Where to find the MAC address on a 2+ Connect?

[its_neddars 1]

Hello Everyone,

 

at our department we purchased a 2+ Connect to print via the network rather then running around with a USB stick. However, I can't find the MAC address of the printer to enable it in the company network.
There is a support page where it is written that the MAC address can be found in the printer settings on the display, but that appears to be not valid for the 2+ connect. I can only find a network status page, where 'no connection' is written. Menu is looking a bit different, too comparing to the screenshot in the description.

Am I too stupid? :(

Thanks for your help!

Best Regards,
Niklas

[gr5 2,224]

@Smithy have any knowledge about this?

[Smithy 1,145]

Hi Niklas

 

Unfortunately the MAC address is only shown if you are connected to a network. I think this is because the printer has 2 network interfaces, one for Wifi and one for LAN and both have different MAC addresses.

 

You can find the MAC address in the menu Settings (at the bottom) -> Network Configuration -> Show connection info.

 

Do you want to connect the printer to LAN or Wifi? For LAN it will be sufficient to connect the printer with the cable, then the MAC address should be shown there.

 

For Wifi I would have to look at my own, let me know if you want to connect it to the network via Wifi, then I will reset it and try to figure it out.

 

[its_neddars 1]

Hello Smithy, thanks for the reply. I already connected the printer with an ethernet cable, still it does not show the MAC address. In our company network an IP address is only given when the MAC address is registered beforehand. Therefor, the printer is not showing any MAC address when going to connection info. (The picture was made with an ethernet cable plugged in)

Anyway, I am sure we won't be the only one facing such problems, since many company networks are restricted in that way :(.

Any other suggestions?

Thank you and looking forward to an answer.

Best Regards,
Niklas

[Smithy 1,145]

Damn, I really hoped that a connection is enough to show the MAC address, but it seems the printer shows it only when he has got the DHCP response with an IP address. But depending on your network security it is also possible that the printer gets not connection at all, because the switch blocks everything. The printer is brand new and the firmware not as feature rich as it should, so I really hope with an upcoming firmware release it will be shown.

 

But what can you do in the meantime.....

 

If you have a chance to connect the printer temporarily to a network or router, then do it, just to see the MAC address. Every home router should do the job. Not a nice clean solution, but this works.

 

You could also try to connect the printer directly with an ethernet cable to your PC/notebook. It will not work but maybe the printer thinks it is connected and shows the MAC address in the menu.

 

Another idea is to ask your network admin if he can help. They should see the printer with its MAC address and then they could add it.

 

In any case, please report the issue also to your reseller. They can report it back to Ultimaker that they are aware that something important is missing in the setup process.

 

 

[gr5 2,224]

Yes PLEASE REPORT TO RESELLER.  If Ultimaker doesn't get enough complaints they might decide the issue is too rare and they might concentrate on what appears to be a more serious issue.

 

As smithy says - grab an old router from the attic and hook it up to your printer for 60 seconds.  The mac address should then be visible.  It won't hurt security as the router you plug in won't be connected to any LAN or WAN.

[its_neddars 1]

Hello, I managed to get the MAC address by creating a network with a dhcp client on a laptop. Clearly not the most elegant way to do so, but it did the job.
Cloud connection works very neat. But it took some time to realize that you can't just enter the IP in cura for a connection. Maybe Ultimaker should provide some instruction regarding the conenctivity, since this is one of the key selling points of the UM2+C.

Thanks for your help. I wrote an email to the reseller regarding my issues. maybe they'll forward it to Ultimaker.

One little question on top regarding the LEDs. Do you know any way to turn on the LEDs when a print starts and turn them off again afterwards? I trief it with Marlin Code M42 S255/S0 which didn't work.
I would like to implement this, since sometimes prints will finish in the night and it would be a waste of energy to keep the lights always on.

Best Regards,
Niklas

[Smithy 1,145]

Great Niklas that you found a solution. As said yes it is not nice, but currently the only way.

 

Them UM2+C is a little bit different compared to the other UM printers. With the UM2+C you cannot have a direct connection between Cura and the printer as it is with UM3, S3, S5. You have to use the digital factory and that's the reason why there is no way to enter an IP address in Cura, because it is not needed.

 

Regarding the LEDs:

Unfortunately this is currently not possible. You can only turn the lights on all the time or off. The functionality we know from the other UM printers, that you can say switch on the lights during printing is currently not possible. But I guess and hope it will come with one of the next firmware updates, because it is very useful feature and I don't want to have the lights on all the time. Currently I have turned them off completely.

 

The firmware covers currently only some basics and I am sure more will come. 

[its_neddars 1]

OK, good to know. I am looking forward to all the new functions beeing implemented in the future.
I tried some work arounds with changing to marlin/rerap flow and switching of the lights with gcode, but that only ended in a software crash of the printer 😞

 

Thanks again, regards
Niklas

[Smithy 1,145]

1 hour ago, its_neddars said:

I tried some work arounds with changing to marlin/rerap flow and switching of the lights with gcode

No that is not working, because it needs also the translation in the printer itself to do something when you send the gcode.

I would prefer to have the same functionality as the others have, a 3rd option to say, lights on during printing. I am sure (ok I hope) it will come.

 

But I am really impressed of the speed and print quality of the printer - I like it.

[its_neddars 1]

14 hours ago, Smithy said:

But I am really impressed of the speed and print quality of the printer - I like it.

Me too! But I think some key features are missing here to make it a 'professional cloud printer'.

- remote light control
- queue up for prints
- proper progress view in cura
- possibility to add a webcam (something we instantly realized we will miss)

to name a few. But I am looking forward to see those and others beeing integrated in future firmwares 😉
But that's critism on a very high level. Our previous printer was a constant pain in the a**

[Smithy 1,145]

The UM2+C will not get all features of the S-Line printers, so don't expect too much. But let's see what the future will bring us 🙂

 

 

[CarloK 204]

The request to always show the MAC address has been noted. I can't promise if and when we are going to implement it, but it sounds like a reasonable request so I hope we can do it soon.

 

The frame lights can be controlled from gcode with the command: M142 w[0-255]

Note the lower case 'w'

A value of 0 is off and 255 is completely on. 

[Smithy 1,145]

14 minutes ago, CarloK said:

The frame lights can be controlled from gcode with the command: M142 w[0-255]

Thanks Carlo, I was not aware of that the feature already exists. So we can rebuild the functionality of the light on during print with the start/stop sequences. 👍🏻

[Smithy 1,145]

I just want report back that it works great:

[its_neddars 1]

Nice! Thank you Carlo, will try that asap.
Regards