Cura 4.2.0 printing via USB ???

[ksor 1]

It seems to me that my printer CR10s PRO is conpletely UN-controlable by Cura 4.2.0 !

 

It's my first try to print by USB so I don't know if the printer itself should be ON or OFF - do you know ?

 

I have just updated to the latest version of SW from TinyMachines and when the computer (and thentoo the printer) is left idle it ends up with a warning screen that temp did NOT raise in time so check the system - but computer and printer should just stay idle !

 

It seems like a mess to control the printer and the printing from the computer - I think thats the purpose by the USB link - right ?

 

What is wrong here ?

 

 

[johnse 31]

I don't know anything about the Creality machines, but to use USB printing, yes, the printer must be ON.

 

[ksor 1]

The printer turnes ON and makes it's startup melody  when the COMPUTER is turned ON ... maybe that's OK but ...

 

When Cura 4.2.0 is started it seems to reboot 2 or 3 times ... the startup melody is palyed 2 or 3 times ... it sounds likes on top of the last melody  .... what is rhis mess ?

 

I can set up the heating temps in Cura but it has no effect on the printer ... it never heat up !

 

Something must be wrong with Cura 4.2.0 OR the combination Cura 4.2.0 and SW from TinyMachines - any experience here ?

 

Edited August 8, 2019 by ksor

[dxp 23]

Maybe you could give Repetier Host a try? It works fine with Crealiy-Printers and you could check the USB. If it works, switch to Cura. (But printing directly via USB seems a bad idea, a SD-Card is better in terms of reliability.)

[3in1frame 0]

I had a problem with my Creality 10 5s.  Creality support had me re-seat the plugs for the bed and the nozzle.  This seemed to help.  Interestingly Octoprint used to throw a temperature limit error.  Now using it just says "KILLED" on the screen of the device.  However, the USB printing seems to work.

 

I included the image that they sent me, showing what to re-seat.

 

 

 

Note that they also sent me firmware, but I don't think it's good for me to put firmware in a forum because I don't want it to mess up anyone's machine.  i don't know that the firmware helped anyway.

 

[ksor 1]

> dxp

 

??? the goal is to print via USB and get rid of this UN-stable SD-card-system

 

> 3in1 Frame

Re-seat ... I don't think some loose plugs are the cause - the printing is working OK when initiated via SD-card.

 

I too have the latest TinyMachines SW so I don't think it's a good idea to go "BACK# to some SW from Creality at all !

[johnse 31]

@ksor

The reason some recommend against USB for printing is that it adds a couple of failure points. The computer must stay on and responsive for the entire print job. Anything that interrupts that will kill your print. Want to update something completely unrelated halfway through a 2 day print? Does it require a reboot? Sorry, gotta wait until the print finishes.

 

Thus the suggestion to get a Raspberry Pi and install Octoprint. Your computer then sends the entire gcode to octoprint via your network and the octoprint connects to the printer via USB and babysits the printer doling out a few lines of gcode at a time.

[ksor 1]

25 minutes ago, johnse said:

@ksor

The reason some recommend against USB for printing is that it adds a couple of failure points. The computer must stay on and responsive for the entire print job. Anything that interrupts that will kill your print. Want to update something completely unrelated halfway through a 2 day print? Does it require a reboot? Sorry, gotta wait until the print finishes.

 

I think adding a Raspberry Pi too adds a lot of "failure points", a lot of extra wires and - to me - unknown stuff - I HATE it, when some failure arraise and I know too little of the involved HW/SW !

 

If Cura has priority I think it will not be a problem - do you have other experiences with prioritaty in Windows ?

[johnse 31]

Im just trying to help inform you. I am not suggesting one way or another. I’m sorry if you don’t understand the technology you are using and don’t like to listen to what those who are experienced are offering as advice.

 

When Windows decides to apply a security update in the middle of a long print, don’t say people didn’t try to suggest a better way.

[ksor 1]

Don't misundersand me - I'm just trying to find out where your experience is - the Raspberry Pi, Windows priority system or maybe both

[johnse 31]

I’ve used the raspberry pi for other things. My UM3 is network connected. I have one printer that is USB connected, but I don’t tend to do long prints on it and am planning to set up octoprint. I’ve had Windows machines go to sleep when not being interacted with, interrupting file transfers...similar concept. I have had Windows force a reboot. 

[ksor 1]

I think all these conditions can be taken into account ... and I'll try do that BEFORE I concider any Raspberry Pi solution ... but thx for all the infos !

Edited August 11, 2019 by ksor

[Smithy 1,144]

As additional information, installing Octopi on a Raspberry has now become very easy. There is a finished image, which only needs to be copied to an SD card after a tutorial and then Octopi starts and the rest is done via web interface. So you don't need any further knowledge about Linux or the Raspberry.

 

Maybe this will take away some of your fears or concerns.

[ksor 1]

> Smithy

Yeah, maybe ;-))

[ShopGeezer 2]

The card reader broke on my new Crealty CR-20 so I contacted my vendor (Mech Solutions in Toronto) about running the printer from my laptop.  The tech on the phone explained that the printer uses an analog digital converter and the driver that Windows 10 assigns to the printer is not reliable for this process. He sent me the link to drivers that work better.  This is the link:

 

https://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/CDM/CDM21228_Setup.zip

 

Run the setup and install the two drivers that are shown in the setup program. From that point on Windows will use these two drivers. The printer works perfectly from my laptop. I have had no problems at all. 

