Solved Robo3d R1 no longer connecting

I've had my robo3d for a while, originally it printed ok once I got the bugs worked out and then started having issues. I just recently upgraded to a E3D v6 and tried to update the firmware but was not able. I had some computer problems and recently put a new clean version of windows 7 on an old laptop, loaded matter control, and got one of the best prints I ever have. Couldn't have been happier. Did some other prints that worked well and then started running into some issues. At first the printer would loose connection and start becoming unresponsive, it would still show the temp but it would keep dropping the bed and extruder temp and I was unable to get it to heat back up. It was also unresponsive to manual control of the axis'. If I shut down MC and fired it back up it would work for a while and then loose connection. Eventually it lost all ability to connect at all. I've tried loading CURA, Slicer3, and Repetier and have not been able to get any of them to connect. I bought a new USB cable tonight and haven't had a chance to try it out, and I was wondering if there was any other test I can do to narrow down whats wrong? I've tried a couple times to update the firmware of the aurdino but I haven't been able to get that to connect either. If I go to my control panel I am able to see the Aurdino Mega in the device list but Im confused as to why it stopped connecting when nothing changed?

 

Thanks, like I said, I have a new USB cable of better then dirt cheap quality. I don't own a powered usb hub but I will look into it. Its just kind of confusing how it was working absolutely perfect and then slowly kind of died. Kind of afraid its a hardware problem.

 

Tried a new USB cable and no luck. Also tried uninstalling and reloading matter control but also no luck. I plan to pick up a powered usb hub but Im not sure when I will have time to do that. The error Im getting says COM4 in use. I tried com3 and it says it connects but no temp shows up and the manual controls do nothing so I don't think thats accurate? Anyone else have any other ideas that may help me narrow down the problem? It very well could be something easy but I can't for the life of me figure it out. I may try wiping this computer and reloading everything again to see if that helps but that's kind of a pain if its unnecessary>

 

2 things:

-try and print from an sd card

if it fails then print from your pc and open the gcode terminal
"
To access the Terminal, follow these steps:

1. Open MatterControl.

2. Click 'Advanced Controls'.

3. At the bottom of the 'Printer Controls' section, there is a section called Printer Communications, with a 'Show Terminal' button.

4. The Terminal will appear as a separate pop-up window."

you are looking for this error

Extruder switched off. Temperature fell too much during print!
Changing monitoring state from 'Printing' to 'Error: Extruder switched off. Temperature ...'
Recv: Error: printer stopped due to errors. Fix the error and use M999 to restart. (Temperature

 

Mine is an older one that doesn't have the SD reader so thats not an option. I found the terminal and if I select com port3 it will say its connected and I see code being sent to the machine in the terminal but nothing happens. I tried sending a G28 command but it was also unresponsive.

 

When I switch it to Com port 4 it says that com port 4 is in use and the terminal says "lost connection to printer"

 

try another usb connecteur on your pc ..... might do something

 

Here is a picture. I wasnt a part of the initial kick start but i ordered just after that. I think my initial order was delayed because they where retrofitting the auto-level features.

 

Also, i tried all 3 usb ports with a new usb cable while selecting all the com port options in matter control and no luck there either.

 

Ok. I will start there. Any specific place thats best to buy one? What specific model am I looking at? If I understand its a arduino mega but is there anything else I need to know? As far as adding a sd drive and possibly a screen does that change anything in what I need to buy? I have a sneaky suspicion its a hardware issues since it was working and over about it day slowly got less and less responsive till it no longer works.

 

Awesome, thank you. I will have to order that today and hopefully everything will be back up and running very soon. I will certainly keep everyone who has been nice enough to help posted on how it goes.

 

An update. I just recently bought a new computer and it appears the problem was with my old one. I had actually tried 2 different computers and had no luck so I am not sure of the issue but as of now it is 100% up and running and now Im working through tweaking my process to get larger abs prints to print without delamentation. Thanks again everyone.