Zonestar Prusa i3 DIY kit

Hi everyone,


I have a Wanhao Duplicator 4S (Makerbot Replicator Dual clone) and I have bought a Zonestar Prusa i3. I am looking for a place that has more information about this machine but I have no clue where to go.
The board that came with it only states Zonestar, I think it is a Melzi but I don't know which revision and which firmware is on it. Any clue on how to find out? Should I care?

During assembly it made me attach couplings to the steppers, it doesn't have any specific instructions. How do I attach this coupling? It will couple with a threaded rod later on during the build. How do I make it centered and stable?

It doesn't have any calibration steps in the manual. All it shows it how to configure the printer in Repetier Host and Slic3r but I know there are things like Homing and Calibrating the number of steps. My Wanhao didn't require these steps but that is not what I expect from this Prusa.

Hope you guys can steer me in the right directions.
Thanks

You can connect the melzi controller to your PC and see, if it connects to repetierHost. Maybe you get some information about firmware-version and you can also start checking steppers, endstops, thermistors etc before you install them to your printer. Here you can find a bit info about the melzi board.

The couplings are easy to install. Make sure you have a ~5mm gap between stepper shaft and threaded rod, so the coupling can move.
The threaded rod should not be fixed at the upper end to reduce x-carrier wobble from bended rods.

-Olaf

Thanks for that Olaf, helpful. I think I have everything setup correctly now. Thanks for the comment. I have kept a small gap between the rod and the shaft so it can move. Now that the build is complete those rods are super stable!
Now I have another problem though .. uhhg .. I looks like the PSU blew up ..

I actually bought this unit from them as well...i have the larger version that prints 220x220x230...took a bit to get it running, but its a great machine...my issue is that after printing 3 parts, the fourth part stopped mid print, and i lost all control...i cant move anything manually anymore its completely unresponsive...ive checked out alot of info on it and the best i can come up with is that the atmega chip fried...which is possible as they use off brand melzi boards....if anyone has come across this issue and knows a solution outside of replacing the board(or the individual chip on the board) please let me know...was loving this thing for a whole week before it died this evening...frustrating as all hell..:-)

It is a " Melzi" board, but I think hybrid between v1 and V 2
It is loaded with Repetier firmware v 0.91.
It shows when you power up the unit for a split second!
Also, I got from the seller the firmware.
Calibration: for me :
Power on
Home all
Turn off
Move X toward the hosted bed and make the nozzle to meet the border of the bed and adjust the way it feels nearly touching it when moving on off the bed
So repeat the process for my all four corner

RefV is tricky
I was running all from 0.4V and run a test
While running, adjusting the pot for the axis that has noise , tinny bit by bit until the motor is happy.....
The X acids since it has a big load plus heavy work, I had it up to the max 1.15V but the driver got so hot that after the second print ( 1.25h + 1h. ) it failed!

Luckily, it did not burn... So, I guess, I would re try to a 1 V and most likely, adding a fan to the boards.
Y axis @ 0.65V
Z @ 0.45V
Extruder @ 0.85V

Also if LCD issue, mine was missing a spacer screw, and because of it, when mounting it on the farm, the compression would press down the pot causing it to either fade away, or to be bright whiteout!

Hope thus helps.... Since there's little literacy out there to help us!
Good print!

Ha! Also my power supply was at 12.35 DC V when arrived.
I put it back to 12V.

Also is due with flickering a LCD while printing and all gas to do with the heated bed taking up the juices from the supply.

Can ANYONE come to my aid in getting auto leveling working on my Zonestar P802_M printer? It is with the Melzi board and I am trying to instal the Marlin FW without success. It seems to me that the file never gets uploaded. If someone could share their configuration.h settings that would help, along with any other changes that had to be made. Also, the only way I can get the IDE to complete an upload is if I remove the reset jumper from the board which I read I should leave in place. Confused and frustrated. Thanks everyone.

Did you try to install the .hex file? I got the same problems, but the autolevel hex worked. Afaik the bootloader is crap. I got verify errors if i try uploading via IDE. Btw mine is a P802Q

Still have not worked this out, if anyone can help.
Not able to upload new firmware to my Sanguino/Melzi boar.
All looks good, but never finishes saying "uploading" in the IDE. Then displays:
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 10 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x66
Noting I try helps.
Thanks to anyone with a solution.

It looks like your programmer is not seeing the Melzi as the same board you have selected in the Arduino IDE.
It may be the wrong board selected or the incorrect comm port.
Double check the comm port by opening up Hardware Manager and watching the comm port section when you plug in and unplug the Melzi to the USB cable.

Hopefully, that was it. If not, you may need to burn a bootloader into the Melzi board to get it working.
I was not able to update the board until I burned a bootloader.
Zonestar might be using a strange bootloader that doesn't match anything we can get here...
Very often manufacturers don't burn bootloaders into their boards.
The chips are sometimes soldered onto the board pre programmed or programmed with a programmer as it is much faster that way...

Download the latest Arduino software (at this point I think it is 1.6.9).
Open the "Preferences"from under the "File" menu.
In the Box labeled "Additional Boards Manager URLs:", enter the following without the quotes:
"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lauszus/Sanguino/master/package_lauszus_sanguino_index.json"
Then click on OK to exit.

