Arduino doesn't get recognized

Question

I'm not certain this is the right place to ask, but I've seen other Arduino threads on stackoverflow, so I just assume it's ok.

My arduino uno-compatible board is not getting recognized. I tried it on windows 8 and on windows xp. When I open the device managers, there is just one entry called 'USB serial port' under the 'Ports (COM & LPT)' section. The Arduino, however, does blink when connected.

I tried uninstalling the usb serial port drivers, or updating them, but both don't work: the drivers seem to be up to date and when I uninstall and reconnect the arduino, they appear again.

When I try to upload a program I get

avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x00

or

avrdude: usbdev_open(): did not find any USB device "usb"

(when I use 'upload using programmer').

I hope anyone can help me with this, I've been trying to get it to work now for quite some time.

EDIT 2: I tried the same thing at my parents' computer, which has windows vista installed. There, the board gets recognized as a USB serial port under 'Unknown devices' (first as something else, I think it was a code with two uppercase letters and then four digits, but I'm not sure and I can't get that name back, even after uninstalling the drivers).

Answer 1

Did you install the drivers? See the Arduino installation instructions under #4. If you are trying with Windows 8 there are some other steps involved.