GregValiant

@HienoKaveri Either bow would work. I figured since I'd just be looking at one side (till it got thrown away) I went with "Starboard" so they all collected out of site. Thinking about it...Port and Starboard are a little confusing on that as they depend on which cabin you happen to be standing in. I wonder how they figure it out on double-ended locomotives? I see @Slashee_the_Cow has the Zseam of her ballet dancing "en-pointe" version (I had to look that one up) set to "Keel" which in my (never humble) opinion shows imagination but a possible lack of respect for a very serious model. Here is another test - my infamous "1/2 Mobius". (It's a double sided, double edged, double loop, head scratcher of a model.) Half Mobius.stl

Not just that. There is a flaw in the model that is causing Cura to ignore the lower layers. This is from formware.co/onlinestlrepair -> Analysed your file: --> 236 Naked edges (?) --> 2 Planar holes (?) --> 0 Non-planar holes (?) --> 116 Non-manifold edges (?) --> 172 Inverted faces (?) --> 0 Degenerate faces (?) --> 2 Duplicate faces (?) --> 0 Disjoint shells (?) That's a fair number of errors in a small non-organically shaped model. It's the "duplicate" and "inverted" faces that are causing the problem. The non-manifold edges aren't helping.

Your model is on the left and the polka-dot surfaces indicate errors. The model on the right was repaired (MS 3D Builder). The model with the errors doesn't start to print until the tenth layer. This view shows that the floors of the pockets aren't flat and level.

The bottom of the model either isn't flat (likely give what I see there) or the model isn't lying flat on the Cura build surface. See if using the "Lay Flat" command under the Rotation Tool helps settle this down. An alternative would be to drop the model into the build plate by 0.1 or something. You can see in the black oblong that there is a definite edge going across the print. It appears that the only things toucing the build plate are the area above my black oblong, and the little area that the black arrow is pointing to. The corner that the red arrow is pointing to is so high off the build plate that it requires support. If it isn't truly flat then you might have to make it so in an app that can alter a model file. Depending on how far off the model is - sometimes things like this can be fixed by increasing the Initial Layer Height.

If you want to get printing then use the closest definition to your printer. The definition files start with the standard "fdmprinter.def.json" then go through "creality_base.def.json" and finally to the specific printer. 99% of the settings are available in Cura, the definition files just give some defaults. In the "Machine Settings" under "Manage Printers" you'll find pretty much all you need to get going. The StartUp G-Code might need to be tweaked if you have ABL and the definition file you use doesn't have the G29/M420 commands in it. That's easy to get help for. @Slashee_the_Cow has a newer machine and would know something about that.

It looks like the pull request to add them was merged on November 1st and so they should have been in 5.6.0. Maybe @MariMakes knows about this.

Was there an announcement about the Halloween winner???

I never liked it much either. That's why I've written the post processor that nobody else would. Use Cura's "Help | Show Configuration Folder" command and locate the "scripts" sub-folder. Unzip the attached file and copy "AddCoolingProfile.py" to that "scripts" folder. The post processor "Advanced Cooling Fan Control" fill be available under "Extensions/PostProcessing/Modify Gcode" and then "Add a script". "By Layer" allows you to determine the fan speeds at any point in the file, or to turn it off. By Layer works well with smaller models. You can change speeds 8 times and if you need more than that you can add another instance of the post (but without "Remove existing M106 lines" checked). "By Feature" allows you to configure the fan to run at different speeds for walls, skins, whatever. Because it takes a few seconds for the fan to react to speed changes, By Feature is better suited to large models. AddCoolingProfile.zip

I use Notepad++. You can open them in regular Windows Notepad as well. You have the "Regular Fan Speed" at 0. Cura is adjusting the fan speed per the setting "Regular/Maximum fan speed threshold" which you have at 10 seconds. When the layer time falls below 10 seconds the fan speed approaches 100%. When the layer time climbs above 10 seconds the fan speed goes to "Regular" which is zero. So what you are getting is expected behavior given your settings. Set that regular speed to what you want it to run at and the fan will stay on regardless of the layer time. You could also set the threshold to 0 in which case the fan will run at that regular speed starting at layer 36 and continuing to the end.

The fan speeds in those gcodes are bouncing all over as the print approaches the top. I've never seen that before. Cura has added an M107 line at layer 94 so yes, the fan is being shut off before the top. With the model loaded and Cura set up to slice, use the "File | Save Project" command and post the 3mf file here. This might be a setting issue. Your "Regular fan speed" is set to zero.

