Thinking about it, maybe the fuse bits are the problem. If QiDi did not set the fuse bits to the standard configuration used by the other manufacturers, then perhaps there are protected memory areas that are kept from being written to by the later versions of the software. The standard Atmega Arduino bootloader is 1K:
If QiDi set the fuse bits to something other than 1K bytes for bootloader and SailFish 7.x (x > 1) needs some of that Flash memory, then the newer SF versions will not load and checksum correctly…
What we need is the fuse bit settings for the QiDi and then the fuse bits settings for the CTC. A simple ISP change to the fuse bits is all that maybe needed to upgrade to SailFish 7.x (x >= 2). Let me do a little poking around.
That’s a very good theory. Let us know how you make out. I am very eager to get past 7.1 (as I keep mentioning). And let me know if you need me to do any testing once you get things sorted out.
I haven’t seen any problems with 7.7 so far and that is what is used on the Flashforge Creator Pro we have at work. Of course I don’t know what the advantage is of 7.7 over 7.6 either…
Good luck with the fuse setting. Let us know how things go!
Awesome looking set up. I did print the filament guide also, a truly wonderful thing. I have done a few dual prints but just some dual color figurines and the like. I see that #3DBenchy has a dual color torture test, which I think I will try. I will let you know if I get any results from that. Benchy is a minor obsession.
The cone looks pretty dead on, maybe just a tiny bit of shifting on the top two layers (or that could just be the photo). I have taken to clamping my glass bed (made some little stainless steel clips from old windshield wiper blades) because occasionally it would slip and produce funky print results. I would love to dampen the frame a little bit to reduce the hard jerking of the print head.
Sorry did not answer your original question: I believe you can just program whatever SF level you want. I don’t think SF needs to be incremented up. I jumped from 7.1 (via Adam’s instructions) to 7.6 directly after resetting the fuses.
My first couple of tries under SF7.7 were a disaster with the print cartridge trying to drive itself out the left side of the printer. Turns out my extruder X offset had defaulted to 399mm!!!
WARNING! IF YOU UPGRADE TO SF 7.7 DO THE NEXT TWO STEPS…
What they do is link you to the hex files and give instructions needed to reload a blank Mightyboard just like mine was.
Using a program called AVRDude google it and a couple command prompts I was able to reload the hex files giving the board back USB functionality and then the bootloader which had the added benefit of setting the correct fuse bits. I’m not going to go in to detail on how to do It. It’s all in the MakerBot Operators thread.
I had to copy and make the hex files usable then modify and run their command lines to fit my programmer and environment.
The command line I used to load the bootloader hex file.
Yikes! And congratulations on getting thru it Ron. Awesome recovery! Glad you are back up and running.
I will see if I can find anything about using AVR studio with these 3rd party vendor ISP programmers. The AVR studio way is obviously easier (and less heart stopping). I had just assumed, incorrectly it seems, that the 3rd party vendors would emulate an ISP programmer Atmel already makes.
(Perhaps just the command line for reprogramming the fuses with AVRDude…)
See my comment below on resetting the extruder offset in SF before doing any dual extruder prints. You will want to do that sooner than later…
It appears that there is some software out there for this programmer that will allow fuse bit programming.
If you could check this out and see if it works, it may be of help to others trying this (and may prevent the memory erasure and not having to go thru avrdude):
I tried the eXtreme Burner AVR program with my usbasp programmer on an old CTC I picked up from Craigslist. Didn’t want to risk the Qidi Tech but it has the same board. The eXtreme burner does not have a ATmega 1280 chip option so you do get an error while reading the fuse bits. The fuse bits I read off the CTC was Low FF, High DA, Ext. FD, Lock CC and Calibration FFFFFFB6. Didn’t try to change anything but it looks like it might work. eXtreme Burner does have a ATmega2560 chip option.
It’s been a while since I was able to successfully upgrade my Qidi to the lastest SF, so some of the details are fuzzy now. But I do remember that my programmer wasn’t being accommodated by the Studio software. I think what I ended up doing was following Ron’s post below, and using the command line AVRdude software. As Ron mentions, your command should end up something like this:
Just follow his post to grab the appropriate hex file, and keep us posted on how you get on. If you have any other questions, I’ll do my best to try and remember more. It’s definitely been worthwhile to make the jump to SF 7.7.
I have yet to be able to load a program into the machine, I can only print a sample that was supplied. I have downloaded a few but cant figure out how to get it loaded I show 2 in the menus from the SD card but nothing happens when I click on it
