I asked the very same question recently. I was pointed to the following link.
http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/7874-how-do-you-use-the-pause-plugin/
Ah, so it appears printing over USB is the problem. Somehow I get the feeling that USB printing is not thought of as relevant, while it can be quite useful when you need to iterate quickly. Not to mention the folks without any USB printing capabilities at all.
Is there any chance this is going to be fixed?
I had this problem and my solution was to use the "@pause" command rather than "M0" and then 'export' the GCODE and print with Repetier (Which understands the '@pause' command and lets the user continue)
But I recently discovered a solution using CURA. I am using the "pauseAtZ" plugin.. And have modified it to move the extruder and then "pause" before it continues with no manual intervention..
Edit the plugin with a text editor and look for:
#Wait till the user continues printing
f.write("M0\n")
And then replace it with:
#Pause For 1 min and continue printing
f.write("G4 P60000\n")
60000 = 1 min, so change this to suit your needs.
There is a lot of talk about USB instabilities, but on my setup (using several laptops and a desk top PC) I have NEVER had a problem with USB printing.. And Pausing in Repetier works like a dream.. So I will live in hope that CURA will one day support a "pause".
I hope this helps.
Jon
I use Repetier and USB and likewise I have never had problems. With Repetier you can manually pause and restart without needing to worry about gcode
Edit the plugin with a text editor and look for:
#Wait till the user continues printing
f.write("M0\n")
And then replace it with:
#Pause For 1 min and continue printing
f.write("G4 P60000\n")
60000 = 1 min, so change this to suit your needs.
There is a lot of talk about USB instabilities, but on my setup (using several laptops and a desk top PC) I have NEVER had a problem with USB printing.. And Pausing in Repetier works like a dream.. So I will live in hope that CURA will one day support a "pause".
Where would I find that plugin? Do I really need to edit the plugin itself or is it the gcode that is produced?
I have had little problems with USB too. The only problem is that the printer head sometimes does not correctly retract after a print, leaving it to melt the printed piece. I get the feeling that Ultimaker is not all too interesting in USB printing and leaves it as it is, while in most cases I prefer it over doing it via the controller. Much more fine control and flexibility that way.
You can modify the GCODE, but the idea here is to update the Plugin so that it inserts the value for you into the GCODE.
What I would do is this.
Download PauseAtZ from here:
http://wiki.ultimaker.com/CuraPlugin:_Pauseatz
Edit the Plugin and change the lines:
#Wait till the user continues printing
f.write("@pause ;M0\n")
with
#Pause For 1 min and continue printing
f.write("G4 P60000\n")
Now when you use this plugin, instead of it adding an M0 into the GCODE (Which will cause the Printer to wait), it will just pause for 1 min and let you do your thing.
This certainly works for me, as I have used it for a colour change.. Although this is difficult as you have to push the new colour through by hand, where as Repetier allows you to use the manual controls when its paused.
Jon
Why download? It's included in Cura... 
Under what name? It does not seem to be at this time. I downloaded v2.5 two days ago, and there is no PauseAtZ included in the plugins folder...Why download? It's included in Cura...
It's called 'Pause at height'
In Cura -> Post Processing -> Modify G-Code -> Add a Script -> Pause at height
In Windows:
C:\Program Files\Cura 2.5\plugins\PostProcessingPlugin\scripts
So can you put a value like 2 minutes or 3, etc? I am not so quick when it comes to changing filament in my Maker Select V2.1 and would really like to try this for some prints. I am relatively new to the 3d printing world.
Normally you put in the height in mm. So if for example you want to change the color of the filament 5.1mm from the bottom you enter 5.1. Then when it gets to a layer above 5.1 it pauses.
Some of these plugins will alternatively work with layer number.
So I have a similar issue as I believe this poster was trying to describe; my printer pauses at height but I can't restart it... Can someone explain what button or feature you are supposed to engage that restarts the printer. I am printing from my computer, not an SD card.
I have watched many videos and read many explanations of this 'Pause at Height' feature and have yet to find any that actually explain what you are to do other than saying 'resume the print'. Very frustrating..
