repetier firmware

Before I could get the official marlin-tantillus firmware to work, I used the repetier firmware with repetier host. But I got hooked on repetier host, and the firmware has some really nice features like eeprom saving of settings and binary communication. So I went back to the repetier firmware, but I had to do some modifications to get the fan working properly for example.

The fork is on github here: [github.com]

I don't have the LCD functions (eg. load/unload filament) implemented, because I don't have my LCD hooked up yet. But the fans are working correctly and printing from repetier host or sd card works great.

Here's what I've done so far:
- added description for Tantillus axis settings (see #TANTILLUS section in Cnfiguration.h)
- combined extruder and main fan (on Tantillus same fan is used to cool carriage)
- fan stays on to cool carriage while extruder reaches safe temperature after print finished
- defined FAN_PIN for Azteeg X1

Its always good to have alternatives. I have not tried Repetier but I think for USB it should be better. The feature to take multiple steps per interrupt to achieve higher speeds seems like a good idea too.

For the eeprom I just have it disabled in the Tantillus branch of Marlin as it can lead to troubleshooting issues when someone changes a setting on the LCD and saves it. Then they update the firmware and the new settings do not work because the eeprom saved ones overwrite the defaults in the firmware. If anyone wants them just uncomment the eeprom line in the config.

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Tantillus.org	Mini Printable Lathe	How NOT to install a Pololu driver

I just found the eeprom settings in marlin-tantillus last night And you are right, it can make debugging tricky, so it's a good idea to keep it disabled in the beginning.

One issue I'm having with marlin is with the sdcard. When I transfer files to the card on my pc, stick it in sdramps, they don't show up in marlin. The card is formatted FAT and the file names are 8.3. But with repertier there's no issues, even can see long filenames (although truncated to 8.3). Have you experienced any sdcard troubles with marlin? Do you use pronterface to transfer the files, or do you use an sdcard reader?

My i2c driver chip arrived, I'll make a pcb for it and then hopefully I'll have lcd on my tantillus soon!

I do not use Pronterface to transfer the files as it takes almost as long to transfer as it does to print. I just stick the gcode file on the card (even in folders) and it sees them. You do not need to worry about the format, Marlin will only show a certain number of characters regardless of the file name length. You do need to refresh the folder or restart Marlin once the card has been inserted unless you have a card reader with card detect and have the correct pin set and enabled in Marlin.

I am not sure how the I2C screen will work with Tantillus' branch of Marlin as it may not currently have support for it. If it has been added to the main branch of Marlin I may just be able to pull the commits but it may also be in a part that has changed drastically and not be merge-able any longer. Then it would require a re-write of either the I2C part or all of my changes into the current Marlin.

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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

Hmmm... Maybe I should do some more investigation with the pin layout then. I thought I checked everything, but when I transfer stuff on the computer and stick it in the sdramps board, it definitely doesn't see any folders, and maybe sees one or two files of the 20+ there is on it. I tried transferring a file over through the azteeg x1, but as you said it was painfully slow. What's funny is that the file was written to the sdcard, I can see it in the sd card reader, but not in sdramps. With repetier I can see all files and folders.

You use ramps, right? Wonder if it could be a sanguino incompatibility.

I'm pretty sure marlin supports the i2c driver chip I got, once I have the board built, I will test it with marlin-tantillus.

And off topic, I'll have to look into 4mm ID bowden mod, I have two spools of gorgeous red pla that the 1/8" ID bowden is too tight for. I saw some posts of yours where you mentioned you also use 4mm bowden on some of your machines.

I looked at the main branch of Marlin and it looks like they added the I2C parts after I branched it and now all the parts I changed for Tantillus are completely rewritten and make it harder to merge the changes.

The SD transfer function has also been improved in Marlin since my branching that allows binary transfers which speed things up greatly.

Yes I use Ramps for all my Tantillus (Sanguinololu on my Prusa but no SD or screen)

Can you try the main branch of Marlin and see if the SD works for you there and then compare the pins.h to see if it is a pin issue?

The 4mm ID tubing works and there are a few machines using it (none I currently have). I think it is actually 5/32" ID

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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

It wasn't the marlin-tantillus firmware. I uploaded the latest marlin from github, same issue. Then I dug up a different sdcard, and it's all working as expected.

Yeah Marlin is really picky about the SD card. I had no idea Repetier was able to handle the others. I guess I have another reason to look into it.

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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

I made an i2c controller for my 1602 lcd using a PCF8574A, it's working with the latest marlin. In marlin-tantillus, it looks like there is no i2c lcd support. What do you suggest: merging the latest marlin into marlin-tantillus, or just adding i2c lcd support to the current marlin-tantillus?

Probably neither route is small feat, but I was wondering if you think there are features in the latest marlin that would be nice to have.

I am not sure of the changes in Marlin but I do know a lot of it was rewritten by Daid to clean things up and as he says make it easier to make changes. Although I think it would be best to have the Tantillus features added to the latest Marlin to allow it to be used with all the new electronics and get the fixes for things like the binary SD upload I am afraid that it would require a lot of testing as RepRap is full of push it out untested and let those using it suffer. So if you are willing to do the merges please feel free and I will try and test it. But otherwise it would be best to use the Tantillus branch as it is at least well tested and has very few bugs.

One of the main reasons Tantillus has its own branch of Marlin is I had to do a bunch of work to the LCD code to get the relevant data to display on the 16x02 screen in the correct places. The main branch of Marlin at the time allowed you to set it to 16x02 but then had the numbers set in location to be at the far right side of a 20x04 screen. It also had a lot of the data on the extra two lines as well as not allowing you to scroll unless it had more than 4 lines of information and still only show two.

Also note that I am not a programmer so my code may not be that clean. Also my commits at the time are a mess and not labelled correctly.

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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

Ok, I'll try to add your changes to the latest marlin. I assume most tantillus users have the LCD wired directly, so adding the i2c stuff to marlin-tantillus is probably not the way to go.

I see your point about the firmware changing fast and with insufficient testing. Add to that all the #defines and #ifdef, with zero help for those from the arduino IDE, and you got insane craziness. I wish there was a firmware with some sort of plugin architecture instead off the wall of #defines.

lajos Wrote:
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> I
> wish there was a firmware with some sort of plugin
> architecture instead off the wall of #defines.

Back when I used Teacup it was a little more like that. It had a separate config file for each board so to add a board you created a new config and added it to the repo. It is still under development and has recently had look-ahead added to it so it may be a viable option as well.

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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