Mac not able to connect mBot via USB cable

#1

Hi,

I am a teacher and have a student that bought an mBot through my classes, but he is unable to connect his mBot through USB cable. When trying to connect to Serial Port in mBlock, all options are grayed out, so he can’t choose any - See attached photo. Seems that he can’t get the Mac to recognise the mBot at all.

mBot Mac USB connection problem.jpg480x640 28.5 KB

Can you please promptly advise what went wrong?

The steps he is following are:

  1. if the mbot sotware is open, close it
  2. connect the USB cable to the Mac and to the robot
  3. open the mblock software
  4. turn on the robot (using the switch on the roobt)
  5. go to connect => Serial Port => select the right device
#2

Simple troubleshooting tips.

  1. Ensure the current signed driver is installed. (link)
  2. If there are other USB drivers installed, he may be experiencing a driver conflict. See this link for troubleshooting suggestions.
  3. Make sure you have installed the latest version of mBlock (link)
  4. Ensure that the battery pack has fresh (or fully charged if rechargeable) batteries

My connection steps on OS X:

  1. Launch mBlock
  2. Turn on mBot
  3. Connect USB cable
  4. Connect the mBot to mBlock (Connect->Serial Port->/dev/tty.wchusbserial410)

Also, it’s generally a good idea to copy @tec_support on these issues for faster turnaround. :slight_smile:

Disclaimer: I do not work for Makeblock or the Shenzhen Maker Works. All opinions expressed are my own.

#3

Thanks for the tips. I’ll see what they come back with. Hopefully this will solve it.

Thanks! :slight_smile:

#4