Unresolved auto level issues, "buggy" software

(I think) I FINALLY got my Z low enough by tweaking the 3 Z Sampled Positions in the Configuration>Leveling Settings, and lowering the Z offset under Slice Settings>Printer>General>Z Offset. I have the "Z Can Be Negative" box checked under Slice Settings>Printer>General, although none of my values are negative.

Auto Leveling doesn't start at the beginning of every print, sometimes (mostly) runs even when disabled under the Configuration tab.
Worst of all, sometimes it wants to start it's routine at aprox 50mm in the positive x and y direction, and then grinds the gears when it tries to go outside the physical limits of the printer.

I also have issues with the program locking up when I cancel a print, sometimes the extruder won't start to heat automatically at the start of a print, sometimes won't turn on manually either. The Movement Controls intermittently quit working too.
These "buggy" issues got worse when I tried to re-install the software so I could start over from scratch - not so sure the uninstall/reinstall worked like I wanted it to bcuz MatterControl remembered all my settings and what was in my print queue (I only did an uninstall from Windows File Explorer).

 

Don't use a Z offset in combination with the automatic printer leveling procedure.

I suggest reporting bugs directly to mattercontrol as they support the software: www.matterhackers.com/community/forum

I prefer repetier host.

 

I emailed MatterHackers Support yesterday (and posted on their forum) - waiting for replies.

To clarify, I remember when you said the Z Offset wouldn't work in conjunction with the Auto Level. Actually I read somewhere (don't remember exactly where - been lookin' like crazy to resolve this) Robo users aren't supposed to enable the Automatic Print Leveling under Configuration, because it's already in the Start G-code.

Have you heard of this before?
Is this problem in any way a possible hardware issue? All I know is could be a bad cable?

 

Just found their thread and they do suggest disabling automatic printer leveling. They've done a full 180 on me...

So yeah, use the M565 command in the startup gcode for offset and disable their routine. Negative values in M565 push you further from the bed. -1.0 is generally a good start point

Autolevel firmwares have the bed homing in the center. If your Y and X axis are not homing properly it could be a bad cable.

If they home properly it's probably software. I'd need to see a video.

 

I always make sure the print head is homed first - I started doing this early on as
one of the very first times I tried to use the printer it started at aprox 4" off the bed. In my cumulative experience so far, it acts like commands are intermittently not being sent to/received by the printer. Proly software though - seems like canceling a print makes it start screwing up too.

Start G-Code is:

G28 ; home all axes
G1 Z5 F5000 ; lift nozzle
M109 S[temperature] ; set the extruder temp and wait
G28 Z0 ; Home Z again in case there was filament on nozzle
M565 Z0
G29 ; probe the bed

My prints always start out way too high after trying to calibrate the printer. Is that "M565 Z0" the culprit?

 

Right, as I said about you need to set the value to something like -1.0. Be sure automatic printer leveling is disabled as well as any slicer specific z offset set to 0.

4" off the bed is a mechanical issue. People tend to point fingers at firmware or software but in general they just confuse a mechanical hiccup with a software.

 

I had another thought last night too, so I reinstalled the firmware from the website (rather than the SD card) and so far so good...