Gen6 non-deluxe

I am getting very frustrated with my ancient electronics, for the life of me i cant seem to upload the new marlin firmware to the board. i keep getting that avrdude serial error since the board does not auto reset before an upload, i remember this being fidgety but i think something is wrong now. im using arduino v0023 and i have the sangu files needed, everything else is stock. also the debug led is solid all the time, idk if that is normal but i would think not. i currently have an old version of marlin on there now and it doesn't seem to like the new repetier so im trying to update.

any help or should i just spend the 140$ for a smoothieboard :\ ?

Take a look at the Duet. It has similar features to the Smoothieboard but costs less and has a great web interface.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

If you want to save 25% on a Smoothieboard, watch for the coupon code to pop up in the near future on this thread:

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/deltabot/WNTOnAk4jZM/h8Gfut_odm0J

No reason to sign up, as the quantity commitment has been met.....

hmm , does the smoothie board have any significantly better features than the duet ?

and thanks vreihen ill be sure to keep an eye out for that code.

Quote
Rooski
i cant seem to upload the new marlin firmware to the board.

It's well possible there's simply no bootloader on the chip, so you need a programming device to upload anything: [reprap.org]

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

Quote
Rooski
hmm , does the smoothie board have any significantly better features than the duet ?

Although I am a fan of the Duet, I'll try to be honest. The following features of the Smoothie may be advantages to you:

* You can buy a Smoothieboard with support for 2 extruders. To support more than one extruder on the Duet, you need to buy the DuetX4 or the RepRapPro Duet shield (but then you get support for several more extruders).

* The SD card can be accessed as mass storage via the USB port. Useful if you connect your PC to the board via USB instead of Ethernet.

* Smoothieboard supports low-cost LCD/rotary encoder control panels.

* The Smoothie firmware already supports CoreXY kinematics. The Duet does not, but will have this soon.

I believe the Duet has the following advantages:

* The web interface is much better (actually, there are 2 different web interfaces now, take your pick).

* Precise calculation of step timings, both for acceleration/deceleration on all printers and for delta movements. Whether this improves print quality is debatable. Both Duet and Smoothie compute step timings much better than Marlin.

* Support for PanelDue, a 400x272 colour graphics touch screen controller. [Full disclosure: I designed this and commissioned its manufacture.]

* Fast upload of SD card files via the web interface, and full control of the SD card via FTP.

* Other firmware features, such as estimation of print completion time, near-instant pause/resume of printing, and pause/resume macros. [Smoothie fans, please correct me if Smoothieware has these too.]

So in summary, if you want to use 2 extruders (but no more), or you don't have a network and want to use USB as the primary means of communication with the PC, then the Smoothie probably wins (and you can get low-cost Smoothieware-compatible boards without the Ethernet port). If your primary means of control will be PC over Ethernet, or standalone using a control panel, then IMO Duet wins, at least until Smoothie firmware and web interface catch up.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2015 03:13PM by dc42.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].