I have just received my Picaxe 28X1 Starter Pack and, after an hour of trying, am still unable to install a driver for it. I am running Windows 7 Ultimate, 64 bit on an AMD Phenom II X6 1035T at 2.6 GHz (or so they say). I have tried the self-extracting, self identifying driver, I have tried the manual install. I am not getting anywhere... well, nowhere good. I have combed the rev-ed site. I assume that the driver was included on the CD I got with the starter. It seems likely that I am just missing something obvious.
Please provide some more detailed info. Are you using the Picaxe USB cable? Are you getting an error you can share? Does the PC recognize the cable as a USB device?
Thanks so much, Ignoble, I figured every body assumed that I hadn’t read the manual or the documentation or hadn’t tried plan B, but I did all of those things. I don’t have time to go through the installation attempt routine right now, but will tomorrow evening and report in detail. Suffice it to say that I’m trying to load a driver for the Axe0027, i.e., the Picaxe USB cable, and my computer recognizes it by name, but however I try to load the driver, it (my computer) claims to be unable to find it. As I said, more tomorrow, but I did want to let you know that I appreciate a response!
How come Voltar’s works so well, and mine’s being a pain!
Details:
I go to the Rev-Ed site and try both options suggested in the documentation: 1. I download the self-extracting, self-identifying driver file and go to the hardware properties for the Picaxe027 (the USB cord) and ask the computer (very nicely) to find a driver. The computer seems to go directly to theWeb to look for a file, but wherever it’s looking, it can’t find one. Then 2. I go back to Rev-Ed and download the manual driver files, unzip them and put them on my desktop and then point the “update drivers” process at them and still get the same message, to wit: Windows was unable to install your AXE027 PICAXE USB; Windows could not find driver software for your device. If you know the manufacturer of your device, you can visit its website and check the support section for dirver software."
Has anybody run into this before and solved it. I don’t want Voltar to get too far ahead of me!
Sorry to ask. I suspect you’ve done this. However, when something like this doesn’t work, it is often something simple that has been overlooked.
General tip:
Always plug in the USB cable
before starting the software application.
Always use the USB cable in the same USB port on your computer.
Last stupid question (for now): Are you following the steps in section 3.1 of the document above?
If all the above is true, can you a screen shot from your Device Manager 'Ports (COM and LPT) section, so we can see how the computer is recognizing the cable (if at all)?
Opps, one more stupid question. Are you installing both the physical and virtual USB port drivers as it describes in step 4 of section 3.1 of the above document?
Thanks to all for suggestions. I guess the twenty-third time is a charm. Even computers finally give in in the face of persistence. Now I’m officially part of the Picaxe community and will be following the responses to Voltar’s anticipated “many stupid questions” with rapt attention!
Actually two things happening now that my computer deigns to deal with an imposter USB posing as a COM port… So I open my Program Editor go through the sample program writing on page 48 in the manual, but my computer can’t talk to the picaxe. Everything is plugged in, AXE027 is hailing us gamely from Com Port 4, but the two can’t seem to close the deal.
I’ll have more energy to work on it tomorrow. The other big Picaxe surprise for me is not having a clue as to how to connect things to the pins on microprocessing chip. On bread boards and ardunios, you get solid core #22 wire, strip the ends and stick them in Arduino and the other side in a bread board, the way god meant it to be. On my 28X1 board, there are all these spines sticking up. What joiners do I meed to get to hook, say, an LED and resistor to the micro processor. I feel as though I am experiencing resistance to something I has hoped would go smoothly. Enough! Any advice will be appreciated.
Good luck with the USB/COM port issue. Windows loves to reassign COM ports. So if you’ve plugged/unplugged anything that might cause problems.
You can get jumper wires (see the Start Here kit from Solarbotics for an example) that have female ends to connect to the male pins on the Picaxe board. It’s handy to have a bunch around.
