[Discuss] Arduboy Quick Start Guide

Discussion
1

If you got here by following a link that was supposed to take you to the guide, please go here.

Continuing the discussion from Quick Start Guide:

This topic is for the continued discussion of the guide:
Quick Start Guide

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Only for Windows. For Mac it’'s Documents/Arduino. For Linux it’s Arduino in your Home folder (~/Arduino).

Again, for Windows. Not for Linux. Don’t know about Mac.

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That should be File -> Sketchbook, not Tools -> Sketchbook.

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Is that true? I thought the production Arduboy had its own USB IDs, and if so, I would expect it wouldn’t show up as a Leonardo.

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We kept the Arduino bootloader and ID for now to keep it simple for kickstarter users. Retail versions will likely switch to using unique software.

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Because of this, it may be a good idea to add a footnote or addendum to this guide, warning of the potential sketch upload glitch and how to use the new reset button to rectify the problem.

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Can you explain this a bit more? I just got my Arduboy and am having some issues getting a few games to boot and I’m wondering if it’s related to this issue. Unfortunately, most of that thread reads like Greek to me - is there an “Explain Like I’m 5” version?

Thanks!

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In a nutshell:

If you are having trouble uploading any sketch to the Arduboy, including ones that you were previously able to upload and run, then the currently loaded sketch may (through no real fault of its own) be interacting with a flaw in the bootloader and causing the problem.

The solution is to press the reset button, on the bottom edge of the Arduboy, just before starting the upload. You will need a bent paper clip, toothpick or some other small thin object to press the reset button.

There is an alternate recovery proceedure: Press and hold both the LEFT button and the UP button before plugging the Arduboy into the computer’s USB port to power it up. The Arduboy screen should remain blank instead of the currently loaded sketch starting. You should now be able to successfully upload a new sketch.

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Thanks, that’s helpful, although it’s sounding like my issues are related to the different pinout of the dev unit vs. the retail unit. It’s a shame that a change was made - hopefully people come back and update their projects :slight_smile:

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While that is a down-side to updating the Arduboy lib, it also offers a programming challenge to the community. Most of the early games were posted on Github. If you liked a game someone from the community made, there’s no harm in saying, “Thanks for the fun game!”, by updating their game to work with the new libs and submitting your change to their Github repository.

It’s a perfect learning opportunity for adding some C++ skills, for discovering the Arduboy library in greater detail and it would also help develop a working understand of Git and Github.

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I have next to no experience with programming - the only thing that comes close is MaxScript for 3D Studio Max which I use occasionally for my job. I hope to be able to help and learn, but certainly have no idea where to start. I did discover how to fix the Game of Life game that was posted, although I have no clue how to work with Github.

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You will hear people say “Github and Git are actually pretty simple”. I thought that was a complete lie when started learning Git. I figured that they were just being elitist jerks in saying that : P.

So, Git offers a lot commands, and that is terribly confusing when just starting. But, it did turn out that, to do the basics with Git and work on projects, it really does just take a few commands to use Git.

The basic commands are: clone, add, commit, pull and push. But, you do have to use all of them more than 3 or 4 times to get how they all work.

A pretty good guide covering each topic can be found here, https://guides.github.com/activities/hello-world/.

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I think I just figured it out on the website anyway:

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Plugging my Arduboy into a Macbook Pro results in the Mac thinking that I’ve plugged in a new keyboard and my trackpad turning off. I have to use my bluetooth mouse while this device is connected to my USB

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Thanks @owendismuke, I opened an issue for you for this problem.

http://community.arduboy.com/t/usb-conflict-on-macbok-pro/743/1

It’s probably going to get seen by more people in it’s own topic and resolved quicker.

19

I am getting really discouraged. I have been trying to get a game on my arduboy for hours now and I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I have followed the directions exactly several times starting over from scratch at least 5 different times.

I finally got something uploaded to my arduboy…a blank sketch so now it literally does nothing. Can someone please help me because right now, I just have a nice paperweight.

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Sure!

Would you mind creating a new thread in the development section and posting your source? The best way to do so inside the forum is to put ``` above and below your source.
Like this,

```
int main(int argc, char** argv) {
  ...
}
```

Or open a github, or put in a zip. Let us look at the source and it shouldn’t be a problem at all to get you up and running.

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What game did you try to upload ? Possibly you uploaded a game meant for the DEV kit.

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23

We should be encouraging people to upload one of the sketches from the library examples folder, as a first step, instead of asking what sketch they’re trying to load. If the library is properly installed, the user just has to do:
File -> Examples -> Arduboy -> <sketch_name>
to open a sketch ready for uploading.

Once that is successful, we can deal with helping with problems installing and uploading other sketches.

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