rtrski wrote:

Ggalisky:  I'm on RH 0.85b from the SD website download package.  You suggesting I not upgrade from that point?

Yes, but it may just be my computer. Try both versions out and see what suits your setup the best.

Of all the versions I find 95f to be my go to when it comes to R-H

Ggalisky:  I'm on RH 0.85b from the SD website download package.  You suggesting I not upgrade from that point?

Yes, but it may just be my computer. Try both versions out and see what suits your setup the best.

RH seems to be working fine, and I can get SF working in it as well if I feel I must get back my lash settings, since I'm not convinced the hysteresis 'fix' in the FW is really doing much even with the M99 prefix. (Or, at least in a dry run, Skeinforge sliced gcode seemed to move my extruder and bed to match what I was seeing on the screen....I haven't actually heated and attempted a real print this morning since I have other honey-do's on the list for today.) 

So at the very least thanks to everyone who suggested RH; certainly much more user friendly than Pronterface as a printer interface. 

Ggalisky:  I'm on RH 0.85b from the SD website download package.  You suggesting I not upgrade from that point?

n2ri:  I don't know if it's worth trying but I ported over all my SF settings from pronterface in a profile (actually it was just available, since SF inside RH uses the home users/<username>/.skeinforge/profiles location just like SF did under Pronterface).  Instead of using what looks like Solidoodle's profile setup (Solidoodle ABS 0.3mm) you might try loading in this one and see if it works for you?  I haven't looked thru it vs. SD's (tedious in the extreme) to see if there's any setting that jumps out at me as different, but this is the profile I had active when slicing, and after which the dry run machine behavior was as expected.

Just unpack the zip to your users/<username>/.skeinforge/profiles/extrusion folder, and make sure to select it as the active profile in the Skeinforge area of the RH slicer page, and set SF as the active slicer.  You might also want to hit the 'Configure' button and find the "Lash" module and un-check it, if you're pretty satisfied with your machine's tensioning, or else you'll see some oddness that I kinda need but you don't....for me a simple single-wall box will look like it's got pretty bad over or undershoot at the corners in the graphical view, but will come out pretty clean in reality, that was my old circle fix. 

Try a dry-run after slicing and see if it gives you the same weird behavior you mentioned before....?  Oddly SF, while still way slower than slic3r for the same file, is way faster running behind RH than it was behind Pronterface.  Go figure...maybe Pronterface was competing for resources since it also seemed to get all its machine status monitoring thru the Python window (??)

Anyway, thanks again to all; been kind of fun to get back into this.  Poor machine was feeling lonely (and dusty as heck...those rods need a serious de-cat-hairing and re-greasing....)

I would recommend Repitier host, but an older version than the latest available. The newest version is a bit too buggy for my liking.

rtrski wrote:

I might consider, when I get my new PC built, converting this one to Linux

I got an older dell E521 off of craiglists for 30$ and use that as my primary lab machine. My "lab" is just a small corner in the basement.  I also bought a few Dell 755 mini's from our local computer recycle for 30$ and use those all over the house for mythtv machines. Thats why I moved from my win7 gaming rig into a dedicated linux shop pc.

I also keep an old Acer Aspire 1 notebook and run ubuntu 12.4 with the official SD repitierhost software for any traveling I do with the SD2 and as a backup.

I am not a linux snob or anything and still use windows, I just found that by eliminating windows , I also eliminated all the strange little issues that kept popping up.

Suggesting it doesn't sound snobby at all...It's definitely worth considering - I'd probably have way less problems using an older machine as the dedicated 'print connection machine' and little else, even if I wanted to run the CAD software elsewhere, vs. having my Plex / Gaming / CAD / SD and a new beast all running off the same CPU.  Then again...I use the 'need for power' as justification to upgrade specs on the new beasties when I do (infrequently - current beast is like 4 now) let myself build again.  Shhh....don't tell the wife.  I bribed her with the Lenovo Yoga 3 so I've got a pass right now and I don't want to spoil it! :-)

clearly just can't stand someone poking funsies at you

*facepalm*

Bye.

Yes, I'm using the hysteresis code included FW - set so low it may not be doing much, but I'm using it.  FWIW I clearly knew about it before, since I had the earlier version installed, but you did point me to a slightly newer one so thanks for that  (also thanked you before, but you keep not seeing that somehow). 

All that said, I definitely did not need "github" and "419 forks OMGe11eventy!!" and how feature requests work explained to me...you honestly can't see the huge dose of patronizing expertise, from your two months experience, you are dosing out with what little help there really was?  Again, your issue, not mine, but I don't mind pointing it out.  Maybe one day it'll sink in that when someone pokes fun at themselves in the same thread as poking at you, it wasn't meant harshly.  Then again, so far it hasn't.

