S3D usb vs SD printing
What if any are the benefits of printing on USB vs SD card? Other then the obvios that your pc doesnt have to be near the printer and if it crashes during a print you dont loose the print. Are all the settings saved to the SD card? Temps, speeds, supports, skirt/brim, fan speeds etc? I have lost 2 large prints now due to me playing a game while printing and the game freezes. Only way to recover this is to do a hard reset and i loose the print. I am trying my first print over SD now and its coming fine but I am just curious if there are any real benefits to using either method.,
Re: S3D usb vs SD printing
I always use the SD card after having multiple crashed prints caused by Windows doing something to USB in the background. It may depend on your printer, but if ANYTHING tickles the USB for any reason, my printer (MakerGear M2E) throws a fit.
I have a USB connection to control the printer for things like filament changes, but I had to install a hardware switch to disconnect the USB completely when printing. Even when I'm printing off an SD card, any USB activity can cause the printer to freeze. I don't know how much of this is the fault of the printer being overly fussy about USB activity, and how much of it is Windows mucking about. As long as I remember to flip the switch after changing filaments, I haven't had an issue.
To answer your other question, the SD card contains the gcode file for the print job. That has ALL the info required to run the job from start to finish.
I have a USB connection to control the printer for things like filament changes, but I had to install a hardware switch to disconnect the USB completely when printing. Even when I'm printing off an SD card, any USB activity can cause the printer to freeze. I don't know how much of this is the fault of the printer being overly fussy about USB activity, and how much of it is Windows mucking about. As long as I remember to flip the switch after changing filaments, I haven't had an issue.
To answer your other question, the SD card contains the gcode file for the print job. That has ALL the info required to run the job from start to finish.
Re: S3D usb vs SD printing
To expand on the last answer....the print settings are incorporated in comment lines at the top of the gcode file wherever it is written.
And for a bonus, you can import the settings from any gcode file created by S3D.....use the Import Settings, and select the gcode file as the source - and th settings will be imported from the file!
And for a bonus, you can import the settings from any gcode file created by S3D.....use the Import Settings, and select the gcode file as the source - and th settings will be imported from the file!
Doug Kightley
Volunteer at the National Tramway Museum http://www.tramway.co.uk
Railway modeller and webmaster at http://www.talkingtgauge.net
Volunteer at the National Tramway Museum http://www.tramway.co.uk
Railway modeller and webmaster at http://www.talkingtgauge.net
Re: S3D usb vs SD printing
I gotcha. Yeah i just lost a 14hr 47min print in the last 20 minutes for the same thing. I woke up and came down to check it. Then decided to do some testing with different controller Bluetooth adapters while i waited on everyone to wake up. I pulled one out of the USB slot and it was an oddly tight fit. It BARELY jarred the pc and i lost the print. It just froze. lol i was crushed. Ive lost other prints while gaming and the game has frozen the pc. Luckily they where within a couple of hours of starting so not a huge loss but still sucked. This last one has made me start printing from SD.
Re: S3D usb vs SD printing
So, which slicer CAN really print by USB rather than using a IMHO crappy solution with these micro SD cards - after some 10-12 prints the slot in my Tronxy X5SA pro was MIA, card not holding, contacts not reacting. New board (still under warranty) hopefully will be underway soon.
On my old and trusty Dremel 3D20 (4700 hours!) I could print by USB, either with the slicer they provided, or with Print Studio. This printer has a micro SD card onboard, but not to be touched by the user (unless you had to change the controller board for some reason and wanted to keep the firmware and settings). This SD card was an ideal solution, with 8GB more than enough for firmware AND files. No changing of cards (in this case real full size SD cards wwhich have a lifetime of an elephant), just dump your sliced data there, and print them whenever you wanted. And there was a REAL SD card slot too!
Why can't other producers follow this example? Price? Yes, every cent counts, but the users WILL pay if they can get this comfort.
So, back to my question - does S3D support printing by USB? Every other solution (server, Wifi, cloud etc) I do not need - my dedicated micro PC resides INSIDE the frame of the printer.
Well, by reading on another forum I found an answer - my firmware (Tronxy X5SA pro, board by Chitu) has a lot of issues - among others with USB - which can only be solved by installing something better. Interestingly, their own slicer DOES work by USB (a rather simplified older Cura-version). (headscratch)
So, back to the start. If it has to be an external memory, then I'll use an SD card adapter and send the sliced data to a Toshiba Flashair w03 - don't try to get one - they are no longer available.
On my old and trusty Dremel 3D20 (4700 hours!) I could print by USB, either with the slicer they provided, or with Print Studio. This printer has a micro SD card onboard, but not to be touched by the user (unless you had to change the controller board for some reason and wanted to keep the firmware and settings). This SD card was an ideal solution, with 8GB more than enough for firmware AND files. No changing of cards (in this case real full size SD cards wwhich have a lifetime of an elephant), just dump your sliced data there, and print them whenever you wanted. And there was a REAL SD card slot too!
Why can't other producers follow this example? Price? Yes, every cent counts, but the users WILL pay if they can get this comfort.
So, back to my question - does S3D support printing by USB? Every other solution (server, Wifi, cloud etc) I do not need - my dedicated micro PC resides INSIDE the frame of the printer.
Well, by reading on another forum I found an answer - my firmware (Tronxy X5SA pro, board by Chitu) has a lot of issues - among others with USB - which can only be solved by installing something better. Interestingly, their own slicer DOES work by USB (a rather simplified older Cura-version). (headscratch)
So, back to the start. If it has to be an external memory, then I'll use an SD card adapter and send the sliced data to a Toshiba Flashair w03 - don't try to get one - they are no longer available.
