Accidentally wiped my control board - doesn't work at all

[Derek the Admin]

Please don't try and modifications to the board via the arduino IDE. It interjects more variables into the support equation where no one matter can ever be isolated.

Tomorrow I'll send you a new hex file and a link to XLOADER so that you can use it to reflash the board.

[Derek the Admin]

Yes. It will give you the correct settings. As an alternative, you could pull up our factory defaults and just change each one by one. It would maybe take 10 or 20 minutes to put them each in and check it over.

[VGCustomShop]

Aug 22, 2017 1:40:08 GMT Derek the Admin said:

Yes. It will give you the correct settings. As an alternative, you could pull up our factory defaults and just change each one by one. It would maybe take 10 or 20 minutes to put them each in and check it over.

I'll try that it will be good experience for me - many thanks again for the help.

[Derek the Admin]

I ran all of your code yesterday and it ran fine. I think you said in another thread that John at PicEngrave ran your code successfully too, so I think we can put aside that as the cause. Aforww posted some sample code as well. Did you run it to see how it ran?

A homing malfunction itself is not the issue with Z over-travel. Rather, a Z over-travel may cause a homing malfunction. In addition, you could just zero the file to stock top using the G92 Zd command where d is the distance from the bottom of the end mill to the top of the stock and circumvent the homing process altogether. Where homing becomes useful is if you have a body of stock that you always and clamp in the same position you can set a work offset and move to it each time you power back on the machine, run a homing cycle, and select that coordinate system. I digress though.

I mean this very respectfully, but you've got to slow down on trying different things and give us feedback at each step if you ever want to run successfully. We have several hundred customers running their machines and making the things they intend to make. You are putting variables into the equation that are slowing you down and aforww and I are spending a lot of time doing our very best to help you be successful. And we will absolutely help make you successful. I could sell a lot more machines if I spent more time selling and left users to figure out their own issues but I really have a commitment to customers and I get more pleasure out of helping people make what they want with the machine they've purchase from us than just selling the next machine. I have a lot of experience with technical support and we always bring about a solution. If a homing issue developed after you installed your own Z probe, then the solution was to take a pause right there and examine the particular issue and explore how this new variable may have impacted operation. Did something get shorted when you installed the probe? Did something get removed or unplugged when you installed the probe? We can't really know or isolate that because you added extra variables to the equation. If the problem did not originate when something was changed on the Arduino IDE, then going into it and manipulating the control board with it was not going to solve the problem. Through whatever means, you also had some settings changed from our defaults. I'm not sure how that came about, but I urge everyone except the most experienced of users to make sure that the setting stay exactly how we put them. Changing settings like this is similar to turning knobs on a control panel without fully understanding how the change cascades throughout the system. I mean this quite respectfully and I'm trying to be constructive to the end of you running successful parts.

So it is running the Z too deep, let's talk just about the Z. Before turning on the machine, please spin the Z coupler so that the Z stage is towards the top and clear out anything below it that it could crash into. Open up Universal G Code Sender Platform and connect to the machine. Issue the following commands and measure the distance travelled:
G91
G21
G0 Z-10

How far did the Z move exactly?
If it moved 10mm, issue this command:

G0 Z10 Did it move back to it's starting position?
If if did not move back, stop and check that the anti-backlash nut is not too tight on the Z, binding its motion. If it's too tight it will not be able to travel because it will stall.

If it moved more than 10mm initially and then moved back to it's starting position with G0 Z10, then please tell me the jumper locations underneath the Z stepper driver. Are they on M0 and M1? (note, please leave all power including the USB cable disconnected for 60 seconds before making/breaking any electrical connections).

If it's moving the correct distance in the Z- direction but not in the Z+ direction, please also check your potentiometer screw voltage on the Z driver.

Please let me know the results of that test.

[VGCustomShop]

1. As instructed moved the z to the top and turned on UGCS Platform but it would not find my usb port.
2. Turned on UGCS standard and it found my port - entered the commands - all at once or one at a time? So I did both -

G91 (locked) so I pressed $X - then G91 - "OK" no movement
G21 "OK" no movement
G0 Z10 - moved all the way up (which was about a half an inch) "OK"

Now all commands at the same time: no movement.

The Z stepper jumpers are on MO and M1

The voltage of the steppers are Z .630, X .643, Y .646, A .636
I readjusted Z to .644 and A to .652

[aforww]

You need to do it in the positive and the negative. You need to also measure the distance traveled. The purpose being to ensure steps are accurate in both directions. So do it Z10 and Z-10. Use calipers or a decent tape measure to measure distance. The more important outcome is does it travel equal distance in both directions. Secondary for our current situation is how accurate those are to 10mm

Also, did you check the coupler and other variables that were mentioned?

