Will Cura 5.5 work on a UM2?

[Kenross1951 2]

I have been using 5.4 and tried to update to 5.5 but the slicer seems to go into a continuous slicing which is endless?  I did notice that 5.4 was still on the computer with 5.5 could tht have been the issue? I have uninstalled 5.5 for the time being.

 

[ahoeben 1,950]

Cura 5.4 and 5.5 both should work with the Ultimaker 2 just fine. Having two versions installed side-by-side does not cause any problems.

 

Your "continuous slicing" issue could be related to the model or your settings. Please create a project (File -> Save project...) and share it here with some file sharing service (google drive, dropbox, etc), so we can have a look.

[Kenross1951 2]

here is a small 3mf file file from 5.4 when I tried to use 5.5 the slicing just kept going till I cancelled it.

pin mount.3mf

[Slashee_the_Cow 269]

I'd love to help but I just get the same crash I get whenever I try and load a 3mf sliced for a UM2

(Something with how the UM2 handles materials? I tried adding a non-networked one and there isn't a way to select material)

[ahoeben 1,950]

@Slashee_the_Cow, I got the same crash. That is a bug worth reporting. Unfortunately I don't have time to investigate today. I did find a workaround to load the project: After the crash and restarting Cura, there is an Ultimaker 2 configured in Cura. Go the the Machine Settings dialog and set the Gcode flavor to "Ultimaker 2" and back to "Marlin". After that I could successfully load  the project file.

 

Normally for the UM2 you select the material on the printer, so there is no material to select in Cura. Unless you change the gcode flavor to "Marlin". In that case, you can change the material in Cura, and it will override what is used in the printer.

 

@Kenross1951, after using the workaround above to load the project, the model slices just fine for me. Could you perhaps try the same trick (changing the Gcode flavor to "Ultimaker 2" and back to "Marlin") and then try to slice again?

Edited October 27, 2023 by ahoeben

[Kenross1951 2]

Will try this tomorrow anything is worth a try, I will reload 5.5 and see what happens

🙂

 

[Slashee_the_Cow 269]

@ahoeben Thanks, I'll file that under "how the hell did you find that workaround"?

[Slashee_the_Cow 269]

1 hour ago, ahoeben said:

@Slashee_the_Cow, I got the same crash. That is a bug worth reporting.

Whipped one up for you: https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/issues/17123

[ahoeben 1,950]

1 hour ago, Slashee_the_Cow said:

how the hell did you find that workaround

It helps that I am the one who originally wrote the functionality to set the GCode flavor for the Ultimaker 2 to Marlin, which was necessary for printing via OctoPrint.

 

The default gcode flavor for the Ultimaker 2 is - surprisingly - "Ultimaker 2" (actually "UltiGCode" in the backend). UltiGcode does not use materials, but when the flavor is set to Marlin some extra functionality is added to the Ultimaker 2 definition in Cura to support materials. It looks like loading a project for an UM2 with the gcode flavor set to Marlin "forgets" to add that functionality. After the crash you have an Ultimaker 2 with Marlin gcode flavor but no materials. That should not be possible.

[Kenross1951 2]

OK, so I have been experimenting with 5.5.  The other day I went into Thingibrowser and downloaded a set of hinges and handle for UM2 door I placed them on the build plate while in Cura 5.5 and they printed flawlessly.  The following morning I tried to place another Thingibrowser object on the build plate but when cura tried to slice it it basically just kept going and going and would not finish.  I shut it down and reopened 5.5 and changed the setting to Marlin and it sliced perfectly but when I came to print it went through the motions but the build plate did not move up and it started to try and print (without extruding) in the back l/h corner.  Changed the setting back to UM2 in cura while the project was still on the build plate saved it back to the SD card and tried to print again.  This time it worked.  So, the slicer seems only to work if set to Marlin but then the file must be saved to UM2 for it to print.  I hope that makes sense 🙂

[ahoeben 1,950]

The UM2 cannot support printing over USB with the gcode flavor set to "Ultimaker 2". Never has, never will. "Ultimaker 2" gcode is simply not compatible with USB printing and can only be used via SD card.

 

"Marlin" flavored gcode should be compatible with both USB and SD card printing, though when you print it via SD-card the printer will tell you that the gcode overrides settings made on the printer.

[Kenross1951 2]

Thank you but I am well aware that I cannot print over USB to the UM2.  That is not the issue.  The issue is that if I drop an object with the printer set to UM2 from thingibrowser to the build plate in 5.5 the slicer will not slice it.  If I then change the setting to marlin and back to UM2 it slices perfectly and I can download to the SD and print.