You took offense for no good reason to one word ('harass'), prior to which we were having a quite useful discussion, and just won't let go since I didn't walk it back to your specifications, clearly just can't stand someone poking funsies at you with my own itty bitty wordies, can ya?  I've not been offended yet...just curious how far you're going to stretch this wounded expert helpfulness schtick and not see you're being wound up.

Noticed yet?  Because I'm getting kinda tired, and it's time for another margarita.  My sabertooth skull printed - Slic3r is a little more finicky to make a good adhesion with than SF, but I got it to stick after one false start...sure that was all because of you too so thanks ever so much.

[p.s. "dogmatic" wasn't me...sure you're not so irate at me because you're conflating me with someone else who also got yer goat?  Nice word though.  I can see myself using it....just not recently.]

no wonder you also fail to understand why your oh-so-helpful 'suggestions' don't get accepted on Github by actual developers who've seen the arguments before, ad infinitum.  (Think I even made some of those arguments a couple years ago, too...I learned, maybe you can too.)

Alex made it clear why the suggestion didn't get accepted. He has a purist view or as you said in the other thread, "dogmatic" view on fixing hardware issues via software.
The only other suggestion I've made has not been rejected/closed.

And let's talk about my "oh-so-helpful" suggestions:

Wow...

Look at all the posts again.
Everyone suggested you to just upgrade to Slic3r and Repetier Host which doesn't solve your circular problem which*you* mentioned you were afraid would come back (and it did), or modify your hardware which doesn't work for everyone the same way.
*I* was the one who explained how your "Lash" module can be done elsewhere like the firmware command which you seem to be using now.

My "oh-so-helpful" suggestion is the one you're using right now for your circular problem.

Being offensive for being upset about being given too much info (wow...), then complaining that I'm going off-topic for being offended and continuing to be offensive is just incredible.

I suggest you not "play one-upsmanship" with someone helping you which is clearly helpful to you as you're using what I suggested now.

And even if I wasn't helpful at all, you're excuse for being rude is being given info in "itty bitty wordies"? Really?
Saying "Merry Xmas" after being rude isn't a form of excuse either.

I might consider, when I get my new PC built, converting this one to Linux

I got an older dell E521 off of craiglists for 30$ and use that as my primary lab machine. My "lab" is just a small corner in the basement.  I also bought a few Dell 755 mini's from our local computer recycle for 30$ and use those all over the house for mythtv machines. Thats why I moved from my win7 gaming rig into a dedicated linux shop pc.

I also keep an old Acer Aspire 1 notebook and run ubuntu 12.4 with the official SD repitierhost software for any traveling I do with the SD2 and as a backup.

I am not a linux snob or anything and still use windows, I just found that by eliminating windows , I also eliminated all the strange little issues that kept popping up.

...So that's what I would do. Eliminating windows 7 was my best move and has saved me hours of time.

I might consider, when I get my new PC built, converting this one to Linux (new PC priorities are gaming first, so it will be W8.1 or W10 if it's released by the time I build...going to be wasting some other time on weird hardware configuration...have this twisted vision of a pico projector internal to the case, Corsair Air 540 cube, projecting diagnostic display stuff on some projector film on the inner surface of the case side window....that plus planning an SLI build for either a whopper type 4k monitor or multiple monitors... sheesh I got too many dumb expensive hobbies/diversions....

But while the Fabtotum esssentially runs a lightweight Linux I think, and you more or less telnet into it vs. 'driving' it from the PC regardless of OS, so I'll have to revisit some of my old school days and relearn it anyway;  I've been pretty Windows-centric for a long time now.  Nice to know that there won't be any driver issues at least and that is an option; don't plan on the Fab 100% replacing the SD, want to keep it running at least for coarser prints until it just up an dies on its own.

LMAO! man where ya been? I been needing some of this down home come back to reality type thinking members on here for a couple years.

since you found a way to teach yourself the ins and outs of Skienforge, maybe you can help me figure out why all its ever done for me no matter what stl file used is;

LOL back - you might have me wrong.  I only got so deep into it because beyond a certain point parts worked, the 'pain' was manageable...not because I'm some sorta expert.  I leave than mantle for the people like Lawsy and Ian...and I'm darn sure my starting settings all came from Ian's blog advice and I never strayed far from that...there were some things that had to be done to run Skeinforge in RH vs. in Pronterface but for the life of me I don't remember them, something about measuring the home point differently or having to create your own homing.gcode that's called in the Home module?  If you search Ian's blog (seems to be live still, though nothing new there since the Filawinder stuff) you might find the same settings / video posts I referred to.  But FWLIMBW, I'll try on the questions.

