And then... there where happy faces! SkeinPyPy-Beta3

[Daid 306]

I've just uploaded Beta3 of SkeinPyPy (With new Userinterface).

It's fresh.

It's hot.

It's downloadable:

https://github.com/daid/SkeinPyPy/downloads

It's loved by the Ultimaker team (even though they have Macs, and the Mac version is not ready yet)

It's less buggy then the Beta2!

It's got X-Ray vision!

It's packaged with a newer PyPy version, so no more "!?!Something went wrong during slicing"

It's assisting you in verifying some basic machine functions (like heater and end switches)

It's just... good, and you should download it.

Now for the long, and not so boring story. I was at Ultimaker HQ today, thanks for the invite Erik! I enjoyed it! We talked about a lot of things, but we mainly talked about the software, and how bad ReplicatorG is, and how much a replacement would be so much better. And the replacement was there, it was SkeinPyPy. And nothing is set in stone. But it's possible that after the next ReplicatorG release from UM, SkeinPyPy might be the next thing they'll be working on, software wise. They like the simpler UI, and the First Run Wizard. But they also suggested an even simpler UI (select profile -> select model -> print). Which I also like as "beginner" UI.

We did a lot of testing, and fixed quite a few tiny bugs. Renamed the "DepthComplexity" to "XRAY!", as it looked a lot like X-Ray vision. And we ran into a ton of problems with the MacOS version. We fixed a great deal of them, but we could use someone with more MacOS development experience. Especially packing software correctly was hard to figure out (not solved yet)

Now, this Beta3 is not perfect yet. There are still a few UI things we didn't like. Like it should be possible to switch between GCode/Model view, especially after restarting SkeinPyPy. There where also ideas about showing what each setting does with pictures. It's also missing a GCode sender, so it's still packaged with PrintRun. There are many ideas, but I figured to put this release out there so we can get more feedback. It's also better then the Beta2 because of all the bugfixes.

And, I got their new unreleased, half announced new pieces of hardware, thanks for letting me test that! No, and I won't be telling what it is. It's a secret And I've seen work on a printer head without PEEK. It was a fun day, to hear all kinds of problems they face as a small startup, which tries to deliver all over the world. To see a random unannounced customer show up at the doorstep to pickup his missing parts, just because he was in the neighborhood. And too see how busy they are with support. Thanks again for a fun and productive day, and thanks for the lunch UM Team! (And start doing those lunches on a fixed time so you don't skip out of them )

[jet 0]

Woah its awesome! but running on my laptop i still get the "somthing went wrong during slicing!" error :(

[Daid 306]

What does the log say? Most likely your laptop is lacking SSE2, which should be noted in the log message.

[jet 0]

just tried running on my girlfriends laptop (also windows 7), and my mums pc (xp) with the same result, not having fun :(

[jet 0]

oh i do get this error at startup though......however i didnt get the same error on mums computer and it still crashed at the same point.

[Daid 306]

oh i do get this error at startup though......however i didnt get the same error on mums computer and it still crashed at the same point.

That error is... well, not sure where it comes from. But it still works after the error. You can fix that error by installing .NET runtime 1.1 (which includes the DLL)

EDIT: Identified the offending file. It's "/python/Lib/OpenGL/DLLS/gle32.dll", it's safe to remove the file, as SkeinPyPy doesn't actually do anything with it.

The other error, might have something to do with the model you are slicing. I've seen the same thing happen once. Running the stl file trough

http://cloud.netfabb.com/

might help. But I'm also interrested in the model and setting you are using to cause the error, maybe I can fix it.

[rock500 0]

Daid, i may of found a small bug, if i flip a part over using Flip Z, the gcode produced is of the part before the flip.

Also i am struggling with support, i have a part with a flat area which is the on the bed, then there is a 1mm raised

area which i need to have support under, at the moment i am using "Exterior only" is this the best option.

Feature request - Would it be possible to move the part around rather than it being always centered ?, like in Netfab

as i like to try and not print always on the same blue tape at the center of the bed.

Keep up the great work, i am getting better results than when i was using Netfabb now

Jonathan

[Daid 306]

"Exterior only" support is broken... because, it should have been "Exterior Only" with an upper case O. Stupid bug that I made. (If you change "newui/mainWindow.py" yourself, it should work)

Thanks, all 3 flip actions indeed look broken in the slicing. I'll have a look at it.

The object is movable by adjusting the machine center in the machine config tab. (The confusion has been noted )

A beta like this is perfect to get all these bugs out. I'm not adding features right now, and just fixing the bugs. So we can have a bug free release pretty soon.

[jet 0]

Ok so here is the file im trying to slice..... its from here (

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:14248

) but i scaled it up and split the stl into 2 seperate parts (upper and lower jaw) using rhino (a nurbs modeling program, it was the only way i could think of to edit the stl), i then repaired it up with netfabb basic.

I did a similar thing with the top half of the skull, but I just tried slicing it many many times, and eventually fluked a success. Ive also had skeinpypy (the previous beta) fail on other models though.

