Stepper only goes one direction and won't home?

Sorry guys, been looking around for quite a bit and tried a few things, but all to no avail. I'll try to provide lots of information, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm running RepSnap, with Kliment Kip firmware. So far, I can connect to the printer through RepSnap. Temp reads fine and warms up. I can bump the positive direction (away from the opto?) but I can't bump in the negative direction at all. If I hit any of the home buttons it just seems to bump a small amount in the positive direction. Doesn't seem to be overheating and I think I have the Pololu steppers tuned in reasonably. I've independently (with my little Duemilanove board) checked the function of the motors/drivers/temp sensor. steppers and drivers work in both directions no problem on the Due.

Is there something I'm missing? I thought I had the config file properly set, but I could be entirely wrong. I'm running an ultimachine 1.2 and Mega 2650. Recommendations? Different firmware? Give up and grab a beer?

Oooh! Switched to the standard tesla-tonokip firmware and now it moves in two directions! I had to invert two of the axes to get them to home in the proper direction, but now it doesn't seem to 'see' the minimum proxes. More testing!

I would personally start by disabling the end stops in the firmware, this way you can confirm everything else works the way it is supposed to. If it works fine you know its an issue with the end stops and you could try inverting them.

I would also use ReplicatorG for your host/slicing. Ben jackson has a special build for use with kilimentkip and teacup.
source [github.com] precompiled [ben.com]

I personally use Teacup firmware with replicatorG. I have info on setting it up available on my blog.

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FFF Settings Calculator	Gcode post processors	Geometric Object Deposition Tool Blog
Tantillus.org	Mini Printable Lathe	How NOT to install a Pololu driver

Might be worth mentioning that the 'home' buttons for each axis in repsnapper don't actually home to the endstops. Not sure why but recall having similar trouble and reading that somewhere. The 'home all' button does what you'd expect (moves all axis to the home position) but before you go rushing to press it make sure you have a quick option to kill the power, if one of the axis goes the wrong way or the endstops aren't working you might end up sending part of the machine crashing into another - a major problem if it occures on the z axis.

What kind of endstops have you got? if the have leds you can creep toward them manually and see if the light comes on when activated as a first step.

I'm having that same issue. Except, I'm already using Tesla-Tonokip firmware with RepSnapper.

Can someone who understands the code give us a hint as to why the bot might behave that way? Like, does it mean the optos are hooked up wrong? Does it mean some setting in the code is inverted?

I think that may have been the core of the problem. The home wasn't going the way I thought it was. Now, finally I've nearly got it pretty much set up. Still haven't made a print yet...'cause I burned out one of the Pololu drivers when a lead came loose and zapped what looks like a capacitor. CURSES! Foiled again! Thanks for all your guys help so far. Once I get a new driver I'll let you know what happens.

i know thats how it behaved for me when i had my endstop settings wrong, so it always thought it was home, thats why it would only move that one way from what i know.

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[mike-mack.blogspot.com]

Hooray! Everything's pretty much working now. It took me quite a bit of trial and error, but it seems like everythings moving in the correct directions at the correct times, which is pretty fantastic.

The only problem I've been having now is that it doesn't seem to keep track of the temperature while it's printing, so it keeps cooling down and then everything goes quite poorly from there. Any thoughts?

By the by, thank you all for all of the help along the way. Shown below are my pins and config files. That and one of the main problems I found...using the wrong repsnapper software. I never did get the tonokip teacup stuff to respond. Ah well. Seems pretty happy now.


#define X_STEP_PIN 26
#define X_DIR_PIN 28
#define X_ENABLE_PIN 24
#define X_MIN_PIN 3
#define X_MAX_PIN 2

#define Y_STEP_PIN 38
#define Y_DIR_PIN 40
#define Y_ENABLE_PIN 36
#define Y_MIN_PIN 16
#define Y_MAX_PIN 17

#define Z_STEP_PIN 44
#define Z_DIR_PIN 46
#define Z_ENABLE_PIN 42
#define Z_MIN_PIN 18
#define Z_MAX_PIN 19

#define E_STEP_PIN 32
#define E_DIR_PIN 34
#define E_ENABLE_PIN 30

//#define FAN_PIN 11 // UNCOMMENT THIS LINE FOR V1.0
#define FAN_PIN 10 // THIS LINE FOR V1.1

