Getting this damn app to work

[corngolem 0]

I'm seriously pissed off by this software.

I've had the UM engine on my drive for a couple of months, I must have gotten it from software.ultimaker.com because the editor's site doesn't even have a download page for it. I must also have created a licence at that time cause I've got an email to activate the demo.

So "Netfabb Studio Basic for Ultimaker 4.9" for Mac won't connect to the printer, I read in another thread that it never did and that you should save the gcode on the SDcard.

I go in the Utlimaker area, calculate pathway for some model, but I see the Print and Save as .GCODE buttons greyed out !

My version is activated yet it still says Demo. So I try reinstalling, but there's no uninstaller, I use an app that finds files related to an app and trashes the whole thing.

I then go to software.ultimaker.com and see 2 downloads for Netfabb Mac, what's the difference ? no idea. Both are from September 2012 while there have been an update in december and another in January 2013...

I download one, launch it and it somehow still has my licence and preferences and the buttons are still greyed out.

I look at the export options, lots of slice formats but no gcode !

 

[illuminarti 18]

Netfabb for Ultimaker is paid software. You don't seem to think you've paid for it, so you may have had a time limited demo that has now expired?

The free version of netfabb is really hard to find on their site these days, but you can download it here:

http://www.netfabb.com/download.php

It doesn't do gcode generation, but it is very good for repairing broken STL files.

 

[corngolem 0]

I don't get it. I was aware it was sold on the shop but I thought this download was a free version with some unknown differences. Because who's gonna spend 150€ just to be able to get gcode out of a particular slicer ?? and for only one brand of printer !

If I'm gonna spend this much money on a software I want it to be compatible with all printers out there, like most slicers currently are.

What's the point of exporting to tons of formats, including several slice formats but not gcode ??

Apparently even the pro version that costs 1000€ doesn't do it.

What are these developers thinking ?!

I'm more interested in Netfabb's slicer than in its repair tool, because it seems to make much smarter pathways than others.

 

[IRobertI 521]

The market was very different just a year or two ago. Back then Netfabb was THE slicer if you wanted great prints so people (including myself) paid for it. Today the situation is very different. Netfabb is still a very good slicer but the competition has caught up and in some regards surpassed it.

 

[patrick-van-der-blij 0]

I did spend 150 euro for de program and it is not working i can't select a heatbed and can't make a gcode file that i can post with cura so i can't use the program.

I only can and must wacht for the update that is promist so that the program can post directly to the um.

 

[zungara 10]

The netfab engine download link (Mac version) from Ultimaker is very old. Write an email to netfab and you will get a new one. The new one works fine except that i am was not able to print via USB with the MAc version. My first try was fine. Printing with MAC via USB was sucessfully. But after my first firmware update with CURA it was not possible to print anymore. But for me it is not problem, because i use the UltiController. With the PC version printing work fine via USB.

 

[calinb 11]

If you have an Ultimaker Engine License and the Pro version, the Engine will work with Pro.

I've used nf extensively. It is difficult to learn and complex but provides more control than any other slicer over a variety of things (layer-by-layer control of countless things, for example). It is also very buggy and you have to be prepared to work-around the bugs. No one slicer works well for everything I make. I have and use them all!

Even a freshly installed demo version will not create gcode or connect to a printer, as I recall. You must activate it to actually print with it (or generate gcode).