The picture didn't show up. You can't re-order a layer but changing the Z-seam location and/or the Layer Start positions (in "Travel") may allow you to fool Cura into printing the portion you want first. You could also slice with "Relative Extrusion" turned on and then cut and paste sections in the gcode to get the order you want. That's "Advanced Gcode Editing" and I wouldn't advise it unless it's practiced.

Understand that this will clear all files from the SD card so make copies if you don't want them erased. Stick it in the computer, right click on the drive letter in Explorer, select "Format". A "quick" format is sufficient.

That second comment about only printing a partial gcode might be because of bad sectors in the SD card. You could try reformatting it. I have had to do that every few months. You first comment about "extrusion stops" might also be related. I found the hardware to be pretty nice and my printer works well. I just couldn't print anything more than 3 or 4 layers tall as the prints would collapse from their own weight.

I'll look around to see if I can find the files. I'm on a new computer since I played with the chocolate extruder and I'm not sure where the files are. I'll get back. Edit: OK here are the files I have. The instructions are in the ReadMe file. Good luck. My problem seemed to center on the fact that the chocolate wouldn't firm up on the build plate. My next attempt was going to involve inventing some sort of system to suck air across a dishpan full of ice, get it to the intake of my layer blower, and blow it at the extruded chocolate. That seemed easier than buying a refrigerator to print in. At some point I'll probably revisit the thing, but right now I'm still mad at it. Ender3LuckyBotProfiles.zip

In the original model, the reason there is a start point there is because of the pocket. When a wall has air on one side it gets an outer wall extrusion. So the inside of the pocket gets an outer wall backed by 2 inner-walls to make up the proper Line Count. The 4th side (that closes the pocket) is 0.40 thick so it gets a single wall. That makes it impossible to make a loop around the inside without coming to a stop and restarting again. The nozzle can extrude it left to right, or right to left, but if it tries to put the pocket in, the nozzle dead ends where it's already been. The addition of the Outer-Wall-Only model gets ride of the situation because it doesn't have the pocket, and neither does the main model. Making that short wall 2X line width wide would also get rid of the problem as the nozzle could make a full loop for the inside of the pocket and then a continuous loop for the "real" outer wall. This is the project with your fix. At the top near the blue arrow notice that the outer-wall of the inner model is thinner than the outer-wall of the outer shell model. This is significant because the variable line width of Cura will adjust to make that single wall section to it's dimensional width of 0.4mm. That's how the situation in the circles arises. You can see that it isn't a single extrusion past the pocket, but rather one extrusion ends, there is a flow adjustment, and at the end of the pocket wall that extrusion ends, there is an adjustment back to the original flow. That's going to leave two slight lines on the print. In this image it runs between the yellow lines and you can just (barely) make it out. How visible it is depends on the printer and how smooth it can make the transition. In the case of this model it really shouldn't be noticeable. On some models it can look like another Z-seam.

The geometry of the model dictates that there will be a seam for that pocket. With the model at the midpoint of the Cura build plate, set the "Z-Seam Alignment" to "User Specified" and the "Z-Seam Position" to "Back Left". Here is how I oriented the model in Cura. If you place the model differently then the "Back Left" would change.

There is a plugin in the MarketPlace called "Settings Guide" that provides the full explanations with pictures and arrows explaining each one. So go to the MarketPlace and install it, quit Cura, and when you restart it should give you the expanded explanations when you hover over a setting.

Can you install any printers in Cura? All of the information for all of the 300+ printers is in the resources folder. If you can load a printer, the folder must exist. If no printers are available then it might well be a bad installation.

Here is the gcode in Cura with a Kobra as the active printer. The gcode reader is a separate program from the slicing engine so it shows a true and accurate representation of the gcode file and there it is in the middle of the build plate. There are two build plates to deal with. The real one on the printer and the virtual one in Cura. They have to match or things can get wonky. Measure your build plate and subtract 5mm from the width and 5mm from the depth. In Cura - Click on Settings, Printers, Manage Printers and then on Machine Settings. The settings "X width" and "Y depth" should be pretty close to what you measured. They are probably a bit less than your calculated numbers but that isn't a problem. Auto-Home your printer and then raise the Z a couple of mm's. Move the nozzle to X = 1/2 of the X(width) listed in Cura and Y = 1/2 of the Y(depth) listed in Cura. Is the nozzle at the midpoint of the bed?