  This one's easy.  Cause it does? (Sorry, couldn't resist...) Gotta be just horribly inefficient coding, but I had the same issue.  Something that slices in minutes in slic3r, even back then, could take hours on SF.  Guess because it's all 'modules' being called one after the other instead of a coherent executable?  Maybe not even all compiled code but interpreted in Python?  It does seem to need an open Python window to run (and closing that window not SF or PF will crash it).  Got me.

What was your first layer height set at? (Bottom module).  I had 0.5 'additional height over thickness' and altitude 0.06(mm).  I never did try printing on the kapton, went straight to the glass bed.  And I'm not even using good borosillicate tempered stuff, I'm talking a jagged-cut piece I trimmed down from big-box sheet glass.  Yep, I've shattered a piece or two from thermal stress.  Oops.

  Um, lost me with these... never seen that behavior.  And that's *all* you'd get after slicing?

I was running it thru PF not RH, so things were much different, but I'd have to launch the SF window from PF's "Settings > Slicing" menu, then make all my selections in the various modules, Save (button at bottom of SF), then use the "Skeinforge" button at the bottom of its window to load my STL.  After forever, it pops up two ugly graphical windows that weren't very interactive but at least you could see if it sliced sort of (you could see status in the Python window of course as it went).  Then close SF, and loaded the file using the Load file button in PF.  Maximize and minimize again and it would show the print lines on the bed, hopefully, then I'd ramp up temps and print.  Damn after typing that amazed I put up with it all so long. :-)

Probably cause RH was configured to use either and wasn't theirs to muck with, aside from providing settings files I guess?  Anyway, there is help on each module, if outdated...the little question-mark button takes you to an outdated webpage, and a bit of searching found others.  I basically only ever used Bottom, Fill, Lash (backlash), Cool, Comb (just a checkmark - no other options), Speed, Stretch, and Temp.  RARELY I'd use Scale (which is pretty self-explanatory) or Raft, and I did have Oozebane (LOVE that name) active with some settings but those were probably just out of box.

  yeah, I guess I just stuck with what worked because after the inevitable "what have I gotten myself into" first few months, I didn't want to re-fix what wasn't quite broke.  Only recently realized I was also seeing way better prints from some of the others I got into buying their own machines (various flavors, some SD some not) at work.

Anyways, I can try to help w/ specifics - maybe spit out my settings somehow if you really wanted to give SF a go? - but Ian's blog is without doubt the place to start. He da man.

[Late Edit: Found the post on Ian's blog, if it helps...it's pretty old but what you're describing sounds like a major config error of some sort, so maybe it points you in the right direction: http://solidoodletips.wordpress.com/201 … keinforge/ ]

I did start over about 9 months ago. I had one of the first SD2 and it ran fairly well but I had more mods then print jobs. Anyway, the unit finally breaks down, I sent it in and it was too old for them to repair, so I wound up getting a newer referb of the larger SD2.

Short story long, I hate using the SD with windows. Windows 7 in this case. The drivers were always funky and sometimes for no reason the usb would beep like it got disconnected and ruin my print.  I  said screw it and installed ubuntu 14.4, installed the linux install package. upgraded Slicer to the latest version and RepetierHost to the latest version.

I had a little trouble with the print settings, but finally got it all worked out and I am making the best prints I my history with this product.  I print on glass clipped to the bed with hair spray. I print everything in .2 with my filament diameter measured for each color and I run the slic3r filament multiplier at .75 instead of .6 like the SD wiki recommends.

I also slice my jobs using a single core, even though I have dual cores on this old Pc. the single core slicing is slower but it just seems to come out better on the tricky jobs.

I also ran it through all the calibrations for the belts, filament length and bed.

So that's what I would do. Eliminating windows 7 was my best move and has saved me hours of time.

good to know, I have 2 laptops now, my main running Win XP sp3 with maxed options and memory. does very well. bought a spare laptop last summer for spare for that 'S.. happens day' hehe. its a model newer with a couple better features and running Win7 like everybody keeps telling me to update to. I never really liked how it operates though and have discs for both windows versions in 32 and 64 bit. 64 bit may be faster at things like flash games etc but I like 32bit for 95% of my needs and old software/hardware that I prefer using over any new stuff if any exists for most. so likely going to have at least 2 OS on each laptop to choose based on what Im using it for ATM. my 2 sons have 3-4 different OS including winxp, win7, Linux and another. lots of things wont work with some of them so thats why. plus some have less bugs or vulnerability. use 1 for play/net and 1 for work.

Short story long, I hate using the SD with windows. Windows 7 in this case. The drivers were always funky and sometimes for no reason the usb would beep like it got disconnected and ruin my print.  I  said screw it and installed ubuntu 14.4, installed the linux install package. upgraded Slicer to the latest version and RepetierHost to the latest version.

