MakerGear Forum

I'm having some issues with Octoprint. When designing a new part I usually go through a couple redesigns of the part before I'm happy, but I'm having issues printing the redesigned part. My current workflow is:
1. Initial design in CAD program
2. Warm up printer bed via Octoprint
3. Set up file in Simplify 3d
4. Transfer SD card from printer to computer
5. Save gcode to SD card
6. Transfer SD card back to printer
7. Kick off print via Octoprint
8. Test part
9. Redesign part in CAD program
10. Reperform steps 2-9 until happy

The issue I'm having is after the redesign I overwrite the file on the SD card and when I go to print the part all of the options for that file are grayed out. I can press the blue print button but it doesn't appear to do anything. I've tried refreshing/reinitializing the SD card, but the only thing that seems to help is to restart Octoprint. Any suggestions? For those of you using Octoprint, do you print off of the SD card in the printer or the one in the Raspberry Pi?
Thanks,
Tom

Unless you really love printing off the SD card for some reason, you should try just uploading the G-code file to OctoPrint and having it handle the print. Drag and drop the g-code file to the left half of the OctoPrint window. If you want to print from the printer SD card, you can drag it to the right half, but the transfer to the SD card will be slow since it is happening at serial data rates. Think minutes.

The only reason to prefer an SD card print with OctoPrint running is if you have a model with high definition arcs that stall out when printing from host.

Thanks, I'll give that a try. The only reasons I've been printing from the SD card in the printer is that it is larger than the one in my Pi and I figured it'd be one less thing to troubleshoot in the event of a failed print. The printer has been very reliable lately so I'll try uploading to OctoPrint.

Printing off the SD card is definitely the more foolproof option, and you will get better quality prints (in some cases). The connection between the Pi and the printer is about 10x slower than the SD card is, so lots of moves in a short time will bog it down and cause stuttering. That said, as you found, it's a much larger hassle.

Gave it a try last night and it went much smoother. I think going forward I'm going to load the files to the Pi during the development phase and when I'm ready for the final print I'll jump through the hoops required to print from the SD card in the printer. This will serve 2 purposes, ensuring I get the best possible finished print and separating the jumbled mess that are my development copies from known good gcode.