Cura 4.9 & 4.10 : Unable to select the printer when printing over network to a host group

[V3DPrinting 11]

Everything is in the title.

 

 

It is annoying and a roll back of that feature as already done in 4.1 or 4.2....

 

I have done a fresh install of 4.10, but the problem is still there.`

 

I am a bit old fashioned and don't use Digital Factory. Sending the files to the cloud is an issue for Data privacy reason with some of my customers .... Using a vpn to connect to the local network is providing the right level of functionalities and security.

So I am using the "print over network" feature with a group of 3 printers were the host is an S5 and two UM3E printers connected to it.

 

None are on the latest firmware and no good reason to upgrade

- 4.3.3 is stable on UM3E without any leveling issues on dual extrusion, which is a problem on 5.X versions

- 5.2.x works fine on S5 as I don't have any air manager nor filament cabinet. Being a V1 S5 I don't want to take the risk of bricking it upgrading to 6.X

 

So please roll back the feature.

 

Edited July 12, 2021 by V3DPrinting

[Smithy 1,144]

Why do you use a host and a printer group, is there any advantage for you?

I mean when you don't have a group, just 3 standalone printers you can still select each printer in Cura and send the job to the printer you want.

 

I think the idea behind the printer groups was that you have a printer farm all of the same type and you just send a print job to the farm and the next available printer takes the job and print it. But as soon as you have a mixed environment it has no advantage in my option. But maybe I miss something....

[nallath 1,122]

We haven't touched the feature since 4.2

So i'm going to need a bit more information about your system (including log files) to figure out what is going on.

[V3DPrinting 11]

46 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Why do you use a host and a printer group, is there any advantage for you?

I mean when you don't have a group, just 3 standalone printers you can still select each printer in Cura and send the job to the printer you want.

 

I think the idea behind the printer groups was that you have a printer farm all of the same type and you just send a print job to the farm and the next available printer takes the job and print it. But as soon as you have a mixed environment it has no advantage in my option. But maybe I miss something....

Hi Smithy

As I have 2 UM3E the group provides the load balancing.

Also I can have a global view from the host cura connect (progress of files, cameras, ...)

 

To be honest I haven't tested stand alone printers as the group was promoted years ago, since I own more than one UM.

Maybe reverting to standalone networked printer will also solve a couple of issues regarding disconnections and corrupted files when loading a project were the printer is not the host.

[V3DPrinting 11]

51 minutes ago, nallath said:

We haven't touched the feature since 4.2

So i'm going to need a bit more information about your system (including log files) to figure out what is going on.

Hi Nallath

 

Thanks for the feedback

 

I am running Cura 4.10 on MacOS Big Sur latest version

It's a fresh install then imported my materials and profiles from a previous 4.10 installation and created two non networked printers (Mankati Full-scale XT Plus and a custom FFF to emulate a BCN3D Epsilon)

 

I don't have the full content of /Users/Library/Application Support/Cura right now, but here's the packages installed and the log file.

 

Hope it helps

cura.log packages.json.zip

[Smithy 1,144]

1 hour ago, V3DPrinting said:

As I have 2 UM3E the group provides the load balancing.

Ok that makes sense. In my case when I tested the host group feature it was not really useful, because I only have different printer types, so nothing to balance. 

 

 

[nallath 1,122]

@V3DPrinting I've just tried reproducing this on my machine, but for me the dropdown is selectable.

 

There are a few reasons that i can come up with as to why:
1. I'm on linux (which isn't helping you, but it might make things different)

2. I added the machine without it being upgraded. You could try this by removing the machines from cura and re-adding them.

If those don't work, please create a ticket on github, since it's much easier for us to keep track of things. The link is https://github.com/ultimaker/cura/issues/

[V3DPrinting 11]

d

1 hour ago, nallath said:

2. I added the machine without it being upgraded. You could try this by removing the machines from cura and re-adding them.

 

Done it and also removed all the files in the cura folder related to UM printers except quality changes, flushed cache, ...

No success.

 

I also have a Linux desktop, which isn't my primary desktop, no problem with the drop down list.

 

I have also noticed that the printer selection in the custom panel of the GUI is not working properly : when you change the printer, the list closes,  but when you want to select another parameter, it opens again the printer's dropdown list.... Maybe it's related.

Edited July 13, 2021 by V3DPrinting

[V3DPrinting 11]

On 7/13/2021 at 9:28 AM, nallath said:

2. I added the machine without it being upgraded. You could try this by removing the machines from cura and re-adding them.

If those don't work, please create a ticket on github, since it's much easier for us to keep track of things. The link is https://github.com/ultimaker/cura/issues/

 

I have upgraded my S5 to 6.2.2, but it hasn't changed the behavior.

 

I believe the issue is on Cura for macOS

I will create a ticket