Solved MatterControl Crashed but printer is continuing...can I let it run? (16hrs into a 30 hr print)

Hi, I'm pretty noob and this is my first long print...previous longest was 5 hours. Now I am 16 hours into a 30 hours print, running matter control 1.7 on an older macbook (OS Sierra). It has been going fine, but I just went over to check on it and on my screen it said" Are you sure you want to abort this print and close MatterControl?" and I was like NO. And when I clicked "no" that little window went away and so did the matter control window. Currently the window is not visible on the computer, but the printer is still going and the computer still says the program is open (little dot under the icon on the dock, and says MatterControl in the upper left header bar). I'm too scared to click anything, should I leave it alone?

I think it might have been because I had the 2D Gcode viewer synced with the printer and that kept the screen on the whole time and might have been too much for the computer.

Thanks

 

Thanks Geof! The printer is still running right now and it seems fine...I'll just let it go and we'll see what happens. I tried to load from an SD card but was struggling...a controller is definitely on my wish list! For now I use my old macbook, but I have a newer one I can do work on, so it's ok for me. But getting into longer prints is such a stressful endeavour, I feel like a new parent, checking up on it every 20 minutes. Anything could go wrong at any moment!

 

Another option you might consider is a Raspberry Pi running OctoPrint. (See the OctoPi site for a fairly easy way to set this up.) This has advantages and disadvantages over a "traditional" RepRap-style monochrome LCD:

• OctoPrint includes support for webcams, so you can monitor the print remotely. (Of course, you could set up something similar in other ways, but it's nice to have it integrated in this way.)
• You can set up and control the printer from any computer on your home network with OctoPrint.
• You can type in g-code commands via the OctoPrint Web UI.
• If you want to spend some more money, you can add a full-color LCD touchscreen for a flashier GUI interface on the printer, or even hook up a computer monitor and keyboard.
  
• It's harder (or sometimes impossible) to adjust some print settings on the fly (like Z-axis offset) via OctoPrint compared to using a RepRap LCD.
• OctoPrint can crash, and if it does, it'll ruin the print. This is less likely with a RepRap LCD.

I'm sure there are other important differences, but these are the ones that spring to mind.

Both approaches will help reduce your need to have a computer attached to the printer when you print (although technically, a Pi is a computer; it's just a very cheap one that you can run without a keyboard and mouse). I'm not sure what a RepRap LCD goes for, offhand, but Raspberry Pis are pretty cheap -- about $40 or $50 for a starter kit. (You can forego a case and print your own, of course; but most kits come with cases. It's also possible to mount the Pi inside your Robo.) Of course, if you start adding webcams, LCD touch panels, etc., the price goes up quickly.

 

Thanks friends! The print finished fine and I have since run two more with the same laptop setup. I am using these prints for a school project with a deadline next week, so unfortunately I don't have time to set up an SD card, LCD screen option. I definitely want to in the future though! Thanks for all of the advice and links to products! I tried to get it to run on the SD card by loading the gcode through mattercontrol and then plugging in the SD card into the printer and importing back into Matter control, but I couldn't get it to load once plugged into the printer...I will try more in the future, connecting it to the computer is definitely anxiety inducing but I only have one more long print to get through for this next deadline then I can play around