#define PS_ON_PIN -1
#define KILL_PIN -1

//#define HEATER_0_PIN 12 // UNCOMMENT THIS LINE FOR V1.0
#define HEATER_0_PIN 10 // THIS LINE FOR V1.1
#define TEMP_0_PIN 2

#define BED_TEMP_0_PIN 1
#define BED_HEATER_0_PIN 8

//chamber settings not working yet

#define CHAMBER_TEMP_PIN -1 //analog

#define EXHAUST_FLAP_PIN -1 //servo actuated, need PWM
#define EXHAUST_FAN_PIN -1







// PLEASE VERIFY PIN ASSIGNMENTS FOR YOUR CONFIGURATION!!!!!!!

// THERMOCOUPLE SUPPORT UNTESTED... USE WITH CAUTION!!!!
const bool USE_THERMISTOR = true; //Set to false if using thermocouple
//If using thermocouple with RAMPS you cannot use the t0 and t1 labeled headers, you need to use an empty analog pin.

// Calibration formulas
// e_extruded_steps_per_mm = e_feedstock_steps_per_mm * (desired_extrusion_diameter^2 / feedstock_diameter^2)
// new_axis_steps_per_mm = previous_axis_steps_per_mm * (test_distance_instructed/test_distance_traveled)
// units are in millimeters or whatever length unit you prefer: inches,football-fields,parsecs etc

//Calibration variables
float x_steps_per_unit = 64; //64 for 10 tooth 5mm pulleys
float y_steps_per_unit = 64;
float z_steps_per_unit = 384;
float e_steps_per_unit = 7; //17.6 for adrians 36.7 for MakerGear extruder 14-17 for wades(Varies based on hobbing) ****these are all calculated for 16x microstepping
float max_feedrate = 18000;

//For Inverting Stepper Enable Pins (Active Low) use 0, Non Inverting (Active High) use 1
const bool X_ENABLE_ON = 0;
const bool Y_ENABLE_ON = 0;
const bool Z_ENABLE_ON = 0;
const bool E_ENABLE_ON = 0;

//Disables axis when it's not being used. Z is the only one recommended to disable.
const bool DISABLE_X = false;
const bool DISABLE_Y = false;
const bool DISABLE_Z = true;
const bool DISABLE_E = false;

const bool INVERT_X_DIR = true;
const bool INVERT_Y_DIR = false;
const bool INVERT_Z_DIR = true;
const bool INVERT_E_DIR = false;

//homing settings
const int homedistance = 250;
const long xysearchrate = 2000;
const long zsearchrate = 70;

//Endstop Settings
//if you do not have max hardware endstops, it defaults to software endstops, defined by the max length numbers.
//if you do not have min hardware endstops, the firmware will not move to lengths less than 0
//#define USE_INTERNAL_PULLUPS
const bool ENDSTOPS_INVERTING = true;
//const bool x_max_hardware = false;
const bool x_min_hardware = true;
const int X_MAX_LENGTH = 212;
//const bool y_max_hardware = false;
const bool y_min_hardware = true;
const int Y_MAX_LENGTH = 205;
//const bool z_max_hardware = false;
const bool z_min_hardware = true;
const int Z_MAX_LENGTH = 70;


//Temperature Control Settings
const int nozzle_check = 500; //this defines how many milliseconds between checking nozzle temp
const int hbp_check = 3000; //this defines how many milliseconds between checking heated build platform temp

//serial settings
#define BAUDRATE 115200
#define SENDSTART //comment out on windows machines. sends "start" when booting up.

//#define LINENUM
//#define CHECKSUM
//#define ECHOING

if you are using repsnapper check the gcode tabe i know mine at first the default temp was 75c

look for this line
"M104 S73.0" and change it to M104 S200.0 or what ever you want to print at

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[mike-mack.blogspot.com]

Yep....That was exactly it! Thanks!


dissidence Wrote:
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> if you are using repsnapper check the gcode tabe i
> know mine at first the default temp was 75c
>
> look for this line
> "M104 S73.0" and change it to M104 S200.0 or what
> ever you want to print at