RAMPS 1.4 board issues and I have no technical competence

I bought a used reprap prusa mendel from craigslist, thinkin it was a great deal. It turns out that it has been a waste of time and money so far, but it also has made me feel like an idiot. I have gone through and wired the printer as the diagram shows on reprap.org, download all the software and uploaded the firmware... everything! I am actually surprised I made it this far.

here is the problem: I detached the ramps 1.4 board to upload the firmware on the arduino mega 2560(because that's what the dude that sold it to me told me to do) to upload the firmware. when I did this my computer recognized the arduino mega 2560. I had no problem uploading(that's a lie, I have windows 8 and I had to figure out how to fix the drivers but that only took me a week to figure out, lol). Anyways, after that step I plugged the RAMPS board back in and my computer beeped (beeped like something was just disconnected) and the green LED on the arduino board shut off. I then opened pronterface because that's what the tutorial that I learned everything from said to do, and selected 250,000-baud rate and port-COM3. Then I tried to connect my printer so I could test out the stepper motors but I get an error...

could not connect to COM3 at baudrate 250000
serial error could not open port COM3
[error2 ] could not find the file specified

I'm not sure if this is talking about a file on the arduino or the RAMPS 1.4 board or maybe it is talking about the software I downloaded. Is there a possibility I download the wrong programs? If someone could help a dummy out, I would really appreciate it! I have had this effin thing for almost two months and it is still not printed a grain of rice! I can email pictures of how I wired it if that is an issue or can explain what I have going on to the best of my knowledge. Please helps geniuses out there, PLEASE!!

"file" probably means the port, COM3. Dis- and reconnecting USB devices sometimes results in a different name for a port.

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

I haven't disconnected the usb cord at all. it doesn't have a problem recognizing the arduino when the ramps 1.4 is not plugged into the arduino. but for some reason ramps 1.4 completely shuts off both the connection and the LED on the arduino... Any other ideas of what it could be? My friend was over a couple weeks ago when I having the same problem on my other laptop and he thought it was the software, but on another thread some guys thought it was a hardware issue if you want to see what they said click on my other threads and ull see what they said... Im just super confused and not technically inclined whatsoever so any help would really make a difference and very much appreciated. Thank YOU SO MUCH!

Have you tried connecting the Ramps when the arduino is not connected to usb or powered on? I do not know if that makes a difference but maybe connecting the ramps board while the arduino is on is causing an issue.

that was a real good idea, but ya I just tried it and it didn't work.

Your going to hate me, but...

1. Take some pics of how you have things hooked up and unplug everything from the RAMPS, including the power connector and the stepper drivers (Pololus). Bare as the day you got it.
2. Unplug the USB cord from the Arduino and any external power supply you may have plugged into the power jack on it. (You should NOT need and external power supply for the Arduino.)
3. Remove the RAMPS from the Arduino again.
4. Flip the ramps over and check for bent header pins. Use a small pair of needle nose pliers to straighten any that might have gotten bent.
5. Inspect the RAMPS board top and bottom for anything that looks like it might have gotten too hot. (The usual tell is discolouration of the clear coat on the circuit board, discolouration of the board its self, and/or chips with rough crispy tops on them.) If you find any burnt stuff you aren't going to RAMPS less until it's repaired or replaced.
6. Lay the RAMPS aside and perform the same inspection on the Arduino. Pay careful attention to the chips around the USB connector.
7. Provided the Arduino looks to be in good shape, plug it back up to your computer with the USB cord and see if you can upload firmware again. You don't need an external power supply for it, the USB port will power it. (If it still don't work you might try a different USB cord.)
8. Provided the RAMPS was still in good shape, UNPLUG THE USB CABLE FROM THE ARDUINO and seat it back onto the Arudino being careful to make sure all pins are lined up before applying too much force. Make sure the two are sandwiched all the way together. Provided standard length header pins and sockets were used, the two boards should go together with very little spacing between the plastic of the two board's headers.
9. Without hooking anything else up to the RAMPS, plug the USB cord back into the Ardunio. (Hopefully you don't get any beeps. I've never had a USB device make my computer beep.)
10. Observe the LEDs and see if you can program the thing again. If you can't program it, something is bad on the RAMPS.

I would suggest leaving off right there, post back your results, and waiting for a reply.


EDIT: You should NOT NOT NOT need and external power supply for the Arduino. (You don't need one.)

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2013 09:48PM by appdev007.

^^ what he said.

Why - either your Ramps board is shorted, or you have someting plugged into it wrong. Best guess would be the limit switches, but that's not the only possablilty. I would start from scratch, assuming the guy who sold you the stuff didn't know what he was doing. Confirm every wire and every connection one at a time. If that means cutting wire ties to follow things, (carefully) cut them. They are cheap to replace...

I would also check your power supply. It's amazingly easy to find power supplies that don't do what they need to on a printer.

Sorry had to edit my post. Yout don't need a seperate 5v power adapter for the Arduino. It should power from RAMPS or USB just fine. (My RAMPS that I bought new doen't power my Arduino for some reason even though it's suppose to. It runs off USB power.)

There is an "optional" 1N400x diode on the Ramps that hooks up power to the Mega. If the diode is missing / broke / in backwards you will have no power to your Mega board.

Have you or anyone been able to resolve this issue? I'm having the exact same problem on my new kit. Arduino powers up fine but only when it's not connected to RAMPS.

There are a multitude of errors that can cause a Ramps / Mega setup to not work when powered up. There's a long list of things you need to check and go through to figure out what your specific issue is. In most cases people find the problem and move on. Threads die out. That's why it's usually best to start a new thread for a new case of a generic problem.

Yes, I actually did start a new thread before I posted a response to this one as well. But funny thing is, minutes after posting this, I figured it out. All I did was remove my SD card connector from AUX, and viola! Everything got power! Motors started moving, bed started moving, everything got heated... ok, something else must be wrong... Everything's just moving all over the place :/
Well... I hope someone else benefits from this.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2013 09:52PM by mza1979m.

And most importantly, make sure that new thread gets the solution posted to it.

Quote
uncle_bob
... That's why it's usually best to start a new thread for a new case of a generic problem.

I also started a new thread about this, can someone help me please?