DrCeeVee

Hello @Dustin and everyone! I finally found some time to do some more tests regarding this issue. It turns out that the problem was with the project files themselves, and NOT with Cura 5.3.1. For some odd reason, some of the parameters I had changed in Cura 4 were flagged as "not changed" in the project file, and Cura 5.3.1 simply didn't update them when the project file was loaded. I don't know what caused the project files to behave like this, perhaps a bug in an older version of Cura 4 I was using at the time. I have now updated all my Cura project files, and they all load correctly in Cura 5.3.1. In conclusion, there is no need to do anything in Cura 5.3.1. I have already closed the issue I raised about this in GitHub. Many thanks to @MariMakes for taking the time to respond on GitHub, and please accept my apologies for raising an issue which was not what I initially thought it was... I'm happy that my confidence in Cura 5.3.1 has been restored and that my project files are now loading correctly.

Many thanks @Dustin, for sharing my post with the UltiMaker developers. I didn't think of reporting it directly, will do it next time something similar comes up.

This may sound like a very insignificant detail to most, but my OCD forces me to mention it, in case someone cares. It's an aesthetic, correct-use-of-language issue I've noticed in the recent f/w updates for the Ultimaker S5, and it's present in the latest 8.1.3 f/w. The message in the center of the main screen reads: READY TO PRINT Send a new printjob from Cura, Digital Factory or insert a usb drive Using 'usb' (in lowercase) is not the correct way to refer to the USB term. The correct naming is 'USB' (in uppercase), because it's an acronym (Universal Serial Bus). Displaying it in lowercase just looks odd and gives the impression that there is no attention to detail, and that the developers just typed it quickly in lowercase and left it there... Insignificant as it may seem, I hope this gets corrected at some point—it's so easy to do, and will remove that odd 'speck' of imperfection from the main screen.

Hi @Dustin, many thanks for pointing me to GitHub. I've just raised an issue about this there. Hopefully, the developers will see it and do something about it. This is a serious issue for us, because we have many project files created in Cura 4, which have been perfectly fine-tuned to print specific parts. Not having the confidence that all project settings are imported every time we open a project file defies the purpose of using project files, and forces us to manually check and add the missing parameters. This is time-consuming and prone to errors. I hope this issue will be resolved soon.

Hi everyone. This is to report my findings on the new Cura 5.3.1, regarding the issue reported in this thread. I'm sad to report that the issue has only partially been resolved. Now Cura project files do open as projects, but not all printer parameters are restored! As an example, see the following screenshots, showing the imported settings of the exact same project file, in Cura 4.13.1 and Cura 5.3.1: The settings in Cura 4.13.1 are correct and complete, but the settings in Cura 5.3.1 are not complete! Notice that the Top/Bottom settings still have the default values (1.05 mm, 7 layers) for the Visual profile, instead of the correct values (1.5 mm, 10 layers). If the operator does not notice this, the resulting part, when sliced using Cura 5.3.1, will thus be weaker by having thinner top/bottom surfaces. Unacceptable! I'm sorry to have to say this, but the new versions of Cura seem to create more problems that they solve. The above behavior, where only some of the printer settings are imported in Cura, is totally unacceptable in a professional work environment, where it is critical for the correct settings to be used when printing a part. If the Cura developers read this, please have a thorough look at the above issue and see if you can find where the compatibility is broken. Please try to fix this issue once and for all, so that the users can be assured that when they load an old project, ALL printer settings are imported, as they should be.

Hi everyone. This is to report my findings on the new Cura 5.3.1, regarding the issue in this thread. I'm sad to report that the issue has only partially been resolved. Now Cura project files do open as projects, but not all printer parameters are restored! I've started a new thread about this issue, as this is related to a new version of Cura (5.3.1). Please post your comments and suggestions in the new thread if you are referring to Cura 5.3.1.

Many thanks, @nallath, for your support. Looks like a solution is in the works. Looking forward to it.

Thanks for the suggestion, that's a great idea! I'm attaching the Cura 5.3.0 log file, which I deleted before running Cura, so as to remove all previous data in it. The project file I'm trying to open (which fails to open as a project) is called UMS5_Enclosure - Back Face.3mf. Please note that this exact same file can be correctly opened as a project in Cura 4.13.1 without any problems. There are several error entries in the log, relating to the opening of the above project file, but I can't interpret them. Perhaps you or the Cura developers could have a look and tell me if you can spot anything that could help us solve this issue. Many thanks again! cura-log.zip

Thanks mrender, I was not aware of this post. I had a look, and, sadly, no solution is offered. If you read my post above, you'll see that the .3MF files I'm talking about are proper project files (they open as projects in Cura 4.13.1), so it's not a problem with the files themselves, and also not a Preferences setting issue.

I've just discovered an issue/bug in Cura 5. I've noticed it in Cura 5.3.0 (currently the latest version), but it may be present in earlier versions of Cura 5. When I try to open project (.3MF) files I created using Cura 4, the files open as models and not as projects (i.e., no printer settings are loaded, but just the 3D model is imported). The relevant setting in Preferences is set to "Always ask me this" when opening a project file, but it does not ask me anything, and simply imports the models, but no printer settings. I have tried to open the exact same files in Cura 4.13.1, and it correctly loads them as projects, complete with the models and the printer settings (it asks me what I want to do, as it should). This means that the files themselves are OK and they contain the printer settings as well as the models. Also, if I use Cura 5.3.0 to create and save a test project file, and then restart Cura 5.3.0 and open the test project file, Cura 5.3.0 correctly loads it as a project (it asks me what I want to do, as it should). This means that my installation of Cura 5.3.0 is set up correctly to be able to load project files. I tried to completely uninstall Cura 5.3.0 from my PC, clean everything up (no remaining traces of Cura in PC) and reinstall it, but it still has the same behavior, as described in the 1st paragraph above. Based on the above, it seems that Cura 5.3.0 is somehow incompatible with Cura project files created in Cura 4 (including the latest 4.13.1). This is a serious issue for me (as I believe for many Cura users), because many of my projects involve careful tuning of printer parameters to achieve an optimal 3D print. How can I open Cura 4 project files in Cura 5.3.0 as real projects (not just the models)? Has anyone experienced the same issue, and is there a solution? Can someone try to open a Cura 4 project file and let me know if it can successfully be loaded as a project in Cura 5.3.0? Many thanks for your help.