 

NOTE:  Be sure and go into the power settings and set your laptop to NEVER turn off when using AC power (doesn't matter about the screen, it can turn off as long as the computer is still running). I forget to do this, the computer shut off during a print, the printer stopped and the print head cooled off and welded itself to the print bed.  Had to replace the print nozzle.  Good thing I got a bag of them with the printer. 

 

The printer has to be on to print and preheat the print head and the bed.  The data panel on the printer will light up when you plug in the USB cord from the computer. This is because USB provides 5 volts for devices and the board on the printer will work with this power source.  Not sufficient for the heaters and motors of course, the power switch on the printer has to be on for those to work and do an actual print. 

 

When you start up Cura, the program will find the printer and it will show up in the monitor window. Sometimes I have to load a model and do a slice to make Cura find the printer. I have tried various combinations of starting the printer first, starting the computer first and then the printer, etc.  It doesn't matter what order you use, Cura will connect with the printer once you do a slicing operation as long as you have the two drivers shown above installed. .

 

Another note:   I was confused by how to actually start a print.  Once you have done a slicing operation and Cura finds the printer, the "Save to File" button ( the big blue one bottom right in the Preview window ) will have a little arrow on the right side. Clicking this arrow will show the option "Print to USB".  Click this options and you will be taken to the monitor window.  The bed and nozzle will preheat and the print will start. That is when you will wish you had used more glue stick on the bed. 

 

Be sure and always print with your laptop plugged into AC power.

 

 

[ksor 1]

>

ShopGeezer

 

Thx for the detailed infos - I will try the link !

[ksor 1]

Oh, just a moment ... I have some questions:

 

1) What should I backup BEFORE I install the new drivers ?

2) Are these nes drivers ONLY for laptops - I use a stationary machine !

 

 

[ShopGeezer 2]

I didn't back anything up before installing these drivers. It is a very simple install. It doesn't matter if you are using a laptop or a desktop computer as long as it is a WIndows machine.  Won't work with a Mac.

[ksor 1]

OK, I'll try it - thx !

[ksor 1]

No cure at all - the same chaotic rebooting of the printer 4-6 times on top of each other and NO reaction on the printer when trying to "control" the printer by the "Monitor"-tab - I think the update is useless.

 

No wonder people talks so much about "Raspberry Pi" - when do the Cura poeple wake up and do something about it ?

 

 

[ShopGeezer 2]

Wow sorry to hear that. I have a Crealty CR-20 and as I described it works great via USB. I started printing with CR-10 selected as my printer in Cura since that was all the 3.x versions listed. Version 4.2.1 has a lot more printers listed including the CR-20. Trying to think of problems that popped up. 

 

One thing, when I first did the upgrade to ver 4.2.1 And selected the CR-20 as my printer Cura started giving me errors saying my CR-10 configuration files were corrupt. I could no longer contact the printer. Cura wanted me to do a reset that would delete all the printers and profiles. I backed up my profiles and did the reset. Then reinstalled the profiles and selected the CR-20 as my printer. All worked well after that. 

 

Windows 10 was hassling me to update my version of Windows since the current version I was using would no longer be supported after November. I hate upgrading Windows but on a dark and stormy night the laptop just went ahead and did the upgrade all by itself. I had to run the install for those drivers again. 

 

The rebooting sounds like it could be a connection problem. Could it possibly be the USB version you are using?  USB has three versions now. 

 

What help is your vendor offering you?  You could call Mech Solutions in Toronto and talk to Sim. He is very knowledgable and got me up and running when the card reader broke in my CR-20.

[johnse 31]

@ksor, it sounds to me like there may be other things going on...

 

perhaps we we can try to isolate things by using a different program to see If it can talk to your printer. There is a simple control program called pronterface. It comes in a package called PrintRun. The github repo is at https://github.com/kliment/Printrun and there are links on that page to prebuilt versions you can just download & run.

 

See if you can control the printer from pronterface. If so, that will validate the USB communications.

[ksor 1]

9 hours ago, johnse said:

@ksor, it sounds to me like there may be other things going on...

 

perhaps we we can try to isolate things by using a different program to see If it can talk to your printer. There is a simple control program called pronterface. It comes in a package called PrintRun. The github repo is at https://github.com/kliment/Printrun and there are links on that page to prebuilt versions you can just download & run.

 

See if you can control the printer from pronterface. If so, that will validate the USB communications.

 

OK, it IS an older Lenovo stationary machine I use to do the printing - I'll try see the USB-version.

 

I'll try the link too and report back - thx !

[ksor 1]

On 8/11/2019 at 12:00 PM, Smithy said:

As additional information, installing Octopi on a Raspberry has now become very easy. There is a finished image, which only needs to be copied to an SD card after a tutorial and then Octopi starts and the rest is done via web interface. So you don't need any further knowledge about Linux or the Raspberry.

 

Maybe this will take away some of your fears or concerns.

 

Thx - do you have to have a link to a review/description ?

[Smithy 1,144]

The official website has good instructions:

https://octoprint.org/download/