driving 2 or more disimilar printers

[gene1934 0]

Ultimaker-cura does not identify the printer associated with the "print via usb" until AFTER you have clicked on the "print via usb" button. So my BIQU HX gets gcode intended for a Prusa MK3S+ and vice versa.

 

Linux multitasks at something like this very well, and since both printers are glacial speed usb-2 devices, there is no reason we can't start a job on printer A, clear the plate, select the other printers profile and load a job for printer B, slice/render it to THAT printers profile, AND select printer B to send the gcode to.

 

Can this be addressed? When two or more printers are plugged in and detected, giving multiples of the "print via usb" targets in that selector, identify the printer in the multi-selector menu so you know which printer is which when you click on the choice?

 

Thank you for a very good universal slicer.

[ahoeben 1,968]

2 hours ago, gene1934 said:

Can this be addressed?

Yes, it can.

Will it be addressed? Not by Ultimaker.

 

Ultimaker has no interest in improving the USB printing in Cura, since no currently shipping Ultimaker printers support printing via USB.

[ahoeben 1,968]

To elaborate on this a little more, I recommend you use OctoPrint. You can install multiple instances of OctoPrint on the same (multitasking) Linux system; one for each printer. Then use the Cura Octoprint Connection plugin to send prints to these. Disable (and forget about) the USB Printing plugin in Cura.

 

This way you have the famous separation of concerns; Cura deals with slicing, and OctoPrint deals with serving the gcode to the printer; one process per printer. If one process dies for some reason, it does not take down all others too.

 

Disclaimer: I'm the creator of the OctoPrint Connection plugin. It is not maintained by Ultimaker, since (recent) Ultimaker printers don't support printing via USB.

Edited February 8, 2022 by ahoeben