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  VS Arduino › Visual Micro › Usb/Serial/WiFi Debugging › Can't debug using different USB port
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Hot Topic (More than 8 Replies) Can't debug using different USB port (Read 13216 times)
canol
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Can't debug using different USB port
Oct 31st, 2013 at 8:38am
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Hello,

I am trying to use Visual Micro to debug my Arduino program. I need to use custom pins for RX/TX since I use the main USB port for communication between a PC program and Arduino.

I read the article below:

http://www.visualmicro.com/post/2013/04/26/How-to-debug-Arduino-on-a-different-u...

But I guess I have a problem with the hardware connections. I prepared my connections like the images below:




I connected to pins 0/1 in this setup but I tried different pins like 7/8 as well.

My project configuration is like this:

Local Port: COM6
Remote Pin RX: 0
Remote Pin TX: 1
Remote Transport: SoftwareSerial

But the computer cannot see any devices and so I don't know what is the port name (COM?).

Whereas if I connect the regular USB cable to the Arduino it works without any change in configuration:



And the device is seen to be connected to COM6.

So what might be the problem? Why is my device not seen by computer when I connect USB cable to pins 0/1?
  
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Tim@Visual Micro
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Re: Can't debug using different USB port
Reply #1 - Oct 31st, 2013 at 1:39pm
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Hi,

The Arduino hardware has a usb chip connected to the main usb port which is why windows detects it.

To connect to digital pins you need a cable that has a chip on board like this one 

I hope that helps
  
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Dennis Mabrey
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Re: Can't debug using different USB port
Reply #2 - Oct 31st, 2013 at 1:43pm
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Is that a regular USB cable you soldered up to the wire going to your Arduino.  That will NOT work.

At the bottom of the link to instructions you posted it says "There are lots of different cables and usb/serial converts.  I find this cable very useful for lots of things (you might find it cheaper elsewhere) FTDI 5v Cable (there is also a 3v version)"

An FTDI cable has an FTDI chip inside of it to translate between USB and serial because you cannot directly hook it up like that.  I actually prefer to use a device called an FTDI friend which just attaches to the end of a USB cable.

The following is an FTDI Friend :



And this is a standard FTDI cable


  
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canol
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Re: Can't debug using different USB port
Reply #3 - Nov 1st, 2013 at 8:18am
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Thank you very much for your responses. Looks like my local distributer has that FTDI cable so I will buy it.

Is it enough to connect FTDI cable's RX and TX pins to the Arduino or should I connect the other pins as well? If I need to connect CTS or RTS pins then where should I connect those pins on Arduino?

I found this connection diagram on SparkFun web site for FTDI Friend, is this true:

Code
Select All
  FTDI Basic | Arduino
  DTR ---------- Reset
  TXO ---------- RXI
  RXI ---------- TXO
  VCC ---------- +5V
  CTS ---------- GND (pull low)
  GND ---------- GND
« Last Edit: Nov 1st, 2013 at 8:45am by canol »  
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Tim@Visual Micro
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Re: Can't debug using different USB port
Reply #4 - Nov 1st, 2013 at 12:58pm
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Hi, the rx/tx are fine, not other pins required. 

Actually the RX is only required for break/pause and if you want to modify the values of variables while the Arduino is running.
  
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Dennis Mabrey
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Re: Can't debug using different USB port
Reply #5 - Nov 1st, 2013 at 7:23pm
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Pretty sure the FTDI ground pin needs to be connected to the Arduino's ground as well.  

I suggest reading up Sparkfun's FTDI guide https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/245.  Scroll down to the picture that describes the connection that looks like this and read what it says:
  
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canol
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Re: Can't debug using different USB port
Reply #6 - Nov 4th, 2013 at 10:13am
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Thank you very much. I connected 3 pins RX/TX and ground and it works. It looks like working even if I don't connect the ground pin (probably because I power and debug the Arduino from the same computer's USB ports so ground levels are the same). I connected it anyway just to be safe.
« Last Edit: Nov 4th, 2013 at 10:16am by canol »  
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Dennis Mabrey
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Re: Can't debug using different USB port
Reply #7 - Nov 4th, 2013 at 12:05pm
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Great.  Glad to hear it is working.
  
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Re: Can't debug using different USB port
Reply #8 - Nov 4th, 2013 at 3:22pm
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Great news, thanks for the update. If using the ftdi cable you certainly don't need ground. I've debugged happily with just one wire on tx.

The ftdi friend looks interesting, I'm going to get one of those  Smiley
  
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canol
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Re: Can't debug using different USB port
Reply #9 - Nov 4th, 2013 at 4:11pm
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Yeah, I used this piece named "FTDI Basic Breakout" to be exact:

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9716

This looked more durable than the cable and a little bit cheaper (since you need to buy an ordinary Mini-B USB cable with it if you don't have one already). I guess this is pretty similar to the FTDI Friend Dennis mentioned.
« Last Edit: Nov 4th, 2013 at 4:18pm by canol »  
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Dennis Mabrey
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Re: Can't debug using different USB port
Reply #10 - Nov 5th, 2013 at 3:27pm
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canol wrote on Nov 4th, 2013 at 4:11pm:
I guess this is pretty similar to the FTDI Friend Dennis mentioned.


Yes they both use the same FT232RL chip but the Sparkfun version is a bit smaller because of the header placement.
  
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