[VGCustomShop]

Aug 23, 2017 0:26:53 GMT aforww said:

You need to do it in the positive and the negative. You need to also measure the distance traveled. The purpose being to ensure steps are accurate in both directions. So do it Z10 and Z-10. Use calipers or a decent tape measure to measure distance. The more important outcome is does it travel equal distance in both directions. Secondary for our current situation is how accurate those are to 10mm

Also, did you check the coupler and other variables that were mentioned?

I said in my post that the jumpers are in the correct place.

I checked it Z10 to Z-10 and Z-10 to Z10 each way measured approx 20 mm

[aforww]

Aug 23, 2017 1:19:51 GMT VGCustomShop said:

Aug 23, 2017 0:26:53 GMT aforww said:

You need to do it in the positive and the negative. You need to also measure the distance traveled. The purpose being to ensure steps are accurate in both directions. So do it Z10 and Z-10. Use calipers or a decent tape measure to measure distance. The more important outcome is does it travel equal distance in both directions. Secondary for our current situation is how accurate those are to 10mm

Also, did you check the coupler and other variables that were mentioned?

I said in my post that the jumpers are in the correct place.

I checked it Z10 to Z-10 = approx 20 mm

You didn't specify you ran it both directions or the measured distance moved. But we now know that it's good.

When I get home in the morning, I'll make you a basic test file to run. Nothing fancy. I'll also most very specific instructions to the process. I want to eliminate all variables as I feel as if there's something we're missing. That is, if Derek didn't find the offender first.

[VGCustomShop]

Aug 23, 2017 1:37:05 GMT aforww said:

Aug 23, 2017 1:19:51 GMT VGCustomShop said:

I said in my post that the jumpers are in the correct place.

I checked it Z10 to Z-10 = approx 20 mm

You didn't specify you ran it both directions or the measured distance moved. But we now know that it's good.

When I get home in the morning, I'll make you a basic test file to run. Nothing fancy. I'll also most very specific instructions to the process. I want to eliminate all variables as I feel as if there's something we're missing. That is, if Derek didn't find the offender first.

Yes I moved it both ways - each way it moves 20 mm - when I command Z10 it moves one way 20 mm when I command Z-10 it moves the other way 20 mm  Isn't it supposed to move 10 mm?  Because each command moves it 20 mm

[aforww]

G0 Z10 moves up 20mm, then something is wrong with the steps. That greatly narrows down the issue. I'll let Derek address that as my understanding at this point of the jumpers and micro stepping is basic.

[VGCustomShop]

Aug 23, 2017 3:37:25 GMT aforww said:

G0 Z10 moves up 20mm, then something is wrong with the steps. That greatly narrows down the issue. I'll let Derek address that as my understanding at this point of the jumpers and micro stepping is basic.

I went ahead and tested them all:

Z10 moves 20 mm
Z-10 moves 20 mm back
Y10 moves 10 mm
Y-10 moves 10 mm back
X10 moves 40 mm
X-10 moves 40 mm back

[aforww]

Aug 23, 2017 7:26:50 GMT VGCustomShop said:

Aug 23, 2017 3:37:25 GMT aforww said:

G0 Z10 moves up 20mm, then something is wrong with the steps. That greatly narrows down the issue. I'll let Derek address that as my understanding at this point of the jumpers and micro stepping is basic.

I went ahead and tested them all:

Z10 moves 20 mm
Z-10 moves 20 mm back
Y10 moves 10 mm
Y-10 moves 10 mm back
X10 moves 40 mm
X-10 moves 40 mm back

Good to know. I can't comment on the carve king setup since I don't have one and don't know how the micro stepping is set-up. However, we know Y axis is good so I'd speculate that you should make sure X and Z jumpers are the same as Y. I'm assuming you reflashed the stock MillRight hex so the GRBL config settings should be correct.

[VGCustomShop]

Aug 23, 2017 8:19:29 GMT aforww said:

Aug 23, 2017 7:26:50 GMT VGCustomShop said:

I went ahead and tested them all:

Z10 moves 20 mm
Z-10 moves 20 mm back
Y10 moves 10 mm
Y-10 moves 10 mm back
X10 moves 40 mm
X-10 moves 40 mm back

Good to know. I can't comment on the carve king setup since I don't have one and don't know how the micro stepping is set-up. However, we know Y axis is good so I'd speculate that you should make sure X and Z jumpers are the same as Y. I'm assuming you reflashed the stock MillRight hex so the GRBL config settings should be correct.

Yes all jumper are exactly the same (see photo) - don't forget everything worked fine back on August 3rd when I made these videos - except that it froze programs and stopped mid job . . it also cut the right depth back then - so I have no idea what happened.  I did flash and the machine jogs - but it doesn't home or cut correctly now.   Entered the settings in the assembly book manually.  But the machine always starts "locked" and I have to push $X which I didn't before.  Maybe I should buy a new board, shield and stepper drivers and start over?  The other video is of the machine stopping after it got started . . .

 .