I don't know what your particular case is, but i guess that the restart or resume thing should be from the software you use to drive you printer?
DidierKlein; I am using the latest Cura software with a Hictop Prusa i3. The software has the 'Pause at Height' plug-in installed and is as the attached screenshot. Once it pauses at 26.6 (in this case) I can change the filament but cannot see what I am to do in order to restart my print. Help is appreciated.
Oh no! We mostly don't know much about Prusa printers here. There should have been something on the screen of the prusa to continue the print. And you really should have practiced this once with a 10 minute print!
Well the first thing is to not panick and to keep the bed hot so the part doesn't fall off and maybe get some sleep and take your time.
Are you printing through USB or with SD card?
Basically I would cancel the print if there is no way to continue. I mean push the button on the controller but if that doesn't work...
I would power cycle it and set the bed warm again immediately.
Next you need to learn gcode a little. Find the pause. It's a particular gcode like "M11" maybe. Look it up here:
Then try to understand where it homes and stuff and prints the brim. Try to remove everything from after it does homing and add a g0 Z100 (or something like that) to move the Z up above the existing print so it doesn't knock it over. Let it do the prime sequence next but then delete all the printing from there until the M11 (or whatever a pause is). Set the extruder to the E value where it left off. So if the last E position before the pause was at say position E3.1726 then do a:
G92 E3.1726
where the M11 was which will tell the printer that the E axis is now at 3.1726 meters. If you don't do that your printiner MIGHT try to extrude 3 meters just before printing which will grind the filament to all hell.
Not doing this might work fine also as most versions of Marlin know enough to ignore extrusion commands more than 2 meters (a nice hack feature in marlin).
Anyway, once you've made a succesful edit, go ahead and print this new gcode file. have your hand on the power switch if the head is about to knock over your print then kill it. You don't get a second chance.
Thanks gr5, a good explanation of how to go about restarting once I am in the situation. I do question the plug-in not having a Resume function however. Does anyone know why Cura does not provide a Resume? Is there some logical explanation or is it just assumed that we are always printing from an SD card and restarting on the machine itself? I have noted that it seems there is no issue if you are doing your prints that way and I will, for the time being, only choose this plug-in if I am printing from an SD card.
1 hour ago, Clark111 said:I do question the plug-in not having a Resume function however.
"Pause at height" does not much more than inserting a "M0" gcode command. It's up to the firmware of your printer, how it handles this command.
The usual behavior of Marlin is, that it stops listening to the serial port (or reading from sd-card) and just waits until a button on the printer is pressed. That's why the print can not be resumed from an "external" source.
You should ask the manufacturer how this works on your printer, if it has no display or buttons.
i noticed the stepper motors dont hold position when paused. i screwed up 2 prints changing filament by bumping the extruder across and one other the heated bed cables seem to have pulled the bed out of alignment when the steppers went to sleep. is there a fix for this?
13 hours ago, samtaylor said:i noticed the stepper motors dont hold position when paused. i screwed up 2 prints changing filament by bumping the extruder across and one other the heated bed cables seem to have pulled the bed out of alignment when the steppers went to sleep. is there a fix for this?
That's a question for the manufacturer of your printer / firmware. Perhaps there is an inactivity timeout set for the stepper motors?
For Marlin firmware this can be changed with M85, but it really depends on your printer's firmware.
>> i noticed the stepper motors don't hold position when paused. i screwed up 2 prints changing filament by bumping the extruder across and one other the heated bed cables seem to have pulled the bed out of alignment when the steppers went to sleep. is there a fix for this?
Just saw a YT video about this very problem. The author would manually enter a home command after doing whatever, then a reposition command to the location he used in the pause.
There's no way I'm going to remember that so I'm looking for a plugin.
Hello all, I have the Ender 3 S1 Pro and my solution to resume is to act like you are changing the nozzle temperature. Hit the onscreen nozzle temperature icon like you are going to change temperature, then go back to home screen and the continue printing play button will be available. Let me know if this works for you.
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xisle 34
I asked the very same question recently. I was pointed to the following link.
http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/7874-how-do-you-use-the-pause-plugin/
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