Cant connect to printer via USB / Octoprint
This morning I tried to get a few things working for a connection to the printer. So far im not having any luck.
I did a direct connection from my rpi 3b+ to the einsy board. Upon loading octoprint, and following the tutorial on adding the serial port, etc, i was able to get a brief connection... at least, i got an "operational" status. The printer fan kicked on for a second, but then nothing happened. I get no temperature graph, i cant issue any commands thru the terminal. After some googling i thought maybe i needed to update the firmware.
So after I updated to 3.3.0, since I had the printer connected to my laptop, I opened Simplify3D, did a connection, the fan kicked in for 1 second so i know something happened, and then again, not able to do anything. No temp readings, cant send commands.
I tried once more with octoprint, since the firmware was now up to date, but i get the same problem. It connects, but then gives me a ' communication timeout while idle'.
So, a little more googling and i read that you need to use a usb2.0 port, not a usb3? My laptop only has usb 3, so thats a potential solution there if true, but until i can test a usb2 connection, i dunno. Seems like thats not the issue since octoprint is also not having any luck.
The printer prints fine on its own, its just not allowing connections for some reason...? Any ideas?
Re: Cant connect to printer via USB / Octoprint
Do you have the built-in RPI port enabled on the printer? If yes, it should be off if using USB. Also try setting your baud rate to 115200 in OctoPrint.
Re: Cant connect to printer via USB / Octoprint
thanks kazi, you were right. with the pi port on, ya i guess that was screwing stuff up. i disabled it and now the laptop and octoprint can both connect and control the printer via usb.
that doesnt solve the direct connection to the einsy though. that was also not working, and that was with the pi port ON. ill give it another try later, but if anyone else has any insight into connected a 3b+ directly to the einsy, that would be helpful.
Re: Cant connect to printer via USB / Octoprint
ok, i figured out the octoprint issue....
i had wanted to have octoprint use the PSU plugin so i could use a gpio to switch a relay and turn the printer off when not home. The problem with this is that if the pi is connected directly to the einsy, it would lose power, and thats bad as apparently the SD cards get corrupted quite easily when not shutdown properly.
so, my idea was to use the normal power cord to power the pi and just connect the remaining gpio pins to the einsy so it could still interface, but wasnt dependent on it for power.
well apparently that doesnt work (unless im unaware of something). with only the 4 gpio pins plugged in, there is no good connection. so i turned pi port back on, powered off, connected the 5v and grnd pins to the pi and einsy (so now all 6pins are connected on both ends, fired it up, and the connection happened immediately in octoprint. i get temperature, SD card contents in the printer, etc.
So, im not realy sure why this is an issue. I guess for some reason the pi cares or knows about where its power is coming from....? if anyone knows a way around it, that would be great. as it stands, i either run the usb cable out of the case, back into the case to connect the pi as usual, via usb, or i forgo my PSU control plans and use all 6pins to connect internally with no additional cables to hang out of the case (sigh).
again, any input here is appreciated. im only 2 weeks into this whole adventure, so im still learning 🙂
Re: Cant connect to printer via USB / Octoprint
ok, i figured out the octoprint issue....
i had wanted to have octoprint use the PSU plugin so i could use a gpio to switch a relay and turn the printer off when not home. The problem with this is that if the pi is connected directly to the einsy, it would lose power, and thats bad as apparently the SD cards get corrupted quite easily when not shutdown properly.
so, my idea was to use the normal power cord to power the pi and just connect the remaining gpio pins to the einsy so it could still interface, but wasnt dependent on it for power.
well apparently that doesnt work (unless im unaware of something). with only the 4 gpio pins plugged in, there is no good connection. so i turned pi port back on, powered off, connected the 5v and grnd pins to the pi and einsy (so now all 6pins are connected on both ends, fired it up, and the connection happened immediately in octoprint. i get temperature, SD card contents in the printer, etc.
So, im not realy sure why this is an issue. I guess for some reason the pi cares or knows about where its power is coming from....? if anyone knows a way around it, that would be great. as it stands, i either run the usb cable out of the case, back into the case to connect the pi as usual, via usb, or i forgo my PSU control plans and use all 6pins to connect internally with no additional cables to hang out of the case (sigh).
again, any input here is appreciated. im only 2 weeks into this whole adventure, so im still learning 🙂
GND needs to stay connected to the printer. You can try leaving GND connected to both the printer and your external power supply, but it could theoretically result in some glitches if there is any voltage difference. Use a proper power supply for your pi, not those 1$ Chinese ones
Re: Cant connect to printer via USB / Octoprint
thanks Pavlo. i had actually asked on the octorpint forum and just recieved the same answer yesterday. i havent tried it yet, but fingers crossed, nothing blows up. and yes, i have the actual pi power supply, not a cheap one.
id mark your answer as correct as well, but i can only mark answer.