USB error mid print  

RE:

i had not used my XL in a few months. had updated to 6.1.2, and of course now i tried using it I'm getting hit with this stupid USB disconnect over and over.

i really really hate what prusa has turned into there is no way i'm buying any more of these going forward.

this XL has been yet another expensive brick. i had a similar experience when the MK3 came out to replace the MK2S the machine was un-usable for about 1 year.

i went through so many variations on the print head design from prusa and it fixed nothing moiré pattern 601.

since people are reporting 6.2 alpha does not work either, has anyone gone back to the 5.xx firmware just to avoid this issue?

RE: USB error mid print

It sucks. Every bigger print by geometry fails. Only useful application is within small parts with more materials. Especially if there is some flexfil included (if you avoid guiding it as intended). I don’t know how to handle the situation any more, but this is no solution any more. Maybe we have to organize, to put more pressure on Prusa. I would even accept to buy an upgrade part if the problem is solved then, but silence makes the situation worse every time a print fails.

RE: USB error mid print

I stopped using PrusaConnect via "Upload and Print" about a month ago and haven't had a single failure.  I just use "Upload" from PrusaSlicer and manually start the job on the printer control panel.  This also has solved the missing perimeter on random layers problem as well as a problem I had with it also randomly not bothering to change the tool head on random layers.  (I'm using hard wired ethernet, no wifi.)

Strangely, I do occasionally get a USB error on my MK3,9 AFTER the upload (but never during the print).  I never get that on my XL. 

RE: USB error mid print

this whole thing with formatting USBs is B.S. I'm finding. I'm 100% sure the XL damages USB drives because it seems to run them hotter then i would like to see them. However, having to format these drives is B.S. as the issue is 100% with the XL firmware.

before this i had firmware 6.0.X and for the few months it lived on the XL i never had this USB disconnecting issue.

stupidly i thought let me update to the latest firmware when i installed a SUMO enclosure and upgraded the hotend with PC blend Carbon parts, again no issues.

Under firmware 6.1.3 I ran the same Gcode on the same USB that i know fails. i ran it twice as is no changes, first it failed at 16% i reset and started again then it failed at 36%. so it did not fail at the same spot if it did then it would be a memory issue on the USB stick or a Gcode problem, but its random on multiple repeats

nothing is wrong with the USB drive.

i then rolled the dice and put 6.2 Alpha 2 firmware on the machine.

the print is at 80% and still going,, this is a 17 hour print. can it still fail, yes it can, but I'm letting it run because 6.2 Alpha 2 is trying to fix the USB prefetch which obviously is the problem.

I would guess the USB prefetch on the older firmware gets into some kind of race condition with other functions the XL controller is dealing with and randomly if the timing is just wrong it misses a prefetch or can not fill the buffer all the way and then drops the error on the display that the usb has lost connection. this has been a problem with the XL from the start going back to firmware 4.X and 5.X because we had major problems back then as well.

if i take my prusa USB that kept failing with the XL back then and i run some torture tests on it, it passes each time.

Once again it is just really bad firmware that needs to be optimized because the controller is right on the edge of not being able to handle all the XL functions. CPU too slow and maybe not enough RAM on the board to play with.

with each firmware adding something or changing something it obviously makes it more unstable and 6.1.X has been the worst so far.
my next step was to roll back to early firmware 6.0.X but i wanted to see what 6.2 would do.

it must also be very hit or miss with when your XL was assembled as i'm sure they make changes to the controller PCB.

i have one of the first XL 5tool head machines, so i've had to retro fit this machine a few times since mid 2023 to they and keep up with the changes in manufacture on newer ones.

well if you just frustrated and have not tried whatever the newer firmware is at the time your reading this try updating if your still running the 6.1.X firmware

you could get burned with newer but at least you will find out.

4 years i waited to just be a alpha tester on a very flawed machine.

RE: USB error mid print

6.2 Alpha 2 seems to be a very good suggestion. Same print from yesterday without stop. By the way same USB drive like always. Let’s hope that this is going into the right direction an not a fluke.

RE:

CPU too slow and maybe not enough RAM on the board to play with.

In my opinion that was a culprit with every Prusa printer since the beginning - though it was justifiably back then due to firmware and market versatility. Maybe they also cut some corners due to the chip shortage which the XL development fell right into.

Nowadays the hardware on board should not be the limit for such a machine... . Think of camera support and stuff, I wonder if that will ever work sufficiently.

Back to topic: Upgraded to newest FW too, let's see if that helps.

RE: USB error mid print

as a follow up,

firmware 6.2 allowed my print to compete at 100% without usb error.

I started a second different 18 hour print lets see what happens. again i fully expect the machine to bomb out again at some point but since it managed to complete 

the same job i sent 3 times with the only difference updating to 6.2 alpha 2 then it is 100% the firmware still.

RE:

I experienced my first USB issue mid-print. I was not at home and used Prusa Connect to restart the print... which worked ! 