Yes, you should leave the rebooting jumper in place.
The bootloader needs it so you can program the board from USB.
When that jumper is installed, the Melzi will reset when a USB connection made.
Just after it resets, it will look for a new program to be loaded from USB.
If the jumper is not in place, it won't reset and load your new program.

Under the Arduino Tools menu, go to the Boards Manager and find the entry for "Sanguino" from the drop down list and select it.
Then, from under the Tools menu, go to the "Processor" section and select "Atmega1284 or Atmega1284p 16 MHz".

You will need to either have a programmer, such as the USBASP, or you need to program an Arduino Uno with the "Arduino as ISP" sketch and then wire up the UNO to be a programmer.
There are lots of resources on the Web for this. You would then connect the programmer to the 6 pin ICSP connector on the Melzi.

Next, from under the Tools menu, select from "Programmer:", your particular programmer which would be the ArduinoISP if you are using an Uno reprogrammed to be a programmer.
Finally, go to the Tools menus and select "Burn Bootloader".
If all is well, you will see blinking lights and a message of "Burning Bootloader".
Once that is done, you should be able to connect the Melzi to your computer with just a USB cable and then select which com port it is on and upload away.

You may need to install the FTDI driver for the Melzi USB port to work.
Don't worry, if you installed the latest Arduino software, it also gave you the driver. Just let it do the Automatic Installation and then click "Continue Anyway" when it complains.

If you do not have an Arduino, it may be well worth it to either get one or purchase a USBASP programmer.
The USBASP programmer is much easier to deal with as you just connect a ribbon cable from it to the Melzi and go.
They can be quite cheap. Be sure to ask the seller if the USBASP has the latest firmware in it.
You'll probably have to Google USBASP to get the drivers. They're easy to find.

I hope that helps.
It was also a bit frustrating for me as well until I burned the bootloader.
Now I can pop in whatever firmware version is available with absolutely no problems (as long as the firmware I am loading into the Melzi works!)

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2016 08:32PM by davidmilunic.

I'm seeing lots of people with problems uploading firmware into the Zonestar Melzi boards.
Didn't they come pre programmed with either Marlin or Repetier on them?
All of the Melzi boards that I ordered from them came pre programmed.
Admittedly, with a really early version of Marlin or Repetier 0.91, but they were programmed and I could use the printer.

If the boards came unprogrammed then Zonestar should replace them.
I would complain...

It seemed that it was a bootloader issue with the on-board ATMega chip on the Sanguino board. I gave up and purchased an Arduino/Ramps configuration. Felt better for me in the long run. Thanks for the response. Zonestar kept throwing me versions of firmware, but none were able to load due to communications problems.

Did the Melzi board not work at all from the get go?
It would not print?

Are the new board combos working for you?

Now that you went Mega2560 + RAMPS 1.4, you might be able to still salvage the old Melzi.

If you cannot make it work, you could send it to me and I could take a go at it for you.
I don't need nor want any more boards.
I'd just like to help since I have done this before and I am fairly certain that I can fix it.

I really think that you must burn a boot loader before you will be able to program it.
They are using some funky bootloader or none at all to save money...

Just let me know.
I am happy to make a go at it.

A working board could be sold on eBay for $40 or more and you could turn a profit.
I would benefit from working on another and the positive word of mouth advertizing.
You could get some money back and use it towards other 3d printing necessities like scads of brass nozzles.

The Melzi board worked from day one and still does. I was finally led to believe that there was no way to load a different firmware onto the board because of the incompatibility of the onboard chip with Arduino and that I would have to reburn the bootloaded. I was not comfortable doing that; hence, the move to Ramps. All I want to do is add auto levelling which wasn't possible with the original firmware installed. Thanks for your help. I might now attempt the bootloader modification and have a spare board. I would be interested in a very detailed tutorial on the reflashing the bootloader, maybe the optiboot? I think that that was the name.

For the Melzi boot loader, you should use the "Sanguino" boot loader.
The easiest way to get the files is to use the latest Arduino software and edit preferences with the path that was in my last post.

Both of my Melzi boards are flashed as Sanguino and they work with everything now.

Having an extra board is always a good thing!

Thanks, I will give it a try.

Could you point me to the clearest description of using an Arduino Uno to load a bootloader onto the Sanguino board?
As I understabd the process:
USB to Uno to upload the bootloader (where do I find the right one for the Sanguino)
Configure the Uno, via jumpers, to the ISP pins on the Sanguino
With the same USB connection from the Uno, select the Sanguino board and burn the bootloader?

I am confused with the steps and what I am burning to which device. The instructions that I found online were confusing.
Thanks for any clarifications.

I have a ZoneStar 802 But it is in disarray while I work on my new printer. I found to get auto-leveling to work, Set your Z off-set height from the highest spot on your bed. What I mean is for you to find the beds high spot when it is heated and set your Z off-set height from that spot. Auto-leveling makes a table mesh that if you think of it in this way. It offsets the differences in the bed so Set the bed height from the nozzle on the high point of your bed. The floating mesh is now sitting at your highest spot and it knows the difference in height at every other point. I hope you follow this thinking and give it a try. I have a 300x300mm bed and it took me a while to figure this out and find the best approach.