Things falling apart...

OK, so my build was so close and it’s all fallen apart now. I could really use some advice on the best way forward here. I’m using the TechZone Gen 3 electronics (remix, not monolithic).

Short version is I had all axes moving, extruder running, hotend working etc. I could not get a print of anything. Eventually determined that the Z axis was moving more than it should. Knowing I could adjust that in the firmware, and needed to update anyway (for sf40+) decided to do so. Being a cautious type I decided to backup the factory installed firmware using avrdude before replacing it. That went fine. One last test to verify things are still good before replacing the firmware, and they aren’t. I can no longer move any of the axes, extruder or anything. Initially repsnapper held a connection, motors just whined. Once they were able to move positive steps but not negative, but never for more than a few minutes. Now repsnapper won’t connect, connection times out. I’ve tried three different usb cables, one quite new, and none have issues with other devices.

Is there anything that can be deduced from the state of the leds on the boards?

I could just update the firmware, but I’m nervous doing that in my current state. Is that really my best option?

Well, it can't get any worse now, so go ahead and flash. Besides, if you can get arduino IDE to connect, then you know the chip is ok.

Forget about the rest of the machine for now (i.e. disconnect everything from the board). Flash fresh software, and see if you can jog a single axis. If that works, see if you can jog multiple axes. If that works, add your endstops (be sure they are disabled in firmware for all the previous tests;^). Finally, add your hot end and thermocouples.

Good luck!

Seems to be the consensus. Unfortunately...

Binary sketch size: 15340 bytes (of a 63488 byte maximum)
avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_disable(): protocol error, expect=0x14, resp=0x51

Urgh. Tried hitting reset button during this as well. May need to compile and try loading with avrdude directly.

Argh... So this is gen 3 electronics. Just realized I need to put a jumper onto the pins that are... aren't there. Damn it! I already had to add the missing ICSP headers and now this. Not up for soldering tonight, will try again tomorrow.

One ray of sunshine, I was able to update the firmware on the extruder. :-)

I don't know avrdude, but have you tried using Arduino to load the firmware? I don't think the TZ Gen 3 remix needs a jumper.

Yes, was trying Arduino. That's where the error message is from. No activity light on during programming.

The board layout for the TZ Gen 3 has a spot for the jumper. Seems worth a try since it isn't working otherwise.

... without the jumper you have to press the rest button shortly after the compiled size is shown in the text window for syncing the board ...

---

Viktor
--------
Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Aaaarrrrrgh!!!

So, added the pins and jumper. No improvement. Tried arduino-21 instead of 22. No improvement. Thought for a minute, tried 18. It worked! I got new firmware on the mb!

Go back, power it up, turn on repsnapper, connect. Time out. Damn it! The extruder wheel is spinning for no apparent reason after that.

Think for a minute. Maybe try the original TZ firmware instead of teacup. Compile, upload. Same error again avrdude: stk500_... blah blah blah.

The Sanguino stuff says -18 on it. Hmm. Maybe try burning the bootloader again with -18. Do that. Compile, upload. Same error again avrdude: stk500_... blah blah blah.

This is awful. Incredibly frustrating project. I've been in this loop of not being able to control the machine for a week now. After a week of not realizing my toolchain was messed up and you had to update the firmware just to change values in one software program to get output to use in another that was working but suddenly stopped working. AAAAHHHHRRRRG!!!!!!