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Topic: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

I have a new SD2. It has the new motherboard with ATMega 1286. There is no "configuration.h" file to change settings. Nothing in "Solidoodle tc_fea 24jan2011" that even is close to a thermistor setting.

Filastruder! You out there? I bought the E3D from you. I will try your contact info, I'm not trying to flame you.

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

Have you looked at this http://wiki.solidoodle.com/update-firmware. I have a SD3 but same board :ATMega 1286

SD3, E3D hotend,linear bearing on x/y axis',pillow block bearing on y conneting rod, ball bearngs on front y axis, fan on y stepper motor.

3 (edited by elmoret 2014-02-12 12:47:08)

Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

Itwistknobs wrote:

Filastruder! You out there? I bought the E3D from you. I will try your contact info, I'm not trying to flame you.

You sent 2 emails, a PM and this forum post in under 6 hours. Take a deep breath, man!

As I said via email, have you read the wiki? Or searched? Plenty of users here have successfully performed (and documented!) what you are trying to do.

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

Download firmware source code
Download and unarchive this code:
https://github.com/mlaws/solidoodle2-marlin
Again, the download link is a button on the lower right with a cloud icon and the word "zip" on it.

..........................

Edit the Configuration.h file
Use your favorite text editor to edit the Configuration.h file which is located in the solidoodle2-marlin-Marlin_v1/Marlin folder wherever you unarchived the source files earlier.
You'll have to make the following changes (note line numbers may not be exact if changes have already been made):
Line     Change From     Change To     Notes
line 15     #define SOLIDOODLE_VERSION 2     #define SOLIDOODLE_VERSION 3     only if you have an SD3
line 91     #define TEMP_SENSOR_0 1     #define TEMP_SENSOR_0 6     since the E3D uses a different thermistor
line 112     #define HEATER_0_MAXTEMP 225     #define HEATER_0_MAXTEMP 310     since you can get to higher temperatures
Those who plan to crank the E3D to even higher than 310°C can set a higher temperature here, but 310 is more than high enough for the installation and all printing in ABS and PLA.

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

Sorry for being such a pain. I finally got the code to compile and load. E3D heats up. The hot end seems to be fine.

But now I can only home X, Y, and Z. They do not respond to manual graphic commands (clicking the arrows) or Gcode. Weird. So I can't really level the bed. I'll fix it off line. I know I am lacking in e-social graces.

Thanks for the help with the firmware, couldn't have done it without you. The documentation is actually kind of mixed up with a lot of older stuff, a lot of holes, and assumptions. I did not want to brick the board. Oh well. I can always solder 30 gage blue wires to SPI interface if I have to, or JTAG it. I can still read and solder, repeat.

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

Still trying to make it work. Can home the axies now, but if I slice with slic3r the hot end homes and sets for 30 to 40 seconds, then does a slow crawl thru the first layer, a couple of mm in the air. Slice with Skeinforge, and it does not extrude.

Uninstalled and reloaded RH. No change. Think I might drop the E3D hotend and go back to the Solidoodle hotend and just deal with the clogs. Maybe I'll try it again in the future, after I learn more about the system. One more try though. I have a 3 day weekend.

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

A hotend has nothing to do with the behavior you're seeing.

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

Sorry, again I am a poor communicator. I do not think the physical hotend has anything to do with the behaviour here. What I am trying to say is there are too many variables in play with more than one flavor of compiler, more than one flavor of bootloader, slic3r changes that have to be made to fit the new temperature and height profiles. Something in there is screwed up, that's for sure. I stay up late and go to work early for a few days now. I can only try a troubleshooting path for so long before I re access, right?

I am glad that the majority of new owners of the E3D have no problems. How did they do it? I knew when I saw all the choices and assumptions it was risky. For instance, I got hung on the part in the wiki where they describe looking for the output path in the last 2 lines of the verbose window of the compiler (Lawsy version of Arduino 022, not the vanilla version of Arduino 022 - the Lawsy version is bigger). The wiki says to take those last 2 lines and find the path to "firmware.cpp.hex" and move it to the desktop. The wiki did not explain it was a hidden file, so searching for it would do no good. That sucked up at least an hour and really pegged the old fun meter. Also, it seemed everything I read said to make sure the code was geared to the micro on the board. It is harder to find the ATMega 1286 called out in the descriptions than one might think. In fact, the wiki does not mention it until farther down in the line-by-line instructions. So many gotcha's.

I do not think it is unreasonable to try to return the printer/SW/HW/firmware to a known state where all movements were apparently fine - the only apparent problem was a clog. That's just me. Maybe I can troubleshoot HW better than SW. Do you think I should keep trying to make the software and/or firmware work? Serious question.

I am not trying to piss you off. My frustration lies with my abilities and obligations, not yours.

9 (edited by elmoret 2014-02-15 16:21:02)

Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

Totally understand the frustration. I've been there- really.

The thing about all of this is that it is all community driven. Solidoodle themselves has made no efforts to contribute in the way of walkthroughs or documentation, so you have a rag-tag group of guys trying to help that are talented, but definitely not technical writers or customer support specialists - myself included.

That said, the great thing about the wiki and forum are that they are LIVING. if it frustrated you that it was not mentioned that the hex file was a hidden file, then edit the wiki and add it in there, save others the headache, pay it forward.

