How to fix bad Chinese Arduino clones
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ต.ค. 2015
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How to fix a bad Chinese Arduino clone in no time?
More info:
tomtomheylen.com/categories/DI...
Hi my name is Tom Heylen
Have you ever wondered if a cheap Chinese Arduino clone will actually work?
You pay only a few bucks and get the same product. Sounds to good to be true right?
The truth is that some work and some won't.
Follow the rest of this tutorial and I'll explain you how to make them all work in no time.
I use an Arduino Uno for this example but it is the same process for most Arduino models.
So here we have an genuine Arduino uno and here a Chinese clone. Let's do the test.
My Arduino environment has been installed and is working properly.
First I plug in the genuine Arduino. And everything works just fine.
Now I use my cheap chinese copy and.... the computer does not recognise the hardware.
The problem is that the clone does not use the standard serial to usb chip but a chip marked CH340. Your computer will not recognize these CH340 chips on your computer.
To fix this is very easy.
Download the manufacturer software and istall it on your computer. This software will work for all versions of windows. I leave you a link below this video.
I also leave a link for the Mac lovers.
Now plug in your chinese clone and try again. It should work just fine. The board should be visible now in the Arduino IDE and ready to use.
I upload the blink sketch to the board and it all works fine.
In some cases the board might still not work. This is because there is no bootloader installed on the Atmel microcontroller Chip.
To solve this problem we need a working arduino and the clone arduino we want to fix.
First we connect the working Arduino to our computer and open the Arduino IDE.
We go to File - Examples and click ArduinoISP and upload this to the Arduino.
Ones uploaded disconnect the Arduino.
Next we connect the wires from the working Arduino to the clone as follows.
Pin 10 goes to reset
pin 11 goes to 11, pin 12 to 12, pin 13 to pin 13.
5v to 5v and ground to ground.
Next we connect the working Arduino with a usb to the computer.
Go to Tools - Board and select the chinese board that is not working. in my case it's an Arduino Uno.
Next we go to Tools again - Programmer and select Arduino as ISP.
Go to Tools again and select Burn Bootloader.
Go back to Tools - Programmer and set back to ArduinoISP.
Your clone should work just fine now.
Arduino is great software an completely free to use. If you are buying Chinese copies of the Arduino controller, consider making a donation to support the Arduino software. Here is a link.
www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Donate
Was this video helpfull for you? Click the like button and subscribe.
Links
software
www.wch.cn/download/CH341SER_E...
Mac
0xcf.com/2015/03/13/chinese-ar...
Donate to Arduino
www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Donate
Hi from New Zealand. Great video, really help me, even 5 years after you uploaded it. Keep up the great videos!
“Very informative. This makes a difference in how I choose my next purchase. I was afraid to buy this but I now have more confidence now that I seen your video. Thank you very much.”
Thank you Tom. I also ordered from this cheap Chinese Arduino clone and almost wrote to the seller on eBay that it doesn't work. By followed your excellent tutorial, I was able to fix it.
Your video was the first one I found when googling this issue and it solved my problem! Thanks a ton!
Hi Tom, greetings from Denmark.
It is an awesome video, I have a Mega and a Pro Mini that has given me headache for some time and now they both work and the headache is gone. Thanks a lot.
By the way, I love your answer to stupid comments.
Fantastic! ive searched for this driver for a few hours now. Appreciate the help
Even 6 years later, this still works, Thanx !!!!!
One thing to look out for on the cheap clones is the type of oscillator used by the processor. Mostly they are resonator based but these have very wildly varying values, well out of specification in some cases. If timing is important then you might like to look out for the more traditional metal can quartz oscillators, and these are often cheaper too! Also surprisingly I have started to come across some clones that don't have an LED on Pin 13.... best avoided if you want to run Blink!
Thanks Tom, I had bought two clones and couldn't get them to work. The links are great. Thank you very much!
Reflashing the bootloader like you explained did the job. Thank you so much, this was the only working solution after hours of searching
u saved my day dude.. i thought my arduinos are damaged... was about to throw them in the garbage... i love you
Hi Tom, For me was downloading the file that fixed my problems with my clone's!Thanks for this vid!!
"Thank you so much! I have been working on getting this to work on a handful of Arduino clones I've had lying around for a looooong time. Thank you for sharing this."
