Marlin Firmware Upgrade 1.1.0 RC8 & RCBugFix (For R1 & R1+PLUS)

Most of those are for stuff in 1.2.0. Right now there is a lot of in-fighting between Thinkyhead and Wackerbush. Others take jabs at both on occasion. Even the main Cura developer Diad has jumped into the fray now and again. I have had nothing but success printing with 1.1.0 RC2 and files produced by Slic3r, Cura and Simplify3D*. I have been using it non-stop since the Sept 29 release date. If it is unstable for you it needs to be outlined, duplicated and reported. Marlin, in my opinion, will likely survive these internal struggles, but not before there are some bloody skirmishes and a lot of people butt-hurt.

For the Robo, since I don't really want to or need to replace any of the electronics, I am sticking with Marlin. For anything else I am going to look at Smoothieware**.


*Of course I could actually run my printer without auto-level at the moment since I was very meticulous in doing a dial indicator leveling.

**Smoothieware has it's own issues in that it is run like a co-dictatorship (a good cop, bad cop, if you like that analogy better) with Arthur Wolf and wolfmanjm playing the lead roles. They are very protective of their baby (Smoothieboard/Smoothieware) and because of it are not the most welcoming people. That said, as soon as the Smoothieboard 2 comes out, I will probably go that route and forgo the Inexpensive Chinese attempts to clone.

 

Open Source.... 'nuff said.

At least I am not a contributor.

I would also have gone that way if I hadn't backed the BBP. It is also a really nice setup, but a little more expensive. Certainly going forward I am foregoing any of the Arduino/Ramps combos. They are cheaper, but way less functional.

 

Not that I see, but that is a really good idea for an enhancement.

 

@Mike Kelly, you don't turn off your heaters in end g-code?

 

So here we are at Release Candidate 3. It was actually released on the 1st of December, I am a few days behind. Not a lot of things changed, there is some undocumented code cleanup that I noticed during editing for Robo specific configuration items, and here is the list from the developers:

Recent Changes

• RC3 - 01 Dec 2015
  • A number of language sensitive strings have been revised
  • Formatting of the LCD display has been improved to handle negative coordinates better
  • Various compiler-related issues have been corrected

As with my previous releases, please use this at your own risk, I make no claims as to usability of this firmware version, other than to say that I am using it personally. The following things are enabled in this version of the firmware:

What's enabled:

• Babystepping (based on modified Ziggy's code)
• Full Graphics LCD Smart Controller (If you have the standard LCD or XXL LCD modify Configuration.h appropriately)
• EEPROM saving
• Hexagon Thermistor (modify this in Configuration.h if you are using an E3D thermistor)
• Better calibrated E-Steps (You should still do your own calibration of your particular extruder)
• Better calibrated heaters (You should still PID tune your own heaters http://reprap.org/wiki/PID_Tuning)
  PIDs are enabled for both the extruder and the bed in this version
• Auto Bed Leveling grid centered over build area and movements sped up between points.

Just unzip to a Marlin directory and upgrade your firmware as you normally would.

Note: There is no longer M565 defined in this firmware. Marlin never intended to implement this particular code and it is not in the reprap.wiki as supported. Instead you must use the Marlin supported M851. It is set in a similar way to M565 but the number is positive rather than negative. Example: If your Z offset is currently -0.8 then in this firmware you would use the command M851 Z0.8 to set it correctly. This can be placed in startup gcode or set from the command line. If your setting doesn't change much (and technically it shouldn't) Issuing an M500 command after the M851 will save that setting in EEPROM.

Just a note about flashing new versions and EEPROM setting: Flashing does not change settings stored in EEPROM, if you need to go back to Firmware Defaults (recommended), after flashing issue the following M-Code commands before your first print:

Code:

M502
M500

Files included with this post Robo_Development_RC3.zip, this file is the entire firmware file collection with modifications stated above. Ready for extraction to a sub-directory named Marlin and compiled and uploaded via the Arduino IDE (available at arduino.cc). The second Robo_Defaults.zip file just includes the files that I have changed for my personal flavor of Marlin and include all the changes stated above. It is included for those that only want to see the changes made.

 

Sorry folks, if you downloaded my zip before 5pm EST Saturday December 12 there was an error in the code that prevented it from compiling properly. It is now corrected and the .zip file was updated in the previous post. Please download this again to avoid any issues.

 

New uploads of files for RC3.

Changes:
Reverted Ziggy's code to display Babysteps as changes to Marlin have made it necessary to completely rewrite it for proper integration. This results in Marlin simply displaying the default Babystepping Z rather than the number of steps. My implementation of his code seemed to be causing other issues with the menu system.

Before use remember to change the following lines as appropriate for your particular setup, in Configuration.h:

Code:

#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT   {80,80,400,800}  //--ROBO-BH Default steps per unit for RoboR1

The third parameter should be:

• 2267.72 for the 5/16" R1
• 2560 for the 8 mm R1
• 800 for the R1+PLUS and the Official Lead Screw Update
• 400 for any TR8*8 lead screw updates

Code:

#define TEMP_SENSOR_0 1        //--ROBO-BH for E3Dv6 = 5 for Hexagon = 1

As stated in the inline comment depending on your thermistor type.

 

If you think our opinion of Marlin dev was off-base:

https://plus.google.com/+BrookDrummpb/posts/gWupi2KvLiC

 

I hope they merge back in whatever changes they have done and not just run off with a custom branch...

 

I am curious that Brook Drumm mentions TinyG is the future for Printrbot, I may need to look into that as an alternative to Marlin, but I may switch the Robo to a clone Smoothieboard and be done with it.

 

The TinyG board looks nice, but rather pricier than alternatives with more features...

 

The thermal runaway issue comes up for me only when I have my fans on 100%, I am seriously considering going to a single parts fan. Also do your own PID adjustment for heater and bed, do not rely on my settings in the firmware. Link to the PID instructions is listed in message #128

 

@Schlomo. Thermal Runaway is not just hotter, and usually isn't, that is just fear mongering by the developers that wanted to add it in. It is usually caused by drops in temperature that are too great (according to the firmware) for the heater to handle. It was too bad that they used the same error for both too hot and too cold, makes it hard to distinguish as all you get is the Thermal Runaway message.