Repetier Host and Pronterface Will Not Control Printer

[12x12inchPrint]

This might help with Pronterface-

1)In your firmware you have a minimum extruder temp. That keeps a printer from starting until the extruder is up to temp.

Find that value and change it to 0.

2) Upload firmware and re-launch Pronterface and see if you can start calibrating your printer.

3) If that worked make sure you go back and change the min temp in your firmware and upload again.

(Not sure its really necessary as most software waits to hit the temp you set in your slicing/printing software but…why not?)

[Valdaine]

Another question : can you read extruder temperature on the PC software ?

Are you sure you’re connected to the right COM port ?

[Magesh]

First order of business. Get rid of the LCD from the board for now and re-upload the firmware code. Make sure you closed the Pronterface and Repetier before you upload the firmware. If they we open, close them and re-upload the code again ( I dont know the reason why it worked for me but it did).

I would suggest you not to open Pronterface at all (restart the computer if necessary). Use only Repetier… for some reason when I was using pronterface and then closed and switched to Repetier, the manual controls didn’t work. When this happened I closed both the softwares and reuploaded the firmware again and opened Repetier to connect to the printer.

If you have firmware upload issues, download a stable older version of Arduino IDE and then try again.

If the above suggestions doesnt work or have some doubts in execution, leave a message here or do the below steps…

Please attach your firmware code here along with snapshots of the Repetier Host (before you click connect, immediately after you click connect and when the status shows Idle). Please confirm that you clicked the right port number in Repetier software that matches the port you used to upload the arduino code.

[roko11]

I have a couple of questions for you.

Did you load a firmware with the configuration for a Delta printer in it?

Is your printer in RH(Repetier-Host) configured as a Delta?

When you connect to the printer with RH the log window should show the version of firmware of the printer if it can talk to it.

**For instance, I connected to my Delta (with the correct baud rate),

it initialized the printer and the firmware version along with other information shows up in the log window.

I have manual control of the printer.

I then disconnected.

THEN I went into the printer configuration and changed the baud rate from 250000 to 115200. (I am using 250000 normally)

I Applied and said OK, then I tried to connect,…

The printer reinitialized

I got no data in the log window,(version,free Ram,etc…). I had no manual control at all.

I disconnected again.

I reconfigured my baudrate to 250000 and applied it and said OK.

I connected again,

The printer initialized, and the First thing I saw in the log window was some oddball characters, the next information was all of the normal stuff,(version, free Ram, etc…)

I had manual control again and all was fine.

I did that 3 times and the same happened.

***

That is something to try, it might get you started.

There are more issues in dealing with stepper movement after you can at least talk to the printer.

For instance, stepper driver voltages, endstop configuration (using M119 for status).There is a whole section in configuration.h on how the endstops are configured, that is why a copy of your configuration.h (at least) would be helpful as Magesh has said.

First things first though, like it was mentioned, I would not worry too much about the LCD part,at least you have it visible and working(somewhat).

[FantasyFormer]

First try clicking the connect button. On Pronterface it is at the top of the screen around the middle. Sorry if that sounds insulting, but the simplest answers first.

[KippKyEva]

No insult taken. I’m sure there is a very simple and obvious explanation for my difficulties. Yes, I did click the connect button, to no avail.

[KippKyEva]

Thank you all so much for your input. I am going to work through these ideas tonight and see what happens. I very much appreciate all of the great advice!

[KippKyEva]

Great call. I searched and found a version of the firmware specific to delta, and now the RH is controlling the printer. Testament to my ignorance that I thought I had the generic firmware properly configured. I will look more into the stepper configurations now, but I am concerned I’ve ruined two of my motors somehow, as the x-assigned motor seems to turn fine while the other two appear to attempt to turn but cannot.

[KippKyEva]

Thanks, Magesh. I found a version of the firmware that got RH to manually control the printer. Now I just need to tweak it to see if two of my motors are shot or just misconfigured.

[KippKyEva]

One small step! Thanks to your advice, I was able to track down a better version of the firmware and got RH to control certain functions of the printer. I really appreciate all of the help!

Next step will be to diagnose the issue with two of my stepper motors. X spins fine, but Y and Z both sound like they are trying to turn, but the shaft is locked somehow. Not sure if that makes sense; this is not my electronics forte. This makes repairing iPads look like playing with Lincoln Logs. Anyhow, from what I am reading there may be a driver issue, but I am working on educating myself further (to me, a driver is another type of firmware to control, say, a printer rather than something physical).

[Valdaine]

Some ideas :

You can switch X motor and Y/Z to check if motors y/z are OK.

On your board, do you have any potentiometer to adjust motor current ?

If you don’t have enough current in the motor coil, the motor will not have enough torque.

Check motor cable wiring, if the motor vibrates, it can come from inversion of wires.

