Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Into the Valley of Troubleshooting Hell I Ride!

After much messing around I have managed to get the GCode Interpreter to compile on my old Linux Tablet PC. I am running Ubuntu Linux but I had neglected to download all of the various AVR modules that I needed so I wasted a couple of days digging through the code for the compile error and searching the online forums for help that I didn't really need. At least I feel a bit like a programmer again. It has been a good 10 or 15 years since I looked through any code. I am going to have to get used to it

I was amazed, when I got into it, at the amount of settings and tables that exist in the Interpreter code. I will have to go through it again before I run the machine to ensure that I have things like the thermistor or thermocouple tables set correctly. I will double-check the accuracy of their readings with my handy dandy infrared thermometer the first time I power up the extruder. No Reprapper should be without one.

The next step is to get the software loaded onto the Sanquino main board. Unfortunately I have been unable to get this to work. The Arduino software tells me that it is uploading and that the upload is complete but there is no indication from the board that anything is happening. The LED stays a steady green. I have tried the various combinations of clicking on the upload icon and pressing the restart button on the Sanguino that are suggested on the Reprap Wiki with no results. There is always the possibility that I have a hardware problem with the cable I made for connecting to the board so I will check it with my multimeter. I will also do some searching online for other folks suggestions. Oh, before you ask, the restart pins are permanently jumpered on the Techzone board.

I have been off work this week with another bout of illness so this is all I have been able to do. I am hoping for better now that I am on my feet again.

1 comment:

  1. dont feel so bad i am having issues trying to my new mega 2560 to work with repsnapper i have the firmware loaded onto it, but when i go to connect it will not connect.

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