Host software not working with FTDI cable?

I'm trying to test my motherboard, but I can't seem to run the host software if my FTDI cable is plugged in. The cable appears as COM5, and I changed preferences to COM5, and now when I run the host software it never gets beyond the command line window. If I run it with the debug comm option off, it only gets as far as "Java lib Version = RXTX-2.1-7" then nothing. If I turn debug comm on, I get one more line appearing; "comms: G-code; N0 M110 *3 dequeued and sent [0.010s/-1303269545739ms]" This is all - the rest of the program never appears, just the command line window. Whether or not the cable is even plugged into the motherboard, it doesn't matter. The cable works fine for loading the firmware. I'm trying this on a Windows 7 machine, if that matters, and version 1.2 motherboard. The cable is an FTDI TTL-232 5V.

... have you the same baudrate settings in properties and firmware?

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

The host software is set to 57600, but I can't find where the baudrate is set in the firmware.

you can find baudrate setting at configuration.h file inside a Five_Gcode_Interpreter folder.

Found it, I think. HOST_BAUD is being set to 19200. Should I bump it up, or turn it down in the host? Right above where it gets set, there's a remark that says default is 57600. Right below that, all configurations get set to 19200 except MENDEL_MEGA_DEFAULTS. I guess default doesn't mean what it used to

Does the difference in baud rate explain the host software failing to run? After all, if I leave the cable disconnected, so that there is no COM5 on the machine at all, the program will finish loading, and all three windows will be open (command line, Reprap console, and stage view).

Tried it - at 19200 - and it worked. One hurdle down...

What version host and firmware are you running? I had a lot problems with prints stalling with all releases before December. The one I'm using now with Techzone Gen 3 remix is a nightly release from 12/21/2010 and it seems to be the most stable and runs at 57600 baud.

I'll have to wait until I get home tonight to answer that, but it's the version you get when you download it from the main link in the Build Mendel pages. The only change I made to it so far is to add the two variable declarations (temptable and bedtemptable) that are being discussed in the firmware thread. This works, to a point. The led is flashing, the console is showing messages (including an error having to do with bed heating). But if I try to jog the axes the host software freezes up.

I'm strongly tempted at this point to add a big warning to the home page of the wiki, "DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BUILD A REPRAP IF YOU DO NOT POSSESS STRONG SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT SKILLS". I was really hoping that by this point the software for this project would be more stable, and that there would be more and better documentation for those of us who do not code for a living. Instead, it seems that the core software has been abandoned by it's authors, and everyone with coding skills has run off to make their own version. I'm a mechanical guy with some electrical knowledge, not a coder. Getting to the point where I have a mechanically complete Mendel, with what I hope are complete electronics (how can I test them if the code is crap?!?), was a lot of work, but it was work I can do. Now I've stopped making any progress at all.

The reprap-mendel-20100806 version Host SW & FW works fine.
I've had it running for over 7 months now.

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Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
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