Thanks for the help. Finally got my ATmega2560 working. Just a driver problem.
Thank youuu very much. I just built my first robot and was disappointed that i was not able to upload the sketch. This solved my issue. I really appreciate it
Thanks , after searching for weeks for a solution,,, I didn't know it was as simple as a usb driver. Thanks dude !!!
I bought one because I didn't know there was a difference. The $2 saved was enough for a nice case when bought as a combo, but I though the board was broken. Found the loaders online for the Mac and it works. It times out when I have the serial monitor open, but otherwise seems to be working fine. I understand there is another option, you can buy a loader that doesn't use what is on the board. They cost around $10 and some seem to like that option as it bypasses the onboard loader, but I see it as a waste of money when the cheap onboard ones will work and I can buy a good sensor for that money.
Great video. Especially the BootLoader burning part. That was really something I did not know can be done :)
Thanks a lot Tom ! It really works. You helped me solve the problem. Great, keep on the great work!
Thank you so much Guy... Honestly you can't just imagine how you have saved my life.... Thank you soooooo much ...thanks for sharing.... God bless you..
It worked like a charm! Thank you so much Tom.
The configuration worked as a charm, thanks a lot.
thanks man, I have chinese ch340 serial and wasn't able to communicate witch pc, now it works perfect, thank you, you are a genius.
Thank you for your kind advise will try when I get a working board
Thank you so much! You saved my bacon, and the student that was helping me had a blast flashing all the boot loaders of the 10 cheap arduino nano's I had laying around.
Thank you helping me fix the problem. I followed the steps and it works like charm.
God bless you for this video. Before I saw this video I thought that my chinese Arduino Mega 2560 board is gone wrong. After I followed your instructions and installed the ch340 driver I could load the program to the Arduino board.
Thank you so much you have fixed my problem i have just installed the software and now the board works great. 👍
I'm new to all this and you solved my problems!!!! I can now start enjoying my knock off uno!!!
Great. Keep going. A lot of fun to come your way.
Thanks for the video! Very helpful with a lot of information to fix the problem!
You Sir deserve a metal! Thank you Sooooo much! I wish you all the best!
Really nice video mate, saved my day and my semester project :)
Thanks Tom, this was very helpful, - everything sorted out!
Cheer buddy
I had to burn the Bootloader like you explain and it works for me fine!!! Thank you
THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I was goint to put my arduino to trash and you saved it! Respect!
I subscribed to the right person.
Thank You!
Thanks Tom! Excellent information. It worked 100%.
Thank you so much! Saved me much frustration :D
Thanks. Worked for an UNO and NANO clone I bought from ebay
Many thanks for this video! It was a real lifesaver!
Thank you for this. It allowed me to continue with my college project.
I randomly received the clone you were using when ordering a nano, worked fine for me though. Great videos though, I used the accidental board I got to burn boot loaders on atmega chips from another of your tutorials
YES!!!! Easy to follow and great instructions!
It works! Thanks for the video.
Thank you, your video was very helpful and saved me much time!!
Today, A awesome Russian dude showed me how to use the hundred of Chinese boards that I bought!
thank you, very helpful.. you saved me.. I got 2 board need to flash.. 1 confirmed flashed, the other 1 hopefully need to be flashed as well..
Helpful info - Thanks. I have downloaded the drivers as described and the IDE appears to upload a sketch without error message, but the Arduino Uno clone does nothing other than permanently light the red LED.
Excellent video instruction. Your instruction solved my problem.
heyman THX this helped me out!
Hi, great video, are the pinout the same if both my boards are arduino Mega 2560?
Thanks a lot. Mine just worked after installing the software.
The clone was never broken - just a different communications chip and no boot loader - that's not broken, it's just not configured properly. An Arduino is just an Atmel microcontroller chip with supporting hardware and a dumbed down programming interface. When you buy from China expect to have to do some work to get things running as they don't pay their employees much and I imagine the training is even worse than the pay ;) If you are not technically inclined buy the real thing until you learn more. I have to say the Chinese clones are a deal though once you know what you are doing, sometimes I can buy a Nano clone for less than the cost of the microcontroller chip alone.
Never correct someone if you know what they mean. Changes were made within the clone.
