As I am an Arduino Noob this is probably old hat to most of you

[G+_Ralph Mills]

As I am an Arduino Noob this is probably old hat to most of you. I was able to get my Chinese (Banggood.com) $3+ (USD) Arduino Nano clone to talk to my Linux Mint laptop and I wanted to share the resources used to get there.

First the Mint/Ubuntu repositories still have IDE version 1.0.5 I downloaded the 1.6.11 tar.gz file from the arduino.cc/download page and followed the steps in this URL: http://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2015/11/install-arduino-ide-1-6-6-ubuntu/

Second the Nano Clone uses the CH340 USB serial chip instead of a FTDI USB serial chip (I prefer an honest clone over a counterfeit fake) So I followed the steps from this youtube video: R&D #21 Arduino nano: cheap chinese version

which went over both Windows and Linux drivers installations. I used the patched linux driver from here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/3ph5x6ttc7ddde4/CH341SER_LINUX_PATCHED.tar.gz

Third I still had problems with the IDE software not recognizing the USB serial port and had to run the make file a few times (make, load and unload) and tried inserting and reinserting the USB cable until it was found. (see screenshot)

Hope this helps fellow arduino noobs who just happen to prefer Linux.

73 de AB1OP Ralph

[G+_Ralph Mills]

PS I see the Arduino IDE was updated to 1.6.12 just as I posted this. Good Luck and have Fun.