The settings im using are

layer height =0.1mm

wall thickness =1.2mm

bottom/top fill =2mm

fill density =30%

skirt line count =5

start distance =6mm

print speed =50mm/s

temperature =192

support:none

filament =2.89

density =1

machine centre x=100

machine centre y=100

nozzle=0.4

retraction all defaults (im actually curious what values people use for this, as i have trouble with stringing still)

travel speed =400 (just to max out whatever marlin uses)

max z speed =1

bottom layer speed =25

min cool time =10

expert, all defaults except hexagonal infill

[jet 0]

Ok I must say, I have been using beta 3 all day on other models, and it really is crazy good, my prints come out sooo much nicer than when I'm just guessing at settings with skeinforge, well done!

[simon-huiberts 0]

Hi

With the download of SkeinPyPy-Beta3 I tought this will me help start printing (after one year of trouble). Unfortunatly I have an old machine, (trying to be one of the first having an 3D-printer). I have an ATmega 1280 and so I have used the plug-and-play 'custom firmware installation'. Using the 'rerun wizard' the 'Marlin-maker' respond with 3 downloads (I dont know what to do with the last two). Then I used the 'expert' again to install the custom firmware but after selecting the HEX firmware file in the Marlinmap the printer react with an Time-out message. What to do now?

Simon

[Daid 306]

The firmware installer doesn't work for the ATMega1280. You'll need to install the firmware from the build-me-marlin zip file. The auto detection of the right serial port also fails, so it's not possible to use the calibration wizard or the machine check. (I should have asked if they had any old ATMega1280 hardware laying around last friday... so I could test with it)

Other then that, the slicer should work fine, and printing from PrintRun should also work.

If you still have problems, and now I'm going to play the scary stalker, looks like you're from the Eindhoven area. I suggest you make sure you're invited for the next Ultimaker evening in Geldermalsen, and bring your printer then. If you are still having problems with it, it's pretty certain that there are enough people around who can help you then. I'll also be around then. (I don't know when they'll have a next Ultimaker evening)

[rock500 0]

"Exterior only" support is broken... because, it should have been "Exterior Only" with an upper case O. Stupid bug that I made. (If you change "newui/mainWindow.py" yourself, it should work)

 

Editting py is a little beyond me, as long as its fixed in the next release i will be happy

[Daid 306]

"Exterior only" support is broken... because, it should have been "Exterior Only" with an upper case O. Stupid bug that I made. (If you change "newui/mainWindow.py" yourself, it should work)

 

Editting py is a little beyond me, as long as its fixed in the next release i will be happy

It will be, already fixed it in the source. I'll be bugfixing for a week and then release a new version. So we have a pretty bugfree version for people to work with, and as base for the next version. There are many ideas already (there where many idea even before the beta3)

[rock500 0]

Its already working pretty well for me, but i like the interface as its nice and simple and i would struggle with netfabb

to make the changes i can within skeinpypy within a few seconds.

And the popups when you hover over a box are really handy for a newbie like me.

[hedis 0]

Here is the mainWindow.py with the fix applied. Just copy it into the win32-SkeinPyPy-NewUI-Beta3SkeinPyPy

ewui folder and replace the existing one.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40755495/mainWindow.py

(Save file...)

I haven't tested the fix myself, just followed the instructions from Daid.

[rock500 0]

Daid, do you have a idea when the next release will be out which fix's the exterior only support bug.

I am using the everywhere support, but it cause's a lot of problems with my parts, as there are supports

everywhere :lol: and in places were it takes a long time to get the material out.

I have a batch of parts to print and if a new version is coming soon, i will hold off printing them until the

new release with the bug fix is out.

Jonathan

[hedis 0]

rock500> Download this and see if it is fixed.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/40755495/win32- ... 3_fix1.zip

It's Daids package with edited mainWindow.py file.

[Daid 306]

I hope to release the Beta4 (which is Beta3 with bugfixes) on friday. But you can always grab the latest python sources from github:

https://github.com/daid/SkeinPyPy

replace the "SkeinPyPy" folder with the "SkeinPyPy_NewUI" folder from github, and you'll have the latest version with all the fixes from last week.

I also hope to release a MacOS and Linux version this friday. But the Mac version still has a serious bug in the tooltips.

[mastory 44]

Daid,

I haven't printed for about a week or so. Don't have the current SPP running, so this comment may not be relavent. I am going to wait until your next udate that might be coming later this week.

I haven'tt done much printing with support turned on. Just tried to use it thru your beta2 version. I don't see any way to control the support fill density. The default looks like it might be 50% fill. Anyway, I think it probably could be alot less most of the time and it would be nice to be able to define it. It would save some print time and material. Don't know if you've already considered this, or maybe implemented it in a more recent version.

Another very minor comment; I am running dual screens on the machine I run SPP on. As a default, the program starts on my primary screen. If I drag the program to the other screen, the pop-up help tips appear on the first screen where the window was. This is in Win7. Like I said very minor

Thanks for everything!

Matt

[Daid 306]

Yes, more support parameters was also requested by other people.

I'm not sure what the "Support_Flow_Rate_over_Operating_Flow_Rate (ratio)" and "Support_Gap_over_Perimeter_Extrusion_Width (ratio)" actually DO. And if any more more parameters effect the support in Skeinforge...