Firmware Updates?

[medfoch]

I have been using my Max v3 non stop since early November and LOVING it! It is a work of art AND a trouble free work horse.

My question is this - is the firmware updated often? How often should I update the Rambo firmware? Should I update now?

Thanks for this awesome forum and all the help!

[Eric]

Answer your questions:
* There's been at least one update since you purchased.
* Theres no need to update at all, if you don't feel the need. But if you see some new/improved feature you really want to have...
* Maybe. But you seem happy at the moment, so maybe not. My philosophy is that if it aint broke, don't fix it until you have a reason to fix it.

[Jimustanguitar]

Agreed. These aren't ethernet devices that need security patches or OS updates, it's a machine more than a computer. Check the release notes on GitHub, and don't worry about an update unless you are trying to solve a problem that one of the updates addressed.

[djkirkendall]

There's 2 bugs I really wish they would fix:

1.) After a CANX print, the next print sucks up 200+mm of filament after it runs to zero after homing. My only recourse is to hold the EZRstruder until it stops. This seems to happen from SD, Octoprint, and MC.

2.) When starting a print from Octoprint, for some reason the Feed Rate is matched to the Flow rate. I have to set the feed/flow to the right setting after start. I have a lot of common GCODE that I dial in for the color in use (i.e. baseline delta will be 75% feed, 110% flow).

The really odd thing is that my V2s don't have this bug running the old firmware using octoprint. This was definitely introduced with the V3.

[Dale Eason]

There's 2 bugs I really wish they would fix:

1.) After a CANX print, the next print sucks up 200+mm of filament after it runs to zero after homing. My only recourse is to hold the EZRstruder until it stops. This seems to happen from SD, Octoprint, and MC.

2.) When starting a print from Octoprint, for some reason the Feed Rate is matched to the Flow rate. I have to set the feed/flow to the right setting after start. I have a lot of common GCODE that I dial in for the color in use (i.e. baseline delta will be 75% feed, 110% flow).

The really odd thing is that my V2s don't have this bug running the old firmware using octoprint. This was definitely introduced with the V3.

I hate to be stupid but you used a lot of terms I don't uderstand and yet I thought I understood a lot about printing.
What is CANX print? What do you mean by runs to zero.
By sucks up 200+mm do you mean the extruder reverses and withdraws filament? Why would it do that without a G-Code telling it to?
What is the difference between feed rate and flow rate. Where is flow rate set in a slicer? I have only heard of feed rate. Assuming that is in reference to extruding.

Dale

[djkirkendall]

Heh.....

CANX means the prior print was cancelled (forgive me, I spent 8 years in flight test) . In terms of the zero, I mean the normal process for a print. Warmup bed, warmup hotend, Home, bed zero, begin. This process can be defined as alternate start GCODE, I've seen a priming command or a calibration command inserted, as well as a "scrub routine" using a fixed wire brush.

200mm is retracted autonomously, and is most definitely a firmware bug. Darned if I can find it. I think it has something to do with relative vs. absolute positioning with the extruder. I'm not doing anything exotic with start/stop GCODE, so I'm confident it's in the firmware.

Flow rate is an extruder offset applied on top of the GCODE. If you want 10% more material, then the flow rate is set to 110%.

Feed rate is the global speed. I have different speeds set for infill, perimeters, top/bottom layers. Adjusting the feed rate applies the change in speed to all parameters set (in this case GCODE - 25%). I use Cura to micromanage these parameters, and octoprint to manage the GCODE with the RAMBO.

[Dale Eason]

Thanks for the explanations. What the printer does when you cancel is (I believe) set by your slicer or printer control program. For instance I use Octoprint or MatterControl. When canceling a print from either one my V2 does not reverse the extruder. I'm using the December release. I could not find any cancel print code in Command.h where I think all gcode is processed.

Dale

[djkirkendall]

It won't retract upon cancellation. It will retract on the start of the next print if the prior print was cancelled.

It doesn't occur with the V2 firmware, just the V3 and the Eris. The only thing I can think of is there is a switch in there from absolute to relative positioning mode, and the first extract to start the print is a couple hundred mm from where the firmware thinks the current extruder position is.

It's almost like it retracts the complete length of filament extruded on the last print's progress (i.e. I cancelled it 150mm into the print, it would retract 150mm after the start of the next print).

[Dale Eason]

V2 and V3 share the same firmware. Only the configuration.h file is modified for one or the other.

I do not have that problem with the December release. So if you wanted to try that version of the release it may work for you. That would partly isolate when the change happened.

Dale

[Dale Eason]

Perhaps you have a g code at the top of your files that was ignored by the V2 firmware but now is no longer ignored. Maybe post you initial g-code from the file for the first few commands until it really starts to print.

Dale

[djkirkendall]

Start:
M104 S210
M190 S60
M109 S210
G28

Stop:
M104 S0
M140 S0
G91
G1 Z10 E-5.0 F12000
G90
G28
M84 ; disable motors

Like I said, nothing cosmic.

Here's the first 4 lines from one of my prints:

;Layer count: 234
;LAYER:0
M107
G0 F18000 X0.416 Y-10.696 Z0.260