Cura breaks UM - need original files - plz help

[andywalter 7]

Hi,

my UM was delivered on 26 March 2012, and has been working very well and with no problems, using the original firmware & ReplicatorG Ver 0026.

PC is Win7 Professional 64-bit with Core i7 and 6GB ram, USB2, a couple of years old now but still pretty quick.

UM is standard, with Arduino 2560 chip. It has the "New bolt" knurled socket-head cap-screw, as per the lower of the 2 images on

http://wiki.ultimaker.com/Marlin_firmwa ... _Ultimaker

.

Recently my son has "upgraded" it using Cura 12.11, and has installed the "Install default Marlin firmware" which talks to the Arduino OK.

But, Cura doesn't connect to the board, and the "Print" menu time-out after trying all the baud rates without success. It's using the correct port, COM6, and the Arduino "clicks" as you launch the "Print" window.

Just what is this "default Marlin firmware" and where did it come from? What version etc is it etc? Why doesn't it work "out of the box" ?

I've tried several .hex files from

http://firmware.ultimaker.com/firmware/

- sometimes I can get the Arduino to connect; the best I've managed was to build my model for about 10 minutes, then the whole thing locked up completely dead suddenly, scrapping my build.

I've tried getting RepG V0026 to work again - without success; sometimes it can connect, but a build runs the x & y motors at rocket-speed, far too fast for the extrusion, and far faster than the machine originally ran. What's going on?

Can anyone point me to the correct .hex file to upload using Cura, so I get the m/c back to original RepG 0026 rock-solid (but slow) mode please.

Frankly I'm wasting a lot of time on this Marlin code, which seems flakey. Why does it say "NOTE: THIS IS EXPERIMENTAL!" at the top of

http://wiki.ultimaker.com/Marlin_firmwa ... _Ultimaker

?

I thought that Cura + Marlin was supposed to be the currently supported code, in which case there should darn well be a stable version around that behaves properly.

Maybe my USB doesn't like running at 250000 baud, if this is a common problem then please lets have some builds readily available for 250000 and 125200 baud, and lets please have these in some easily-found folder which has a README file telling users just what hardware it's for, and what versions of Cura (or other code) these files work with.

I really shouldn't have to be considering doing special builds on the Daid system just for myself - life is too short, I just want to get on and print, even if slowly.

I don't seem to be able to get any version of RepG working as it did originally - just what file was originally installed on this m/c when made, and what settings have to be made to get it workign properly?

I cannot get any version of RepG (26 or 34) to install software on the Arduino - that capability seems totally trashed now that Cura has "had a go" at the m/c.

Andy

[Daid 306]

There is a build for 115200 in "Program files/Cura/Cura/firmware", you can install it from Cura with the "install custom firmware" option. (It's actually intended for Linux, which has problems with the 250000 baud firmware)

The wiki page on Marlin is old and outdated. Marlin IS the currently supported firmware, and the default firmware from Cura is currently running on every machine at UM, and on a LOT of other machines. (It has been this same version for 4 months, with zero problems)

After you press "print", it doesn't connect. But after "not connecting" it should show the "error log" button, could you paste the contents of this error log?

[andywalter 7]

Daid,

thanks for the quick reply and your help - much appreciated. I installed C: Program Files (86)/Cura_12.11/Cura/firmware/ultimaker_125200.hex OK. I then uninstalled Cura (my son's installation) and completely re-installed it myself. I skipped the install firmware, the microswitch tests ran OK, and the comms tests also ran OK. Looking good so far. I loaded my .stl file, set wall thickness to 1.6 from 0.8, Fill at bottom/top to 1.2 from 0.6, Filament thickness 2.7 (my silver PLA is oval-ish, from 2.65 to 2.80 in diameter), set Print Speed to 35 from 50 (previously the extruder seemed to have problems keeping up, so this should a) help that, and b) reduce the chance of serial-port buffer-overruns by slowing the rate of progessing move commands), changed layer height to 0.3mm (as per prev RepG builds & fine for this job). Prepare Print went fine. Print connected imemdiately, "Print" ran fine for about 40 minutes, then suddenly the machine stopped dead. I grabbed a screenshot of the "Print" window, and here's what it reads:

"Connect" and "Print" buttons are greyed-out, as are the jog controls for x, y, z, and extruder.

"Pause" and "Cancel print" buttons are selectable.

