Cannot get MKS gen 1.4 to display on any RepRap LCD

[ncarota]

Hi Guys,

Hoping I can get some ideas on a problem I can’t seem to solve. I’ve got a MKS gen 1.4 board to replace a bad Meltzi Board from a terrible aliexpress vendor that won’t respond. I’ve tried specific Marlin firmware for MKS gen 1.3, the stock Marlin firmware, Osoyoo Specific firmware for both the reprap graphic controller, and full graphic controller. The farthest I got was the osoyoos firmware here:

http://osoyoo.com/2016/06/30/mks-1-4-3d-printer-board-marlin-firmware-installation-guide/

Where the screen would flash and beep constantly, and the blue light would flash when turning the knob on the display. I’ve used the proper motherboard settings on the on all of them(33), multiple different LCD controllers and really am at a dead end here.

So my question is this. Is there a way verify the firmware is even working properly without an lcd panel functioning? Is there a proven path to get these boards functioning? I’ve got a spare ramps 1.4 board and it worked flawlessly with the LCD panels I’ve used. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Nick

[Steph_Laf]

Hi,

I have a Migbot Prusa i3 that use the same kind of board. I don’t know what printer you have. You can test this firmware : GitHub - garynmckinney/3DPrinter: Assembly Instructions for 3D Printer and Slicer Software

Check “Marlin-Latest-Release.zip” or “printer firmware”'s folder.

My printer (so this firmware) use the 2004 lcd’s board.

Hope it’s help you.

Best regards

[puddled]

On both my boards, the lcd connectors on the board are back to front.

To get it to work, you need to trim the locating tab of the plug, and plug it in reversed.

That should get you going

[3dealo]

Hi, Nick.

Here at 3Dealo we’ve been using gen 1.3 for quite some time. It’s a very well made board with a lot of resources but the support sucks. On the brighter side, most solutions that work for ramps 1.4 will work just fine on MKS. We still haven’t tested the 1.4 version but I think that it’s not that different from the previous one.

If I remember well, we had the same issue in the beginning and it was solved setting motherboard as follows:

// The following define selects which electronics board you have.
// Please choose the name from boards.h that matches your setup
#ifndef MOTHERBOARD
#define MOTHERBOARD BOARD_RAMPS_13_EFB
#endif

What kind of LCD are you using?

[Sydney_Makers]

I’ve got that board on my Fab mini, cut holes in the LCD ribbon connector slots and insert them 180.

[Jacobsdr]

Did you install the U8glib library?

[ncarota]

I did, thanks for the tip though

[ncarota]

The 2004

[ncarota]

You guys are great, thanks for all the ideas. Swapping the insert direction on the exp1 and exp2 did the trick. I’m still going to try the motherboard change in the config to actually figure out why the pins are inverted. I’ll add to the thread if I discover the root cause. Thanks again for all the support, you guys have been great.

Cheers,

Nick

[ncarota]

Thanks for this, it includes a bit of documentation as well. Super helpful!

[Jacobsdr]

I was going to plus one that as well. I bought a really cheap full graphics and board and had to swap the direction as well Makes me nervous about what else can be messed up on the boards.

[SeanNoseworthy]

This worked for me … just don’t be an idiot like me and slice the ribbon cable while your trimming…

[webliya]

I had the same problem and yes pins are inverted. Ibelieve it is a design mistake thats it. There are many similar boards where pins are in correct order. If you have new idc socket and idc crimper like me it is easy to swap them but w/o tools the best way is to trim the locating tub and use it reversed.

[webliya]

These boards are cheap but very unreliable. I have burned mosfets, plugs, low 5v and a lot of similar stories from my experience. But if you know what you do and build the printer for yourself these are all good options.

[Journey3D]

I know this is kind of an old threat, but could anyone tell me if this works the same for an anet LCD12864?

[lsgondane]

This worked for me as well. Rather than trimming the plug, i cut the socket with a hole on the other side.

[Daniel_Squires]

Brute force worked for me. Thanks

[brambertels]

if after flipping the connector, you only have a blue screen with no text (on an ender), go back into Marlin and comment out the LCD lines like:
//#define REPRAP_DISCOUNT_FULL_GRAPHIC_SMART_CONTROLLER

and only uncomment:
#define CR10_STOCKDISPLAY