i bought a 2.8" TFT LCD Shield from jaycar and I’m having problems getting it to display anything
the back light is on and ive managed to get it to show me where I’ve clicked on the screen however i cant do anything further than that
is there something I’m doing wrong?
Hi Brian,
I would think that you must have a problem in your code. Everything you need to know about getting that TFT LCD Shield to work is here: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-2-8-tft-touch-shield-v2
Please share your finished project in the project section of our forum!
doing the first few steps to the graphics test i just get an error msg
Arduino: 1.8.6 Hourly Build 2018/01/03 03:33 (Windows 10), Board: “Arduino/Genuino Mega or Mega 2560, ATmega2560 (Mega 2560)”
Sketch uses 17900 bytes (7%) of program storage space. Maximum is 253952 bytes.
Global variables use 588 bytes (7%) of dynamic memory, leaving 7604 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 8192 bytes.
avrdude: ser_open(): can’t open device “\.\COM4”: The system cannot find the file specified.
avrdude: ser_drain(): read error: The handle is invalid.
avrdude: ser_send(): write error: sorry no info avail
avrdude: stk500_send(): failed to send command to serial port
avrdude: ser_recv(): read error: The handle is invalid.
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: ser_send(): write error: sorry no info avail
avrdude: stk500_send(): failed to send command to serial port
avrdude: ser_recv(): read error: The handle is invalid.
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: ser_send(): write error: sorry no info avail
avrdude: stk500_send(): failed to send command to serial port
avrdude: ser_recv(): read error: The handle is invalid.
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: ser_send(): write error: sorry no info avail
avrdude: stk500_send(): failed to send command to serial port
avrdude: ser_recv(): read error: The handle is invalid.
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: ser_send(): write error: sorry no info avail
avrdude: stk500_send(): failed to send command to serial port
avrdude: ser_recv(): read error: The handle is invalid.
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: ser_send(): write error: sorry no info avail
avrdude: stk500_send(): failed to send command to serial port
avrdude: ser_send(): write error: sorry no info avail
avrdude: ser_recv(): read error: The handle is invalid.
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_getsync(): timeout communicating with programmer
This report would have more information with
“Show verbose output during compilation”
option enabled in File -> Preferences.
Hi Brian,
It seems like your Board is not communicating with the Arduino IDE. I recommend you take a step back from the LCD screen and work on some projects aimed at familiarization with Arduino. The Sparkfun Inventors Kit has all the parts for many different projects and detailed instructions on how to use your Arduino. It’s a great learning tool. The LCD screen requires advanced Arduino knowledge to utilize.
If you want to find some general info on using an Arduino we have some great Arduino Tutorials, and an online Arduino Workshop.
There are many pieces involved in getting a program onto your Arduino board, and if any of them aren’t right, the upload can fail. They include: the drivers for the board, the board and serial port selections in the Arduino software, access to the serial port, the physical connection to the board, the firmware on the 8U2 (on the Uno and Mega 2560), the bootloader on the main microcontroller on the board, the microcontroller’s fuse settings, and more. Here are some specific suggestions for troubleshooting each of the pieces.
Here is some specific help for your problem that I found on the Arduino website:
"Arduino Software
Make sure you have the right item selected in the Tools > Board menu. If you have an Arduino Uno, you’ll need to choose it. Also, newer Arduino Duemilanove boards come with an ATmega328, while older ones have an ATmega168. To check, read the text on the microcontroller (the larger chip) on your Arduino board. For more information on the board menu items, see the guide to the Arduino environment.
Then, check that the proper port is selected in the Tools > Serial Port menu (if your port doesn’t appear, try restarting the IDE with the board connected to the computer). On the Mac, the serial port should be something like /dev/tty.usbmodem621 (for the Uno or Mega 2560) or /dev/tty.usbserial-A02f8e (for older, FTDI-based boards). On Linux, it should be /dev/ttyACM0 or similar (for the Uno or Mega 2560) or /dev/ttyUSB0 or similar (for older boards). On Windows, it will be a COM port but you’ll need to check in the Device Manager (under Ports) to see which one. If you don’t seem to have a serial port for your Arduino board, see the following information about drivers.
Drivers
Drivers provide a way for software on your computer (i.e. the Arduino software) to talk to hardware you connect to your computer (the Arduino board). In the case of Arduino, the drivers work by providing a virtual serial port (or virtual COM port). The Arduino Uno and Mega 2560 use standard drivers (USB CDC) provided by the operating system to communicate with the ATmega8U2 on the board. Other Arduino boards use FTDI drivers to communicate with the FTDI chip on the board (or in the USB-serial convertor).
The easiest way to check if the drivers for your board are installed correctly is by opening the Tools > Serial Port menu in the Arduino software with the Arduino board connected to your computer. Additional menu items should appear relative to when you open the menu without the Arduino connected to your computer. Note that it shouldn’t matter what name the Arduino board’s serial port gets assigned as long as that’s the one you pick from the menu.