My print was 56Mb and was uploaded through Prusa Connect. (yeah, uploading 56Mb this way takes almost 15mins... welcome to 1995 ADSL speed...)

For now I'm getting away of the USB key supplied by Prusa with my XL... I already had an issue when uploading files some time ago and I had to re-format it. For now on I'm using a samsung USB key... we'll see... 

RE: USB error mid print

Agreed! A year and still we cannot do what we want to do on large prints. Shame. And the money ... wow. I wish I had done more research, there are printers out there that are a lot less and can do the same job. I would be guessing a hardware issue for all of us. You can only throw so much code at the issue and we have seen plenty of code that does not work.

RE:

I did my research and I committed to the XL, like a dunce, since I preordered it back in 2021, I just thought they had improved at that time.  I gambled and lost.

But i should have just listened to my Gut after the ordeal i went through with the MK3 line of printers and the various MMUs that came out with multiple revisions.

the open source community saved the MK3, but the hard truth is the last good printer prusa made was the MK2S. 

because of how the XL was handled i did at least make the smart decision to not even bother with the MK4 series machines. 

i should add that i've now owned the XL just a few months over a year i have never gotten connect or the wifi to work properly on my machine and i gave up and just use USB Sticks.

RE: USB error mid print

OK, going to call support now... got another "USB drive" issue. Just said OK on the screen + resume... print restarted...
I NEVER had any issue since I got the printer in March, and I got it 3 times in few days since I updated to the latest firmware... there must be something buggy there.

Firmware6.1.3+7898

RE:

if you want to try a last hail mary install the 6.2 alpha 2 firmware from the github.

I'm currently on another long print of 17 hours and its managed to get to 67% with 6 hours to go, crossing my fingers it gets to 100%

https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy/releases/tag/v6.2.0-alpha2

• Bug Fixes
  • Wi-Fi stability improvements
  • G-code transfer fixes
  • USB media prefetch    <---important one.
  • Improved preview loading during file transfer
  • MINI sensor update fix
  • Persistent Compatibility Mode

RE: USB error mid print

Agreed. So far 6.2 seems to work for me too.

RE: USB error mid print

another long large print success for me using 6.2 alpha 2 firmware

it ended up being a 19 hour print which successfully completed.

i have now started yet another 19 hour print, once again crossing fingers.

RE: USB error mid print

Hello,

my experience the last 2 weeks: i had issues with led stripe that flickered in all colors during print. Then the “beep” when you hit the knob sounded weird. Some prints shows usb failure but could be continued and completed. Finally the lcd panel didn’t work anymore, black screen but recognized pushing the knob. 
chat with support ended in new parts, leds and lcd. After that the usb port didn’t worked for any sticks. Also the led stripes worked not properly.

what I did, I know all connections were tight and correct, I unplugged all of them in the back of the printer and reconnected them several times. 
now everything till now works fine again. I am just guessing but I have the feeling that the connection maybe somehow corroded a little and that led to disfunction. Just a guess, and my experience. 

RE: USB error mid print

you might want to hit all your connectors with deoxit just for a little protection. sounds like you had a bad ground but reseating all the connectors would have cleaned some of the connector blades off. i used to get weirdness on my mk2 and mk3 lcd displays and i used to clean the connectors, then i started to use deoxit on the connectors and try to keep the fluid from going all over the place and that kept my lcds from wigging out.

RE: USB error mid print

I upgraded to `6.2.0-alpha2` yesterday and the 6+ hour print went through. I just started a 13h print... we'll see... Support also recommended me to do so, so I guess it's the official fix for now...

RE: USB error mid print

Time for class action lawsuit,  a year of USB full stop prints many times due to failure. We have to tell Jo to get his stuff together because he doesn't care. More products.. really he can't support the nightmares he currently has.

RE:

Have not seen the words FIX and USB in the same page in any change log.

The workaround exists. If you want wake up at 3:00 to press the workaround continue button sure.. 

RE: USB error mid print

keep in mind all these 3d printers are basically experimental, it is buyer beware.

So far;

Firmware 6.2 alpha 2 has been working for me.

The machine has now been running non-stop since my first post. 2 days from the 28th till now the 30th.

I have run 5 long prints through the machine and its currently outputting another job at 4 hours long.

that obviously does not mean it is fixed and I'm wary of it. 2 days of running verse 2 failed jobs on the 27-28th with the 6.1.X firmware.

i'll have to take it for now. its been a nightmare since 2023 with this printer, also the slicer as been a real pain in the butt till 2.8.

I"m sure the next update will break something again. it is at the point that if you find some combination of firmware and slicer that seems to work for you,

do not update blindly.

this reminds me of the Macs where you can pause a O/S update forever where under Myyoursoft winblows 10-12xx you wake up to a bricked computer and screwed up system update you didn't want. by hey they installed Skype on your system for the 100th time too.