No FW on USB #13604  

RE: No FW on USB #13604

Have you chatted with Prusa support?  Perhaps they can help you.  I have not had this problem.  I use the USB drive that Prusa supplied with the printer, mainly because I have it.

RE: No FW on USB #13604

I was on with support for over 3 hours trying multiple things. We even tried swapping the LCD from my other MK4, but it did not work. They finally agreed to send me a new buddybox, as that is really the only thing remaining. My hunch was that the bios in the buddybox is somehow messed up, so will report back once I get the new one.

RE: No FW on USB #13604

I am going to go out on a limb, here and say the printer wants to upload firmware from the USB drive, but there is no firmware on the USB drive to upload, hence the message.

I would try downloading the 5.0 firmware and putting it on the USB drive, then sticking the USB drive in the printer and turning it on.  Don't use the alpha firmware since it probably buggy.  The boot loader is looking for something, probably new firmware.  I had a crazy upgrade problem on mine, and went though similar things.  Prusa support is terrible and they don't know much about the inner aspects of the printer.  If you can boot the printer without the USB, go througth the menus and see if you can reset the firmware.  THen put the USB stick with the 5.0 firmware into the printer, and turn the thing on, and see what happens.  It should find the firmware on the USB drive and upload it into the control board.

Just a guess, but it's something to try while waiting for a new control board.

RE: No FW on USB #13604

Re: I am going to go out on a limb, here and say the printer wants to upload firmware from the USB drive, but there is no firmware on the USB drive to upload, hence the message.

Yes, those are my exact thoughts on what is happening as well.

I went through the menus and tried doing a hard reset multiple times and re-installed the firmware, but the message persists.  I just tried doing a soft reset (settings->erase and remove all config) and still get the error even with firmware on the USB drive. Very odd indeed.

RE: No FW on USB #13604

Sounds like a bad boot loader on the control board.  Sounds like if you don't put the USB drive in the printer, you don't get the error.  I would say the printer can't read the USB drive properly.   I would check the connections on the control board with the display and see if a plug isn't seated properly.  If everything looks good, then I would replace the control board (I forgot what they call it).

Can you cycle though the printer menus if you don't put a USB stick in the printer?  I wonder what would happen if you tried to feed a gcode model in via the networking rather than the USB drive.

I'm just guessing.  My MK4 works fine (except for the Nozzle Cleaning issue and the fact that it doesn't play well with Octoprint).

RE: No FW on USB #13604

When you say replace the control board, are you referring to the buddy box? I assume not the love board that fits on top of the extruder as that doesn't seem to be related at all. I did already swap the entire LCD panel/board with my other MK4.

I'm able to hit "continue" on the error message screen and everything seems to work as normal. It reads the USB drive fine, and I have printed several models without issue. It is just the annoying error message that comes up in the beginning. Just to note the error only appears when turning the printer on. If I hit the reset button, the error message will not be displayed. I could swear the error message is coming up before even the bootloader loads up.

I just tried on more thing without success.

- Did a hard reset back to firmware 5.0.0

- Turned off printer after upgrade, inserted USB in with 5.0.1 firmware installed

- Turned on printer.. Error message still came up, hit continue and then the bootloader loading screen comes up and everything loads. The interesting thing here is the printer did not prompt to upgrade to 5.0.1.

- Hit the reset button

- Printer rebooted, bootloader screen comes up and then asks to upgrade the firmware to 5.0.1. 

- Performed upgrade to 5.0.1

- Turned off printer and turned it back on with USB drive in. Error message still comes up.

I don't think it is a cable/connection problem, as everything appears to work fine after I hit the continue message on the error screen and after the bootloader loads. I would imagine that if there was a connection problem, I'd have issues with printing or even navigating the USB folder structures. I could be wrong though, but if you think it could be a cable problem I should ask them to might as well send me one of those too just in case.

RE: No FW on USB #13604

Sure sounds like the firmware initialization code is messed up.  I guess it is the Buddy board (I assume this the control board that is located in the rear of the printer in a 3d-printed box).  I would ask them to send you a couple of cables, too.  If you can print successfully, then you have eliminated many of trouble areas.  The firmware initialization code is the software that sets up the processor to do things like initialize the usb, etc.  It typically runs before the boot loader, and is the basic part of the CPU.  I am surprised you can read the usb, but I don't know how prusa has set up the CPU on that board.  If you don't want to wait for Prusa, you can take out the board from the working printer and replace it and see if that doesn't fix the problem.

I am convinced Prusa doesn't fully check out the components in kits.  

RE: No FW on USB #13604

Yep, the buddy board is the control unit in the box on the rear of the printer. We both are concluding the same thing, as the firmware initialization code you referred to is what I was calling the BIOS code. Either way, it definitely appears that that part of the initialization sequence is messed up. As I already swapped the LCD from the working printer and the problem persisted, I didn't bother swapping the buddy board, as that is essentially what the working printer is already (as the LCD was swapped), plus it is way too much effort and I don't want my other MK4 out of commission.

I just contacted support and they are going to include the LCD cable as well just in case. I agree that they must have not tested this buddy board, as I encountered the USB error message when I first turned on the printer for the first time with a USB drive inserted.

