When I launch MatterControl, it will attempt to connect to my Prusa i3 but will not succeed in doing so. However, prior to this development, the printer had begun to 'pause', or stop responding while mid-print after a short time of printing and the problem became more frequent until this stage where it will not connect at all.
Win os 7
MatterControl 1.4
What other info can I supply to assist a diagnosis?
In order for the printer to successfully connect to MatterControl, a couple of things must happen:
- The printer must have drivers installed and be successfully recognized by the operating system with no errors.
- The correct baud rate and serial port must be selected during printer setup in MatterControl.
It's tough to speculate about a connection which seems to have deteriorated to the point of not being about to connect at all unless it's the cable. Have you tried a different USB cable?
I have indeed tried other cables with no change. It may be that the two issues are unrelated though.
I'm not entirely sure all the drivers are in order. I know I need the com/port driver and the usb serial converter driver, both of which do load in the device manager upon connecting the printer but idk what other drivers to check for.
So at this point the printer does show in Device Manager under the Ports (COM & LPT) section-- does that same COM port appear in MatterControl when trying to manually configure a connection as in the picture on the right in this article? https://www.matterhackers.com/articles/mattercontrol-getting-started#connectingtoaprinter
The com port does appear in MatterControl.
I have the printer set up in MatterControl as a Prusa i3.
I've tried both baud rate settings, no change to status.
I've read that the com port device, in the manager, should identify the printer as such. That is not happening. It identifies as 'USB Serial Port (COM12)'.
Perhaps I have the wrong driver? I have worked with an FTDI usb host device recently so maybe I accidentally replaced the driver that is needed for printing with one of the FTDI drivers?
Edit: The same com port appears in MatterControl.
OK, one more update.
I fiddled with the drivers and crashed my computer by forcing the system to try to use an FTDI driver I did not identify first for the COM port.
After the repair finished the system no longer had a driver assigned to the two devices and an auto-scan appears to have re-assigned the drivers I was using most recently. Still no communication with the printer but... Now I'm thinking that what must have happened is that at some point while working with a separate FTDI device, I changed the assigned drivers to something that would not talk to the Prusa. Unfortunately, I've been unable to locate the correct drivers to use so far.
That sounds like the likely scenario. Drivers are crucial to proper recognition and connection for MatterControl.
When uninstalling drivers, make sure you check the 'Uninstall driver software for this device' check box after you choose 'Uninstall' from the right-click menu. That will ensure that all drivers are completely removed from the system.
Ryan, thanks for answering my posts. Hopefully I'll be able to find the right drivers for the Prusa soon.
Much appreciated!
CONCLUSION:
Again Ryan, thanks for looking at my issue andf helping me diagnose it.
I found the issue and fixed it!
This was a case of a non-genuine FTDI rs232 chip on a nock-off 'Melzi 2.0' board.
As I guessed earlier, I had indeed changed the driver, that is, I had upgraded to a newer version of the FTDI rs232 driver (v10.12.0.1).
If anyone else has a problem similar to mine, and even suspects that it could be the same issue, you can verify it by using a program that lets you view the output of the serial . If you see a bunch of messages that say something like 'nongenuine device found', then you are probably suffering the same thing I was. There is hope. The issue can be repaired. I'm not going to include the instructions here but know that it can be fixed and it's fairly easy to do. A quick web search and you should be able to dig up some detailed instructions.
Thanks for the report, Phillip! Glad you were able to get it working again.