Viki 2.0 gives you small pox :(

[loiphin]

Hi all,

Just a heads up to say that there are still more issues with the Viki 2.0 display setup. I am still battling to get my Viki2.0 working on the M2. Despite the main issue of the LCD display not working with the Panucatt supplied Marlin firmware, there is yet another issue. *Sigh* I left the display connected on my printer, even though its not showing sh*t, and continued printing as normal through Octoprint.

I started noticing very slight pauses while printing, specifically around contoured geometry (where more instructions are sent to the printer). As a result of the pauses, the print ends up looking like small pox. Rather ugly!



It looks like its the Viki 2.0 firmware from Panucatt's site that is causing the problem. As soon as I reverted back to the latest standard Marlin release of 1.02-1 the small pox miraculously cleared up. It could be a more serious issue of the firmware trying to keep the display up to date, and thus causing the pauses while printing.


Right now that p.o.s. is nothing more than a white elephant.... F*ck you Roy Cortes from Panucatt, as you so gladly sell the Viki 2.0 but provide absolutely zero support. (I realise it's rather mean to say this, but I have tried numerous ways to contact Panucatt over the past two weeks, all in vain)

[ednisley]

very slight pauses while printing

Unfortunately, Atmel 8-bit microcontrollers teleported directly from the mid-1990s to the heart of all the 3D printers descended from the RepRap project and they're starting to show their age.

The poor thing must parse G-Code, compute a 4D trajectory, generate four axes of high-speed stepper motor pulses, update an LCD panel, read an SD card, handle bidirectional serial I/O, and monitor two or three temperatures: there just ain't enough CPU to go around!

Smoothieboards and their ilk, based on 32-bit ARM-based controllers, look like steps in the right direction, but ... that's a whole 'nother project.

[loiphin]

Yeah, looks like I will need to upgrade to a smoothie to get this pesky display to work, as its supposedly plug and play.

[askernas]

oh "joy" ... I've got one of them Viki 2.o from Panucatt as well..
Fortunately I paid with paypal, and if it doesn't work, I think I can still dispute the payment.

Will give this some serious attempts on thursday, when I have some time for it.
Thanks for looking in to this so deeply Ioiphin.

Seems like he is a drittsekk for not supporting his own things, if that's the case.

[Josh]

That is caused by LCD firmware; I've not seen it quite so bad, but yes, that's the basic source. I have firmware on our firmware page ( http://makergear.wikidot.com/m2-firmware ) for the Viki2 - it's not fully tested, but it does at least load everything up and let you use the LCD. If your LCD still doesn't load correctly, you may need to re-check your wiring, especially regarding the Servo header wires, and the two repeated colors ("black stripe" and "white stripe" IIRC).

I've been doing some experimentation with the LCD firmware as well, using the Geeetech RepRap Discount Smart Controller specifically, but it should be applicable to the Viki2 as well; the short version is that there's a setting in Ultralcd.h called "LCD_UPDATE_INTERVAL"; in my stock copy of Marlin, grabbed within the past month, that was set to 100. I've experimented and found that, for the Geeetech LCD at least, a value of 200 gets rid of all small defects like you've seen; I need to do further testing and optimization before I release an update, but for you guys with the Viki2, a bit of experimentation might improve your prints significantly.

[Mark the Greater]

The only thing that improved my prints was removing the Geetech LCD and ditching that lousy firmware.

Not worth the money, time, or ruined prints.

[loiphin]

I have firmware on our firmware page ( http://makergear.wikidot.com/m2-firmware ) for the Viki2 - it's not fully tested, but it does at least load everything up and let you use the LCD.

Sorry Josh, but I still dont see anything related on the M2 wiki to the Viki 2.0... I only see Viki 1.0 firmware as far as I can tell. ???? Please can you post the link.

[loiphin]

Seems like he is a drittsekk for not supporting his own things, if that's the case.

Hheheeh, my Norwegian is not great as I am an expat, but I know most of the swear words

[Mark the Greater]

Sorry Josh, but I still dont see anything related on the M2 wiki to the Viki 2.0... I only see Viki 1.0 firmware as far as I can tell. ???? Please can you post the link.

http://makergear.wikidot.com/local--fil ... C_v1.0.zip

This is the one I was directed to by MG.

[Josh]

Mark, that's the one for the Geeetech RRDSC; while they should be mostly compatible, I actually haven't tested the Viki2 with that specific firmware (that's on the list, as it would be quite nice if there was a single LCD firmware for all...; though the issue I ran into is that newer Marlin doesn't seem to have some Viki2 setup options).

The Viki2 firmware is on the main Firmware page, but not linked - it's still a bit experimental. If you scroll to the bottom, you'll see a "Files" button - clicking on that will reveal all files attached to the page, including the Viki2 firmware. This link should work: http://makergear.wikidot.com/local--fil ... ki2-M2.zip .

That firmware has some instructions in the Marlin.ino on setting up your build environment for the Viki2 and RAMBo. It's...more complex than I'd like, but not difficult.