Printer: Ultimaker 2+ with most recent Cura version (however, I also made attempts with the Beta)
Computer: 2010 Mac Pro running current OS
Connection type: USB
I was in the middle of a print when I was installing Cura. As a part of the install, Cura prompted me to upgrade the machine's firmware. Though I was in the middle of a print, I figured it would just give me an error message if upgrading while printing couldn't be done. The upgrade "timed out," per the resulting error message.
Simultaneously, everything on the printer stopped working. The only thing that remained functional on the printer was an LED light shining through the control button on the front of the printer, which was a greyish blue. However, after turning the printer off, then back on, nothing happened at all. There is no indication, on the printer itself, that power is reaching it.
The power brick is functioning normally with a blue LED.
I read through the forums and saw the suggestion to reinstall the firmware. Despite the printer giving no indication that it is powered, I attempted this about ten times. I get the same time out error each time, with the suggestion to check arduino drivers if I'm using Windows.
I don't know how to tell if Cura is recognizing the printer, because if i tell it to add a new printer it will seemingly add printers to an infinite number. Under "Machine" in the menu bar is a checked Ultimaker 2+, as well as all the unchecked, hypothetical machines I added to try to see if the computer and software were recognizing the printer.
The computer seems to be able to tell when the printer is plugged into the USB, as the attempted firmware installs won't begin unless the printer is both plugged into the USB and the power switch is turned to "On." It seems to also recognize the Arduino unit inside the printer, as I installed the Arduino software to attempt to check that out, going through the motions and executing the "Blink" code (even though i can't see it), and it never gave me any kind of error. The only error I received from that software was when I downloaded the Marlin stuff from the wiki and tried to run that manually through the Arduino -- I got a bunch of syntax errors.
I've put in a ticket with the support people, and so far we've just done the obvious "see if it works" stuff.
I'm putting this up here partly looking for an explanation, and partly wanting to document the situation for anyone who has my exact problem. There were other similar posts, but they were either resolved by things that didn't work for me or never resolved at all.