SD card not working...

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rixpix247
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SD card not working...

Post by rixpix247 » Tue May 06, 2014 3:38 am

Hi again, Mr. noob here... Created g code in Simplify3d and started a print from inside Simplify3D to make sure all was printing okay first. Then I wanted to try out printing from just the SD card, so I made sure I used less than 8 alpha-numeric characters with the .g extension. No PC connected, powered M2 off, then on. Put the SD card in with the file in the root dir and pressed the little button to start the M2 printing from the SD card, but no joy. Where do I start to investigate why it taint working? Thanks in advance y'all!

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jimc
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Re: SD card not working...

Post by jimc » Tue May 06, 2014 3:47 am

so you have the m2 on, fans going, s3d is connected right and you can jog, turn heat on etc? you put the sd in the printer and in the machine control panel hit print from sd card and you dont get the list of files on the screen? if you put the sc card in the computer you can read it?

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Tim
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Re: SD card not working...

Post by Tim » Tue May 06, 2014 3:57 am

Uh. . . "no PC connected"? Unless you have a Viki LCD panel, you can't print without controlling it from a PC. The SD card avoids problems with slow communication over the USB cable, but it's not a one-touch print.

jsc
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Re: SD card not working...

Post by jsc » Tue May 06, 2014 4:23 am

I think the little button you are referring to is the reset button. You need an LCD controller to print completely standalone. You kick off SD card prints from the machine control panel using the buttons on the right ("start SD print").

rixpix247
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Re: SD card not working...

Post by rixpix247 » Tue May 06, 2014 9:07 pm

Ahhh haaa, D-OH!! The light bulb goes on! Okay, now I understand. Sorry I was thinking standalone, with just one file in the root of the SD card and then hit the print button... ;)

So in other words, you tell the M2 via the 'Machine Control Panel' to use the SD card as the *.g code source instead of sending the *.g code to the M2 via the slower USB connection, right?

And when would one physically pull (or disconnect via the "safely remove hardware and eject media" PC way) the USB plug so the M2 will print the 9 hour job all on it's own?

Where might I find said "Viki LCD panel" and is it worth the cost and effort?

Will Rick and Co. @ Makergear be coming out with a simple plug-n-play setup for this (I hope, I hope!)?

Again, thanks in advance y'all.

jsc
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Re: SD card not working...

Post by jsc » Tue May 06, 2014 9:32 pm

rixpix247 wrote:So in other words, you tell the M2 via the 'Machine Control Panel' to use the SD card as the *.g code source instead of sending the *.g code to the M2 via the slower USB connection, right?
Yes.
rixpix247 wrote:And when would one physically pull (or disconnect via the "safely remove hardware and eject media" PC way) the USB plug so the M2 will print the 9 hour job all on it's own?
Whenever you like, although there is no harm in leaving it connected, and some valuable benefits, like being able to pause or stop the print. Once you disconnect, I believe any attempt to reconnect will reset the printer.
rixpix247 wrote:Where might I find said "Viki LCD panel" and is it worth the cost and effort?
MakerGear, although there have been several people on the forum having issues with getting it running; one case I'm aware of was due to a bad Viki that was replaced under warranty, and the other case (Tony?), I'm not sure of the outcome. But hey, I guess we only hear from the people with problems.

You can also hook up a RaspberryPi (cheap $30 computer) to act as a host running OctoPrint; you connect to it and control it through a browser.

Dale Reed
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Re: SD card not working...

Post by Dale Reed » Wed May 07, 2014 4:27 am

jsc wrote: Whenever you like, although there is no harm in leaving it connected, and some valuable benefits, like being able to pause or stop the print. Once you disconnect, I believe any attempt to reconnect will reset the printer.
Note that some of us (myself included) have reported that using the Windows USB eject thingy causes the printer to reset. For me to print from SD card and then remove the PC, I have to yank the USB cable with the connection running. Anything else I try --- shutting down PC, controlled "eject" from the tray icon, etc., causes the RAMBo to do a reset, which shuts down the steppers and heaters.

Just in case you have this issue ----- just yank the cable, then do what you want with your PC.
Dale

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