Stops at random points in the middle of the print

[dklassen]

Interesting. For me the only time I experience pauses is using Windows 10. I've been printing using S3D on a Mac via USB for well over a year and never had one single glitch or pause... until my Mac died and I switched to a Windows 10 box.

[Tim]

Well, I have not ruled out the possibility that my problem is uniquely mine (I'm used to having problems that are uniquely mine, since my hardware setup is so heavily modified). But the symptoms are exactly the same, as far as I can tell.

[dklassen]

I finally!! got Octoprint working this morning but I really hate it as a solution. My only other option is a new Mac I guess.

[jsc]

What are your main beefs with it?

[dklassen]

It works fine but it's just extra steps and more stuff to fiddle with. Printing direct from S3D via USB is just so much faster and easier. The second I scrape up a few extra bucks I'll grab a Mac Mini. If it wasn't for just dropping almost 5k on a storage building in the back yard I'd already have one.

[PcS]

It must be a personal preference thing. I never liked printing from s3d and as soon as I tried octoprint I found it much easier faster and better suited for my needs/taste . To each his own I guess !

[dklassen]

One Mac, one M2, S3D and go. I don't get the need for a print server, extra hardware and extra steps in between. I must be missing something... but I'm willing to learn.

[jsc]

If you're using a Mac for your main computer, I wrote up a little procedure for automating uploads to OctoPrint. You just save your gcode files to a magic directory, and switch to a browser to load up OctoPrint and there it is, ready to go.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1324

The main benefit for OctoPrint, for me, is that I don't have to worry about whatever happening on my desktop affecting my print. I have some external USB drives hooked up, and when they spin up because I've clicked on the Finder, or a backup is starting, USB serial communications will pause until it's finished spinning up, causing a blob. I've also hooked up a webcam that streams through OctoPrint, which is good enough to see if a print has failed. I can check in on it from wherever and stop it if something's gone wrong.

[dklassen]

If I was on a Mac I wouldn't be using Octoprint at all that's for sure. I hope to change that soon as the old Mac died and I need a new one. It's Windows 10 that's causing me headaches and now the need for middleware. The computer that I've been using for the last two years on the M2 and Printerbot Simple Metal was an old old 21" iMac that finally gave up the ghost. It was dedicated to nothing but S3D and running the printers so I didn't worry much about other stuff running. It always worked flawless.

My main computer is an i7 Mac Mini in my home office. In the 3D room (as I call it) I had the old iMac running the printers and I have the big bad fast Windows 10 machine for CAD and a Laptop running the David SLS-2 scanner. Soon an I can score another Mac Mini I'll move the Windows CAD machine over to the Scanner and use the Windows 10 Laptop for target practice.