UM3 bricked

[ruth0000 0]

Hi,

I'm just starting with a new UM3 and going through the startup steps. At some point it detects new firmware and it gets installed. However after installing the UM3 seems bricked. After switching off and on, the display comes up with "Ultimaker" and the backlight on the wheel shows, but that is it.

The wheel is not working. The printer is not showing on the network.

How to get the UM3 back to life? Please help me forward.

Kind regard,

Paul

[peggyb 169]

did you wait long enough? The start up is 'long', wait for it before doing anything else..

[ruth0000 0]

Waited at least an hour. Do you think it needs more time?

[peggyb 169]

no, that is too long

[ultiarjan 1,221]

If you have a new machine that's not working you better get in touch with the re-seller.

The UM3 does start up a little longer than an UM2 due to the extra electronics.

For you reference I timed mine;

- 8 seconds ; logo on display

- 35 seconds light on on turn wheel

- 52 seconds; printer lights on, display ready

the first 35 seconds can be confusing the first time, looks like the printer is not doing anything.... some sort of message (starting up) would be better than just the logo.

[Daid 303]

The logo still displays? Good. That means it is not all dead.

I am wondering, does the ring around the button goes on? (35second mark)

There could be 2 things:

* Firmware could be broken for some reason during the update process (I've done lots of testing, never happened for me. But that does not always say everything)

* Printer cannot contact the motion controller board. Currently this fault isn't handled really well and the printer stays stuck after the 35 seconds mark.

The first point can be done with firmware recovery. The second one is most likely a hardware issue.

Firmware recovery isn't the "simplest" thing in the world. But it's doable by the average person. You do need to do some unscrewing of hardware, write an image to an micro SD card, and put that in a machine.

Support has a better guide on this, but if you do not want to handle this yourself, your sales contact should be able to handle repairs as well.

[Daid 303]

I just noticed you are located in The Netherlands. May I ask where you are exactly located?

This isn't the normal way to handle this, but I am interested in how it is bricked. So me, or one of my fellow engineers, could drop by to check why it isn't starting after the update and fixing it.

As this could provide valuable information on why the update failed...

[ruth0000 0]

In the meantime i've returned the printer and got a replacement. This time during initial startup, i choose not to have the firmware updated. Now all is well!

I'm reluctant to eventually do the update. What is the best way?

[Daid 303]

I understand the reluctance to update. We've updated hundreds of printers lots of times without problems. So that's why I'm keen on getting my hands on that printer.

If you wait a few weeks, a new firmware version will be out. That means you will only have to update once, instead of twice within a short period. If your current firmware is lower then 3.5, then active leveling might exhibit problems. So it is good to be aware of that.

Who did you buy it from? (Hats of for the quick response and swap from their side) I hope I might intercept it before they repair it.

[ruth0000 0]

Thank you for your assurance!

Coolblue delivered excelent service. The printer was returned on Saturday afternoon to one of their stores and they immediatly organised a new shipment the following day (Sunday).

[Daid 303]

Even more assurance, I think I might have found out why your printer failed to startup after update. After quite a few tests I found out that:

A combination of old firmware, and no XY offset calibration can cause the software to crash after an update (as it's migrating that configuration, and fails it if is unset). That is a bit odd, as XY offset calibration should have been done in the factory.

Thanks for the info on Coolblue, I'll see if I can find out what happened with that printer.

[peggyb 169]

what does this mean for others who need the update? Is this an occasional thing?

[Daid 303]

what does this mean for others who need the update? Is this an occasional thing?

 

As the printer really bugs you to do an XY calibration, it should be rare for a machine not to have it.

We've also fixed this update problem for the upcoming 3.6 release (due in less then 2 weeks), so after that this bug won't happen on an update, even if you have the right pre-conditions.

And the factory already programs new machines with a firmware version high enough not to exhibit this problem.

We're also verified the 3.6 release with all the possible factory based versions.

So, what does it mean for others:

 

• if you are 3.5 or higher, no risk.

• If you are 3.4 or lower, only a risk if you have no XY calibration (For any hotend combination) so that is rare.

• And in 2 weeks, no risk for anyone anymore.

 

Is this an occasional thing? Not planning on occasionally bricking printers. I like printers to work :-)

Edited March 9, 2017 by Guest

[Daid 303]

Small update, I got confirmation that the printer has been located and is heading towards my office. This means I can confirm my suspicion on how it was bricked.

[ZF-Chicago 0]

I have essentially the same issue, but removal of the wifi module did not help. Tips? The thing is ten days old, it's already been XY-Calibrated (although the offsets were both 0, if that matters), so we're a bit disappointed/baffled all around.