I3X Themister and stepper problem

Hello,

I picked up an I3X from DIY Tech Shop about a year ago, and I'm still trying to get it to work. The guys from DIY Tech Shop are great and I'm not exactly working on it full time, but I've hit a major stumbling block, and I'd appreciate any troubleshooting steps, gotchas, etc.

I managed to get the system talking to the laptop (Windows XP, I forget the software, the one with the concentric ring control, the popular one) and uploaded the firmware. However, I'm having trouble with the themisters and the steppers. First, I can't figure out what lookup table to use. Both extruder and bed read 58.0-.1 degrees, obviously not room temperature. One was a tiny bead at the end of two leads (insulated with supplied plastic, soldered to the leads, and attached to the hot end) and the other looked like a glass resistor (on the bed). Both report identical results.

Steppers do not engerize. Period. Hot end also does not power up (I did a short test run to see if it generated any heat).

Known issue: I need to re-wire the mechanical end stops (or alter the firmware) as I set them up like an arcade machine with the switches NO, not NC. Not even sure where to alter that.

Power supply: ATX system with 16 A on the 12v rail (the Uni shield states that as minimum, and I had it bouncing around, so why not) and a 12v 50W halogen load on the 5v rail. I have two more lamps to increase balancing if neccessary. Multimeter shows voltage output on both rails. Arduno itself has both the USB power and a 12v brick in case it needs that voltage for any reason (I know it won't pull through).

Generally, I'm a talentless hack with firmware, so any links to an explaination on how to set up Marlin would be appreciated, as would any thoughts on what I'm missing that would explain my problems.

Thanks,
Mike

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2014 10:05PM by Michael F.

Addendum: While temperature sensing and endstops are still uncertain, hardware appears otherwise fully functional using RAMPS test code. All steppers run and all LEDs activate. This leads me to believe it's a firmware or configuration issue. Only one LED, the one which blinks during uploading, activates with Marlin installed.

Is there a kill switch I'm missing?

And I found my error. Ultimachine RAMPS board is not an Ultimaker motherboard. Thermos appear in range, heaters and steppers work. Will figure out fan and endstops during shakedown. Thanks for your time, everyone!