I had a little trouble with the print settings, but finally got it all worked out and I am making the best prints I my history with this product.  I print on glass clipped to the bed with hair spray. I print everything in .2 with my filament diameter measured for each color and I run the slic3r filament multiplier at .75 instead of .6 like the SD wiki recommends.

I also slice my jobs using a single core, even though I have dual cores on this old Pc. the single core slicing is slower but it just seems to come out better on the tricky jobs.

I also ran it through all the calibrations for the belts, filament length and bed.

So that's what I would do. Eliminating windows 7 was my best move and has saved me hours of time.

You read an awful lot into a one-word choice.  Should I have just said I'm not into making feature requests and take things as they come, since I'm not that into it, and just happy there's free software out there for the taking?  After all I was working just fine if a bit inefficiently before...just decided to re-evaluate my options on a lark. 

I apologize profusely but insincerely for not moderating my linguistic selections to avoid the slightest implication of malfeasance whatsoever on your behalf or on behalf of any other individual reading this forum.  Text-only interaction being low bandwidth and without body language or tonal nuance by its nature invites such misinterpretation, therefore I shall remember to keep all future postings as banal, insipid, and vacuous as possible so as not to risk your jumping to future conclusions, because your reaction is, of course, my utmost responsibility to control.

Um, nah, not really.

You might just look over my history here and at the old outdated google group.  Despite the low post count, I been there done that for a while.  Not as "into it" as some of you young earnest bucks (buckettes?  I really shouldn't assume but the leap to perceived insult makes me think bruised male ego, not that it matters). I really don't need 'eddicating' about how github, Sourceforge, or that newfangled internet thingy in general works, and I don't have a trollish history either.  I didn't take offense at your continual effort to 'enlighten' me....or for that matter even mention it before now when you got 'tetchy' to point out that two can play, if desired.  I suggest you untwist your panties and enjoy your Xmas with family and friends, because I plan on doing the same, at least if I can get this cheesy skull with internal brain to print out in clear so I can glom a bunch of them over Xmas lights on the tree. :-)

Back on subject, have been playing around using RepetierH and Slic3r now.  Still not entirely satisfied with the circles but they're good enough that I'm probably the one seeing it; wife and friends to whom this is still just my geeky toy won't know the difference and instead will simply berate me for my morbid Xmas ornament joke.  The speed benefits over Skeinforge are worth it so I'll stick for a moment.  Did have to reflash FW - I had the first generation attempt at hysteresis (Lawsy fork?) which did an absolute offset based on position, so circles would 'walk' (loose concentricity, not circularity) with too high an offset depending on where they were on the plate (tested with rings at center vs. centered in quadrants on the plate).  Later version seems to have removed that error.  [Edit - and I now see I'm revisiting your recent discussions about the code  being present but not active or correct in another thread, so that was also good reading, thanks.] 

Settling in at a Y0.08 or so ....still tiny flats but the 11:00/5:00 'distortion' of circular profiles seems sufficiently moderated I'm not going to mess with the X right now.  Just play printing at the moment.  Kicking up the solid infill thread thickness (115%) helps with it mating up to the perimeters as well.

So guess I joined the 'grown-up' age and am leaving Pronterface behind.  Sniffles at my misspent youth.

LMAO! man where ya been? I been needing some of this down home come back to reality type thinking members on here for a couple years.

since you found a way to teach yourself the ins and outs of Skienforge, maybe you can help me figure out why all its ever done for me no matter what stl file used is;

1. take many times longer than any other slicer to make gcode

2. when I click start print job it homes different than Slic3r and begins seemingly a smidgen below table surface then slowly drags/scrapes across Kaptan tape from usual right rear corner dump area, to center of table at like 5mm speed (about as nerve racking as finger nails on a chalk board).

3. makes a slow squiggle loop about 3/16" dia mashing nozzle flat so layer is invisible .

4. raises about 5mm for next layer and repeats the squiggle. then repeats this step once more.

5. homes and says job complete.

this is how default settings do when installing Solidoodles software pack. I have never been able to decode WTH most the settings tabs mean or what needs corrected. nor is there anybody or anyplace online that can or would help with this. its like the developer abandoned the software years ago. why would Solidoodle or RH even include such a defunct program especially for 1st time 3D printer owners?

on the other hand Slic3r also comes in the same pack and has a few profile settings to pick from included. all of which will work great out of the box. so its not a printer issue just a Skienforge issue. its like the Skienforge version is for a totally different brand printer. kinda like other slicers that have to be set up for printer being used instead of already setup for Solidoodle. but to do that you need English text instead of German. plus an instruction manual. neither of which Solidoodle will provide. heck they still havnt made the manual for their printers they promised to include a year ago.

Skienforge reminds me of the WWII Bufor portable big gun made in Finland for Allied forces but it had a manual just needed a Finish translator LOL and it was also very finiky to keep calibrated