Where can i find a changelog for Ultimaker 3 testing firmware?

[Nickcap 0]

Hello.

I'm sorry if it's obvious, but i can't seem to find anything about the testing firmware.

I would like to know what has changed in the testing firmware because i'm considering trying to update to the testing branch.

Thank you

[Daid 306]

First word of warning, updating to the testing branch is always a risk.

For example, I just disabled the update to 3.5.92, as it breaks the update mechanism (which is pretty bad, as you cannot switch back to stable)

I'll have a quick check if I can share are full internal release notes. But the current focus is APIs (so better integration with Cura and possible future products) and diagnostics. As well as a bunch of small fixes.

Most noticeable new feature that 3.5.92 would have added is the ability to change material during a print. But, as I just retracted this release, you do not get this feature just yet.

(If anyone updated to 3.5.92, let me know. I'm writing down instructions on how to recover as soon as we have 3.5.93)

[smartone 1]

Hi Daid,

Has there been any progress on the changelog request? I am anxious to get some changes to the firmware on my UM3 Extended. The last stable release is from December of last year, but you have sufficiently scared me off of getting the testing firmware versions with breaking the update mechanism as recently as 3.5.92. The testing release is at 3.5.94 20170228 now.

Can your team adopt an agile approach to firmware releases where you don't wait months for a bunch of fixes and features, but some fixes and features could come out a few at a time more regularly. This would alleviate suffering by customers who lack important fixes/features that inhibit their ability to make the best use of the product. Failed print jobs are costly in lost time!

Some firmware changes I'd like to see are...

When pausing a print, send the print head to its home position. I have accidentally gotten in the way of the print head while fixing an issue with the print itself. Once the print head is thrown off, you are doomed. If it simply homed itself when you press pause, then that wouldn't be an issue at all. You could also put homing the print head in the tune menu as well, but homing the print head as part of the pause process makes the most sense since people may not know that it's in the tune or even what it means if they do see it.

My UM3 Extended also drags nozzle #2 through what it has already printed all the time causing damage to the print. I have enabled Z-Hop and calibrated everything. It still does that. I suspect there is an issue with nozzle leveling.

Restarting a print job from the layer it left off on would be another great addition. The print failure from above where I throw the print head off could be recovered this way as well. Even if there is a power outage. It just makes sense.

Changing the intensity of the LED's is sorely needed. My camera's have a hard time with that much light, so the image is over exposed unless I take matters in my own hands and cover the lights with painters tape.

Some of the processes in the menu tree are so linear you can't go back or cancel ever. This is frustrating. (e.g. choose the wrong material to interact with, choose a nozzle instead of a material.) I feel like I could list many of the processes in the menu and most would assume that you want to move forward and never change the parameters or cancel the process.

I got an error once with the NFC "Too many materials detected!" It kept detecting over again, popping up the error. I click Ok. It immediately goes back to the detecting, error. Over and Over and Over.  I had to race and select the material manually within the milliseconds I had before it would throw the error again. It took several tries to click/scroll, click/scroll to beat it before the error shut me out. Super frustrating!! I hope I don't get that again!

By the way, why does it heat the bed and then the nozzles? Seems like a waste of time.  

Thanks for your time and attention!

Sincerely,

Stephan

Edited March 12, 2017 by Guest

[Daid 306]

We are going to stable within a few weeks. As we are entering system testing on Thursday. I'm trying a release at least once every 3 months. And "agile" testing releases at least once every 2 weeks.

The update error of .92 was very unfortunate. And it wasn't as bad, as updates where still possible. I've also changed the "release to testing" process a bit to include update testing. And we simplified this code, to prevent more mistakes.

 

When pausing a print, send the print head to its home position. I have accidentally gotten in the way of the print head while fixing an issue with the print itself. Once the print head is thrown off, you are doomed. If it simply homed itself when you press pause, then that wouldn't be an issue at all. You could also put homing the print head in the tune menu as well, but homing the print head as part of the pause process makes the most sense since people may not know that it's in the tune or even what it means if they do see it.

As the homing switches have a limited accuracy, you would get a slight layer shift if we do this. We do put the head at 10,10, so that should be far away from your hands...

 

My UM3 Extended also drags nozzle #2 through what it has already printed all the time causing damage to the print. I have enabled Z-Hop and calibrated everything. It still does that. I suspect there is an issue with nozzle leveling.

Sounds like a leveling issue indeed. Making sure the nozzle and the bed is clean before starting can help on this area. We are still looking to improve on this area as well.

 

Restarting a print job from the layer it left off on would be another great addition. The print failure from above where I throw the print head off could be recovered this way as well. Even if there is a power outage. It just makes sense.

Often asked feature. But, in the end, you don't know the exact layer, the homing inaccuracy and the print might have been detached make this a lot of trouble to be actually useful. We also cannot level with a job on the bed, and all kinds of other major problems. Don't expect this feature.

 

Changing the intensity of the LED's is sorely needed. My camera's have a hard time with that much light, so the image is over exposed unless I take matters in my own hands and cover the lights with painters tape.

Done for the next release, already in testing.

 

Some of the processes in the menu tree are so linear you can't go back or cancel ever. This is frustrating. (e.g. choose the wrong material to interact with, choose a nozzle instead of a material.) I feel like I could list many of the processes in the menu and most would assume that you want to move forward and never change the parameters or cancel the process.

Some improvements have been made here, but we're not there yet. The change material can be canceled in the first step now.

 

I got an error once with the NFC "Too many materials detected!" It kept detecting over again, popping up the error. I click Ok. It immediately goes back to the detecting, error. Over and Over and Over. I had to race and select the material manually within the milliseconds I had before it would throw the error again. It took several tries to click/scroll, click/scroll to beat it before the error shut me out. Super frustrating!! I hope I don't get that again!

You might just want to listen the machine, instead of trying to fight it.

"Detected too many new materials, ensure only one new material is present."

It sees 2 (or more) materials that it does not know yet, so it does not know which material spool you are putting on the machine. Remove both. Only put the one you are inserting on it. Let it bleep and continue. Then for your other material, do the same. No manual selection required, as you have two rolls of material that allow for auto-detection.

Else, if you don't want the machine to think for you, remove the tags from the spools.

 

By the way, why does it heat the bed and then the nozzles? Seems like a waste of time.

Because we are limited in power, a cold bed takes more power to heat up then a hot bed. The new firmware does this better as well, and can now heat both at the same time. By properly limit the amount of power going to the bed without overloading the powersupply.

[smartone 1]

Hi Daid,

Thanks for the comprehensive response! I appreciate it. I look forward to the next update!

Best,

Stephan