Hi Michael,

Could you send me a photo of your board when it’s connected?
Do you have a Bluetooth module connected?
When clicking on tools in the Arduino IDE, is Board set to “Arduino Uno” and the Port is correct (COM13 for example)?
Does this port disconnect as expected when you pull the USB?
Have you tried the FTDI module on another Arduino? Do you have another FTDI to try?
Try a different USB port? Different computer?

This stuff can take a lot of trial and error. It’s part of learning how to troubleshoot this sort of thing, and I have probably sunk a few hundred hours into it. Without the hardware in front of me, it is a little tricky to diagnose.

I hope some of that helps. Let me know how you get on. I should receive an email if you respond, so I won’t miss your post (sorry about the delayed response).

Martyn