3D printing, at least at the hobbyist level, is not plug and play. My Solidoodle is very reliable now, but frustrating in the beginning. This was as much about me learning what things mean and how to fix them as it was me modifying the Solidoodle itself (which is pretty close to stock, actually) This is frustrating now, but when you remember that you paid under a grand for a printer than can beat a $20k Stratasys when tuned properly, it becomes pretty cool.

Anyway, about your problem - a few things that would help:

A list of exactly what you changed in lawsy's firmware
You can home the axes - can you move them manually?
Did you change anything in Slic3r?
Did you change anything in RH?

Slicing with slic3r/skeinforge would not be a problem here.

Troubleshooting tips:
0.) take a walk, relax. i've been there before, you'll drive yourself nuts if you don't take a break from it
1.) get manual jogging working (X/Y/Z arrows)
2.) run some old g-code that has worked in the past

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

i have a simila problem ,after updating i cant manually jog my printere either, but it does home. but if i just connect i can manually jog UNTILL it finds where Home is. once its homed and the numbers turn black i cant jog it any more . this dosent bother me that much i just level before i home is all

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

This happens to me when it finds the X home. What I find is after it finds X I cannot jog the head around unless I push the arrow to make X go even further "home".

Let me explain, when I home X my X position is 159.(far right) but when it hit's "home" even though the carriage is at 159 the display now switches 0. I cannot go left using the X- control, but If I move the X more to the right with the X+ arrow the number will change to 159 and I now will have jog control of my printhead. Maybe this will work for you too.

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

Well, I have been busy on a business trip, but now that I came home, I downloaded RH to my wife's computer and tried that. Everything worked, except I think I have to tweak a few things, and my wife lost her computer wink

The filament won't stick, and the 10A power supply is too weak, apparently makes the stepper controller overheat quickly. Seems to be better than before, however. I think the RH config was screwy on my first computer.

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

Itwistknobs wrote:

The filament won't stick,

You need to level the bed and/or clean it with acetone. Glass + hairspray is a better option, covered here extensively.

Itwistknobs wrote:

and the 10A power supply is too weak, apparently makes the stepper controller overheat quickly.

This doesn't make sense. What leads you to believe this?

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

OK, just moved to a new apartment, sorry it took so long to reply.

Printer seems to be good now, but let me fill in history since last post.

During 1 try the Y axis just stopped working. I took that to be a drooping power supply or over heating driver. Now I'm pretty sure it was belts that needed tightened and balanced between left Y and right Y. Made the print stick with dissolved ABS. Then printed some circular pieces (filament guide) that printed in the shape of a lemon or lime. Belt calibration fixed that.

Currently printing Yoda with reduced speed and hot end set to 230 degrees to see if that helps reduce moire.

I really, really, want to thank Filastruder and the others that run this forum. Good guys.

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

Hey I am a little confused. I have a fairly new Soliddodle 3 I bought like OCt-Nov 2013. I have the newer Solidoodle Motherboard from what I understand. I just installed e3d Hotend. Need to finish by getting it to 300 degrees and tighten. I can't seem to understand or correct get the firmware upgraded. I was following the instructions on

http://wiki.solidoodle.com/update-firmware


I am getting confused. So after I run the Arduino software and choose my board its says

"Once you have configured your firmware, hold "shift" and click "compile" for the verbose output. The last two lines will say something like:


C:\Users\TJ7DF4~1.SAV\AppData\Local\Temp\build6511266106596834075.tmp\Solidoodle2_6142013.cpp.hex
Binary sketch size: 53114 bytes (of a 130048 byte maximum)


I feel like there is a step missing to I need to load a file where do I edit my temps from here? Need a little more walk through. I also have windows 8.1 if that matters

16 (edited by adrian 2014-03-02 01:55:21)

Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

you load the Marlin.ino or Marlin.pde (either, they are the same thing, just different arduino versions) file from inside the folder for the firmware sourcecode you downloaded. Then do the shift-compile after editing configuration.h and configuration_adv.h as required.

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

adrian wrote:

you load the Marlin.ino or Marlin.pde (either, they are the same thing, just different arduino versions) file from inside the folder for the firmware sourcecode you downloaded. Then do the shift-compile after editing configuration.h and configuration_adv.h as required.


Where do I get the files?  Can I or should I use

https://github.com/mlaws/solidoodle2-marlin

I have Solidoodle 3 and newer print board

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

adrian wrote:

you load the Marlin.ino or Marlin.pde (either, they are the same thing, just different arduino versions) file from inside the folder for the firmware sourcecode you downloaded. Then do the shift-compile after editing configuration.h and configuration_adv.h as required.

Printer bought Nov 2013 newer motherboard installed e3d stuck at firmware upgrade, don't want to brick my printer



So I downloaded the configuration.h file from this download:     https://github.com/mlaws/solidoodle2-marlin

I open it with the modified Arduino linked from the how to:    http://wiki.solidoodle.com/update-firmware

I modify the Configuration.h file 

#define SOLIDOODLE_VERSION 3    
#define TEMP_SENSOR_0 6   
#define HEATER_0_MAXTEMP 310   

I hold shift and click play button (verify Verbose)

It compiles with errors: See Capture2 img

then I look in tmp folder for the build: see capture img



and then I don't know what file would be my firmware file to upload to printer.

this is where I am stuck

Capture3 is an image of most the files from the tmp build file

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Re: Help - I have a new E3D hotend, and cannot change thermistor setting

Read the error messages... just like the advice I gave you in the other thread you posted in.