I took an Arduino from a friend yesterday but when I connect it to the laptop there is no light blinking from the Arduino and the laptop doesn't detect any device.
Is there a problem with the Arduino or is there a possibility that the USB has problems?
Are you sure your laptop doesn't detect any device? It is possible that you need to install right driver for your arduino. The problem could be with:
Arduino. Generally, your laptop will issue warnings if it didn't find any appropriate driver for it.arduino board. It needs to be working for laptop to detect your board. microcontroller will be working for sure.Can you see any part getting hotter? Have you tried with other laptop and cable?
Adding on to abhiarora's answer, if there are no lights at all on the Arduino, and you verify your cable is outputting power, then you may have shorted the device and need to replace the USB port diode. On my Arduino Nano, this diode is directly under the USB-mini port, on the bottom of the board.
Picture of diode:
I replaced this on my Arduino Nano with the CDBW0520L-HF from Comchip Technology and the Arduino worked perfectly. (Link provided is from www.arrow.com).
And in case you have a Chinese Arduino Nano like me:
When you say Arduino, which product specifically are you referring to ? the Arduino UNO ?
Assuming it is the Arduino UNO (or Nano) you will need to first check if it is a genuine Arduino product or a clone (not that there is anything wrong with using a clone). Check your board for a CHIP near the USB port. See if it reads FTDI or CH340. If it reads CH340, then you have a clone. Not to worry, you can still use it as any normal Arduino, you will just need to install the appropriate drivers for the CH340 chip. A simple search for "CH340 driver" can fetch you the right results for your operating system.
