@$%&*#! Nearly ready to throw the printer out the window!
I need some serious help. Pretty please!
I bought a Velleman K8200 second hand. The guy I bought it from had it running and showed me it working (start of a print, manual operation and movement on all axes). Since bringing it home I've had nothing but problems over the course of the last month. Some of which can be attributed to me learning how to use it. But lately, serious issues.
This is where I'm at. Repetier kept throwing up errors during prints. All of the errors are coming up in Italian. I have no idea why that is - I live in Australia, it was bought in Australia, and the guy who built it didn't speak Italian. However someone on a forum translated them to be USB errors. I tried a new laptop. And a new cable. But kept having these errors. Mind you, they didn't come up every single print - but most of the time. The printer came with a spare Mega 2560 board. So I thought I'd install that. Well, it turns out I have no idea what settings to use in order to flash the firmware. I tried Repetier firmware with the default settings - no luck. I tried Marlin firmware, but couldn't make sense of how to configure it correctly.
So I gave up on the new board and throught I'd reflow the solder on the USB connector on the old Mega board. Did that without a problem, but now I'm getting other errors in Repetier. I have no idea what they are related to.
I'm just about ready to give up on this thing. I'm hoping someone can steer me in the right direction, because I certainly don't want to flush the $1,000 down the drain (not to mention my wife will kill me). The prints that I was able to complete in between issues came out pretty good, so I REALLY want to get this thing going again.
Looking forward to any useful (dumbed down) info.
I bought a Velleman K8200 second hand. The guy I bought it from had it running and showed me it working (start of a print, manual operation and movement on all axes). Since bringing it home I've had nothing but problems over the course of the last month. Some of which can be attributed to me learning how to use it. But lately, serious issues.
This is where I'm at. Repetier kept throwing up errors during prints. All of the errors are coming up in Italian. I have no idea why that is - I live in Australia, it was bought in Australia, and the guy who built it didn't speak Italian. However someone on a forum translated them to be USB errors. I tried a new laptop. And a new cable. But kept having these errors. Mind you, they didn't come up every single print - but most of the time. The printer came with a spare Mega 2560 board. So I thought I'd install that. Well, it turns out I have no idea what settings to use in order to flash the firmware. I tried Repetier firmware with the default settings - no luck. I tried Marlin firmware, but couldn't make sense of how to configure it correctly.
So I gave up on the new board and throught I'd reflow the solder on the USB connector on the old Mega board. Did that without a problem, but now I'm getting other errors in Repetier. I have no idea what they are related to.
I'm just about ready to give up on this thing. I'm hoping someone can steer me in the right direction, because I certainly don't want to flush the $1,000 down the drain (not to mention my wife will kill me). The prints that I was able to complete in between issues came out pretty good, so I REALLY want to get this thing going again.
Looking forward to any useful (dumbed down) info.
Comments
Then I flashed the Velleman Marlin (v2.1.1) firmware and found the exact same issues.
Only thing I can think is that when I flashed the firmware I didn't jump the JPROG pins like the instructions said as I couldn't find which pins to jump..
@dislegal: I feel your frustration. I've not yet got my printer working. After over 6 weeks of "almost" there, I've had one print that completed, with horrendous quality. I, too, am using an Arduino Mega 2650 with RAMPS 1.4, as are a great many 3D printers out there. In my opinion, 3D printing is today where the personal computer was about 3 years before IBM announced a product called the "Personal Computer," so we're all on the cutting edge of a new world here.
However, I have found Repetier support to be among the best of any product I've ever purchased, so read carefully and completely his feedback. Also, notice that you can use a ".json" file to save configuration information from the web site to your local machine. This file can then be uploaded as a starting point the next time you visit the configuration "tool" / website. Typically, changes made on this web site only require downloading the "configuration.h" file, though for significant changes I personally also download the full firmware and .json file for completeness.
You may also find help on topics unrelated to Repetier software / firmware on web sites like RepRap and Arduino. Remember that Repetier is only 3D printer-specific add-on firmware and software, not Arduino, a parts manufacturer or a PC Tech Support entity.
Good luck!
I don't think you've made unreasonable requests. We just need to remember we're dealing with "cutting edge" technology, and multiple cultural differences across over half a dozen countries, most of which don't speak English as their primary language. It's still fair to expect something to work when we pay significant amounts for it.
However, @Repetier has correctly diagnosed a great many of my errors, both in the Repetier firmware settings, Repetier Host (Windows 8.1) software settings, and hardware issues such as crosstalk due to my cable routing and endstop configurations. I've been "oh, so close" to success since early June, but to date all my prints fail either before they start, or at least before they finish.
My suggestion to you is to read carefully the comments from @Repetier (and other sites) & accumulate understanding of the over 1,000 variables involved in getting this thing to work. There may be hardware issues, there could be firmware issues, but nearly all issues I've encountered deal with setup / configuration, which bite you in places & ways you least expect, can be difficult to find until you learn how the variables function, & which no one but you can adjust back to their proper settings.
Again, good luck!