Issues with new Cura software with older printer

[sandrap 0]

At my work IT had installed a much newer version of the Ultimaker Cura software when I got a new computer (4.11.0), previously I was on I think 2.XX (not sure the actual version number), with the newer software the printer seems to have an issue with the gcode when I load it onto the SD card and won't print, my best guess from the message it gave at the time when I tried is that the new software is trying to output filament information but the printer doesn't expect it as the filament information is on the printer itself as it's a much older printer and that's how the software seemed to work then, the printer is an Ultimaker 2 extended with the official upgrade kit to convert it to the 2 Extended+.

 

Does anyone know how to get the newer software to work properly with the older printer?

[IRobertI 516]

What is the actual message you're getting? The newest version of Cura works just fine with the older printers and you shouldn't need to do anything other than select the correct printer in cura.

 

Are you also running the latest firmware?

[sandrap 0]

It's likely not the latest firmware, it was last upgraded when I did the + upgrade to the printer which was at least 5-6 years ago. When I go into the office tomorrow I'll get the actual message it gives me when I try to use the newer gcode.

[ahoeben 1,767]

12 hours ago, sandrap said:

my best guess from the message it gave at the time when I tried is that the new software is trying to output filament information but the printer doesn't expect it as the filament information is on the printer itself

In the Machine Settings, make sure the GCode flavor is set to Ultimaker 2, as opposed to Marlin.

Note that if you want to do printing over USB (or via OctoPrint) instead of via SD Card, you need the GCode flavor to be Marlin.

 

With GCode set to Marlin and printing via SD-Card, you will get that message but it should still be possible to start the print after that.

 

12 hours ago, sandrap said:

It's likely not the latest firmware, it was last upgraded when I did the + upgrade to the printer which was at least 5-6 years ago.

Nothing changed functionally in the firmware for the UM2+ (which you effectively have) since then.

[sandrap 0]

10 hours ago, ahoeben said:

In the Machine Settings, make sure the GCode flavor is set to Ultimaker 2, as opposed to Marlin.

Note that if you want to do printing over USB (or via OctoPrint) instead of via SD Card, you need the GCode flavor to be Marlin.

 

With GCode set to Marlin and printing via SD-Card, you will get that message but it should still be possible to start the print after that.

 

Nothing changed functionally in the firmware for the UM2+ (which you effectively have) since then.

 

I checked and the machine settings did have the gcode set to Ultimaker 2

 

Just got back from the office, when I start a print created on the newer Ultimaker Cura it comes up with a message that says "This file will override machine settings with settings from the slicer" it has the options to continue or cancel, if I click continue it goes to a screen with the options of resume print, change material, or tune and the printer then does nothing, resume print just refreshes the same screen.

 

The firmware on the printer is Jun 17 2016 13:12:55 Vers:_15.04.7-RC5ex

[ahoeben 1,767]

If you could slice a small model and post a link to the resulting gcode file, then we can have a look at what is going wrong gcode-wise. Also useful is a project file saved with File -> Save project...

Edited February 25, 2022 by ahoeben

[sandrap 0]

Yup, here's the gcode and project file for a small test model.

UM2E_TEST.3mf UM2E_TEST.gcode

[ahoeben 1,767]

I don't see a reason in the gcode file for your printer to show that message.

The firmware checks if the first line of the gcode file starts with ";FLAVOR:UltiGCode" here:

https://github.com/Ultimaker/UM2.1-Firmware/blob/UM2.1_JarJarExtended/Marlin/UltiLCD2_menu_print.cpp#L432

Only if it doesn't start with that line, it shows the message you see here:

https://github.com/Ultimaker/UM2.1-Firmware/blob/UM2.1_JarJarExtended/Marlin/UltiLCD2_menu_print.cpp#L466

 

However, your gcode file starts with that line. So I don't see how the firmware would show the message from this file.

[tinkergnome 924]

On 2/24/2022 at 8:03 PM, sandrap said:

The firmware on the printer is Jun 17 2016 13:12:55 Vers:_15.04.7-RC5ex

 

A different part of this puzzle is the firmware version.

I'm not aware that there ever was a "Cura 15.04.7 RC5", at least not released by Ultimaker?

 

But if exactly this firmware worked before... 🤷‍♂️

 

[nallath 1,104]

RC stands for release candidate; So that is by definition not a "full" release that we did. Those are the builds that we hand out for internal or closed testing.

[ahoeben 1,767]

I thought perhaps there was a UTF-8 "BOM" in the gcode file that could interfere with the firmware checking if the file starts with ";FLAVOR:UltiGCode", but alas, there is no such thing in the provided gcode file.

Edited February 28, 2022 by ahoeben

[sandrap 0]

7 hours ago, nallath said:

RC stands for release candidate; So that is by definition not a "full" release that we did. Those are the builds that we hand out for internal or closed testing.

 

Weird, we weren't part of any closed testing, the printer is one our company purchased thru a retail supplier, and then later upgraded thru the official plus upgrade kit, we did however have a mainboard failure that was replaced via warranty directly thru Ultimaker so that would be the board in the printer now, could that have been sent out with that firmware?

[nallath 1,104]

18 hours ago, sandrap said:

 

Weird, we weren't part of any closed testing, the printer is one our company purchased thru a retail supplier, and then later upgraded thru the official plus upgrade kit, we did however have a mainboard failure that was replaced via warranty directly thru Ultimaker so that would be the board in the printer now, could that have been sent out with that firmware?

I'm with the Cura Team, so the exact procedures there are quite a bit out of my comfort zone. I can just tell you what the RC in a release means, since that is something that is pretty much standardized over the company

[sandrap 0]

I did go and flash the firmware on the printer today using the Cura 4.11.0, unfortunately it didn't solve the problem, it still goes to that same screen with the options of resume print, change material, and tune, even tried doing the change material but still after changing the material it's still the same issue of it not doing anything, I did try loading and older gcode file from the SD card and it went right to printing properly so the printer definitely works fine, it just doesn't like the gcode from the newer cura.

[ahoeben 1,767]

Does the Ultimaker 2 family firmware have a "Reset to factory defaults" option? I think it does. Have you tried that?

[sandrap 0]

I would think that option would exist somewhere in the advanced menu, when I'm in the office later this week I'll check for that and if so try doing that to see if it fixes the problem.

[sandrap 0]

While in the office today I did reset the printer to factor defaults, unfortunately that didn't fix the issue, gave the same messages as before and still won't print from any newly created gcode files.

[ahoeben 1,767]

Perhaps we're all looking in the wrong place. Perhaps the issue is not the firmware doing something wrong, but the SD-card you use could be corrupting the gcode file when it is being written to it. Could you try a different SD-card?

[sandrap 0]

I'll have to look to see if we have any other SD cards to try that, right now I'm still using the original SD card that the system came with.

 

Bringing that up part of me wonders if IT has something installed on the computers that's causing the card reader on work computers to do something to the file, possibly encrypt it? I know before we were acquired by another company I had to have my SD card reader whitelisted by IT for it to work at all, we didn't have to do that with the new company when we switched over to their systems, but I wonder if it's just encrypting without any notification. When I'm in the office next week I'll try bringing my personal laptop in as I have the same version of Cura installed on it, and try writing a gcode to the SD card from that computer, that should rule out or confirm that IT has something setup on our work computers causing an issue.