TinyZero board not detected on Windows 10 Family Edition

[Pierre Flores]

Hello TinyCircuits,

I recently bought a TinyZero IOT kit and am following the setup tutorial to get started with it.

I followed the first part of the tutorial, that is the installation of the Arduino IDE with the appropriate board support packages.

When connecting the board to my laptop (with Windows 10 community edition) via USB, the laptop does not recognize the board. That is, I get a "USB device not recognized: Device descriptor error" on the device panel.

I tried several usb cables as well as different usb ports on my laptop, with the same results, so I doubt the problem comes from this.

I followed the tutorial on another laptop with Windows 10 Enterprise and then, the board was correctly detected and I could get the tutorial programs work, eg blink.

I worked a few times with the board connected to that other laptop (with Windows 10 Pro) without any issue. Now, however, I get the same "USB device not recognized: Device descriptor error" that on the other laptop (with Windows 10 Community). Again, I doubt I would be so unlucky that all my usb cables suddenly stopped working.

Would you have any clue to what happened there ?

Best regards,
Pierre

[GrandPoohbah]

I had a similar problem with the IoT Kit. Here's what worked for me:

1. Turn off the TZ Processor board;
2. Connect the USB cable;
3. Hold down the bootloader button on the TZ Processor board while doing the next step;
4. Turn on the TZ Processor board;
5. Release the bootloader button. and
6. Start the Arduino IDE.

[Pierre Flores]

Hi GrandPoohbah,

Thanks for the tip. I would like to avoid having to reset the board every time though, as 1) it is a bit tedious to do so, and 2) I'm afraid of damaging the bootloader button eventually. I understand that for Windows 7/8, TinyCircuits recommend to manually select a compatible driver (provided here : https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/datasheets/PJRC%20CDC%20serial_install.zip). Is there a similar driver and procedure for Windows 10 ?

Best,
Pierre