Filament: 3.41m 29.09g

Estimated print time: 01:50

Line: 17303/87213 19%

Height: 20.1

Print time: 00:46

Print time left: 03:06

Temp: 220

Machine state:Printing

so I had to cancel the print. The print window closed as expected. I immediately tried to "Print" again, and got this message in the Error log when it failed to connect:

Changing monitoring state from 'Offline' to 'Detecting serial port'

Serial port list: [u'COM6', u'COM3']

Connecting to: COM6

Error while connecting to COM6: u"Unexpected error while connecting to serial port:COM6:"

Connecting to: COM3

Error while connecting to COM3: 'Timeout'

Failed to open serial port (AUTO)

Changing monitoring state from 'Detecting serial port' to 'Error: Failed to autodetect...'

I then closed Cura, and restarted Cura. Again it failed to connect, here's the error log:

Changing monitoring state from 'Offline' to 'Detecting serial port'

Serial port list: [u'COM6', u'COM3']

Connecting to: COM6

Error while connecting to COM6: 'Failed to open serial port'

Connecting to: COM3

Error while connecting to COM3: 'Timeout'

Failed to open serial port (AUTO)

Changing monitoring state from 'Detecting serial port' to 'Error: Failed to autodetect...'

At this point I give up. I've been here before - one of the runs of Cura a day or so ago did just the same, running for about 10 minutes and locking up solid on this same shape, but at a different place in the shape.

It's possible my USB ports are flakey - but I've got 4 of these on the front of my PC, and I've used several of these with no difference between them. I use these for extrenal USB disks, and cameras, with no problems, and they've run the 5D code & RepG V26 for about 8 months perfectly. As far as I can see the USB ports are behaving OK. Right now with UM plugged in (but not powered up (though the USB cable seems to give it enough power!) and Cura not running), Windows Device Manager shows COM6 owned by Arduino Mega 2560, and the max baud-rate I can select from pull-down is 128000, so I suspect I can't manage 250000. But 115200 is in the list of selectable speeds.

The USB driver is Microsoft usbser.sys version 6.1.7601.17514 (win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850).

There's also Arduino LLC driver, dated 15/11/2007 version 5.1.2600 in there.

So right now I'm puzzled as to what's going wrong. I was watching the m/c closely at the time it suddenly stopped. Nothing obvious happened - I've disabled my screen-saver, so it's not that.

So I'd really, really like to get hold of the original 5D .hex file I assume it came with, and see if I can get my model to build. Right now I don't care if it's slow and clunky, I want something that will complete. I've done over 30 runs lasting an hour or more, using RepG V26, with no problems, so I want to return to that. If that starts to hang, then it's looking like my USB ports are packing up.

I'm going to try another build exactly as per the one that's just hung, but this time I'm plugging into a USB socked on back of PC that runs straight onto the motherboard, rather then use the ones at the front which are connected to mobo by wires. Maybe htat might help a tiny fraction.

Andy

[andywalter 7]

Daid,

as I write this it's looking better. I've restarted the print, exactly as before, except I'm using USB cable plugged into back of PC rather than the set of 4 at front of PC conencted by wires to the mobo. I don't know if this has fixed it, but it's got past where the prev run stalled. I've also routed the USB cable away from the mains cable that connects to the industrial temperature controller driving my home-made HBP. It's just possible that when that switches the heaters on/off, there may be some interference being picked up on the USB cable? But it's never been a problem before!

So right now I'm hopeful that this object will finally build - it's now done 1 hour with 2:20 to go ...

Andy

[andywalter 7]

Daid,

success, it's built to completion nicely. many thanks for your help.

Is it possible for someone to update the web-pages on Marlin please? If this code is no longer experimental, that page should say as much. It would be helpful to have a README in the

http://firmware.ultimaker.com/firmware

folder to say what those files are, why you would or would not need them (eg what's the position for pre-Mega 2560 m/cs?), and so on.

A bit of a tidy-up around the documentation would be a great help - I wouldn't have wasted 2 days trying combinations of those firmwares if I'd known!

Thanks,

Andy

[Daid 306]

Usually, the front USB ports on a PC are behind an extra hub, this causes extra latency. However, in Windows this also seems to trigger some kind of bug in some cases, as I've had quite a few problems with some USB ports, while other ports work fine. On my Vista laptop, it's nothing but problems. On my desktop, the back ports work fine, the front one causes rare problems, the one in the card reader is hell.

The problem is, there is nothing I can do about it, the windows drivers lock up. You cannot even reconnect until you pull the cable and disconnect, and then reconnect the cable.