Pronterface and Cura Problem

Hallo Allemaal,
sinds kort heb ik mijn Prusa i3 na veel studie en met vallen en opstaan "werkend", dat wil zeggen dat de bewegingen in de x, y en z assen OK. zijn, dat de nozzle en het printbed op temperatuur komen etc. etc.
Als ik in Cura of Prointerface een testobject wil printen, na alle handelingen zoals Connect, Temp. instellingen en STL-file laden gevolgd te hebben gebeurt het volgende: de printer warmt op, in de infolijst wordt
zeer veel info gegeven, connected etc., en als laatste "Printer gereed". Maar als ik dan op print druk, op welke manier dan ook, dan gaat de machine "Homen", printkop linksonder, printbed naar voor, maar daarna gebeurt er verder niets. De infolijst geeft aan dat er geprint wordt en direct daarna "print gereed".

Ik gebruik Arduino-0023, Marlin en Sanguino-1284p. Naar mijn idee zijn alle instellingen goed, er komen geen foutmeldingen in config.h, de machine "Homed", mijn eindschakelaars als volgt: X-as links, Y-as voor, Z=as links onder. Ik weet verder niet waar nog iets ontbreekt of waar ik iets vergeten ben of een fout gemaakt heb. Ik ben weken met plezier bezig geweest om de machine te bouwen en de software in te stellen (vooral dat) en ik ben er zoooooooooooooooo dicht bij......
Wie kan helpen????????????????????
Peter J.

can you say this in english?

Hello All Cura and Pronterface users,
Recently I finished assembling my own Prua i3. I enjoined the work and my machine is "running". I am using Arduino 0023, Marlin and Sanguino 1284p.
As main program I am using Cura or Pronterface.
All the stepper motors are running properly and in the light directions, the printhead is heating up to the right temperature, as is the printerbed. This counts for both programs.

But, when using Cura or Pronterface as main program to print a test object, the machine is "homing", but immidiate after that the machine stops and it seems that the connection
Is broken up. That is, i can then move the x and y-axes freely in their respective directions.
I played about 3 months in Marlin,s config.h until I got the machine running but now I don,t know where to look to find out what is wrong.
I think it is not in Cura or Pronterface, maybe something in config.h?

Please is there someone who knows about this problem, I am grateful for all the help.
Thanks and have a nice day.
Peter j.

Quote
Mechanic
But, when using Cura or Pronterface as main program to print a test object, the machine is "homing", but immidiate after that the machine stops and it seems that the connection
Is broken up. That is, i can then move the x and y-axes freely in their respective directions.

this is how disconnect looks by me but im using sprinter and melzi board

Quote
pronterface
Can't read from printer (disconnected?).
Can't write to printer (disconnected?).

did you buy a kit?

Ok back up a bit, just use Pronterface:

1) When you start in the middle of the bed, can you move + and - 10mm on the X and Y axis? Do they both go the right direction and distance?
2) Can you move up and down 10mm on Z and is it the right direction?
3) Do you see any messages that say "end stop hit"?
4) When you only hit "home X" what happens?
5) When you only hit "home Y" what happens?
6) When you only hit "home Z" what happens?

It's a lot easier to dig through this one piece at a time.

If everything just dies when you try to tell the motors to move, check your power supply.

Hello Mekmekmek and uncle Bob,
thanks for your answers.
To uncle Bob,
to #1 yes, I think it is the right direction - = towards me, + away from me; to #2 yes, I think it is the right direction, + = up, - = down; to #3 must check; to #4 printhead goes to the left and hits endstop; to #5 printbed goes towards me and hits endstop; to #6 printhead moves down and hits endstop.
The power supply is brand new, all motors "homing" works fine.
I will mail you about #3.
Thank you.

Your "home" position is in the wrong location. In that location, the +Z axis will be down. The print will try to go down through your printing surface. Either change the location so it's "move right / move forward" or "move left / move back".

Hello uncle Bob,,
Thanks for your reply, i changed the y-endstop to the rear.and the machine is now "homing to the rear and to the left, i.e. the printhead is now to the left and the printbed is to the rear.
But, after loading an object and the printer is heated up, and when I command "print", the connection is (seems to be) broken, i can then move the bed in both x an y directions.

Is it possible that there is "noise" from the wires on the moment just after the print command? Or do I have to look in the marlin config.h?
I use a Sanguinololu board, and I tried with both Pronterface and the newest Cura, wich have a special setup for Prusa i3. In both main programs the effect is the same, no printing.
Have you an idea of were to look, certainly not in Pronterface or Cura.
Thank you for your help, as it seems I am soooooo close to print
Have a nice day.
Peter J.

Are there any messages after you hit print?

You should see it watching the temperature of the heated bed for a while:

Print started at: 10:55:07
T:224.70 E:0 B:104.7
T:224.80 E:0 B:104.4
T:225.01 E:0 B:104.1
T:225.11 E:0 B:103.7

After it gets to temperature you should see it count down:

T:224.8 E:0 W:8
T:224.6 E:0 W:7
T:224.6 E:0 W:6
T:224.5 E:0 W:5
T:224.5 E:0 W:4
T:224.3 E:0 W:3
T:224.3 E:0 W:2
T:224.4 E:0 W:1
T:224.3 E:0 W:0

Once it gets to zero, the print will start.