Is your power supply enough strong (can you check its voltage when motors are going on ?)

If Y/Z max speed is too high (configuration.h), the motors cannot turn. Try to make a small move with the same speed as X motor.

[roko11]

Awesome! Great job!. @Valdane mentioned swapping the non-working motor to the working connector and try. That is a great idea.

MAKESURE you have it powered off when doing this.

Another note, on the RAMPS board the driver chips are a tight fit and the orientation of the board is important and it could be tough to get them all plugged in correctly because of the clearance. just take a look and make sure they are in correctly.

What flavor of firmware are you using, Marlin or Repetier.?

A look at your configuration.h might help also.

[kissfan4]

Make sure you have the printer powered off when switching the stepper motors, if you do it while energized, well if they were not bad, there is a good chance they are now.

[bnoggle]

did you try adjusting the amperage using the screw on the RAMPS boards. If they are making noise most likely this is the problem. Make sure you unplug the printer before making any adjustments. Also don’t turn the screw too far the first time, just slowly turn it until it starts to sound better and move.

[eseprinting]

Have you checked your power supply. You will want to look and see if its set to 220V or 110V. Although its turned on and giving power to your board, it may not be giving power to the components. Most power supplies are automatically set at 220V when assembled/shipped in China. You may have that issue, if so just power down your printer, unplug it from the wall, and flick that little switch to 110V. Plug everything back in, turn it on, and it should connect without having any commands stacking.

[KippKyEva]

Attached is my Configuration.h file. This is the firmware currently loaded onto the printer. I had to upload as a pdf due the file type restrictions, so sorry if it proves a pain.

eseprinting: I will take a look at the power supply as soon as I can, but I do not remember the presence of a switch. I will examine it.

Valdaine: I did switch around the motors. Funny thing is, even when I swapped the motors to a differently labeled pin port, the original assignments still persisted. i.e. when I plugged the X motor into the Z port, manually advancing X in the software or on the LCD still operated the original (X) motor. The same held true for the others. I know you probably think I’m smoking something, but that is what I observed. I’m not entirely sure how to check the voltage, but I will explore the software and onboard interface to see if I can discern that. And I have no clue what a potentiometer is, I’m afraid. I will look that one up.

Thanks, again, for your help, gang!
Configuration_h.pdf (139 KB)

[KippKyEva]

Configadv.h if needed.
Configadv_h.pdf (121 KB)

[roko11]

Thanks for the upload,

That is weird. Let’s try this…

Disconnect power, take only the working motor and connect it to a different motor connection. From the configuration.h file it looks like you have a RAMPS board. So if it is X move it to Y or Z.

Leave the other motors including the extruder disconnected and try to move that motor using the control for that axis you hooked it to. If it works,move it to the other non-working axis. I’m pretty sure the extruder motor won’t work until you get to minimum temperature with the hotend, but don’t worry about that yet, we are fixing X,Y,Z for now

If both axes work using the “known good” motor that shows the drivers are functional. Now it’s time to connect the “non-working motors” one at a time to make sure they work.The orientation of the connector on the board will just reverse the direction of the motor when it spins. Just take a look at the color sequence of the wires on the working motor and make sure the non-working ones are correct…

Here is a pic of the A4998 driver chip for your stepper.

That is usually the one they ship. There is another type that is more robust but that is usually an optional thing. The round shiny circular metal object on the right is the potentiometer, See if they are all set “roughly” to the same orientation as the “working” one. Without a meter that is a rough guide to get them close but not completely accurate .

I don’t want to overload you with things to check, it would be better for you if you had somebody with a 3d printer that you knew who could give you “hands-on” help, It’s tough to diagnose over the web.

If the working motor does not move on the non-working connectors it could be the driver board itself.

Here is a pic of the RAMPS board with the driver boards.

Is that what you have? The stepper connections are above the driver boards from Left - X Y Z

from top Left Extruder 0 Extruder 1

If it came with 5 you have a spare driver board.

Let me know what happens.

[KippKyEva]

I went through the diagnostic process you described. X, Y, and Z all seem to be functional with the known functioning motor. When plugging in the questionable motor, it behaved the same as before; seeming to whir/grind, but not spinning. I have ordered a new motor to replace this, so hopefully things will go better after that. Thanks for all of your help!

To your last question, I believe the drivers are integrated, as there seem to be no removable boards on the MKS Base v1.4. You can see a photo of it here. Sorry, it’s not a great view.

[roko11]

OK,I see.

Your configuration.h file shows that you have a RAMPS1.4 selected as your board - define MOTHERBOARD 33

I just looked your board up and it is firmware compatible with the RAMPS 1.3/1.4.

Make sure the pins are pushed all the way into the connector when before you plug it in.

There were no instructions or downloadable files with your build from the manufacturer??

Good Luck! If you need more info after you get your replacement motors, we are here.