That is why I buy them. They work well for my simple projects. Once you have it set up, they all work fine. I had to build several water sensor systems for our wine cellar and the chinese nano's were very cheap and after a few minutes I got them all working. I still have some genuine Arduino boards, but I use them for bigger projects.
I had trouble with Namo's I bought cheap. There is a setting in The Arduino IDE for Nano use "Old Bootloader". It fixed my my situation.
I'm subscribing for because of this. Thank you so much!!!
Thanks for your video, much appreciated, I had no idea I received or was ordering a counterfeit board or kit(s), until I went to order housings and I was trying to figure out which Rev board I had, but none of them had the giant microcontroller (non-surface mount)! I will go directly to Arduino since they are the ones who developed this and the rest of these counterfeit fakes can go to hell!
Thaks Tom!Excellent
Great video, thanks. Very Helpful.
Thank you so much ! It's finally working ! Thanks a lot !
Thank you so much !!! This helped a bunch !!!
thanks for this video! You saved me a lot of time!
Thank you so much. Probably saved me hours!
Thank you so much, my Arduino now works fine.
Worked, Thanks so much!
Awesome, even worked on old MacBook. Thanks a LOT !!!!
hello sir !
I am ismail from PAKISTAN . your video is very helpful for me and it sort out my problem and my arduino is now in working condition . THANK YOU SO MUCH SIR..
And keep upload these kinds of helping videos ....
Very helpful video, thanks for sharing!
Thank you very much . that was so helpful. i could fix my problem after watching your video.
omg thank you so much, i installed the chinese software and now i can use my board!!!
Please consider choosing Arduino Duemilanove from list instead of UNO if you cannot write a new bootloader. From 12 CH340 UNO ordered from China, 3 where Duemilanove. Different times, different orders.
after I install the CH340 driver I'm getting "Driver Install Failure!" Any idea about this error? BTW first time I use this same Arduino no need to install any driver.
Awesome! It is fiinally working, thank you.
I'm very thankful, for this video, and your help
Good to know dude thanks i just orderd a couple of chinese ones.
+Mafia Nation
Good. Let me know if you have any problems. Cheers
grate vid it helped me out! thanks. Tom
great, thanks Tom ! it works so i'll donate to arduino !
Thanks a lot. The solution works perfectly.
thank you very much for the help
Ooo man thanks you help me so much.😷👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😷
Also you are a genius don't ever stop making video
Thanks man! Solved my problem!
You are a life saver thank you!!
YOU SIR ARE A GENIUS !
Thanks man.
GREAT!! SAVED my day. THANKS!!!
First time on the channel, but you are a life saver!!! Hopefully I don't have a bunch of Chinese spyware on my machine now 8|
Thank you for the information.
I see in the picture in 2:26 that there is something connected to the ground and the reset of the working Arduino. This is not mentioned. Do we have to connect to the ground the reset pin?
A capacitor of 10 µF is connected between RESET of the functionning arduino and the ground.
Great Job
is it working for the mega too? :)
thanks!
Marc.
GOOD TUTORIAL :)
thanks a lot sir ,had tried many drivers but didnt work for me ,
burning bootloader really works ,
got all my nano working
Worked for a 2560 Mega clone!
Thanks!
My too! thx Tom!
József what fix did you do? The driver or the one that needed a working uno? Thanks :)
Tom thank you very much man, i think my arduino clones are now working! Greetings from Greece
Still no luck.. what board do you choose for the cheap uno? only one I see is Arduino/Genuino Uno (sketch 1.8.1), and it just won't burn the boot loader.. using a uno to uno. UNO1 is OEM $$$$, Uno 2 is Chinese R3
Thanks a lot man! It helped!!
Thank you very much sir
You ended my headache
I don't know where you get it, but if you get it from tao-bao, the seller will tell you that this board needs extra drivers to run.
btw, the $2 nano does not work with os x
The burning of bootloader needs an extra genuine arduino right? What happens do I don't have one?
Hello! I really enjoyed your video and I wanted to repeat it for you! But I get the following error:
"avrdude: Expected signature for ATmega328P is 1E 95 0F Double check chip, or use -F to override this check."
Tell me please, what can it be ?! And how is it possible to eliminate this error so that the Chinese Arduino worked as it should!
Thanks it worked
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.