Beta firmware updates?
How do we get notified that new firmware releases are available?
I ask this question knowing that pretty much all of Prusa are running around trying to catch up with all the Mk3 preorders.
I am running beta 137 of the firmware. During Tom's unboxing livestream, he got a link to the version 138 firmware. A little digging on the GitHub site reveals a link to the hex file for 138. When do we get notified that it is available? I'm comfortable with the Arduino software, so downloading the code and building my own version is not that big of a deal, but I also know that I am somewhat unique in that regard.
When I built my Mk3, the only way I knew to update the firmware before running the wizard (never mind that Tom had issues running the wizard with 137) was that I'd watched a few Youtube videos while waiting for my mk3 kit to arrive.
Since I've spent a lifetime in the computer industry, using beta code is not foreign to me. I've become accustom to having periods of flawless operation interrupted by moments of "how the heck did that fail?"
To wit -- I've had somewhat long periods of time with my Mk3 printing wonderfully ("long periods of time" should be read understanding that I've had the machine assembled for less than a week), but then it will start to fail, typically with problems in the Y axis.
I've also had moments were I saw the firmware lose the nozzle and heat bed set points -- the screen flashed and they went to zero, but the printer kept trying to print, as both the bed and the nozzle started to cool. At that point I aborted the print.
After initial construction I thought for sure there was something wrong with my y-axis, after an initial clean run of the wizard, I started having issues with he y-axis thinking it was obstructed, which then started making loud noises.
After a factory reset and another run of the wizard, the Mk3 spent another 3 days printing cleanly, until this morning when I came in to see a print failure. There was the requisite ball of extruded filament, but what was more curious to me was that the nozzle was off, but the heat bed was still at 100 degrees (I was printing ABS at the time). Given how far the print got, it was apparent to me that it had failed about 2 hours after I had gone to bed. Having the bed maintain 100 degrees after the nozzle had cooled down was disturbing.
Re: Beta firmware updates?
Mostly, from here: https://github.com/prusa3d
When it's final/tested, from here: https://www.prusa3d.com/drivers
Re: Beta firmware updates?
They don't normally push updates as fast as they are now. Usually every couple of months. Due to all the issues with the wizard and constant WTF failures and features that aren't quite ready for primetime, they are releasing updates very frequently (including beta as the official current one to use) until they finally get a stable release that doesn't have as many issues.
You can check the downloads page every month or so if you want to find the latest compiled ones once they have a stable release. I check every day for now. I noticed with 138, they removed load filament from the main menu... that's odd and when I'm switching from black to white I usually have a lot of grey before I get to solid white again.
Re: Beta firmware updates?
The idea seems to be the filament sensor detects when you attempt to load filament and triggers the loading action automatically. If you disable the filament sensor, the "Load Filament" option is back.
Re: Beta firmware updates?
Mostly, from here: https://github.com/prusa3d
When it's final/tested, from here: https://www.prusa3d.com/drivers
I was kind of afraid of that. Normally when it is required to use beta software, there is a mailing list or some other method for pushing out notifications that new bits are available.
I don't have a problem checking and rechecking to see if anything has updated, but I also fear that many other people won't, and that will lead to a lot of complaints.