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Answered Cura, what version supports USB?

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by joea, Oct 16, 2022.

  1. joea

    joea Active Member

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    Adding a different printer. Decided to try CURA as MC was giving me some issues trying to put two printers on the same USB.

    Downloaded Cura 5.1.1 from their site and find it does not want to use USB at all. They seem to be forcing things to "the Cloud".

    Since I've seen posts here that tout Cura, surely there is some earlier version that works well and supports USB?
     
    #1 joea, Oct 16, 2022
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I honestly can't say since I have only played with the newer versions of Cura a time or two. Just not suited to their workflow.
    A fair number of others do use it so someone probably knows :)
     
    #2 mark tomlinson, Oct 20, 2022
  3. joea

    joea Active Member

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    What do you use these days?
     
    #3 joea, Oct 20, 2022
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Same thig I have used for over 6 years -- Simplify3D for the FDM machines (resin printers -- it depends).
    People tend to get annoyed that it is not 'new' or recently updated but it still out slices everything and I want to be able to slice and print -- no fiddling. It does that. They built a darn good slicer, they just couldn't run the business :)
     
    #4 mark tomlinson, Oct 21, 2022
  5. joea

    joea Active Member

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    By "out slices" you mean?

    I see it is not "free".
     
    #5 joea, Oct 21, 2022
  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I mean it is far faster and produces better prints.

    They have a 30? day trial IIRC.
     
    #6 mark tomlinson, Oct 21, 2022
  7. joea

    joea Active Member

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    They still do offer a "free trial", did not check for length.

    There appears to be a lot to like, supports the two printers I have, for a start, (which the latest Cura does not, OOTB) but, as many do apparently, balk at the price. While it is not outrageous, I guess, it is a shocker given that most everything else is free. Kind of like Soldiworks vs FreeCAD.
     
    #7 joea, Oct 21, 2022
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  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Solidworks is another of our mainstays :) They have several discounts (student, military, etc.) which do make it more affordable.
     
    #8 mark tomlinson, Oct 21, 2022
  9. joea

    joea Active Member

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    I did get Solidworks using military, vet, discount. It was a painful learning experience and support was a "when we get to you" sort of thing. Maybe it is better for the premium customers.

    FreeCad seemed to be similar in some ways, easier to use (for me) and the support forums turned out to be quite helpful, many folks eager to share knowledge and even provide examples in usable files. Sometimes for a "modest donation" to the FreeCad cause, but, still.

    Matter Control works for me, sort of, and I'm looking for something better. Probably will try to download the trial and give it a go.
     
    #9 joea, Oct 21, 2022
  10. joea

    joea Active Member

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    Apparently I miss read, there is no "trial" download, but a 2 week window to request a refund. Guess I won't be going down that path after all.
     
    #10 joea, Oct 21, 2022
  11. joea

    joea Active Member

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    I've been having a great deal of difficulty finding a slicer/printer program that has an obvious/simple "terminal mode" as does the version of MC I am familiar with.

    All of the free ones I've been downloading leave me empty in that regard and are proving difficult to use via USB, there being no obvious means of testing why connectivity is failing.

    Is Simplify3D better in that regard?
     
    #11 joea, Oct 27, 2022
  12. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    This:

    Capture.JPG
     
    #12 mark tomlinson, Oct 27, 2022
  13. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If you are printing then the stream of GCode will be displayed as well as you being able to submit gcode manually anytime you are connected.
     
    #13 mark tomlinson, Oct 27, 2022
  14. joea

    joea Active Member

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    '

    To be sure I understand, that is the Simplify3D feature? Do they also allow printing via USB?
     
    #14 joea, Oct 27, 2022
  15. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yes, that is their 'terminal' mode and yes you can attach a printer via USB and print that way.
    They have complete documentation on-line and they do have support forums and direct support tickets that can be opened as well.

    I have only a few times needed to ping something off of their support.

    This is handy too: https://www.simplify3d.com/support/articles/

    Much of that information is not specific to their product. The steps they demonstrate with the videos are obviously targeted at their product workflow but the specifics can be applied to most any slicer.
     
    #15 mark tomlinson, Oct 27, 2022

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