Repetier Host .90b "Pauses"

Guys - I'm running Repetier Host on three different computers, driving three different printers, all running Repetier firmware.

Since the upgrade, each printer / computer combination has experienced random "pauses" where the planner buffer empties, and the printer is waiting on the host for more moves. It only lasts for a second or so, but it's enough to stop the head, which obviously causes an artifact on the print.

This happens maybe once every thirty minutes or so. All the computers are running W7, and all are rather slow, older machines that do nothing other than run Repetier Host.

Any thoughts? This does not appear to happen in conjunction with the switch from "path" view to "no path" view. Nothing on the computers has change other than the upgrade to Repetier Host. I was already running 0.9.10b slic3r, so I do not believe it to be a slic3r problem.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2013 12:30PM by SystemsGuy.

I get the same thing but more frequently. It's definitely not something I noticed under the previous version. Watching the process list shows that repetier CPU use spikes right when the pause occurs. It happens whether I'm doing anything else or not.

Are there any resend requests when it happens? Or wait responses in the repetier.log?That would at least explain the pauses, also a wait should not cause a cpu peak.

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Here's part of the log for a print I just did. I searched on error, wait and resend in the whole log, no hits.

Just for yucks I'm going to reboot. Magical things happen to windows when you reboot. Mysterious problems disappear.


16:32:44.403 : N23699 G1 X88.632 Y81.027 F7800 *108
> 16:32:44.464 : ok
< 16:32:44.465 : N23700 G1 X88.712 Y80.947 E1.00293 F1200 *46
> 16:32:44.484 : ok
< 16:32:44.486 : N23701 G1 X88.632 Y81.027 E0.00293 F3694.336 *48
> 16:32:44.513 : ok
< 16:32:44.515 : N23702 G1 Z10.255 *107
< 16:32:44.516 : N23703 G92 E0 *98
> 16:32:44.545 : ok
< 16:32:44.547 : N23704 G1 X86.586 Y81.831 *13
> 16:32:44.607 : ok
< 16:32:44.609 : N23705 G1 Z9.955 *95
> 16:32:44.611 : ok

At least that part looks normal. 7 commands in 0.2 seconds it not what I call a wait. Speed of course depends on the commands we have to wait for, to get finished.

And yes, restarting windows is a valid fix method in many cases:-)

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I've had the same printer pausing issue with version .90C while using sprinter firmware. It started to occur after upgrading from version 0.83 to 90c.

The host software seems to stop sending gcode to the printer after the mouse has been unmoved for some period of time. Just moving the mouse causes the gcode to flow again and the printer continues. The time period the mouse remains unmoved and when the freeze happens seems to be random. It can take minutes to 10's of seconds. It doesn't seem to matter if the host software window is in the foreground or background.

Any help would be appreciated. If you need anything from me that might help solve this problem, let me know.

That is very stange. Can't think of a reason why moving or not moving a mouse should make a difference to sending data. Data gets send asynchronously in a background process.

What computer and windows version are you using? Do you have .NET 4.0 installed or only 3.5?

If you open a task manager in parallel does it show something unusal like high load when it happens?

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I'm running Win 7 on a scratch built PC. I did notice that I wasn't using the latest .NET, so I updated windows to get 4.0. It didn't seem to make a difference.

I looked at the task manager when this happens. The utilization goes to zero. It runs 5-10% while printing. The last log entry when a pause occurs is always the OK acknowlegment of the Printer's Arduino board.

I use a wireless mouse, I tried another brand with no change. I'll try a wired mouse to see if that helps. I tried reducing the com link to 9600 from 19200. No change. ALso tried playing with the com port FIFO settings with no change in result.

When I upgrade to 0.90C, I had to check the "wait for OK before sending next command" check box in the printer setup to get the communications to work. I didn't use that check box previously. Not sure what change in the software requires that now.

If all fails, I'll work back to my original firmware version and an older version of the host to see if I can pinpoint what change might be responsible. I may also try my laptop with an older host version and then the new version installed.

I'll let you know what I find out. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

One thing could be that a component goes into sleep mode and moving the mouse wakes that device, e.g. the usb port or a usb hub. That would at least make sense also I do not like the idea that a device goes into energy saving mode while being used. But I already know from the Mac that user actions prevent sleep mode not software actions. So if you could try if disabling energy saving solves the problem. In that case I would google on how to prevent that form the software side.

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Repetier-Software - the home of Repetier-Host (Windows, Linux and Mac OS X) and Repetier-Firmware.
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I am having the pause issue as well. I'm running Windows 7 and Repetier .90c. I've set the laptop computer NOT to enter sleep mode while it is plugged in but if the mouse is idle for a bit (varies from time to time), the print will pause until the mouse is moves. Fine for quick prints but a bit of a pain for prints taking a couple of hours.

The next release triggers a signal to prevent sleep mode. Not sure if it helps in that case, but maybe it has the same effect like moving the mouse.

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Repetier-Software - the home of Repetier-Host (Windows, Linux and Mac OS X) and Repetier-Firmware.
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I just installed version .95F, and the pauses still occur. I've notices other instances recently when not running the software when I get freezing on my computer and the mouse seems frozen for a moment. Sounds like it is something with windows or another app. Looks like I'm reinstalling windows... Uhggg!

gcode streaming is just not the best option. check out my blogpost on [www.tripodmaker.com] to get more info on this topic

I went to the task manager and changed the priority of repetier-host to high. I haven't noticed the problem since then.

I was getting the same thing with both 0.90b and 0.82b. It happened whenever there was a rapid-fire of gcode commands sent to the printer (such as what is used in slic3r's gap fill). I thought at first it might be that communication was interrupted over the USB cable, but I'm not so sure now.