This machine does not support binary .x3g files.

[neilhooper]

Hi Everyone,

The subject says it all.

When I start S3D and choose print to usb I get this message.

I haven't used my machine with S3D for a while and I'm not sure what has caused this because it has been rock solid up until now but yesterday the machine was freezing every now and again and at one point even though I cancelled the print on the machine it went through the clearing print routine to the try and start where it left off. It also just sat there on another failed attempt with the head not moving but still extruding.

I've also noticed that the jog controls in the control panel cause VERY high speed movements on the X & Y axis to the point that I won't use it in fear of causing damage and the Z axis appears to be moving opposite to what I would expect.

The only things that have changed since I last used S3D with this machine is a firmware upgrade and an upgrade to Windows 10.

Could either one of those be the problem.

I have been using the machine for testing another application that requires my own gcode files to be converted into x3g. I can't use S3D for it because it refuses to entertain them telling me that my machine doesn't support plain text gcode files so I have been using ReplicatorG to convert and send them which it has been doing for the last two weeks with Windows 10 and the new firmware. Some of the gcode files that I have been using have been up to just under 500,000 lines and all have gone without problem.

I've just printed a small part from the SD card after transferring it from S3D while I've been typing this with no problems; this part failed at 94% last night.

I'm just going to try something bigger.

I'm running a Duplicator 4 with Sailfish firmware v7.7 r01432 and Windows 10.

- Neil

[JoeJ]

Ok, this is kind of obvious, but first you want to make sure that you're using the correct file types depending on what printer you are using. If you are printing to a machine with Sailfish firmware, you need to be using x3g files. If you are printing to a machine with Marlin or Repetier firmware, you need to be using gcode files. Don't try to send the wrong file type to a machine, because that would be bad, and that one way to get these error messages that you mentioned.

Now that being said, it sounds like you are trying to send an x3g file to a Duplicator 4 running Sailfish. This should be fine. In that case, I suspect your issues are a result of the recent Windows 10 upgrade you did. There are a LOT of issues with Windows 10 serial communication. There are several threads on this forum about it, and many places where the bugs have been reported and discussed by microsoft. Unfortunately, even though many of these issues were present all the way back to the developer previews, they still aren't fixed in the final Win10 release. So we have to wait and hope there's a patch to fix it.

For now, most of us are sticking with Windows 7/8

[JATMN]

Just 2 cents.
Cant help with the unexpected movements..

But. the .x3g error I see often. I think USB on my Duplicator 4 is going out or something.. when I get the .x3g error its always related to communication errors.. Usually the computer didn't Initiate the connection with the printer right.. I never bothered to look at error codes but I do know turning off the printer for a moment and turning it back on and letting S3D reconnect to it solves my issue about 80% of the time.. more drastic times result in rebooting my computer and the printer. I have tried different USB ports on my computer and tried different cables and different computers.. still randomly have the issue so im blaming the printer lol.. Guess time for a new one this ones 2yrs old already lol

This is on Windows 7.

[neilhooper]

OK, maybe I didn't explain myself properly. When I press the Prepare to Print button and then the Print to USB button I get this message.

I'm not trying to send the wrong type of information to my machine I'm simply (no pun intended) asking S3D to do it for me. After all that's why I bought it.

I know that my machine supports x3g files it just that S3D doesn't seem to think it does but will still let you carry on regardless.

I'm presuming that comment was for newcomers who may read this post in the future and gain a little bit of knowledge.

As for problem I have; my issue is with the fact that I can send hundreds of thousands of lines of gcode to my machine over USB via ReplicatorG without any problems at all. My point is that until I upgraded to Windows 10 and the firmware these problems didn't exist. Blaming Windows 10 is not the answer otherwise I presume I would be having all sorts of issues with USB communications, which I'm not. I don't need a new USB cable or a ferrite ring to go around it as has been mentioned in other posts.

Yes, it was absolutely rock solid under Windows 8 to the point that I could quite happily leave my laptop next to my machine and do every thing over a Remote Desktop Connection from my desktop PC and go and check on it sometime after it had started. This way I could monitor the progress whilst getting on with something else. Transferring to SD card is a P.I.T.A as far as I'm concerned.

The only thing in my mind that's to blame here is S3D it's not like we didn't know Windows 10 was coming.

After all we've paid for this. It's not some free bit of 'junk' that if it doesn't work then oh well .... it is free.

