Reprap Prusa Mendel & Pronterface Help

Hi all,

I got my Prusa mendel all connected tonight. I have managed to connect to the printer using Pronterface, But once its connected it wont let me manually move the motors. I have no extruder or heated bed connected as i haven't bought them yet, i just want to test the motors.

I am using the Ramps 1.4 with Arduino MEGA 2560. (12v 5A laptop charger)

When i connect to the printer through Pronterface i get this list of information down the right had column:

Connecting...
Sprinter
1.3.22T / 20.08.2012
start
Printer is now online.
SD Start
SD init fail
Soft PWM Init
Planner Init
Stepper Timer init
Free Ram: 4139
Plan Buffer Size:1152 / 16
ok T:0 @:0 B:0


Can someone please help?

Thanks,
Adam

I don't know about sprinter, but in Marlin, I'm pretty sure you get nowhere unless you have your thermisters connected.

I was able to find some test firmware out there whose sole purpose was the move all of the motors. I can't remember where I found it though. On the reprap wiki somewhere.

Have you connected 12v power to to the Ramps board (the outer connector)?

No I've just pluged the 12v supply into arduino board, I thought the top power outlet block was for heated bed??

Thanks

no, that plug powers the whole board, just plug everything in. the barrel connector only powers the arduino.

Ok can I use another 12v 5A laptop charger to power the ramps?

Thanks for your help

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2013 03:44AM by adamlister.

you should just hook the 12v 5a power supply up to the ramps, and then add the diode to the ramps to make it power the arduino. personally i havent had time to install the extra diode, so i just plug the usb cable for the arduino into a cell phone charger. give that a try and you should be good to go. and if its not too much trouble if you can put a picture of how you have it hooked up that might help us out too!

I get pretty much the same info and I'm fully running. The only thing I notice that fails is the SD card initialization. I get that too as I'm not using the SD Ramps board.

Thanks Aduy,

I bought an adapter that plugs into the power block on the ramps so I can plug laptop charger in and everything works fine (motors & end stops). For some reason I don't need power to the arduino to run the motors & end stops? Is this because I'm not running the hot end yet or is the diode you were talking about installed on the board? The setup at the minute is laptop charger powering ramps and USB cable from computer to arduino.

Cheers for your help!

Hi!! I am having what I believe to be "simple" (!!!!???) driver problems connecting to my printer - It is a used one I just bought, which the guy who sold it demo'ed to us right before we unplugged it and carried it home, so it works fine. I down loaded Arduino 023 as he instructed (not 1.0.4) and can connect to the Arduino and run "Blink" just fine. I downloaded Slic3r and PronterFace - PronterFace opens fine, but does not connect - I checked the Port (COM4) and stepped through every baudrate, but the Icon for the connection to the printer still says "unrecognized device" - I loaded up several different drivers - the board is a Arduino 2560 - to no avail. Called the guy who sold it to us, and he says that I wipe out the Arduino code when I loaded Blink - No idea how to "fix" that... He lives 700miles away, so no help from him anymore... HELP?? :-(

He's right! When you uploaded the "blink" prog, you deleted the Reprap firmware - why did you do that?
Anyway, you need to download a copy of the firmware you prefer, say "Sprinter" then upload that to the Arduino board.