Printer works, but doesnt print

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I have my ultimaker with ulticontroller built, and am trying to get a print to work. I can autohome with the ulticontroller, move the head around manually and extrude just fine as well as heat up the extruder all with the ulticontroller. This is the limit of what i'm able to do though!

I'm running the Marlin firmware that Cura flashes. When I first tried to upgrade the firmware it failed, I had to remove the arduino board from the ultimaker shield in order to get firmware back on the device. If i try to do anything over USB with Cura (ulticontroller still attached) it just resets the ultimaker and times out - it is never able to connect.

If i generate a gcode file in Cura (in simple mode, or after fiddling with settings), and then from the watch screen:

[press button] -> scroll to "Card Menu" -> [press button] -> scroll to file -> [press button] - it takes me back to the watch menu with the file name on the bottom row, and absolutely nothing happens. I've tried multiple files, preheating the hot end, clicking "autostart", just about every menu option - however I cannot find any documentation at all on the ulticontroller or how to use it.

Is anyone able to point me in the right direction for getting this thing going? At the moment the only thing really working is the fan cooling the electronics. Everything else appears to be working fine, but it just doesn't print. All the troubleshooting information i've found assumes you're having issues with the print - not getting one going.

[Daid 306]

Do you have an SD card or an SDHC card? SDHC is known to cause problems like this.

Also, we identified a bug with Cura and Win7 yesterday, which caused the printer interface to fail. (which is most likely your problem there) Cura still comes with PrintRun (you can find it in the start menu) you can also use this to print a gcode file.

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I'm using the SD card that came with the ulticontroller (2gb sandisk, pretty sure it's not a SDHC).

Ah, could be the problem - I can't even do the calibration of the printer. I'll try printrun tonight, failing that I'll put the stock firmware back on and try it with inferior software

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OK so connecting with printrun causes a reboot too. The LCD goes blank and the drives go on for a second then off again. (atmega pulling up on reboot.)

So now i'm not sure what to do, i cant connect to the printer, and the ulticontroller does absolutely nothing.

[Daid 306]

It's normal that connecting reboots the machine. However, it should start printing if you select the file from the SD card menu.

Simple question, if you select a file, do you see that it starts to heat up? Usually the first thing in the start of the GCode file is a "heat up and wait till reached proper temperature". Maybe that is the simple reason why you think it's not working?

(Yes, the documentation of the Ulticontroller menus is a bit absent. But the most important features are the SD card menu, and the temperature control)

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No, it doesn't heat up at all. If I preheat it, connecting to the printer reboots it and it starts to cool down.

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Print run shows this:

 

Connecting...startPrinter is now online.echo: External ResetMarlin 1.0.0 RC2echo: Last Updated: Marlin-Mon, 11 Jun 2012 17:33:42 +0200 - b67dacdc8f1bd489e058e16d92ba29c364b2a8e5 | Author: Build-Me-Marlinecho: Free Memory: 4494  PlannerBufferBytes: 1232echo:Using Default settings:echo:Steps per unit:echo:  M92 X78.74 Y78.74 Z533.33 E865.89echo:Maximum feedrates (mm/s):echo:  M203 X250.00 Y250.00 Z5.00 E45.00echo:Maximum Acceleration (mm/s2):echo:  M201 X9000 Y9000 Z100 E10000echo:Acceleration: S=acceleration, T=retract accelerationecho:  M204 S3000.00 T3000.00echo:Advanced variables: S=Min feedrate (mm/s), T=Min travel feedrate (mm/s), B=minimum segment time (ms), X=maximum xY jerk (mm/s),  Z=maximum Z jerk (mm/s)echo:  M205 S0.00 T0.00 B20000 X20.00 Z0.40 E5.00echo:PID settings:echo:   M301 P22.20 I1.08 D114.00echo:SD init failecho:Unknown command:"start"echo:Unknown command:"echo"echo:Unknown command:" External Reset"

 

Loading a gcode file:

 

the print goes from 81.4 mm to 118.6 mm in Xand is 37.2 mm widethe print goes from 81.4 mm to 118.6 mm in Yand is 37.2 mm widethe print goes from 0.3 mm to 15.0 mm in Zand is 14.7 mm highEstimated duration:  312 layers, 00:09:03

 

Clicking Print, i get:

 

Print Started at: 18:29:26

 

And the printer sits idle. There is no heating at all. Printing is at 0%, printing line 0 of 21694 lines.

Attached is my gcode.

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I flashed on hex files from Marlin Build and now it works (or at least, it's heating). I'm going to reassemble the electronics and try to run the full print.

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Ulticontroller is also heating when loading a file from SD card.

Might I suggest you look into the firmware you include with the latest download of Cura Daid? It appears to be very very flawed :( I've almost spent as much time trying to get this working as it did to build it!

[Daid 306]

Might I suggest you look into the firmware you include with the latest download of Cura Daid? It appears to be very very flawed :( I've almost spent as much time trying to get this working as it did to build it!

That's a bit jumping to conclusions, especially with the firmware working fine in other machines.

 

echo:Unknown command:"start"

echo:Unknown command:"echo"

echo:Unknown command:" External Reset"

That is odd. It's almost as if the output of the Arduino is looped back into the input. Does this also happen if you connect to the Arduino without Ultimaker PCB connected?

If it does, visually inspect the Arduino for any shorts near pin 0 and 1. If it doesn't, visually inspect the Ultimaker PCB at the same spot.

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I meant that perhaps the hex file which is included in the installer is faulty, downloading and flashing a build from Marlin Builder works perfectly and does not come up with those messages - and the ulticontroller works very well. Hence, I think perhaps the hex that cura flashed onto the machine has a problem.