FRUSTRATED AND IN NEED OF HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

So i have the Melzi board for my reprap prsua i2, but no matter what I try i cannot get the damn thing to work. I am getting super confused about all this arduino bootlader and firmware crap. I dont know what to do. It came with a disk with all this stuff i dont know how to use. All im trying to do is connect my printer to slic3r so i can print something. But it won't connect. It will connect to Repetier, but i can't control anything on the printer. I installed the drivers so the printer shows up on a COM port. So I read that i had to flash the Marlin firmware to the board which has a ATmega1284p processor and a ftdi FT232RL chip. Every time I try to install the firmware through the Adruino IDE I get an error that says error while uploading, missing upload tool. Or it continues to compile the sketch but never completes. I hear about using a physical programmer but since it didn't come with the kit I think that's stupid. I've literally tried everything. The kit is called theOpen Heacent RepRap Prusa Mendel 3DP02 3D Printer Complete Assembly Kit. Nothing is working, and I am in desperate need of help. So if no one can help do you have anyone I can call?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2015 07:40PM by darkmage.

I saw a builder who had spent two weeks to try to connect Arduino Mega in Windows 7 and Windows XP. Windows requires USB chip driver on specific Arduino Mega board. It depends on type of USB chip the manufacturer uses. You might need a magnifying glass to see the USB chip name on the board.

I already have the USB drivers installed

I don't think slic3r directly connects and controls your printer. You said you could connect using RH? But just couldn't control the motors?

Yup

By chance, have you checked the baud rate for the firmware and RH to make sure they set the same?

Yup! it's like 115200 or something

go to windos device manager and locate the hardware for the chip and set the baud rate there.

Already tried that

I'm not sure, but when it says uploading tool, does it mean the jumper? I don't have such a boards, but the board of my printer required a jumper over 2 pins in order to upload firmware...

I attempted to help him on skype, the board has a jumper to put the board into update mode, but arduino keeps saying the port is in use.

Our suspicion is that it is using a bootleg FTDI chip because even the FTProg program doesn't recognize it, and we can't get anything to connect to it. Soon as you plug it in to the computer, windows recognizes it as a com port but the driver isn't letting him open the port. And this is exactly what FTDI did with their drivers to thwart clone makers. Sorry to say but I think the board is junk. Best bet is to get an arduino/ramps/polulu stack for about $35 and throw in an LCD. but be careful where you buy it from Look for vendors with lots of #s by their name and "xxxx sold" is an indicator too.