I have been having a few issues with my engraver. The symptoms are slippage in the X direction, printer stopping for no reason, and occasional non-responsiveness. I have been focussing on the hardware, but it now appears I have a communications problem.
When I engrave direct from a TF card, I have no problems, so it looks like the serial link (to Lightburn) has an issue. When I power on the Falcon2, my laptop selects the standard Microsoft USB serial driver. I thought I was supposed to use the CH340 driver, but how do I force the laptop to select it for the engraver? The CH340 (actually called CH341) exists on the laptop, but it’s not being selected.
Questions.
Does my Windows 10 laptop require the CH340 driver to work reliably ?
Why doesn’t my laptop load the CH340 driver when I boot?
Maybe it’s nothing to do with the driver. In the console window I’m seeing some error messages. What’s the Z setting? Does this provide any clue?
I don’t think I have Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) on my serial cable. I have fitted a large clipon ferrite at either end, and the cable is very stiff suggesting it’s foil shielded.
G1 X-0.088Y0.492
G1 X-0.063Y0.501
G1 X-0.039Y0.507
G1 X-0.013Y0.515
G1 X0.013Y0.515
G1 X0.039Y0.507
G1 X0.063Y0.501
G1 X0.088Y0.492
M9
G1 S0
M5
G90
G0 X81.5Y75
M2
error:24
Two G-code commands that both require the use of the XYZ axis words were detected in the block.
On or near line 0:
Stream completed in 1:41
ok
ok
ok
ok
ok
ok
error:24
Two G-code commands that both require the use of the XYZ axis words were detected in the block.
error:24
Two G-code commands that both require the use of the XYZ axis words were detected in the block.
ok
I have a fix - maybe. In Device Settings the Transfer mode was set to “Buffered”. I thought that’s what it should be. I changed it to “Synchronous” and all seems to work fine. So how come I’m the only one to experience this issue? Didn’t see an important note anywhere saying set your Transfer mode to Synchronous.
First, happy that you seem to have found the cure to your issue.
This being said, the only times I tried my laser hooked up directly and driven by my computer, it all went without issues.
I run a home built PC on Windows 11 and use a registered copy of LightBurn - if that matters.
I used direct connection the first couple tries, after which I switched to a Raspberry PI with Octoprint and the laser plugin, and finally I switched to a Mintion camera. Both of these solutions allow me to send G-Code files to their web interface and remote control my Laser through them. I’m doing this because for practicality : the laser is in the garage, and my computer (which is a desktop, not a laptop) is at the oposite side of the house.
I really don’t know why you need to change the way your USB cable talks to the laser…
I hope someone else will have some input that could help you out!
