Is it possible to upgrade the firmware of my UM2 using the SD card ?

[ian 32]

Is it possible to upgrade the firmware of my UM2 using the SD card ?

The reason I ask is. I installed the new version of Cura last night.

Then it offered me to install the latest firmware to my UM2 :-)

Only problem is.. I have no latop anymore.. and my big computer is 10 meters away and downstairs from my UM2. If I need to install the firmware.. I have to go up to the printer and very carefully bring it down through a very tight spiral staircase.. then bring it back up...

The last time I had to do that. the weight of the UM2 swing me almost over the side of the spiral staircase and I had to grab the wall with one hand and quickly grab the ultimaker2 between my other arm and left leg before we were both dead.

so is it possible to put the new firmware on a SD card and click update ?

Ian :-)

 

[hreedijk 4]

I tried once on my UM1, put the hex file on the SD card, but nowhere in the menu you can find "update firmware".

Also the file is not visible on the UltiController.

But for an UM2, I honestly don't know, it would be a very handy feature!

 

[Daid 306]

I tried to do this, but I ran into problems, and with the time constrains I scraped the feature.

 

[hreedijk 4]

Will there be a 'unscrap' in the future :mellow:

 

[jonnybischof 60]

If it's just 10m, you can use a long USB cable

Preferrably take something with a built-in active repeater, usually more than 3m of cabling can lead to USB failure.

And DON'T use multiple short extension cables - that will almost surely not work.

You could try using a powered USB hub instead of a repeater, but that just makes it unnecessarily difficult

There's also some more complex solutions, like USB to LAN and back converters, but even these don't seem to be very expensive...

I have no idea if that would work without any problems, but theoretically it should.

 

[Daid 306]

Will there be a 'unscrap' in the future :mellow:

 

It requires bootloader changes that I didn't get stable. And you cannot change the bootloader without an ISP programmer. So most likely, no. Sorry.

Code for my experimental bootloader is available at https://github.com/daid/UltiBoot

 

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

If it's just 10m, you can use a long USB cable

Preferrably take something with a built-in active repeater, usually more than 3m of cabling can lead to USB failure.

And DON'T use multiple short extension cables - that will almost surely not work.

You could try using a powered USB hub instead of a repeater, but that just makes it unnecessarily difficult

There's also some more complex solutions, like USB to LAN and back converters, but even these don't seem to be very expensive...

I have no idea if that would work without any problems, but theoretically it should.

 

Arrgh...you were quicker than me. I wanted to write something similar as this is a typical Ian-suggestion... :lol:

Don't worry, Ian, that's just our way to say we like your posts...

Seriously, there are five meter active USB cables (it's acutally a cable and a hub in one) and USB specs say you can add them up to 25m. But they cost a small fortune, I think. So maybe it's even cheaper to buy a simple laptop.

 

[hreedijk 4]

It requires bootloader changes that I didn't get stable. And you cannot change the bootloader without an ISP programmer. So most likely, no. Sorry.

Code for my experimental bootloader is available at https://github.com/daid/UltiBoot

Thank you Daid, if you cannot get it stable, sure I won't ether!

 

[hreedijk 4]

Ian, perhaps this could be a solution for you:

http://www.ashdistribution.co.uk/product/show/100-5883

Connect the UM USB cable into the female USB adapter, 15mtrs of UTP cable and the other end into your PC.

 

[donmilne 2]

I had a similar problem, though in my case the printer was merely at the other side of the room. What was the nature of the instability?

 

[gr5 2,210]

Spend the 25 Euros and get a Raspberry Pi maybe? Cheaper than some crazy long USB cable with buffering built in.

 

[thomas-roager 0]

It requires bootloader changes that I didn't get stable. And you cannot change the bootloader without an ISP programmer. So most likely, no. Sorry.

Code for my experimental bootloader is available at https://github.com/daid/UltiBoot

 

Can i replace my boot loader with this one if i use ramps ?

 

[Daid 306]

Can i replace my boot loader with this one if i use ramps ?

 

It's compatible with the Arduino bootloader that is on the ArduinoMega2560. So you could. But you only should if you know what you are doing.

 

[ian 32]

thanks guys for all the helpful information !

I was able to get the loan of a old laptop from a freind for a night and updated my firmware that way.

BIG THANKS !

Ian :-)

 

[Morit 0]

So basicly no, you can't, there is no easy way to do it.

And now - with Cura 2.6 - I can't even use my old laptop becouse new Cura is 64bit.

[ahoeben 1,968]

You can use an older Cura version (say 15.04) to upload newer firmware hex files. You can even use the Arduino IDE to upload these files.

[Pixopaxo 3]

I tried it with the Arduino IDE, as Cura dows not work at all when it comes to Firmware updates. Arduino did not work either for me...detects the board, but dows not update. Are there any other options?