I wanted to showcase to a friend how Simplify 3D works. I connected my laptop via USB to his CTC 3D printer (basically a Flashforge creator) and did the advised setup with Sailfish firmware … etc.
Anyways we kicked off a basic print, the heated bed kicked in … however after that the LCD display on the printer became jumbled and spit out random blocks & numbers. No heating of the extruders occurred (even though in Simplify 3D it said it was preheating) and basically no progress happened after that.
My questions are:
Is this a software/firmware issue anyone has seen before?
Did we miss a crucial part of the setup? (e.g. baud rate or x3g settings)
When the random output on the LCD appears. This normally is a one time malfunction that can happen on the printer. Then press the reset button, and the printer restarts. After wards you can try printing again.
When you installed sailfish did you write down the offsets, reset the eeprom back to factory settings, then restore you old homing offsets? This is a crucial step.
Are you printing over usb? this is not advised. people may tell you they do it all the time, but I listen to the author of the firmware who recommends not printing from USB
If you are concerned about jumbled letters on your LCD, press the right button on sailfish and it resets the display driver. Re-routeing cables away from your ribbon cable underneath helps with that.
I installed sailfish over a year ago, even if I wrote those down … they are long gone. Yes I am printing over USB (mainly for live adjustment of temperature). I will take a look at my routing of cables later today. Thanks for the advice.
Even if you usually print via USB, problems with USB printing are not uncommon. You might want to try the same print from SD card just to see if that works. If it does you could use another USB cable. If that does not change results, there might be a problem with the USB controller on the board.