On Windows 7 (particularly the 64-bit version), you might need to go into the Device Manager and update the drivers for the Uno or Mega 2560. Just right click on the device (the board should be connected to your computer), and point Windows at the appropriate .inf file again. The .inf is in the drivers/ directory of the Arduino software (not in the FTDI USB Drivers sub-directory of it).
If you get this error when installing the Uno or Mega 2560 drivers on Windows XP: “The system cannot find the file specified”, you might try this suggestion (about adding a “RunOnce” key to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion”).
On Linux, the Uno and Mega 2560 show up as devices of the form /dev/ttyACM0. These are not supported by the standard version of the RXTX library that the Arduino software uses for serial communication. The Arduino software download for Linux includes a version of the RXTX library patched to also search for these /dev/ttyACM* devices. There’s also an Ubuntu package (for 11.04) which includes support for these devices. If, however, you’re using the RXTX package from your distribution, you may need to symlink from /dev/ttyACM0 to /dev/ttyUSB0 (for example) so that the serial port appears in the Arduino software.
Run:
sudo usermod -a -G tty yourUserName
sudo usermod -a -G dialout yourUserName
Log off and log on again for the changes to take effect.
Access to the Serial Port
On Windows, if the software is slow to start or crashes on launch, or the Tools menu is slow to open, you may need to disable Bluetooth serial ports or other networked COM ports in the Device Manager. The Arduino software scans all the serial (COM) ports on your computer when it starts and when you open the Tools menu, and these networked ports can sometimes cause large delays or crashes.
Check that you’re not running any programs that scan all serial ports, like USB Cellular Wifi Dongle software (e.g. from Sprint or Verizon), PDA sync applications, Bluetooth-USB drivers (e.g. BlueSoleil), virtual daemon tools, etc.
Make sure you don’t have firewall software that blocks access to the serial port (e.g. ZoneAlarm).
You may need to quit Processing, PD, vvvv, etc. if you’re using them to read data over the USB or serial connection to the Arduino board.
On Linux, you might try running the Arduino software as root, at least temporarily to see if fixes the upload.
Physical Connection
First make sure your board is on (the green LED is on) and connected to the computer.
The Arduino Uno and Mega 2560 may have trouble connecting to a Mac through a USB hub. If nothing appears in your “Tools > Serial Port” menu, try plugging the board directly to your computer and restarting the Arduino IDE.
Disconnect digital pins 0 and 1 while uploading as they are shared with serial communication with the computer (they can connected and used after the code has been uploaded).
Try uploading with nothing connected to the board (apart from the USB cable, of course).
Make sure the board isn’t touching anything metallic or conductive.
Try a different USB cable; sometimes they don’t work.
Auto-Reset
If you have a board that doesn’t support auto-reset, be sure that you are resetting the board a couple of seconds before uploading. (The Arduino Diecimila, Duemilanove, and Nano support auto-reset as do the LilyPad, Pro, and Pro Mini with 6-pin programming headers).
However, note that some Diecimila were accidently burned with the wrong bootloader and may require you to physically press the reset button before uploading; see this question below.
However, on some computers, you may need to press the reset button on the board after you hit the upload button in the Arduino environment. Try different intervals of time between the two, up to 10 seconds or more.
If you get this error: [VP 1] Device is not responding correctly. try uploading again (i.e. reset the board and press the download button a second time).
Bootloader
Make sure there’s a bootloader burned on your Arduino board. To check, reset the board. The built-in L LED (which is connected to pin 13) should blink. If it doesn’t, there may not be a bootloader on your board.
Forum Support
If it still doesn’t work, you can ask for help in the forum. Please include the following information:
Your operating system.
What kind of board you have. If it’s a Mini, LilyPad or other board that requires extra wiring, include a photo of your circuit, if possible.
Whether or not you were ever able to upload to the board. If so, what were you doing with the board before / when it stopped working, and what software have you recently added or removed from your computer?
The messages displayed when you try to upload with verbose output enabled. To enable verbose output check the box next to File > Preferences > Show verbose output during: > upload.
Click on Copy error messages button on the right side of the box. When submitting in the forum please use code tags (</> button on the forum website toolbar) to post the output so that it will be correctly formatted."
my knowledge of the arduino has nothing to do with this as i have made a few programs on it before
i went to the adafruit website and followed their steps to where it showed me how to get the graphics test i opened it and tried uploading their graphics test with all the libraries installed and it gave me that error
is there any reason i would be getting that error?
Brian,
This error means that your board is not connecting to your Arduino IDE.
I included the complete troubleshooting process for this specific problem in my previous message. Double check everything in the list, the cause of your error will be somewhere in those steps.
Let me know how it goes!
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