Jump to content

Cura not connecting to printer


breezy2u

Recommended Posts

Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

I have the ender 3 pro and I am trying to upgrade the firmware. I have installed Cura and added the printer, but when I try to select the upgrade firmware button it says it is not connected to the printer. I've tried activating the printer, but nothing seems to happen.

 

Help?

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    At the top right of Cura click on Marketplace / Installed and then scroll down and make sure "USB Printing" is enabled.  When Cura starts it will open the USB port to the printer.  The port must be open to update the firmware as well as to print from Cura.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer
    20 hours ago, breezy2u said:

    I have the ender 3 pro and I am trying to upgrade the firmware. I have installed Cura and added the printer, but when I try to select the upgrade firmware button it says it is not connected to the printer. I've tried activating the printer, but nothing seems to happen.

     

    Help?

     

    My understanding with the Ender 3 and likely the Pro also, is that it does not come with an bootloader pre-installed what is needed to be able to update the firmware via USB.

     

    So to be able to upgrade via USB you will need to flash a bootloader to the main controlboard of the printer. For this i would say it's best to check for step by step guides because you could brick the printer if you make a wrong step, you also have to have an Arduino and wire it up to the printers control board and then link the Arduino to a PC to be able to flash the bootloader to the printer.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    This is the kind of thing where some support from Creality would be appreciated.  I installed a 1.1.5 silent board in my Pro and I think that one does come with a bootloader (whatever that is!).

     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer
    2 hours ago, GregValiant said:

    This is the kind of thing where some support from Creality would be appreciated.  I installed a 1.1.5 silent board in my Pro and I think that one does come with a bootloader (whatever that is!).

     


    A bootloader is basically a bit of software code that’s saved to the control board memory that loads up every time you power up, without this the printer will load up but does not have any code to be able to understand the request to update firmware via the USB.

     

    So it’s very likely that needs to be installed for them to be able to update via USB, but like I say it’s something where you really want to follow a good step by step and only do it if your sure you can do it right.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    I have the same problem with a Chinese clone of Prusa i3 printer. I plug in my USB cable from my computer but Cura says the printer is not connected! I've tried it before warming up the printer and after. No difference! I've also tried clicking on Market place but saw nowhere to enable/install USB! I suppose I'm doing something stupid but what? Did you solve your problem - how?

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    I don't recommend Cura for USB stuff.  What are you trying to do?  Print through USB?  Doesn't that printer have an SD card slot?  It's much more reliable to use the SD card for printing.  But if you must, then use prontrface/printrun instead and let us know your issues.

     

    usb debugging: 

     

    • Like 1
    Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    I was trying to update the firmware. I purchased a new motherboard with a boot loader and everything is working great until I try to connect the computer to upgrade it.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    Did you follow the instructions in the link then?  PC or MAC?  do you get the 2 tones mentioned in the link?  What com port number does it show up as (latest cura *seems* to have trouble with com ports > 10 or so?  Not sure).

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    I get a sound when I connect to the computer (a PC) and the COM port was 7 - so <10. Any help?

    I have decided to give up! I've got a SD card and so I'll try with that. Do I save Cura  .stl and .gcode files to it then wait for the printer to do the necessary, or what? I suppose I must use the LCD to control it

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    The SD card only needs the Gcode files.

    Limit the number of Gcode files on the SD card or the printer processor will slow down quite a bit when accessing the card.

    The printer uses DOS 8.3 file names internally.  Really long file names can cause problems and the files may not show up on the LCD display.

    Print using the LCD "Print from TF" command.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    Thanks for your confirmation of my belief! I have succeeded in printing the Ultimaker robot but the qualiy leaves much to be desired! Watching the LCD whilst printing I noticed that my temperature settings seem to have been ignored! Are the settings used in the gcode file used? How can I change them? I think they may be too high.

     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    Cura has like 5 temperatures.  Did you check them all?  There's a great search feature just above profile settings.  When you enter a search term it shows even hidden settings.

     

    what kind of printer do you have?  UM2 series printers set the temperature on the printer, not in cura.  The machine type in cura settings is "ultigcode" and shouldn't be set to ultigcode for other printer types.

     

    COM7 should have worked but Cura just isn't great at USB printing - I'd try prontrface/printrun which is free and fantastic.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    I'm trying to start so I've bought a cheap Chinese version of a Prusa i3 printer. I have been unable to connect it by USB because the computer doesn't 'see' the printer. I've tried all the USB ports available and they are all serial ports below 10. In desperation I bought an SD card and this works but the resulting prints are terrible. I have been trying to write simple gcode to print test squares but haven't been able to discover how to do this either! So, I'm not making much progress!

    I'll try the slicer you suggest to seen whether I can get any further. Thanks!

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    Prusa has their own slicer.  I'd stick with that.  It's really quite good and has some features that Cura doesn't.  I think they did a good job of the default settings.  Ultimaker seems to have fallen into a trap where they are afraid to change the existing profiles because people expect them to never change.  I understand this sentiment.  Prusa will probably fall into the same trap.  This means that there are new tricks to get better results but they are all turned off by default.

