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autolevelling problems after 5.28 firmware update on UM3 extended


kc-li

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Posted (edited) · autolevelling problems after 5.28 firmware update on UM3 extended

I'm writing this post as a warning to others and to also get a gauge of whether this is an issue in the community. So I have  UM3 extended and recently I did the auto update from firmware 4.33 to 5.28. Immediately after, the autolevelling stop working. It actually took me awhile to figure out why it stopped working. Before I get into it, I want to mention, the autolevelling system on the UM3 has always been very very sensitive, that is, it will only work if I have the screws on the build plate at a particular "depth". This is not just for one machine, I've tested it on 2 and if I don't have the screws at the exact position the machine likes it, it will either stop short of touching the build plate during autolevelling, or start smashing right into the glass until it reaches the predefined "offset" (which is something like 15 mm?). Also, the movement of the build plate in manual levelling is very strange in the updated firmware. It's not smooth and moves a little sporadically.

 

Anyways, back to my problem, so after the update, I notice the autolevelling was completely different. For one, it started indicating that it was heating up the build plate and printcore (something it didn't do on 4.33) and it took a heck of a lot longer. Afterwards, the buildplate would move up half way, stop, then the head moves in, build plate moves up again before starting the autolevelling. I figured this was an update to the autolevelling system? In the past, it would bring the buildplate up in one go, then start the autolevelling on the left nozzle followed by the right. Now no matter how I configured the settings, I would always get a autolevelling sensor fail or offset probe not working properly. I tried everything including changing the capacitor sensor with a spare I had (that worked!) and nothing worked. Finally, I decided to muck around with the internal json settings and trying to decrease the tolerance of the offset but I accidentally bricked the machine somehow. Alright, no biggy, reflash the firmware with the recovery image and in a fortunate delight, also reverted back the firmware version to 4.33. Everything worked fine after that! Autolevelling is back (again with the very tight screw settings but functional it is!).

 

So, my question is, browsing through the forum, I have not seen any complaints about this latest 5.28 "stable" firmware update nor does there seem to be any official acknowledgement of the issue as far as I can tell? So am I alone with this issue? Also, is the autolevelling suppose to be so difficult to configure? Couldn't they at least lower the tolerance of the offset distance between the two nozzles and allow the buildplate z distance from nozzle to be configured in a way the screws are not always screwed completely tight.


I for one will be sticking to the old firmware indefinitely as it seems any future updates will only bring stability issues rather than fix them.

Edited by kc-li
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    Posted · autolevelling problems after 5.28 firmware update on UM3 extended

    So based on the lack of reply I guess my issue is isolated? Strange, I've encountered it on both UM3 I have access 😕

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    Posted · autolevelling problems after 5.28 firmware update on UM3 extended

    Hi kc-li sorry to hear your post have been hanging. I don't understand that you can't find others on the forum with the same problem, there's a lot of posts with problems related to the 5.28 update. most of them in this one. (sorry can't find the page, but the auto leveling have been mentioned in this post)

     

     

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    Posted · autolevelling problems after 5.28 firmware update on UM3 extended

    Hey, thanks for the reply and bringing the thread to my attention. I did have a read of that thread but not anyone has really given much specifics to the autolevelling but I'm glad it is an issue that has been raised. I was thinking maybe there would be an official announcement not to update this "stable" release if it is causing so many issues.

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    Posted · autolevelling problems after 5.28 firmware update on UM3 extended

    Can you check and do the procedure as explained on our support pages? Especially the new diagnostics on 5.2: https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/52808-capacitive-sensor-low-performance-or-interference-detected

     

    With this update, we've made the auto leveling more reliable. Unfortunately, this also means that we have to be more strict about what readings we 'approve' so that the auto leveling procedure does not start a print with less-than-ideal values.

    For example, a lot of customers had problems because of blobs being under the nozzle when the probing procedure would run. We now heat up the nozzles so we squash the blob and have much better reliability with this procedure.

     

    Can you report back with the readings of the diagnostic test? (Oh, by the way, do you have the auto level frequency to anything other than 'Never'?)

     

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    Posted (edited) · autolevelling problems after 5.28 firmware update on UM3 extended

    Hi, thanks for the reply. I've done the diagnostics (previously) to test the capacitive sensor (check the wires, reseat cables, no ESD interferences etc etc) (and I've also replaced it with a brand new one to check if that was the issue and it did not fix it). I always get a "offset probe not working properly". I tried running the diagnostic tool for the sensor as well under maintenance and it would fail (but I can't remember the error message). What's worse really is often the nozzle doesn't even get anywhere near the build plate (literally around 20 mm away) and it would detect that as failure and then switch printheads try something again, fail and then give me the offset probe error.

     

    I'm a bit reluctant to upgrade back to 5.28 for now since now that I'm downgraded back to 4.33.. it works fine again at the specific buildplate height I've worked out.

    I am fairly confident the capacitive sensor is working since I've tried it with 3 separate ones and they all do not work on the new update. My UM3 is relatively "old" and the capacitive sensor board (even the new one I got) was from a a year or two back so I'm not sure if there has been an upgraded version since then?

     

    Even the old active levelling was very sensitive already though. Literally if I have a tiny piece of filament residue on the printhead, that would be enough for me to get a "offset greater than expected difference" error and if I have the screws on the buildplate even off by more than 1 turn on any of the 3, it would not active level. At the moment though, (on firmware 4.33) the printer works great and the active leveling is accurate.

     

    Lastly, I do keep it on "never" since I don't want it to autolevel everytime and the chance of it encountering a "offset greater than expected difference" error. Does that make a difference?

     

    Edited by kc-li
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    Posted · autolevelling problems after 5.28 firmware update on UM3 extended
    1 hour ago, kc-li said:

    Lastly, I do keep it on "never" since I don't want it to autolevel everytime and the chance of it encountering a "offset greater than expected difference" error. Does that make a difference?

     

    Yes, because the "Never" option after having done the calibration once does not guarantee the best results. We've changed the way never works; it now does not apply any offset.

    You now have the option to manually calibrate the build plate and have no offsets applied when you choose never.

     

    But I would still like to see the results of the diagnostic tests to see how we can fix your problem.

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    Posted · autolevelling problems after 5.28 firmware update on UM3 extended

    Please.. I request the UM team.. to send a formal notification.. about the issues with 5.2.8 Firmware... so all the re-sellers and users of course can be aware of them.. and wait for the update... with any valid workaround... 

    The worst thing is SILENCE!!... i would expect ultimaker team to show an alert sign in their web page stating this... for example Active Leveling.. is almost not working any more with this Firmware... 

    Thanks a lot!!... Really is a strong suggestion.. because i know that the UM team is really very professional... but in this case.. for sure they are not being sincere with all the community.... 

     

    Best Regards!

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    Posted · autolevelling problems after 5.28 firmware update on UM3 extended

    Please try a Cura Connect reset.

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    Posted · autolevelling problems after 5.28 firmware update on UM3 extended
    On 4/11/2019 at 3:19 PM, WesleyE said:

    Yes, because the "Never" option after having done the calibration once does not guarantee the best results. We've changed the way never works; it now does not apply any offset. 

    You now have the option to manually calibrate the build plate and have no offsets applied when you choose never.

     

    But I would still like to see the results of the diagnostic tests to see how we can fix your problem.


    That would have been nice to haev this kind of info in the release notes...
    Anyway, after taking time reading the forum, it seems clear that some work was done in latest firmware adressing the auto-levelling feature, and that this work has not ended up to the best user experience...

    As @rodmar said, I really hope we'll have some clear official statement of Ultimaker about all know issues.

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