i shall try to make this brief and direct.
i have a reprap prusa. i lost the original software it came with. i had to build a new computer.
i now run win7 ultimate. 32 bit. gigabyte g41m-combo MB. latest repetier. 4Gb ram.
downloaded and installed repetier first...got the .NET error.
went off on a tangent and tried following the wiki tutorial. one of them.
if anyone has tried following one, its a bit like reading a dictionary by looking up the meanings of each word you come across. you get seriously confused annoyed and upset. github this repository that and simply run the relevant CMD script but be aware the prEpaCKAGED BUNDLES HAVE THE WIN 64 VERSION AND MUST BE.... WHAT THE BEEP?
so, eventually i figured out how to install the dependencies and all these py.pe.pee files and such forth, and ended up with pronterface...which wont load files, etc etc etc. i cant get it to actually install as a program. but it does allow me to SD print and preheat the bed and so forth. it wont run slic3r etc.
so then i tried cura, and with pronterface as the manual control, cura priniting, i got somewhere, slowly and painfully.
getting sick and tired of that i went back to repetier and found that .net pack and installed it.
yay, it works...and comes with cura! and i can print! quite nicely too, i must say :)
here comes the snatch. theres at least two going on here.
i load an stl. i slice it. i can look at it, preview etc, print it out, do all of that.
but if i decide to change something on the slice, a setting, and attemp to reslice... or i happen to click the tabs a bit too fast in sequence... (ie,clicking something like preview, manual, preview, object placement,slice... within the space of say, ten seconds) or i unplug the USB without disconnecting... boom boom, computer says no! for every new file, every new slice...i have to disconnect. close, reopen, connect then do all the object placing...ARRRGH!
failure to do so results in my getting a nice popup saying
"repetier host has stopped working."
"a problem has caused this program to stop working. windows will shut it down, search for a solution and notify you"
it never gets back to me :( stupid windows.
so...thats the main gripe. best answer i found was the "arial font package". installed that....nothing. i can load code from sd, etc etc etc... everything wiorks perfectly until i ask it to do it the 2nd time, at which point it screams and collapses in a heap...
could it be the python stuff causing a conflict? could it be a lack of video card? could it just be me thinking that having to close a program every time i want to change something as unusual is incorrect and its actually normal practise?
i dont want to uninstall all the python cus occasionally having pronterface in the background is really helpful...(keep reading)
the other issue is that if i leave it idle, say i am preheating the bed and forget, get sidetracked. i come back an hour later.... and suddenly, the things on a different COM port! it also happens about every three prints or so. it sits there, saying there are however many commands waiting., and nothing really gets it working other than closing repetier. turning off the printer. opening pronterface. restart printer. disconnect and close pronterface. open with repetier. possibly repeat cycle again. it also suddenly lists about 7 or 8 ports... refreshing dont help. pronterface does.
and then...there was one yesterday. had to clean my nozzle. on reassembly it said it was at 744C. and everything locked. it would home but i couldnt manually control it. temperature safety lock.
how to reset it? with pronterface it turned out, as i could not find any way to enter M codes in by hand in repetier (M999 in this case)
my first version of repetier i had also had an extrusion rate, while the new version does not...that was a really handy feature!
oh well. it works as long as i remember to do everything in a particular order and dont expect too much...which is really frustrating... but i really do love being able to change the speed and temps while SD printing :) preview rather than waste time and filament... nah, i see no reason to change anything but the fact that it keeps crashing!
lord i hate computers... i can walk up to my lathe, start it up and make something but this...this you have to learn all these other things that just get in the way of what one really wants to be doing! chasing freaking geese around...
