Firmware v1.3.5 Problems - Reboot with preheat or SD printing
I received my kit 2 days ago, after having only ordered it on Friday, and promptly did the mechanical assembly and just finished the electrical portion of the build today (7 hours/mechanical + 3 hours/electrical).
Upon power up, the lcd loads fine. From the settings menu I was able to adjust the X,Y,Z axis and was able to self-home the printer.
I ran into problems when I tried performing the pre-heat, with any material selection. It appears that the extruder will begin to warm up, and then the printer reboots (i see black bars loading from both sides of the screen for a few seconds, and then the main GUI appears). I can manually raise the temperature of the extruder via the settings menu, and was able to load and unload 1.75mm PLA filament through it, after having it sit at 255 degrees for the recommended 10 minutes.
At this point I'm fairly certain that I verified, both mechanically and electrically, that everything works fine.
Assuming it was a firmware issue, I downloaded version 1.6.1 of the drivers, and installed. After receiving an error from the FirmwareUpdater (avrdude.exe: ser_open(): can't open device "\\.\COM3": Access is denied.) i tried to load and update the same firmware (rambo_mini_1_3_175_v2_1) as an administrator on my computer (win7 ultimate, 64x).
After no success with that, I figured I would download and install the latest arduino and try to do the update manually, following the instructions on this site. I did manage to get the firmware to begin uploading, but it hangs at 90% for a unusual amount of time. I also tried loading up (rambo_mini_1_3_175_v2) but no success with that.
Feeling somewhat optimistic, I tried to print directly from the SD card with one of the supplied files, but I get the same reboot sequence I ran into when trying to do the extruder preheat.
Any ideas on possible problems?
Re: Firmware v1.3.5 Problems - Reboot with preheat or SD printing
Hi Ami
I think it highly unlikely that this is a firmware issue.
Preheat should (I believe) also heat the bed. You have not made any mention of the bed temperature and I wonder if you have the connector for the bed heater sufficiently tight.
All the wires must be screwed into the connectors very tight and the connectors must be firmly pushed home into the sockets.
Can you please check your connectors again and also please advise whether the bed is warming up?
Regarding the error on the COM3 port, I presume you have loaded the device drivers? Can you please also check within Device Manager to ensure that with the printer plugged in, it is assigned to COM3?
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
Re: Firmware v1.3.5 Problems - Reboot with preheat or SD printing
Good Evening Peter,
So just getting home, I turned on the printer and tried to manually turn up the heat bed temperature from the settings menu. After a few seconds, the unit reboots.
I went and verified that I had a good connection both visually and using a multimeter to check the resistance between the connector and the two leads soldered on the board. I also reverified that the headbed thermistor was in the correct socket.
I did notice that the LED blinks yellow for a second before the reboot (the LED closest to the word 'after' on the left side of the board). All the electrical connections on the heatbed look fine - the resistor measures 1k as it should.
I tried verifying that the LEDs are in there proper orientation, but the high-res image from the instruction doesn't quite show that detail. The second LED that flashes has a green line that is closest to the letter 'r' in the word 'after', and the first LED (closest to the edge of the board) has the green line closest to the letter 'f' in 'after'.
As for the firmware - the printer came up in device manager with no errors.
edit: and the device is assigned to COM3
Re: Firmware v1.3.5 Problems - Reboot with preheat or SD printing
So after doing some reading around the forum, I eventually found a post ( http://shop.prusa3d.com/forum/software-f13/screen-crash-when-i-connect-the-hot-bed--t229.html ) that seemed to describe the same problem I had.
Long story short, I disconnected the heatbed and everything works fine. I even managed to pull off a successful print off the SD card.
I did have to manually drop the heatbed temperature to 0, and bumped up the filament temperature, as well as the flow rate - but I did pull off my first successful print!
At this point I'm glad that a) I pulled off a print, and b) I now know exactly what to troubleshoot.
Re: Firmware v1.3.5 Problems - Reboot with preheat or SD printing
Hi Ami
Great that you were able to print; not great that it would appear there is a fault somewhere...
With the hot bed disconnected, can you connect to your PC?
I am thinking that you have either a faulty heater/heater connections (solder connections on the heater) or a faulty output stage on the Rambo.
You will need the heater to work, especially for larger prints, so this issue does need to be resolved. Try the "Live Chat" facility with support on the shop web site.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
Re: Firmware v1.3.5 Problems - Reboot with preheat or SD printing
Hey Peter,
So after a rousing night of troubleshooting I seem to have gotten my problems resolved.
After getting home, I tried to see if I could connect to the the printer (with the heat bed still unplugged) - no go
So after a really long time of google searching and reading, I figured i'd try using Pronterface and see if I could communicate with the printer that way. Again, no go - but it did make me wonder if another usb device plugged in was causing the problem, so I disconnecting everything except for the printer - still no go. With the crappy Staples usb hub being the only thing left in the chain, I figured i'd try plugging the printer directly into one of the computers usb port and viola!
So with the printer now loaded with firmware 2.2.0 I felt cocky and plugged in the heat bed to see if I would still have the same reboot problem and to my amazement, the heat bed seemed to actually heat up.
At the moment, I am attempting my first thingiverse print using Slic3r and Pronterface 🙂
Re: Firmware v1.3.5 Problems - Reboot with preheat or SD printing
Hi Ami
Great news and very well done.
The hub is definitely one for the memory banks. I use a hub, but it is a decent quality USB3.0 hub. I have no problems with that, but I can see problems with a cheapie USB2 hub with the comms speeds that these printers can work at.
Now if you want a rather ambitious project, try this one: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:862724
I printed that a couple of weeks ago. It is now ready for lighting and then painting.
Enjoy your printing!
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
Re: Firmware v1.3.5 Problems - Reboot with preheat or SD printing
I mainly use the hub for a wireless network adapter and the occasional usb drive/sd card reader. I've even used a sata hard drive dock with it and experienced no problems. Since upgrading all of my computer hardware recently, I've been meaning to a get a usb 3.0 powered hub, just hasn't been on the priority list lol Your probably right about the com speeds though, 115200 is pretty high (in contrast, at my job, our ethernet boards use 57600 via CAN to communicate with the main processor board for remote commands).
And you weren't kidding about 'rather ambitious'... jeez, I gotta ask, what was the print time on that?
I'm currently working on an arc reactor I found on thingiverse: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:912015
Mostly done, just 3 more pieces to print, not including whats currently printing. I'm just trying to get a feel of the printers capabilities before I start doing more complex prints. I've already learned that using 2-3 raft layers helps a lot and have been using them extensively. My settings have been pretty consistent with 0.1 mm layer heights/ 22% infill - honeycomb, with the nozzle at 225 degrees - not using the recommended 50 degree heat bed as it was causing me more problems with the print sticking properly.
Next up will be some calibration pieces to see exactly how accurate I can print. Thus far though, I've very happy with my purchase and its capabilities!
Re: Firmware v1.3.5 Problems - Reboot with preheat or SD printing
Hi Ami
That's great. You really are doing well.
Some of these printers use a baud rate of about 250,000, simply because it's easier for the Arduino (multiple of clock rate), but sending data at that speed can be difficult. Having thought about your hub, it may be the unpowered part which was causing the issue. Don't know.
That print took about a week and is 12" x 12" x 20" tall, but it is a quite wonderful item.
My wife organises exhibitions in shopping centres abound Slovenia. I am currently preparing a 3D print exhibition and I need some large prints to demonstrate what can be done.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…