     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer
    14 hours ago, gr5 said:

    Ultimaker seems to have fallen into a trap where they are afraid to change the existing profiles because people expect them to never change.

    😕

     

    Ultimaker never changes existing profiles for 3rd party slicers. It is up to printer makers or the community to provide profiles for those printers. Also, you should have seen the backlash when the profiles for the Creality printers were changed to a set of popular profiles contributed by a community member...

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer
    15 hours ago, gr5 said:

    Prusa has their own slicer.  I'd stick with that.  It's really quite good and has some features that Cura doesn't.  I think they did a good job of the default settings.  Ultimaker seems to have fallen into a trap where they are afraid to change the existing profiles because people expect them to never change.  I understand this sentiment.  Prusa will probably fall into the same trap.  This means that there are new tricks to get better results but they are all turned off by default.

     

    The printer is actually a Chinese clone ! I,m just starting out and was looking for a cheap entry point. Still, I,ll have a look to see if it works. Cura comes with the printer's CD.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    It looks like I've replied in the wrong spot!

    My problem is that the computer doesn't see the printer so I'm not sure a different slicer will change things. Still, I,ll give it a try.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    If the computer doesn't see the printer here are some debugging tips:

     

    https://community.ultimaker.com/topic/4700-how-to-update-um2-firmware/?do=findComment&comment=60018

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    I just registered to post this, in case it helps anyone in the future.
    Same issue here, USB connection sounds, printer not detected by Cura (in my case a wanhao i3 plus).

    Printer worked perfectly connected to my laptop, but on my desktop, the solution in my case was installing the CH340 drivers. It worked instantly and I am printing as I type this post.

     

    happy printing!

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    I've got a Chinese  Ender-3 Pro knock off called a XVico X3S.  Turns out that the USB chipset on their motherboard didn't auto load on my windows 10 box.  The chipset is a CH340.  I had to find and install the driver to get a response from the printer.
    Then I found that the printer will only connect at 115,200 (auto detect never found the printer so I had to find this baud rate by trial and error)
    With the   driver and the correct baud rate, I can connect to the printer just fine.
    Now, there's one other issue with communication.... occasionally,  a gcode command gets lost and the printer doesn't know how to retry so the print pukes.
     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    In file located at Ultimate Cura -> Contents/Resources/USBPrinting/AutoDetectBaudJob.py in line 74 in if statement you should replace and with or:

     

    if b"ok" in line or b"T:" in line: # or instead of and

    • Like 1
    Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    I replaced the mother board in my anycubic I3 mega s and trying to update the firmware from v1.1.2 to v1.1.5.  but cura isn't seeing that my printer is connected even though my computer sees it

     

    please help 

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura not connecting to printer

    Let's list what we have here:

    1. A 3rd party printer.
    2. A nameless 4th party mainboard.
    3. A 5th party that installed the mainboard.
    4. And you want to change the firmware to something that has a number 1.1.5.  Do we have a 6th party - Klipper, RepRap, JYers, or something different?

    The port needs the correct USB to Serial driver.  Typically that is a CH340 driver.  If you are working with Windows 10 then in Device Manager under Ports (COM & LPT) there should have a line like "USB-SERIAL CH340 (COM7)".  That works with a lot of Marlin mainboards but there is no way to tell if it will work with your mainboard.

     

    The best thing to do is go back to the manufacturer of your new mainboard and find out from them what you need.  A lot of mainboards want the FIRMWARE.BIN file on the SD card and will not update via USB.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    • Our picks

      • Introducing Universal Cura Projects in the UltiMaker Cura 5.7 beta
        Strap in for the first Cura release of 2024! This 5.7 beta release brings new material profiles as well as cloud printing for Method series printers, and introduces a powerful new way of sharing print settings using printer-agnostic project files! Also, if you want to download the cute dinosaur card holder featured below, it was specially designed for this release and can be found on Thingiverse! 
          • Like
        • 10 replies
      • S-Line Firmware 8.3.0 was released Nov. 20th on the "Latest" firmware branch.
        (Sorry, was out of office when this released)

        This update is for...
        All UltiMaker S series  
        New features
         
        Temperature status. During print preparation, the temperatures of the print cores and build plate will be shown on the display. This gives a better indication of the progress and remaining wait time. Save log files in paused state. It is now possible to save the printer's log files to USB if the currently active print job is paused. Previously, the Dump logs to USB option was only enabled if the printer was in idle state. Confirm print removal via Digital Factory. If the printer is connected to the Digital Factory, it is now possible to confirm the removal of a previous print job via the Digital Factory interface. This is useful in situations where the build plate is clear, but the operator forgot to select Confirm removal on the printer’s display. Visit this page for more information about this feature.
          • Like
        • 0 replies
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...