Second serial port

Hello all
Just on a bit of a steep learning curve here, but getting there.

Have a Rambo 1.4 with Marling loaded.
Board is plugged into a laptop for the software, and has an LCD plugged into the board as well.

I want to add a remote, but all the ones I have found utilise the USB to the laptop.
I see a second serial port is commented out in the Marlin software. How do you configure this?

If I enable that serial port (although efforts so far have not worked), would I be able to have a second serial comm link to the Rambo? Or is that not how it works?

Ideally, I need to be able to retrieve X,Y and Z data, and also send G code.

Any other suggestions on how I could achieve a second serial communications avenue?

Thanks

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2019 01:25PM by Stevolution.

I have a AT Mega 2560 Arduino, though this information should be valid for all 3D Printers.

When our 3D Printer was moved away from my computers.
I found that a Raspberry Pi running OctoPrint was all I needed to be able to control all my devices two 3D Printers and a CNC from any distance.
With a web cam connected you can view the current status of any machine, and could preform an emergency shutdown if needed.
The Raspberry Pi is connect to my local gigabit network for ultimate performance.

I would suggest looking into OctoPrint.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2019 03:29PM by Roberts_Clif.

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Computer Programmer / Electronics Technician

On the mega2560 based controller the serial ports are hardware ports on the chip.
These are all 5v logic serial ports. Serial 0 is connected to a serial to usb chip so you can plug it into usb.

You would need to identify the serial port pins on your board,
trace where they go to currently (as most are likely used as i/o lines for something else)
move any critical pins to other pins to free up the 2 serial pins.
Attach a usb/serial convert to the new serial port.

Then enable the second serial port in marlin

I think all the serial ports are broken-out already on the Rambo board (by the looks of the circuit diagram anyway). Although one must be used for the LCD screen.
My question I suppose is, if you enabled a second serial port in Marlin, will it actually be pre-programmed to do anything?
Enabling it is one thing, but it being coded to achieve anything is another. I almost need it to be a carbon copy of the standard USB serial (which I doubt it is, as that would introduce conflicts).

I was trying to make a remote that didn't need the laptop fired up to operate. I hate the LCD screen.

I have dumped my Marlin code onto a spare 2560p, and will play around with that. Rather than slip and kill my CNC Rambo board.