Wireless transfer of gcode file to 3D Printer from PC  

Wireless transfer of gcode file to 3D Printer from PC

I was looking for a way to transfer gcode files from my PC (after slicing with PrusaSlicer) to my MK3S+ and couldn't really find a complete working solution online (perhaps I didn't try looking hard enough), so I thought I would document the solution I'm using now in case anyone else would like to do this too. It just beats having to plug and unplug the SD card from the printer to the PC and vice versa, especially if they are not next to each other.

Best regards!

JB.

Prerequisites:

1. It requires the BTT Module SD version (e.g. here from Aliexpress for US$7.15).Make sure to choose the SD version, not the TF version.
   1. Don't bother getting the option with TF Card as the card is only 128MB (not 128GB) which is really small, and I received one that didn't work too.
2. Obtain your own TF Card to use with this module.
3. Make sure you have a USB Serial driver on your PC (e.g. CH340 typical for Arduino development - here)
4. Make sure you have a serial monitor program on your PC (e.g. PUTTY - here)
5. A 2.4GHz Wifi signal - SSID and Password.
6. Access to your router (that issues DHCP) and check for a device's MAC address, and ability to manually assign an IP address to it.

Setup Process:

1. Insert the TF Card into your PC (via Card Reader) so that you can configure the Wifi configuration file.
2. Create a text file on the TF Card and rename it "setup.ini"
3. Edit the setup.ini file and add 2 lines (replace the <...> below with your actual info):
   1. SSID=
   2. PASSWORD=
4. Create a new folder on the TF Card, and rename it "PRINT FILES"
   1. This folder is where you should put all your gcode files instead of at the root directory.
   2. The MK3S+ does not do a good job of refreshing the SD card contents, so putting it in a directory sort of "forces" a refresh.
5. Remove the TF card from the PC and insert it into the BTT Module.
6. Open Device Manager on the PC, and open the Ports (COM & LPT) section. Look out for the new port that will be created at the next step
7. Attach a Micro USB cable to the BTT Module (a short cable should have been provided with the module), and plug into the PC.
8. Note down the COM port that the BTT Module is on (e.g. it could appear as "USB-SERIAL CH340 (COM4)"), so the COM Port is COM4.
9. Open the Serial monitor program and connect it to the Com Port at 115200 baud.
   1. I use PUTTY, which should be loaded on most Windows PCs. 
   2. In Category, select Serial.
   3. Set Serial line to COM
   4. Set the Speed to 115200.
   5. Click Open.
   6. A monitor window should open.
10. On the BTT Module, look for the small black push button that is marked RST, and push it once.
11. The monitor should display "Delay...". The module's blue LED will start blinking, and it will take some time (maybe up to 3-5 minutes?) and eventually display an IP address. Note down this address (e.g. 192.168.10.xx)
12. Open your Router's admin page, find the BTT Module's MAC address using its IP address, and reserve this IP address for the BTT Module
    1. e.g. to find MAC address on my ASUS router, I'd go to Network Map, View List of clients, find the IP address above, and then note down the MAC address
    2. e.g. to assign the IP address on my ASUS router, I'd go to LAN, DHCP Server, add the MAC Address, IP address, click +, then click Apply.
    3. If you do not reserve the IP address, the next step may not work all the time.
13. On the PC, create a network location shortcut that will point to this IP Address
    1. Open Windows Explorer, go to This PC. Click on Add a network location.
    2. Click Next 2 times, then in Internet or network address, type: \\\DavWWWRoot, click Next
    3. Type a Shortcut name: E.g. MyBTT-SD-Cloud, click Next.
    4. Leave the checkmark for Open this network location on, and click Finish.
    5. An explorer window should open, and you should see the TF Card's contents (it may take a while to refresh).
14. Unplug the BTT Module from the PC, remove the Micro USB cable.
15. Plug the BTT Module to your 3D Printer, turn on the printer.
16. On the PC, copy a gcode file to the BTT Module
    1. If the network location is not open (from the previous steps), open Windows Explorer, go to This PC, and find the Network Location under the section Network Locations, and open it.
    2. You should see the TF Card contents, and go to PRINT FILES folder.
    3. Copy a gcode file here (e.g. test.gcode)
17. On the 3D Printer:
    1. Navigate to Print from SD. 
    2. You should see the PRINT FILES folder, open it.
    3. You should see the test.gcode file.
    4. If you click it, the Printer should begin printing it as usual.
18. That's it! Note that while the printer is printing, you will NOT be able to transfer any new gcode files (or access the BTT Module) from the PC.

Trouble shooting:

1. If you can't open the network location, can try pinging the BTT Module
   1. Open a cmd window, ping . 
   2. If you don't get any responses, then focus on checking if it did indeed connect to the Wifi point (by checking the router logs).
2. On the 3D Printer, if the files look garbled, navigate to the root of the SD Card, then down again to PRINT FILES. It should refresh the directory information.