Thanks! Added to original post.

My Ultimaker S5 was purchased in late 2019. Believe it or not, I'm still using the PVA spool that came with it, with no problems. It was unsealed the day the printer was delivered—December 2019. What I do is to always keep it stored in an air-tight bag—is it called a zip bag?—and only take it out when I want to print something. In the zip bag I use many silica gels that I bake in my kitchen oven at 80° C for a couple of hours, just before resealing the PVA spool. During printing I put the PVA spool in the holder behind the printer, just like normal filament. No special box or other protection, PVA is fully exposed during printing, which can be up to a couple of days each time. After the printing completes, it goes back in the zip bag with the freshly baked silica gels. It works every time, with no problems and no breakage in the Bowden tube, but see below for a very important point: The trick for the PVA not to break inside the Bowden tube, is to never reuse the part of the PVA that was previously inserted into the Bowden tube (from the previous print). What I mean is this: when you finish a print and unload the filament from the print core, there is a length of PVA (same length as the Bowden tube) which has already been through the feeder. You can see this by looking at the surface of the PVA filament—you can see the serrations (small teeth markings caused by the feeder). When you unload the PVA, you should always cut off and throw away that serrated part (with the feeder teeth markings). This is the cause of the breakage, because PVA is brittle, and the serrations cause it to break when re-fed through the feeder in the next print. Another neat trick to prolong the life of your PVA—I thought about this very recently—is to just measure and cut only the amount you need for a print. You can see this in Cura, it tells you pretty accurately how many meters it needs, so you can open the zip bag, measure the length you need + the length of the Bowden tube (add a little bit more for safety), cut it out and immediately re-seal the PVA spool. Just my two cents, hope it helps someone out there.

Will be following this thread with interest. As much as I love my Ultimaker S5 (and that's a lot), I will not be upgrading from Cura 4.8.0 to any other version, unless I see a unanimous positive reaction to the new version from the community. I've wasted two days trying to "fix" my printer, and it was all due to a buggy Cura 4.9.0. Most importantly, I unsealed a brand-new spool of Ultimaker PVA (I thought the old one was to blame) which is now slowly degrading and absorbing moisture. I know we should all be trying new things, helping out, etc., but I'm afraid I cannot afford any more printer downtime right now, so I will stick to the excellent and stable Cura 4.8.0 for the time being.

Hi everyone, it's been a while since I last posted here, and I've been having a great time with my Ultimaker S5. Success rate of 99%, very reliable machine. I can fully confirm the serious issues with Cura 4.9.0 and dual extrusion, that have been reported in this thread. Whether there are two materials of the same type (say, PLA+PLA) or using support material (PLA+PVA), there are very serious problems that render the printer unusable. I spent the entire day yesterday, and several hours today, trying to find out what's causing my S5 to suddenly go crazy... I summarise my experience below: Symptoms with first use of Cura 4.9.0 (upgraded from 4.8.0): Single extrusion prints (just Core 1 being used) print OK, but noticeably slower than with Cura 4.8.0. Dual extrusion prints fail completely. Core 1 prints OK, but Core 2 does not extrude any material at all during printing. It loads the material fine, and extrudes it normally after loading, but it does not extrude at all during printing, resulting in failed prints 100% of the time. Enabling a Prime Blob for both materials causes only the material in Core 1 to make a Prime Blob. Enabling a Prime Blob for the second material generates no Prime Blobs at all. General slowness and abnormal behaviour. Reported print times for the same project are longer than in Cura 4.8.0. Initially I thought it was a clogged core issue, although I felt it was weird having a full blockage of the core when it was printing fine a month ago. I tried hot/cold pulls, inserting a needle in the nozzle opening, all sorts of stuff. Every time I tried to print with supports, Core 2 (BB) did not extrude any material at all during printing. I then thought it was the quality of my PVA (opened in December 2019, used numerous times until recently without any problems, always kept in sealed bags when not in use). Again, it felt weird that the same PVA that was printing fine a month ago, suddenly got so much damaged by moisture. So I opened a fresh spool of Ultimaker PVA. Same thing. Same behaviour, no extrusion at all. I nearly ordered a new BB core! I even tried PLA material on a second AA core (AA+AA), same problems. I tried downgrading to Cura 4.8.0 as a last resort, not really expecting any changes. Voila! Everything went back to normal. I've just finished a dual extrusion print (PLA+PVA), which looks like it completed perfectly. My advice to everyone with an S5, and potentially regardless of printer, is to downgrade to Cura 4.8.0 immediately, until the issues with 4.9.0 have been dealt with. I'm quite surprised that Ultimaker released such a buggy update. Haven't they done any beta testing prior to release? Glad my printer is back up and running again!

Hi @SandervG, thanks for the comment. My nephew absolutely loved the gift! About layer visibility, I think that it depends on the printer. If the printer is of very high quality, such as the Ultimaker S5, and you also use high quality filament, the layers look almost like they are part of the design, they make the print stand out, and add an element of uniqueness to the object. I don't think an injection-moulded phone holder can look quite like this one!