Has anybody checked the system requirements lately:

System Requirements:

— Intel Pentium 4 or higher processor

— 2GB or more of RAM

— Windows XP or greater

— Mac OS X 10.6 or greater

— Ubuntu Linux 12.10 or greater

— OpenGL 2.0 capable system

It doesn't say Windows XP to Windows 8.1 and you'd better not use Windows 10 just yet because we have issues.

I don't understand why the forum isn't full of angry posts about this. The basic advice being just stick with Windows 7/8 for the time being or to put it another way just stick your head in the sand and we'll give you a nudge when it's time to take it out.

I'm hoping that the support staff from S3D read the forums as they might get an idea about how unhappy they are making their customers that is if their customers speak up and have their say.

Don't get me wrong, I still think that S3D is a fantastic product and I still highly recommend it but like all things that are good, when they're just not working it becomes a nightmare.

- Neil

[KeyboardWarrior]

OK, maybe I didn't explain myself properly. When I press the Prepare to Print button and then the Print to USB button I get this message.

I'm not trying to send the wrong type of information to my machine I'm simply (no pun intended) asking S3D to do it for me. After all that's why I bought it.

I know that my machine supports x3g files it just that S3D doesn't seem to think it does but will still let you carry on regardless.

I'm presuming that comment was for newcomers who may read this post in the future and gain a little bit of knowledge.

As for problem I have; my issue is with the fact that I can send hundreds of thousands of lines of gcode to my machine over USB via ReplicatorG without any problems at all. My point is that until I upgraded to Windows 10 and the firmware these problems didn't exist. Blaming Windows 10 is not the answer otherwise I presume I would be having all sorts of issues with USB communications, which I'm not. I don't need a new USB cable or a ferrite ring to go around it as has been mentioned in other posts.

Yes, it was absolutely rock solid under Windows 8 to the point that I could quite happily leave my laptop next to my machine and do every thing over a Remote Desktop Connection from my desktop PC and go and check on it sometime after it had started. This way I could monitor the progress whilst getting on with something else. Transferring to SD card is a P.I.T.A as far as I'm concerned.

The only thing in my mind that's to blame here is S3D it's not like we didn't know Windows 10 was coming.

After all we've paid for this. It's not some free bit of 'junk' that if it doesn't work then oh well .... it is free.

Has anybody checked the system requirements lately:

System Requirements:

— Intel Pentium 4 or higher processor

— 2GB or more of RAM

— Windows XP or greater

— Mac OS X 10.6 or greater

— Ubuntu Linux 12.10 or greater

— OpenGL 2.0 capable system

It doesn't say Windows XP to Windows 8.1 and you'd better not use Windows 10 just yet because we have issues.

I don't understand why the forum isn't full of angry posts about this. The basic advice being just stick with Windows 7/8 for the time being or to put it another way just stick your head in the sand and we'll give you a nudge when it's time to take it out.

I'm hoping that the support staff from S3D read the forums as they might get an idea about how unhappy they are making their customers that is if their customers speak up and have their say.

Don't get me wrong, I still think that S3D is a fantastic product and I still highly recommend it but like all things that are good, when they're just not working it becomes a nightmare.

- Neil

Here's a good video that talks about the issues with the Windows 10 usb drivers. It's an issue that Microsoft would need to address.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O7kFbVhIJk

On my Windows 10 machine, I've transfered print files over to SD card and haven't had issues (X3G and GCode files for different printers). I've written before about the many, many benefits of printing over SD card (viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1949).

[razster]

RepG and Repetier both do NOT work for me on either of windows 10 computers. They both have the same random disconnect problems. I reverted one of those computers back to Windows 8 again and all was fine again.

Makes sense though, because all the topics on microsoft's site about this bug talk a bad serial driver which randomly goes to sleep, freezes, or stops processing. That would affect all these programs. Not much I think we can do until microsoft releases a fix.

[ewingnoah]

I'm getting the exact same error message intermittently. It also won't get all the way through a print without losing USB communication. I'm on Windows 10 too, but I haven't been having any problems with MakerWare. I just bought a license for Simplify today and really love all the features, but I think I'll have to get a refund and wait until this issue is resolved.

[JoeJ]

Well it's a microsoft issue, so you're stuck waiting on them

In the meantime, the suggestions in this link worked for me: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3348#p15845

Also be sure to use a really high-quality USB cable with a ferrite collar or something like that to prevent electrical noise. I used to get these errors all the time on my old printer when I was using a cheap usb cable and a low-quality power supply. They went away once I got a better cable and a filtering UPS power supply. On Windows 10, I also did the suggestions above which helped.

PS - you can always use S3D to create x3g files and then print them with another software or just copy to the SD card. Just click "save toolpaths to disk" to create the x3g file.