How do I turn off USB functions?

[ViennaBlood 2]

First of all I want to say I really like the software, and I hope I can reinstall it in the future.

To do so I would request an option (maybe a commandline switch) to completely disable all USB features (autodetect, printing, everything else...), so all communication with the printer would be via SD-card.

Currently I can't use Cura, because whenever I start it it seems to run its autodetect feature to look for printers. The problem with this is that I have a (very old) fan controller which is connected to my PC via USB, using an FTDI USB to serial chip (i.e. something very similar to the communication in a 3D printer). And apparently Cura sends some commands while autodetecting which are interpreted by my fan controller. These commands cause a change in one of the alarm temperature thresholds, which causes the alarm to go off.

So when I first installed Cura i spent an hour frantically searching for the error (and then searching for the software for the fan controller), while my PC was emitting a loud beep every 3 seconds.

The fan controller is a "T-Balancer BigNG", the company making it stopped supporting it years ago. However it is still working perfectly for me, controlling the fans in my PC.

As a workaround I could disconnect the fan controller and run it in standalone mode.

On the other hand it does seem a bit problematic that Cura's autodetect is causing random commands to unrelated devices. The arduino IDE and printrun/pronterface did not cause any problems. I did hit "connect" both in arduino and Pronterface while COM3 was selected (the port for my fan controller, the printer was on COM4), and neither caused any problems. Though I am sure I would have had all kinds of trouble if I had sent Marlin to the fan contoller.

To be sure I even ran Cura again after I had set the alarm value back to the proper setting, and the problem came back. So it definitely is Cura messing with the settings of the fan controller.

edit: changed title to the actual question

Edited July 12, 2017 by Guest

[nallath 1,124]

Disable the plugin in the plugin preferences window.

[ViennaBlood 2]

Thank you! I never would have thought that USB was just a plugin.

I still think it's weird that the USB autodetection affects unrelated devices.

On the other hand there are probably not many people out there with something like that fan controller still in active service.

[ahoeben 2,016]

> I never would have thought that USB was just a plugin.

Almost everything is in Cura; from the Translate/Scale/Rotate tools to support for loading different 3d formats, and from automatically saving settings to layer view and xray view. Not all plugins can be turned on/off at will, but most can.

[ViennaBlood 2]

Here we go again.

More than 1 year later, same problem.

I just deleted the USBPrinting subfolder in the Plugin directory to get rid of it. I am sure it will be back after an update.

 

Can you please, PLEASE add a sanity check for your USB communication? I am sure you already have tons of "profiles" for all kinds of printers - just add a check if you are talking to a known printer or an unknown device. Then ask the user "Hey, we couldn't figure your printer out, are you sure we should send random commands to this device?"

[nallath 1,124]

Most printers don't identify themselves as printers. So, unfortunately, we can't do the sanity check you propose.

[burtoogle 516]

Hi @ViennaBlood, you don't have to delete anything, just disable the blasted thing...

 

[ViennaBlood 2]

Of course, plugins are in the Marketplace! And I looked under "Settings", "Preferences" and "Extensions". Silly me...

 

I had that plugin deactivated in the old 2.x version I had installed. After updating to the current version it was back.

And if I deactivate it from within the program I first have to let it mess up my fan controller. So killing the plugin directory is "better" because it prevents cura from messing with my fan controller in the first place.

 

[DrBow 0]

I was also vexed by this problem. I couldn't connect to my printer with Pronterface while Cura was open unless I did a lot of unplugging of the USB cable and tried to connect before Cura got there. Turning off USB printing plugin in Marketplace did the trick. Thanks so much!

Edited November 11, 2019 by DrBow
more specific

[dansworkshop 0]

THIS STILL A BUG.  I have a home made desktop CNC as well running GRBL, which was running a job when I fired up Cura 4.8 to do something 3d printer related.  Fortunately it wasn't any sort of mission critical work but it BUGGERED THE CNC JOB.  Cura should not try to auto detect the 3d printers!!  The auto detecting of SD cards is also annoying.  These features should be disabled by default, especially the 3d printer detection.  If it had been a 3d printer running a job under other control, it would likely have buggered that as well!!