I'm an amateur and a hack at writing code but I've been doing it (poorly) for over 50 years. I don't remember how many apps I've written to communicate over the serial port with various devices. It was a lot. From ski racing timers to load cells to a 60 ton Baldwin Universal Test Machine. There were even some numerically controlled puppets in there. They all had 1 thing in common...they were slow (especially the Baldwin). The difference I see with 3D printers is that the data needs to flow at varying rates or you will get buffer under-runs or over-runs at the printer. Under-runs will cause blobs and over-runs will drop command lines. In addition there are thousands of combinations of 3D printers, PC's, USB ports, port drivers, and firmware. The fact that it works for you is nice. It just doesn't work for everyone because really, it can't. There are just too many combinations of "stuff" to account for. I always had 1 PC talking to 1 specific device. I didn't appreciate that at first so I tried my hand at an app to be a print server and send gcode over the USB to my Ender. After about a week of fooling around with it, the entire project ended up in the toilet. So I copy the gcode to an SD card, stick it in the printer, sit down with my "Greg's Toolbox" app that talks to the printer. I ask the printer to list the files on the SD and then I tell it which one to print. Nice. If the print needs some tuning, no problem, I click on a slider and run the speed up a couple of notches and hit a button to send M106 S255 to the printer. It says "ok" and keeps motoring along. The LCD is totally out of the loop except to resume after a pause. For that I have to hit the button, but that's the only thing I need it for. That's a good thing because it was really the clumsiness of using that button for everything that I didn't like. Because I always leave the printer plugged into the PC - if I'm printing over-night I kill the internet connection so Microsoft can't send an update that will restart the PC and reboot the printer. Another thing you might consider is that the "Power Loss Recovery" data is written to the SD card. If you don't have one in the slot then there is no chance to recover a print.

Is this a bug (or is it a test)? link is to: https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/releases/tag/5.6.0-beta.1 rather than: https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/releases/tag/5.6.0

The Z seam is best at one of the stern corners. The prize for answering your own question is that you get to figure out where to put the Z-seam on this one. 3DBenchyDoubleEnder.stl

The directory structure is different but the names remain the same. In Windows the folders are in: C:\Program Files\UltiMaker Cura 5.5.0\share\cura\resources. Then it's the "definitions", "extruders", and "variants" folders. You might have "quality" files as well.

There might be a way to do this. It's clumsy and I wouldn't do it myself, but you can try. As you have found - if a Com Port is busy then Cura won't connect to it. If "USB Printing" is in use by one instance of Cura then a second instance of the same version can't use it because the plugin is busy. That is the key. If you use a different version of Cura, and if you time the connection to the printer just right, it will connect. With one USB connected from the PC to a printer, start Cura 5.5.0. After a few minutes it should connect. After the 1st connection is established - connect the second printer to the PC and start Cura 5.4.0. After a few minutes it should connect. Here I've got 5.4.0 connected to an AnyCubic on Com 8 and 5.5.0 connected to my Ender on Com 9. Notice that the hot end temperature box is missing from the 5.5 instance. I don't know what's up with that and hitting "cancel" doesn't bring it back. I pre-heated by sending M104 and that worked fine. I'm using a port emulator and a null modem cable as a virtual AnyCubic (which is in reality another PC). It appears you could actually print like this as my experiment worked. I will stress that I said "YOU" could print like this...I would never. I agree wholeheartedly with AHoeben. Other than being a semi-interesting exercise it's just something I wouldn't do because USB Printing is glitchy with even a single printer hooked up. So I went a different way. I wrote a "print server" app and it will control up to 10 printers at once. But it doesn't print over the USB ports. Instead, you select a file from the SD card in each printer and then tell the printer to print it. Switch to another printer and do the same thing. I can switch back and forth between printers and tune a print, pause, or abort from my laptop (which could look like an "decopus" if there were 10 USB cables connected). That all seems to work quite well because I'm not actually printing over the USB, just sending commands to control the different printers. Take none of that as gospel. It could all just be the rantings of an old man. Seems to work though. Time for more coffee.

Turn on the "Custom" settings. Under "Build Plate Adhesion" will be "Build Plate Adhesion Type". The options are Skirt, Brim, Raft and None. When set to "None" you shouldn't get a skirt. You can also set the number of laps of a skirt. The default is 3 laps but you can set that to 1.