Datasheet

Feather HELP!

My ItsyBitsy/Feather stopped working when I unplugged the USB!

A lot of our example sketches have a

while (!Serial);

line in setup(), to keep the board waiting until the USB is opened. This makes it a lot easier to debug a program

because you get to see all the USB data output. If you want to run your Feather without USB connectivity, delete or

comment out that line

My Feather never shows up as a COM or Serial port in the Arduino IDE

A vast number of Itsy/Feather 'failures' are due to charge-only USB cables

We get upwards of 5 complaints a day that turn out to be due to charge-only cables!

Use only a cable that you know is for data syncing

If you have any charge-only cables, cut them in half throw them out. We are serious! They tend to be low quality in

general, and will only confuse you and others later, just get a good data+charge USB cable

Ack! I "did something" and now when I plug in the Itsy/Feather, it doesn't show up as a device anymore so I cant

upload to it or fix it...

No problem! You can 'repair' a bad code upload easily. Note that this can happen if you set a watchdog timer or

sleep mode that stops USB, or any sketch that 'crashes' your board

1. Turn on verbose upload in the Arduino IDE preferences

2. Plug in Itsy or Feather 32u4/M0, it won't show up as a COM/serial port that's ok

3. Open up the Blink example (Examples->Basics->Blink)

4. Select the correct board in the Tools menu, e.g. Feather 32u4, Feather M0, Itsy 32u4 or M0

(physically check

your board to make sure you have the right one selected!)

5. Compile it (make sure that works)

6. Click Upload to attempt to upload the code

7. The IDE will print out a bunch of COM Ports as it tries to upload. During this time, double-click the reset

button, you'll see the red pulsing LED that tells you its now in bootloading mode

8. The board will show up as the Bootloader COM/Serial port

9. The IDE should see the bootloader COM/Serial port and upload properly

Even though this FAQ is labeled for Feather, the questions apply to ItsyBitsy's as well!

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-feather-m0-express-designed-for-circuit-python-

circuitpython

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