computer crashes

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psd
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computer crashes

Post by psd » Wed Mar 09, 2016 3:23 am

Hello.
I am a newbie and after having set up my M2 with the quick start app without a glitch, I then began to load a simple STL in the simplify3D from my macbook pro and sent to print.
The first one crashed right after laying the raft layer. My whole computer shutdown and rebooted (which has never happened to me before).

I tried again and - same thing, but had to run disc repair because the disk was reading as damaged.
I am thinking about installing the software on a newer macbookpro in studio to test, but a bit worried.

I have a few questions:
1.could this have been from the M2 or simplify3D?

2. what can I do? How can I figure out the root of the problem? anyone else experience a system crash?

3. when the project gets interrupted what should I do?
shut down the machine?
lower the build plate manually and scrape off the material and try to start over?
or is there a way to resume build from where it left off?

thanks,
Peter
- peter,

innovative product designer and tinkerer

www.petersolomondesign.com

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jimc
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Re: computer crashes

Post by jimc » Wed Mar 09, 2016 4:53 am

peter, once the build is interrupted in most cases you just start over. the m2 has nothing to do with your computer so it cant cause any crash. the issue would be with s3d. i have been running s3d on mac for 3 years now and i find it to be extremely stable. more so on osx than on windows. in most cases i have found s3d crashes due to out of date or incompatible graphics drivers. not saying thats the issue here but i would probably start by uninstalling it and reinstalling a fresh download.

wmgeorge
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Re: computer crashes

Post by wmgeorge » Wed Mar 09, 2016 2:54 pm

I have printed from my Mac Book Pro and it works fine. You don't want to be running another program in the background and letting it update programs while your printing.
Retired Master Electrician, Commercial HVAC/R,CNC Router

Karl_Williams
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Re: computer crashes

Post by Karl_Williams » Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:59 pm

Try saving the gcode to an SD card, eject the card, plug it into the SD card reader on the M2 and then use the 'Print from SD card' option in Simplify3D. That method is much more reliable.

ajmadison
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Re: computer crashes

Post by ajmadison » Thu Mar 10, 2016 10:25 pm

I have a 5 1/2 year old MacBook Pro, and Apple's networking code needs a lot of work. Unfortunately, except for the most extreme bugs, Apple has all but halted support work for the I5 machines. My 2010 MacBook Pro (MBP) though running El Cap, is running an older version of FireFox and is networked attached to a bunch of network devices in my home, including a cobbled together NAS based on a MiniMac.

I had planned on using the old machine to drive the printer, which for various reasons, I chose to locate in the basement. The inclusion of S3D causes the 2010 MBP to crash almost on demand. Its some deadly combination of networked drives, web browsers, watching videos, and running a graphics program (e.g. Simplify3D).

I've turned a bunch of things off, and try hard to not web surf while preparing for a print (firefox alone can cause my MBP to crash). From a superficial point of view, you can point the finger at S3D, but my 2015 MBP is solid as a rock. Unfortunately, the newer laptop is my 'daily driver' so I can't spare it for print duties. For the time being, I am printing from the SDCard. I'd love to be able to 'share screen' to the printer Mac and check status, but its not stable enough for me to chance ruining a print on it.

Hmm, maybe I should turn the camera on the 2010 Mac and check on the printer that way.

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jimc
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Re: computer crashes

Post by jimc » Thu Mar 10, 2016 10:47 pm

Im sure the macbooks are a bit different. My mac is a late 09 imac. Intel i5. That is rock solid and never misses a beat. I can slice with s3d while i jave 10 other apps open and at the same time be streaming vid to 3 other televisions.

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Jules
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Re: computer crashes

Post by Jules » Thu Mar 10, 2016 11:05 pm

I'd check the cable too.

psd
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Re: computer crashes

Post by psd » Fri Mar 11, 2016 12:49 am

thanks everyone for your great opinions, wasn't sure if it could have been a short through the USB cable,
honestly its been years since I have see a whole computer crash. For the last number of years Mac made it so crashes were only apps that get blocked and you can manually restart the application.

Maybe it is the fact that my macbook is too old mid 2009.

I don't really want to dedicate a newer one to the machine.

I also noticed that in simplify3D if I dragged an STL into the import window it worked but if I tried to upload with window selection it crashes....... very strange
- peter,

innovative product designer and tinkerer

www.petersolomondesign.com

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jimc
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Re: computer crashes

Post by jimc » Fri Mar 11, 2016 12:55 am

that is actually a very common thing. dragging and dropping works but importing crashes. i have heard that issue alot over the past few years.

ajmadison
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Re: computer crashes

Post by ajmadison » Wed Jul 06, 2016 6:29 pm

BTW, I made the mistake of googling the problem of crashing MacBook Pros, and found out that my mid 2010 MBP has a hardware problem in the graphics processor. The MBP switches the graphics acceleration on and off in order to save power, and the system crashes trying to switch graphics subsystems. The correct fix, which was only available in 2013 and covered by apple (when I didn't have this problem) and involved a fix to the logic board.

There are a couple of software workarounds. One is to go into system preferences and on the energy saver screen click the box to turn OFF 'Automatic Graphics Switching.' The other workaround is to download gfxCardStatus application from gfx.io and lock down the graphics acceleration that way.

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