Hi uncle Bob,
I have never seen these messages, I wait, until the machine reaches the preferred temperature and then I hit the print button.
I will try to wait longer and then, maybe, I see these messages, I keep you posted.
Thanks anyway for your help, and I will again overlook my config.h in Marlin.
Have a nice day.
Peter j., The Netherlands.

text like

Quote

T:224.8 E:0 W:8
T:224.6 E:0 W:7
T:224.6 E:0 W:6
T:224.5 E:0 W:5
T:224.5 E:0 W:4
T:224.3 E:0 W:3
T:224.3 E:0 W:2
T:224.4 E:0 W:1
T:224.3 E:0 W:0

will only genarated if your start g-code tells your mashine to do so.

again did you buy a kit or build it your self?
May be it help when you puplish your configuration.h of your firmware and specifications of used hardware.

The default setup in most slicing programs does indeed have the printer generate wait messages as it's getting ready to fire up. Slic3r defaults that way and I beleive Cura does as well.

----

In Pronterface, you take the gcode output from your slicing program and use the "load file" button to bring in the custom gcode. It will then show a little sketch of the first layer of the part. Once you have that, hitting print should start sending it to the printer. There is a debug setting that you can use to watch everything that goes to and from the printer.

That all assumes you are setting up everything with Pronterface rather than the LCD. If the only time you use Pronterface is when you hit print, then it may be a connection issue with Pronterface.

Good evening uncle Bob and Mekmekmek,
, yes I bought a complete kit, a Prusa i3 with arduino Sanguinololu electronics. i built the kit myself and made some mechanical changes, just minor issues like the use of typical boots and nuts, nothing to influence the electronics.
As software I use Arduino 0023, Marlin and Sanguino 1284p.
As mentioned, both in Pronterface and Cura, I can "home" the 3 axes, printhead and printbed on temperature and after loading a small .stl file (puzzle), the motors are blocked, i.e. Under current and I can't move them.
After hitting the print button the message is at th last line: printing, but the machine is disconnected and I can freely move the motors and no printing.
Today I loaded all the programs again from zero, no change.
Could it be the board? Why the "disconnect" without any message, the list says still: printing.
I think it is not the main programm like Cura Pronterface. Could it be in Marlin config.h?
Thank you both for your time and have a nice day.
Greetz,
Peter J.

Are you sure you are loading gcode that's custom to your printer and not the stl file?

I have never seen Pronterface disconnect all on it's own. It does not disconnect at the end of a print. You deed to disconnect it manually. The only thing that I can think of that would cause a disconnect is a reboot of the CPU on the Mega board. That might be caused by the +12 line going very low when the print is commanded to start.

Hi uncle Bob and Mekmekmek,
I load a .stl file from Thingiverse, a small puzzle, after that I hit "print" on my screen. Do I have to do something more? Tomorrow I will try again with Pronterface, matbe there is some more info.
Still no success with cura.
There is no lack of power in the powerpack because, when the machine disconnects, the current on the printbed, led, is still there. I am running out of ideas and I have no clue of what is going on.
Anywhay, thanks and have nice day.
Peter J.

You can't directly print stl files.

The full process is:

1) Come up with an idea
2) Sketch it up with a CAD program
3) Use the CAD program to generate a generic description of the part in an stl file
4) Take the generic stl and convert it to gcode that is custom to your printer with slic3r or some other slicing program
5) Use a program like Pronterface to feed the gcode to your printer
4) Marlin (or similar) firmware turns the gcode into signals for the printer
5) A control board (like Ramps) routes the signals from the CPU running the firmware to the bits and pieces on the printer.


Hope that helps....

Hello uncle Bob and others,
Thanks for all your efforts.
Today I made mij first print, hurray"........, of corse without filament but with hot nozzle and hot printbed.
But, I only could do that because I disabled in confi.h the endstop settings, the line in "mechanical settings" just after "coarse". I disabled with //. Anyway, I know now that that the mechanics and my Sanguinololu board Are OK.
Without the disabled endstops my stepper motors will not home and/or the move in the wrong direction. My settings in config.h are still not OK.
I managed to make a config.h where the axisses x, y, and z move in the right directions and home, but no printing.

As I think there are lots of Prusa i3 printer out there with arduino 0023, sanguinololu 1284p and marlin, and I wonder if somebody could attach a working config.h for my machine configuration so I can than check line for line where I went wrong. The only part I need is the part "mechanical settings". All the other parts, heating etc. works perfect.
I would be very greatfull to all.
Greetz and have nice day.
Peter j.

Even with an i3 there are lots of different ways to set it up. Some things are personal preference. Other things depend on how yours is built. You are *far* better off to take the time to understand the configuration.h settings than to just take my file and have three things wrong in it. You will be modifying that file for years as the printer grows and things get changed...

Your problem with the end stops likely has to do with pull-ups (they should be enabled), and sense (depends on how they are wired - your choice). If pull ups are enabled, flip the sense.

Thanks uncle Bob, I am working on it and keep you posted.
Greetz,
Peter J.

Hello uncle Bob,
Eureka, today my printer works well, after configuration and calibration.
The main coarse that it taked so much time is...........me, myself and I. It came out that, when I started to print, I did not gave the printer the time to load the sliced software to my board. I did see the light when I started my Samsung HD television set, that takes time as well.
Anyway, I learned a lot from you, most important lesson was: try and found out yourself. I now "understand" what happens while printing.
Thank you for your kind cooperation and, if necessary, I will contact you again.
For now, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for you and your family.

Thanks again.
Peter J. , from Holland/The Netherlands