S3 loses connection to Digital factory permantly

[friedl_basson 6]

Hi - 

 

I was wondering whether anybody is experiencing the problem where the printer would lose connection to Digital factory permanently.  In network settings I have an IP address, but the "connect to digital factory" button is greyed out and a message is indicating that I require a network connection.

 

Going back to network settings I can clearly see the IP address.  Further to this, the WiFi icon on the printer clearly indicates it is connected.  I have also tried connecting to LAN cable directly, but the same problem persists.  

 

@Smithy Any ideas? 

 

Regards,

Friedl

Edited July 31, 2023 by friedl_basson

[Dustin 175]

Hi @friedl_basson 
I would recommend reaching out to UltiMaker Support directly for this issue.
There is likely information they can gleam from the machine log files.

Usually the issue is related to some sort of network blocking issue.
You can learn about network requirements here: https://support.makerbot.com/s/article/1667337958118

If you still have issues, get a copy of your machine log file after you experience the issue and send it to UltiMaker
Guide for exporting log files: https://support.makerbot.com/s/article/1667337561393
Contact UltiMaker here: https://support.makerbot.com/s/contactsupport

[Smithy 1,146]

5 hours ago, friedl_basson said:

I was wondering whether anybody is experiencing the problem where the printer would lose connection to Digital factory permanently.  In network settings I have an IP address, but the "connect to digital factory" button is greyed out and a message is indicating that I require a network connection.

 

Going back to network settings I can clearly see the IP address.  Further to this, the WiFi icon on the printer clearly indicates it is connected.  I have also tried connecting to LAN cable directly, but the same problem persists.  

 

No solution, but I have the same problem with my S5. The S3 and the S5 are in the same room, same access point. S3 is stable, but the S5 gets disconnected after some time. It is not a local network issue, I can SSH and ping the printer. But it is disconnected in DF. A power cycle helps to bring it back online for some time. Very annoying...

[friedl_basson 6]

Hi Smithy - 

 

Thanks! 

13 hours ago, Dustin said:

I would recommend reaching out to UltiMaker Support directly for this issue.

 

Unfortunately I am not sure they will assist as I am not, as that they refer to as, 'the first owner' of the printer.  I bought it with 70 hours on the machine and has had bed levelling issues since day one.  Then also they said they could not assist due to the fact that I bought it from someone even though it was in warrantee still.

 

9 hours ago, Smithy said:

No solution, but I have the same problem with my S5.

 

The way I "fix" it is by Resetting the printer to factory settings.  I then have to connect via cable and download the latest stable firmware.  From here I reset Digital factory and only after completing these steps the "connect to digital factory" button comes to life and I can add the printer again.

 

Annoying indeed.  Thank you for letting me know the S5 has the same issue.  I was looking into upgrading again and since the S7 is out of my reach, I was considering getting an S5.  Maybe not then... 

 

Regards, Friedl.

[Dustin 175]

@friedl_basson The warranty does not transfer, this is stated in the warranty itself.
With that said, it does not mean you get zero support, it just means parts are not covered typically.
You very much will still get support.
Can you please share with me the case number where you were told otherwise? I can contact the support manager about this.

But from what I am hearing your issues very much will get at minimum troubleshooting assistance by UltiMaker to identify the root cause.


Also for clarification, there should be no reason why a S3 or S5 have different signal strengths for Wifi.
Unless the S5 is an R1 series (has a robot on the side) then otherwise they would have same wifi modules.
It could be that the antenna needs reseated or the module is bad.

I very much recommend reaching out to UltiMaker directly, Log files tell A LOT about whats going on for the support teams.

[mrender 26]

Cura does log out of your account from time to time, which will show the printer grey cloud in cura while the printer shows connected wifi on its screen. Are you sure you don't just need to log back in to digital factory in Cura.

[gr5 2,269]

So does your S3 have a "developer mode"?  If so you can ssh into the printer and use connman (a utility to work with wifi,  ethernet and more) and there's TONS of help on the internet on using connman as it's not just used in Ultimaker printers but zillions of computers out there.

 

The S5 has developer mode.  I believe the S3 had developer mode the first year or so and then it was taken away although I belive if you enable it, it stays enabled even if you do firmware updates.  My memory is crappy regarding this.  I have an S5 and not an S3.  Also I just use the flash drive to print everything and don't use any network features at all anymore.  But connman was pretty cool.  It has pretty much every obscure networking feature you can imagine.

 

If no developer mode, then yes, log files are critical.

[Dustin 175]

2 minutes ago, gr5 said:

So does your S3 have a "developer mode"?  If so you can ssh into the printer and use connman (a utility to work with wifi,  ethernet and more) and there's TONS of help on the internet on using connman as it's not just used in Ultimaker printers but zillions of computers out there.

 

The S5 has developer mode.  I believe the S3 had developer mode the first year or so and then it was taken away although I belive if you enable it, it stays enabled even if you do firmware updates.  My memory is crappy regarding this.  I have an S5 and not an S3.  Also I just use the flash drive to print everything and don't use any network features at all anymore.  But connman was pretty cool.  It has pretty much every obscure networking feature you can imagine.

 

If no developer mode, then yes, log files are critical.

Dev mode is still a thing for S Series family products even in latest firmware.

[gr5 2,269]

I'm learning that dev mode went away but only briefly when S3 was initially launched but that was years ago and S3 has dev mode now.

 

[friedl_basson 6]

4 hours ago, Dustin said:

The warranty does not transfer, this is stated in the warranty itself.
With that said, it does not mean you get zero support, it just means parts are not covered typically.
You very much will still get support.
Can you please share with me the case number where you were told otherwise? I can contact the support manager about this.

