[tjhawkey]

Thanks. I installed 1.6.11 and it compiled without error. I had been running 1.6.9 no problem, but I don’t have time to track down why that worked with older firmware.

Tim

[tjhawkey]

That would be very useful for troubleshooting.
I can’t build the jar files, so I have to wait for the releases.
I see some bug fixes on github after 7.7 release
Will 7.7 work (with latest firmware), or do I need to wait for 7.7.5?

Thanks!

[tjhawkey]

Depends on what hardware you have. You can use an arduino and adafruit motorshield.
There’s different code to download to the arduino depending on which shield you have.
If you have homebrew hardware, expect to spend some time going through the firmware.
It will likely need some modification. Fortunately, it’s nicely documented.

[tjhawkey]

The way I have my arduino installed, I have to update the firmware to say this:
#include “AFMotorDrawbot.h”

I’m no programming expert, so I haven’t bothered to dig into the details of the paths, but it works for me.
Good luck!

[tjhawkey]

I’m properly setup for 200 steps. horizontal lines seem consistently 10% longer than vertical lines. I’ll do some more testing with different home positions and double check my machine width setting.
Home is measured from the bottom edge of the motor and not the shaft, but the machine width is shaft to shaft–right?

Thanks!

[tjhawkey]

I have a similar problem when I test my version with the move commands (the 100 mm moves in the software). I can get the up/down movements to scale properly via adjusting the spool diameters, but the left/right movements are off (longer). Where the robot is homed affects this as well. The code expects a specific relationship between the motor axis (you enter this) and the home position (Dan defined this in the code). I think I have that correct on my machine, so I’m little confused why my left/right 100 mm moves are more like 110, while the vertical is accurate.
I can print images that look fine, but I haven’t tried printing plain squares or circles.

[tjhawkey]

When logged in not as administrator, I get the perpetual N0 line, but I don’t get the checksum report.
I also noticed that the the 7.4.5 or 7.5 won’t talk at all if I load the latest firmware on github. I haven’t looked line by line to see what’s different, but I will.

[tjhawkey]

I had the a very similar problem (there’s another thread).
Just last night, I figured out that I had to run the java software on a login that has administrator rights or I get the perpetual N0 line.

I have an adafruit arduino and V2 motor shield.
Things don’t run perfectly, but I can make some drawings.
It is very cool.

[tjhawkey]

Still no luck with any windows 10 machine.
The PC sends line N0 over and over again.
The scrolling in the java software seems a little flaky, so it’s difficult for me to tell if it’s that the arduino isn’t responding (firmware version 1.03 with setting for motorshield v2), or the PC isn’t listening. Works fine on windows 7.

[tjhawkey]

Success with a different computer running Windows 7 loaded with arduino 1.6.9. Huzzah!
I’ll try windows 10 with the latest arduino. Also maybe with a USB hub in case it’s some weirdness with wimpy usb ports.

[tjhawkey]

Hmm. Maybe I do have arduino problems. Both machines have java 1.8. The one that had been communicating OK now doesn’t with the same symptoms–the computer seems to send line
N0 over and over and over again, apparently never getting a reply from the arduino. I did try swapping cables.

Tim

[tjhawkey]

Thanks!
Both are windows 10 machines with 7.4.5 on them but I’ll have to check the java version.
It seems that maybe the board isn’t responding for some reason to one of them and the software keeps sending the N0 line.

Also, in digesting the firmware, I noticed two things.
1) The lines to use 400 kHz I2c are there, but commented out. Should they be un-commented?
2) There’s a motor definition near the end that seems backwards. Is this just an artifact of how adafruit names things?
#if MOTHERBOARD == 2
// start the shield
AFMS0.begin();
m1 = AFMS0.getStepper(STEPS_PER_TURN, M2_PIN);
m2 = AFMS0.getStepper(STEPS_PER_TURN, M1_PIN);
#endif

[tjhawkey]

Thanks. I’m running 7.4.5 and I see that I have to set home before I can ask to draw.
I re-did my arduiono IDE install and re-downloaded the firmware to the arduino (after changing to use motor shield 2 and 200 steps/turn).
I can use all the manual controls (pen up and down) move left/right/up/down, set home, find home. etc.
But when I send a file for printing, it never starts to print, the software just reports endless streams of the line below. It never starts printing.
However, when using a different computer, it prints fine (and it’s really cool).
Hmm, maybe a bad USB port? I can’t see in the arduino code where the N0 is coming from.

N0 M101 T40.6 B-40.6 L-26.669999999999998 R26.669999999999998 I-1 J1

[tjhawkey]

Right, 7.4.5 fixes this issue.
Thanks!

Where can I find what the various controls do?
I have to confess that not all are immediately obvious.

Tim

[tjhawkey]

Ahh, I see this nugget in the blog. Will try that soon.

Over the weekend Makelangelo software has a small upgrade to 7.3.4. The “start”, “start at line #”, “top”, “left”, “right”, “bottom”, and “go home” buttons are now automatically disabled until you hit the home button. This is to prevent user error at the start – they’re not meaningful if the robot hasn’t already found it’s starting home position.

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