ActivityBot COM Port Not Connecting

jake4832

So after getting my ActivityBot, I downloaded SimpleIDE and the drivers from the tutorial. I then followed the instructions to try and run a program, but when i went to select my bot from the dropdown menu in the upper right corner, it wasn't there. I looked at the troubleshooting guide online, but it said to just unplug it and plug it back in, which did not work even after about 30 attempts. I tried re-installing the drivers, and SimpleIDE, but nothing has worked. So does anyone know what I can do? Thanks?

P.S.
I'm using macOS Sierra 10.12.1 on a 13-inch MacBook Pro
I downloaded the v2.3 drivers from the website link on Parallax
I downloaded SimpleIDE 1.0 RC2 from Parallax as well
I'm connecting via a new USB to Micro-USB cable included in the kit
The board is new and has power, and the power switch is in position 1

dgately

To verify that the driver is actually seeing the ActivityBot, try the following command in the Mac's Terminal app, while the ActivityBot is connected to your Mac via USB.

ls /dev | grep usb

You should see something like one of the following:

ls /dev | grep usb
cu.usbserial-00002014
tty.usbserial-00002014

OR:

ls /dev | grep usb
cu.usbserial-DAWIJ6AJ
tty.usbserial-DAWIJ6AJ

If you don't get this kind of response, the FTDI driver is not working.

Note: Mac OS X Sierra already contains a generic FTDI driver that should have seen the ActivityBot without installing drivers from FTDI's website. It' possible that there is a contention with your downloaded FTDI driver...

dgately

Mr. Lewis

I am running macOS Sierra and haven't had any problems recently. One question, have you rebooted your computer since installing the drivers/program? Sometimes the USB drivers will hang and none of the mac versions will work correctly after this - its really bad with MacBS2. This is a driver issue from what I have read and sometimes rebooting your Mac will fix the issue.

The problem normally isn't bad with SimpleIDE, but could be the issue for you, otherwise, try a different cord or USB port on your mac just to see.

If you still can't get it to work, not sure what else to suggest, but I can tell you it should all work with no problems.

PS. Is your green light on for the Activity Board - it should come on when plugged in and switched to 1 even when you do not have batteries. If the light isn't on then this is a good indication that your USB is probably frozen.