 Hi Dustin - 

 

Thank you for your feedback.  I was made aware of this fact yes.   I'll be honest, if you buy a premium brand printer at a premium price, I cannot see why the warranty should not be honoured.  Unless it works differently in Europe of course, but in South Africa a warranty is determined by time from date of purchase, not by who owns it at the time of failure.   Further to this, I would image than when an item with only 76 hours on presenting a know issues and well documented problem,  their might be some exception to this rule, but alas... it seems not to be the case.  So let's agree to disagree on this...

 

4 hours ago, Dustin said:

But from what I am hearing your issues very much will get at minimum troubleshooting assistance by UltiMaker to identify the root cause.

 

I am not sure what you mean, are you saying I will not get support from UM?   

 

4 hours ago, Dustin said:

Also for clarification, there should be no reason why a S3 or S5 have different signal strengths for Wifi.

 

I am not sure anybody was mentioning WiFi signal strength and quality.  I mentioned that this problem persists even when connected via cable.

 

This is the third time this year that this issue presented itself.  No amount of power cycling works, not does connecting it via LAN cable.  I simply have no choice but the follow the procedure I mentioned above.    

 

Please know what may come across and anger towards UM for my experience is mostly due to disappointment in a brand I used to trust in so much.  For the first time ever I find myself considering alternative printers as apposed to upgrading.  

 

Should have stuck with my S2 printers to be honest.

 

4 hours ago, Dustin said:

Can you please share with me the case number where you were told otherwise? I can contact the support manager about this.

 

This was quite some time ago, unfortunately I do not have this information anymore.  What transpired was UM initially letting me know they will replace the entire print head via the local agents, but then realised I bought it with 76 hours on from someone else and then withdrew the offer.    

 

Since then I have made peace with the fact the auto bed levelling will most likely fail at least once or twice before every print and that I will run into these network problems from time to time.  Seems all the things I bought the printer for are the things that are now causing issues.  Thankfully dual core printing seems to work.

 

Regards, Friedl.

 

[friedl_basson 6]

@mrender

 

Oh how I do wish this was the case 🙂

 

My Cura logs out quite frequently actually... so it was the very fist thing I check.  But then on the printer itself under settings it shows that it is not able to connect to Digital Factory.  

[friedl_basson 6]

@gr5

 

Thank you for the tips , I will look into this for sure!! 

[Dustin 175]

I never said you wouldn't get support from UltiMaker just that at minimum even out of warranty etc you would get technical support from UltiMaker.

But again you appear to have alot going on with the machine and a log file from the machine will really tell a support agent what the scope of the issues are coming from and possible fixes.

[gr5 2,269]

Ultimaker appears to have learned some things about auto leveling "recently" and so the diagnosing of autoleveling issues is improved.  So reaching out to (netherlands based) support again may be worth while now that they know more.  I would avoid tech support from a local reseller regarding autoleveling and network based issues which are both quite tricky to diagnose.

 

It turns out many many times, autoleveling fails due to the front center fan in the door of the print head.  The one that folds down when you open the print head door.  The fan can be bad from day 1 or it can become bad after many months/years.

 

It's not clear if the fan is creating radio noise or if the fan acts as an RF antennae but the problem has to do with radio frequency electromagnetic noise.

 

When you test the leveling sensor it gives you a "secret" number with no context (well depending on the version of firmware).  The lower that number, the better.  I think above 8 is the threshold considered a failure (my memory sucks - I can look it up if you want).  That is the noise level.  If it is failing or almost failing you can try lots of things including changing the fan or just unplugging the fan.  If it is reporting a "2" then your issue is elsewhere.

 

In addition it was discovered that even when the fan is off it was still getting some weak pulses many times per second.  This is fixed in a recent firmware release.  And is probably not the problem but who knows.

 

Anyway replacing that front fan often fixes leveling issues.  But there are other causes so who knows in your specific case.

 

Also there is a way to disable autoleveling and rely on manual leveling.  I did this for a month but turned it back on.  Manual leveling is usually fine for small parts but not for parts that take up much of the bed.  Also I got tired of releveling each time I changed a core (why isn't the old leveling value remembered?  Because it assumes you turned a knob under the bed).  Anyway if you want to disable autoleveling (I don't recommend it but there are other nice features) go here: https://community.ultimaker.com/topic/39188-ultituner-a-tool-to-tweak-your-printer

 

[friedl_basson 6]

Hi @gr5

 

With regards to auto levelling;

I had this issue from the day I received the printer, so with 76 hours on the fan.  I did reach out to Official support at the time and went through a whole bunch of tests, including disconnecting the front fan when levelling.  Nothing ever solved the issue and I made peace with the fact.  

 

Miraculously,  after about a year, my auto level problem disappeared as it never existed.  Nothing hardware related was changed, only numerous firmware updates during that time.  who know what the problem was on my side, but I can only deduce it was firmware related.    

 

Regards, Friedl

 

[Dustin 175]

21 minutes ago, friedl_basson said:

Hi @gr5

 

With regards to auto levelling;

I had this issue from the day I received the printer, so with 76 hours on the fan.  I did reach out to Official support at the time and went through a whole bunch of tests, including disconnecting the front fan when levelling.  Nothing ever solved the issue and I made peace with the fact.  

 

Miraculously,  after about a year, my auto level problem disappeared as it never existed.  Nothing hardware related was changed, only numerous firmware updates during that time.  who know what the problem was on my side, but I can only deduce it was firmware related.    

 

Regards, Friedl

 

Depending how old your firmware was.. there was SIGNIFICANT changes in the later releases of the 7.x firmware series to the auto leveling and detection in the firmware.. 
 

[friedl_basson 6]

Thanks for confirming @Dustin.   It has been working well for a while now.