Show all posts by user
Page 1 of 1 Pages: 1
Results 1 — 24 of 24
You can still use the boards you have - just check the schematics to figure out what pins on the Arduino board connects to where on the controller and write your own firmware. While this takes a bit of tinkering, I'm fairly certain it will result in an overall easier project. Your needs seems a lot simpler than what Marlin (and other firmwares like it) has to deal with, so I think you will cut 95
by
agehall
-
Firmware - Marlin
I'm not sure using the Marlin firmware for this is the best way of going about this.
It is fairly easy to drive stepper drivers directly from an Arduino (or whatever you like to use) and there are plenty of examples of how to use LCDs and rotary encoders. I think writing the software you need from scratch might be a lot easier tbh.
You might also want to look into Nextion HMIs - they are awesom
by
agehall
-
Firmware - Marlin
Thanks for confirming my suspicion.
I'll have to order up a few TMC2130's for now then as I really want sensorless homing right now. I'll The TMC5160s will have to wait on the shelf a bit until there is proper support.
by
agehall
-
Firmware - Marlin
Thank you for the answer, but I'm afraid it isn't that simple. They are pretty confusing as config/examples/config_adv.h states:
/**
* TMC2130, TMC2160, TMC2660, TMC5130, and TMC5160 only
* Use StallGuard2 to sense an obstacle and trigger an endstop.
* Connect the stepper driver's DIAG1 pin to the X/Y endstop pin.
* X, Y, and Z homing will always be done in spreadCycle mode.
*
by
agehall
-
Firmware - Marlin
Reading it seems like most of the support for the newer drivers are in the 2.0.x branch already. But from what I can tell, sensorless homing is still not in there.
Is there any work being done on this? I would personally really like to see this in the firmware and normally I wouldn't mind contributing some code to make it happen but unfortunately C++ isn't my cup of tea so I don't think that wi
by
agehall
-
Firmware - Marlin
It very much sounds like a stepper issue. What are your settings for the printer? If you post them, maybe someone can spot values that seem way off or suggest tweaks.
by
agehall
-
Firmware - mainstream and related support
I'll be darned. Printing at 0.3mm layer height solved 90% of the problem. There is still slight banding, but now I have to look closely to see it.
I just don't understand how the heck 0.3mm can work better as all the numbers indicate 0.2mm should be working just fine.
by
agehall
-
Printing
I'm printing using PLA at 190°C. I'll make a test print at 0.3mm and see if that resolves anything.
by
agehall
-
Printing
Oh, sorry, forgot to include that info - I'm printing at 0.2mm layer height.
Connecting the motors in serial sounds awkward if you ask me. But I'm far from an expert on the subject. I guess I could rewire the motors like that if it helps though.
by
agehall
-
Printing
So, I've got a Z banding (or wobble) issue that I can't figure out.
The printer is a China-kit but I've tried to measure everything to make sure the numbers are what they are supposed to be. From what I can tell, my Z-screws are 8mm with 2mm pitch ones. I've done the math according to the calibration guides online and from what I can tell, the steps/unit are fairly correct. I've ended up with 4
by
agehall
-
Printing
There is no point in decompiling the firmware anyhow - it would not be usable for anything except compiling anyhow. As all the important bits (i.e. the configuration) is done using the C preprocessor, it will be tightly tied into the code once it is compiled and you wouldn't easily be able to read it.
If you want to back up a firmware, it is best done as a binary image.
by
agehall
-
Firmware - mainstream and related support
Yes, everything works fine for me now.
With regards to your question about backing up the original firmware - Arduino IDE does verify the flash, so there must be a way to read it via the bootloader, but I've never tried that. Maybe it's worth having a look at...
However, if you don't mess around with ICSP at all, you should be OK. If your firmware doesn't work properly, just recompile and uploa
by
agehall
-
Firmware - mainstream and related support
To back up your current firmware I do believe you have to use an ICSP programmer to read the flash. AFAIK you cannot read the flash via the bootloader, but I could be wrong here.
by
agehall
-
Firmware - mainstream and related support
Did some testing over lunch - printer works fine if I disconnect the programmer completely. So apparently it sinks one or more lines if connected without power and causes issues. Did not expect that.
@o_lampe - my fuse configs are unchanged since I started messing with this. See the post above where the fuse config (and also plain text explanation of the config) is shown.
by
agehall
-
Firmware - mainstream and related support
Update: When I disconnected +5V on the programmer Arduino board, the printer was yet again dead. Plugging it in again makes the printer come alive.
I have two theories: Either board sinks the SPI clock line causing things to misbehave or the printer no longer generates a proper clock and therefore is dead unless I have an external clock hooked up. I'll do some more testing later today to figure
by
agehall
-
Firmware - mainstream and related support
WTF! *#€%T!!"€ *lot's of ramblings one should not say out loud*
I just reflashed the whole chain from scratch, by following the exact same steps as I did before and suddenly the bootloader was accessible and I could upload a sketch!
Step by step:
1) Upload Nick Gammon's board programmer to my Arduino Uno via COM7
2) Used it to program and verify the bootloader - all OK
3) Moved the USB cable t
by
agehall
-
Firmware - mainstream and related support
Hmm, wait a minute - are those ICs (16u4/FTDI) not only there to translate USB<->Serial between my computer and the ATMega2560 controller? I've tried doing a straight "Upload sketch" from the IDE and not "Upload using programmer"...
by
agehall
-
Firmware - mainstream and related support
I decided to use an Arduino Uno I had laying around to reprogram things today, instead of the cheapo ASPUSB thing I've been using earlier. Here is the report on the fuses from my board:
Atmega fuse calculator.
Written by Nick Gammon.
Version 1.10
Compiled on Jul 14 2015 at 08:56:56 with Arduino IDE 10601.
Attempting to enter programming mode ...
Entered programming mode OK.
Signature = 0x1E 0x9
by
agehall
-
Firmware - mainstream and related support
Something like that makes sense. I did try connecting to the board via USB for the upload but it didn't work, so I just assumed there was no bootloader. I'll try burning a bootloader and see if it helps. Never really dealt with the bootloader programming process on Arduino boards before, so I guess I'll have to read up on it.
I'll spend some time on this tomorrow and report back.
by
agehall
-
Firmware - mainstream and related support
Well, of course I went thru the config and checked it for obvious things. What I meant was that I didn't care too much about checking if the endstops should be inverted or not, if the print area was correct or if all the parameters for the steppers were correct. These parameters are all critical to getting a working printer in the sense that it can actually print something useful but they are not
by
agehall
-
Firmware - mainstream and related support
So I got my Prusa I3 from China the other day and I've spent the weekend putting it together. Things seemed to go well (a bit too well I guess) and I got to the point where I wanted to calibrate the printer and adjust a few firmware parameters. (At this point, I was able to connect to the printer just fine and control it using Repetier Host!) So I decided to download Marlin and compile the latest
by
agehall
-
Firmware - mainstream and related support