RE: No FW on USB #13604

Posted by: @steve457

I purchased two MK4 kits and on one of them am having serious problems with the firmware. Both printers are running the latest 5.0.1 firmware, but on the problem printer I always get the "No FW on USB #13604" error message when turning it on anytime a USB drive is inserted. The same USB drive works fine in my other MK4. I've also tried other USB drives, upgrading and downgrading the firmware, checked cables and nothing has worked. I was actually on with support over chat for over 2 hour, but they were not able to resolve it and then I got disconnected from them and put at the back of the queue (thus posting here instead for help).

The error message appears almost immediately when turning the printer on, before the bootloader screen even shows up. Any ideas? I'm starting to think this may be some hardware issue (buddyboard, LCD)? 

If you haven't already install 5.1.0 from here https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy/releases I'm pretty confident this one will fix the issue as there was ment to be a improvement in the bootloader for the lcd I believe so that may over write the believed to be corrupt bios code

RE: No FW on USB #13604

If you haven't already install 5.1.0 from here https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy/releases I'm pretty confident this one will fix the issue as there was ment to be a improvement in the bootloader for the lcd I believe so that may over write the believed to be corrupt bios code

Support actually had me try that as well, but still without success. The bootloader did get updated from 2.1.3 to 2.3.0, but the error message still displays just prior to the bootloader screen appearing. This is why I think it must be an issue with the firmware initialization (bios) code, or whatever code executes just prior to loading the bootloader.

RE: No FW on USB #13604

Thanks everyone for all the tips and pointers thus far. I just received and installed the replacement buddy box in my printer. As expected the error is now gone and everything works as expected! So in the end it was definitely a problem with the buddy box, and likely something messed up with the firmware initialization or bios that was causing the error. Just wanted to note that here in case anyone else ends up encountering this problem.

The other smaller issue I have is that the hotend fan seems to fail the self test, unless I leave it really loose. I just end up tightening it back down after the test as a workaround, but seems odd to have to do so. I see there is another thread regarding that problem, so will let that go here and just follow up on the other thread.

RE: No FW on USB #13604

Does the fan turn when you tighten it down?  It should turn freely when tightened down.

If it does, you have a bad fan tachometer.  

If not, you have something binding the fan.  Maybe the fan door is warped.  The fan bearings could be bad.

I would replace the fan.  If you are good at soldering and splicing wires, get a Noctua fan that size (I think 40mm) and spice it onto the wires (and plug) that go into the Loveboard.  Otherwise, beat on Prusa to send you a new fan.  However, if the fan door is warped, you need a new fan door.  The options are:  Print it yourself, have Prusa send you a new one, or have someone else print it for you.  I believe the fan door is PETG.  DON'T print it with PLA.  I am going to redesign the fan door so that if you don't tuck in the hotend wires properly, the fan door WILL close, and print it with PC.   Prusa, in their infinite wisdom, decided to use nonstandard plugs on the Loveboard for the fans.  I HATE that.  They did so much right on the MK4, but messed up a few things.

The firmware for the MK4 is also a work in process.

Still, unless you want to spend big bucks on the commercial printers....

One day, they will get it right.  It just takes a while.

I ALWAYS keep a working 3D printer around before I build a Prusa kit.  I don't believe the kit parts are tested before they send them out.

Steve

RE: No FW on USB #13604

Steve, thanks for the tips. The fan does in fact spin freely when tightened down. I am also barely tightening it. I've already tried replacing the fan and still get the failed fan test. This is the hotend fan that fails the test, not the print part fan on the door. In any case, I already have all my extruder parts printed out of ABS anyways and they are all straight.

Do you think the problem could be the love board? The only reason I say that is I also noticed with this MK4 that the first layer does not seem to be squished properly, whereas on my other MK4 it is perfect every time. Not sure if that logic is within the love board or not, or completely unrelated.

RE: No FW on USB #13604

The LoveBoard could definetly be a problem, and it probably would be a good idea to replace it.  From what I can tell, the LoveBoard is just a termination board for the Nextruder.  Regarding the not good first layer, this could be associated with a bad load cell, or a bad processor board in the nextruder (this is NOT the Loveboard).  I would definetly beat on Prusa for a solution to this.  You could have two independent problems, or you could have one problem affecting both the fan and the first layer.

I would love to see a schematic and parts layout of the Nextruder, but this stuff isn't available yet.  I can't even get the step files for the printable parts.

I just get the feeling we are beta testing the MK4, and consequently, the XL

RE: No FW on USB #13604

I just updated to the latest firmware 5.1.0 and it appears the fan test failed issue has been resolved. Apparently, it was a software issue that was causing the fan to fail the test, which is good news. Regarding the first layer issues, I've done several more prints on both MK4s and realized that both of them exhibit similar issues with the first layer just not being consistent. At times the first layer is nice and squished, whereas other times it is not squished as much. I believe this likely must be due to oozing of filament when the bed leveling is done, but don't think there is an easy solution to that. Honestly, I kind of liked the old live adjust z method of the mK3S+, as at least that was super consistent every time.

RE: No FW on USB #13604

Thank you for this post. I am getting the exact same error (#13604).
For some time I had been ignoring error #13604 during boot, and simply hit continue. I assumed it was probably due to a file left on the USB drive from a previous firmware update. Last week the error bothered me enough to search the internet for the cause and solution. Then I found this thread which triggered me to contact Prusa support. After having tried multiple steps with support including a firmware reset (hard) as well as removing the battery from the xBuddy board for 10 minutes I'm now waiting for the delivery of a replacement xBuddy board.