Properly canceling a print on M2 Rev. E SE using LCD

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BBID
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Properly canceling a print on M2 Rev. E SE using LCD

Post by BBID » Tue Jun 06, 2017 2:29 am

Hi all,

I recently purchased a M2 Rev. E (Single Extruder) w/ LCD after having used a 2016 Flashforge Creator Pro for a year. Canceling a print on the Creator was very straight forward, you just navigate to the "Cancel Print" option on the machines LCD and click once. This turned both the extruder and bed heaters off, homed x/y axes, turned the cooling fan off, and lowered the bed to make the failed print (if any) accessible. Canceling a print on the M2 using the LCD appears to be a totally different animal though....and by that I mean a complete PITA.

My current procedure to can cancel a print on the M2 is:

(1) Navigate to "Stop Print" on LCD (this is often very difficult because the LCD is VERY unresponsive while the machine is printing).

(2) Navigate to "Home axes" to clear the extruder away from the failed build and to lower the build platform.

(3) Navigate to "Cooldown" to turn the extruder and bed heaters off and to turn the cooling fan (not the extruder fan off).

(4) Navigate to "Move axes" and move the build platform forward along the y-axis to make removing the glass easier.

I could be spoiled by Flashforge, but is there really no way to cancel a print on the M2 that's comparable to the Creator? It seems like this option should definitely be in the LCD menu.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

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insta
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Re: Properly canceling a print on M2 Rev. E SE using LCD

Post by insta » Tue Jun 06, 2017 4:23 pm

I actually prefer it leaving the heaters on, but to each their own.

If you really want to stop everything immediately, just poke the reset button on the front of the electronics enclosure. There's no harm in it.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org

BBID
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Re: Properly canceling a print on M2 Rev. E SE using LCD

Post by BBID » Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:20 am

Thanks for the input Insta!

Interesting...maybe I'm not understanding you correctly, but is there a reason you would leave the heaters on after a build is completed? Seems like that would be just wasting power and letting filament leak out of the extruder. Unfortunately, it sounds like there is no option that's more elegant than what I was doing before. I'm assuming hitting the reset button next to the USB port just freezes everything in place?

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insta
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Re: Properly canceling a print on M2 Rev. E SE using LCD

Post by insta » Wed Jun 07, 2017 3:28 pm

I don't leave them on after a print is complete, but I leave them on if I cancel a print; presumably I want to restart the print again after correcting whatever issue made me cancel it in the first place.

If you poke the reset button the heaters reset, and all the motors go limp.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org

Gwhite
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Re: Properly canceling a print on M2 Rev. E SE using LCD

Post by Gwhite » Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:34 am

I had been fighting with this issue, and had been resorting to power cycling between jobs. The reset button works (thanks!), but one of my next projects is an enclosure, which will make getting at the button a bit tricky.

There really ought to be some way for the LCD to send a reset command that would get things back to the "M2E Ready" state that it powers up in. I had expected that canceling a job would do it, but no cigar.

I must say, the LCD interface is really pretty pathetic compared to the quality of the rest of the machine...

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ednisley
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Re: Properly canceling a print on M2 Rev. E SE using LCD

Post by ednisley » Sat Jul 22, 2017 11:37 am

Gwhite wrote:the LCD interface is really pretty pathetic
<rant>

You're looking at the endgame of cramming 32 kilos of computing into 8 kilos of microcontroller: the 8-bit Arduino running the firmware dates back to the closing years of the last millennium. The original RepRap design used an early Arduino board and we've been stuck with ATmega microcontrollers ever since, because software compatibility outweighs nearly everything else, but there's only so much you can do with a few tens of kilobyte of program storage and a few kilobytes of RAM.

Adding an LCD has always been a problem, because it requires rapid updates to avoid a laggy display, but the stepper motors require much faster and far more accurate updates. AFAICT, every LCD "improvement" has introduced mysterious & catastrophic bugs into the stepper control logic, mostly due to timing problems occurring only under field conditions; debugging those has been extremely difficult. The fixes seem to produce both crappy LCD performance and rare stepper glitches.

IMO, an LCD interface isn't worth the annoyance.

</rant>

The low-end (and obsolete) netbook next to my M2 has an actual display / keyboard / rodent-like UI, runs Mint Linux, drives the printer with Pronterface, has zero problems whatsoever with its USB connection, and cost less than an LCD.
https://softsolder.com/2016/07/11/inspi ... ontroller/

Image

If I were setting the printer up today, Octoprint on a Pi, networked through the house WiFi, would make more sense, but it wasn't quite ready for prime time a few years ago.
Last edited by ednisley on Sat Jul 22, 2017 4:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

mathisyourfriend
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Re: Properly canceling a print on M2 Rev. E SE using LCD

Post by mathisyourfriend » Sat Jul 22, 2017 3:06 pm

"If I were setting the printer up today, Octoprint on a Pi, networked through the house WiFi, would make more sense, but it wasn't quite ready for prime time a few years ago."

I've had the odd problem with the LCD. It's nice to be able to unplug my laptop but making any changes via the LCD during a print risks killing it. Ex: yesterday 4 hours into a 5 1/2 hour hedgehog I tried to lower the extruder temp a bit and the printer paused and wouldn't restart.

Ed: what do you think of Makergear's new tablet/Octoprint setup on the M3?

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ednisley
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Re: Properly canceling a print on M2 Rev. E SE using LCD

Post by ednisley » Sat Jul 22, 2017 4:31 pm

mathisyourfriend wrote:making any changes via the LCD during a print risks killing it
I rest my case.

No opinion on the MG setup, as I haven't see it, but ditching the LCD cannot possibly be a Bad Thing.

jferguson
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Re: Properly canceling a print on M2 Rev. E SE using LCD

Post by jferguson » Sat Jul 22, 2017 9:47 pm

Am I understanding that an instant shut-down from a print-job presumably with all fans stopped would not lead to problems? Maybe this is only imprudent on my other printer which has bourdon tube feed and where there may be a risk of baking filament to the feed structure if cooling isn't continued until the thing cools a bit.

mathisyourfriend
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Re: Properly canceling a print on M2 Rev. E SE using LCD

Post by mathisyourfriend » Sat Jul 22, 2017 11:32 pm

It has happened twice. Both times the Hot End and Bed turned off. Fans stayed on but since I was there I just turned the M2 off.

I've had no problems printing off an SD card after unplugging my computer (I almost always do this/some 15 hour+ prints).

I look forward to the M3's new approach. I hope it makes things easier for this dumb math teacher. Otherwise both of the M2s I've owned have just worked.
Except for user error (which this forum has helped with immensely).

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