jwiede
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:46 pm

Printrbot Simple2014 won't connect...

I've got a Printrbot Simple2014 that runs fine with Pronterface (via /dev/cu.usbmodem12341 @ 250000bps), Repetier (same port/rate), you name it. However, when I attempt to connect via Simplify3D using /dev/cu.usbmodem12341 @ 250000bps, I get a warning about it being "natively unsupported" by MacOS (whatever that means, doesn't appear to bother any of the other apps), and then the app just hangs with SBBOD after printing "Testing plaintext communication protocol" in its console display.

Any ideas? I'm kind of at a loss, as I can't seem to find where Simplify3D is keeping its config files (they're not in the .app package) to see if there are additional settings above/beyond what's available in the GUI. None of the settings in the GUI seem appropriate to adjusting the interface comms, other than those to select device and rate on the main panel.

Any help would be appreciated. I'll be filing a question with Support as well, but figured my chances were of getting any workaround/solution here quicker (although my posts seem to need to be reviewed first, and no clue how long to expect approval).
JoeJ
Posts: 1435
Joined: Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:52 am

Re: Printrbot Simple2014 won't connect...

The 250000 baud rate can be really buggy on the Mac (and Linux for that matter). My recommendation would be to just update your firmware to use the 115200 baud rate which is natively supported and compatible across all the major operating systems
jwiede
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:46 pm

Re: Printrbot Simple2014 won't connect...

JoeJ wrote:The 250000 baud rate can be really buggy on the Mac (and Linux for that matter). My recommendation would be to just update your firmware to use the 115200 baud rate which is natively supported and compatible across all the major operating systems
Can you point me to any posted/published reports citing that 250000bps serial across USB was a problem on MacOS, _other_ than related to Simplify3D?

My chief concern with that is the other packages which 'expect' a Printrbot at 250000bps on the port (iow, default config), and which are working without any visible comm errors to date. I'm sure I can figure out how to adjust them as well if needed, but reflashing the firmware just to adjust a comm rate which seems to work _perfectly_ for every other package I've tried seems a bit, um, unwarranted yet. This is a Mid-2012 2x2.4GHz MacPro (12C/24T) with 32GB of RAM, so CPU performance to handle 250000bps on a USB port _shouldn't_ be a problem. I typically use at least that rate when connecting USB-attached embedded uP/FPGA dev kits, without problems occurring there either.

If MacOS itself were having problems sustaining comms at that rate through the driver, I'd expect every single one of the programs which talks to the printer to exhibit drop-outs and communication errors, not just Simplify3D. That isn't happening, in my experience, so it just feels a bit rash to declare it a system software problem and halve the communication rate for all apps to my printer as a result.

I'm not trying to be difficult, but at the very least, I'd like a bit more substantial evidence that the driver is the issue -- Simplify3D won't ever even _connect_ to the printer, across dozens of tries, while Repetier, Printrun, and MatterControl all connect at that rate every single time on the first try. I hope you can understand why that makes me a bit skeptical that the OS/driver is the cause of the problem I'm experiencing with Simplify3D.

Thanks!
jwiede
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:46 pm

Re: Printrbot Simple2014 won't connect...

As another 3printer pointed out to me, the serial rate of the port isn't "real", in the sense the data across USB is transferred at USB rate regardless, so it doesn't really matter what I set it to on the computer side, in terms of what the printer sees. The serial rate only controls the computer-side perception of rate, not that of the printer. Just changing the rate of the port to 115200 in Simplify3D (without changing anything on the printer) made the connection work, to where Simplify3D was issuing and the printer responding to a stream of M105 commands (to track temp). Thanks for the assistance!
jerodkdunn
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:39 am

Re: Printrbot Simple2014 won't connect...

I'm having a similar issue. Won't connect at any rate. In fact, when I select 250000 it crashes the software. When restarted the build volume changes to 200x200x100. Wont export or preview gcode after that either. Requires a full reinstall.

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