67002 "2025-10-01T13:03:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Eazy\_E24](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/sparkfun/user_avatar/community.sparkfun.com/eazy_e24/32/11001_2.png) [@Eazy\_E24](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/Eazy_E24)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 1:03pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/possibly-defective-sparkfun-inventors-kit/67002/1 "2025-10-01T13:03:25Z")

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Hi there! I’m completely new to Sparkfun so I might be wrong, but I think something is off with my kit. I can’t get it to be recognized on my computer even with all the proper drivers and stuff installed. I get a “USB device not recognized” error, and for some reason the ports tab is grayed out on arduino. Any help? Another quick note is that I’ve tried this on several computers (all Windows) and got the same result.

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**Author:** ![TS-Russell](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/sparkfun/user_avatar/community.sparkfun.com/ts-russell/32/6092_2.png) [@TS-Russell](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/TS-Russell)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/possibly-defective-sparkfun-inventors-kit/67002/2 "2025-10-01T22:15:20Z")

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I assume you grabbed the drivers form here? [How to Install CH340 Drivers - SparkFun Learn](https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-install-ch340-drivers#drivers-if-you-need-them)

Are you by chance testing on a locked-down system (like at a library or school)?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![YellowDog](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/sparkfun/user_avatar/community.sparkfun.com/yellowdog/32/1782_2.png) [@YellowDog](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/YellowDog)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2025, 1:14am UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/possibly-defective-sparkfun-inventors-kit/67002/3 "2025-10-02T01:14:46Z")

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That kind of sounds like a bad USB cable. Do you happen to have another known good one handy you could try?

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**Author:** ![Eazy\_E24](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/sparkfun/user_avatar/community.sparkfun.com/eazy_e24/32/11001_2.png) [@Eazy\_E24](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/Eazy_E24)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2025, 1:13pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/possibly-defective-sparkfun-inventors-kit/67002/4 "2025-10-02T13:13:04Z")

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Yep, got the drivers from there. I’m on a personal laptop so I don’t think it’s locked down in any way.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eazy\_E24](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/sparkfun/user_avatar/community.sparkfun.com/eazy_e24/32/11001_2.png) [@Eazy\_E24](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/Eazy_E24)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/possibly-defective-sparkfun-inventors-kit/67002/5 "2025-10-02T13:14:00Z")

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I’ll dig around in my loose cables, but for now I’m not sure if I do.