[Derek the Admin]

Thanks very much for reporting that data. This confirms that we have mechanical consistency out of the machine which is good news and (mostly) rules out certain issues such as a loose coupler or binding screw.

That said, I am a little baffled myself now. The firmware we provide for the Carve King is hard coded to suppress the Grbl default of opening the firmware into alarm lock when homing is enabled. This exists in our hex files for Grbl 0.9 that we are still installing on the M3 (simply for lack of time to migrate it to the new), but not in 1.1 on theCarvw King.This is a compile time configuration that I don't think can even be changed at run time. Your settings that you have in now in terms of steps per mm appear to match our default settings but you aren't getting the pulses that match. Let me get the team going with today's plan and I will return shortly to explain a solution.

I'm going to upload our default hex for you that I'd like

[Derek the Admin]

I don't think board replacement is necessary at this time. Okay, first I want to confirm that your settings are still the same as what we prescribe:

$0 = 10 (Step pulse time, microseconds)
$1 = 255 (Step idle delay, milliseconds)
$2 = 0 (Step pulse invert, mask)
$3 = 0 (Step direction invert, mask)
$4 = 0 (Invert step enable pin, boolean)
$5 = 0 (Invert limit pins, boolean)
$6 = 0 (Invert probe pin, boolean)
$10 = 1 (Status report options, mask)
$11 = 0.010 (Junction deviation, millimeters)
$12 = 0.002 (Arc tolerance, millimeters)
$13 = 0 (Report in inches, boolean)
$20 = 0 (Soft limits enable, boolean)
$21 = 0 (Hard limits enable, boolean)
$22 = 1 (Homing cycle enable, boolean)
$23 = 0 (Homing direction invert, mask)
$24 = 35.000 (Homing locate feed rate, mm/min)
$25 = 1200.000 (Homing search seek rate, mm/min)
$26 = 94 (Homing switch debounce delay, milliseconds)
$27 = 4.000 (Homing switch pull-off distance, millimeters)
$30 = 12000 (Maximum spindle speed, RPM)
$31 = 5000 (Minimum spindle speed, RPM)
$32 = 0 (Laser-mode enable, boolean)
$100 = 200.000 (X-axis travel resolution, step/mm)
$101 = 200.000 (Y-axis travel resolution, step/mm)
$102 = 200.000 (Z-axis travel resolution, step/mm)
$110 = 3500.000 (X-axis maximum rate, mm/min)
$111 = 4400.000 (Y-axis maximum rate, mm/min)
$112 = 3000.000 (Z-axis maximum rate, mm/min)
$120 = 240.000 (X-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2)
$121 = 240.000 (Y-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2)
$122 = 240.000 (Z-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2)
$130 = 432.000 (X-axis maximum travel, millimeters)
$131 = 432.000 (Y-axis maximum travel, millimeters)
$132 = 95.000 (Z-axis maximum travel, millimeters)

I'm in particular concerned about your settings 100 and 102. Your distance traveled corresponds to a setting of 800 for setting 100 and 400 for setting 102. (NOTE: THOSE VALUES OF 800 AND 400 ARE WRONG, I'M JUST SAYING YOUR DISTANCE TRAVELED WOULD BE EXPECTED IF THOSE VALUES WERE IN THERE).

If they are those values are wrong, just correct them, do the motion distance test again, and stop and report results please.

Now, if the values you had in your settings were already correct, let's do two things.
First, I would like you to plug the board in and then go into the Arduino IDE.
Go to Tools/Board and select Arduino/Genuino Uno
Next go to Tools/Port and select the comm port.
Next go to File/Examples/(scroll on down if needed)/eeprom/click eeprom_clear
Next go to sketch/upload

This procedure should flush anything in your settings.

Now, Use XLoader to upload a clean version of our hex file, which I have attached to this message. Please do not open the hex file with a text editor to view it. It's hexadecimal and one little character input could mess the entire program up.
russemotto.com/xloader/XLoader.zip
Download and unzip XLoader. Open it, then point to the file by clicking the ellipse (…) under the window with the heading “Hex file.” The device must be “Uno.” Drop down the box for COM port, and make sure you select the COM port that the Uno is occupying. In most cases, only one COM port will show. If not, try both. Baud rate must be 115200. Click upload and wait for the confirmation.

Please open your g code sender and connect to the machine. If you got a good flash, the machine should not open in alarm lock. Please do a $$ and enter.
Does it match what we have above?
Please do the motion test on each axis and report back.

If the motion test is successful, do a homing operation and see if it is successful. If it is not successful, please go to Universal G Code Sender Platform then Tools/Options/UGS Icon/Sender Options at top bar. Click "Show verbose output" then click apply and ok.
Press each switch.
Do "Pn:Z" show at the end of the reported text string whenever you manually push the Z switch?
What does it say when you press X and Y?

Let us know.

Thanks

Attachments:

Grbl 1p1 for Carve King Homing and No Homing.hex (81.7 KB)