Alright so I took the plunge and did what Ive told everyone whos ever asked me not to do, and bought the cheapest ramps kit I could get from china. 63$ shipped from AliExpress got me a RAMPS 1.4 with knock-off mega and 5 A4988s the full graphic RepRapDiscount smart controller the Mk2b heated bed and 6 mechanical end stops.
So far Ive tested the ramps, arduino, and LCD and everything seems to work except one stepper driver and the arduino. No Matter what I do trying to upload marlin takes forever then times out.
Anyone who’s played with the cheap chinese arduinos have tips? I’ve tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers multiple times and using the 0023 and 1.05 IDES for arduino. I’m beginning to wonder if it needs a new bootloader.
Try clicking on the reset button right before you upload the Marlin code.
Also, sometimes the ebay kits don’t come with jumpers for the microstepping (pins under the stepper driver) make sure you have all 3 jumpers on for 1/16 microstepping on all 5 of the drivers.
It is possible the Arduino has the CH340 USB interface chip instead of the standard FTDI that they are using now. If it does you will need a different driver. If so you can get the driver here. http://www.wch-ic.com/download/list.asp?id=126
FWIW, I just bought the same kit (although it looks like I over paid via ebay). I uploaded Marlin last night and so far ramps & LCD check out. I’m going to crimp the connectors today for the steppers to test the motors out. So it sounds like just luck of the draw on the components you get.
To @Wayne_Friedt 's point, I thought the same thing last night when connecting the Arduino since it had the large USB port and I have another brand name 2560 that has a mini USB and I wondered if I’d needed the old drivers. I loaded up 1.05 and after some trial and error on the ports (macbook) it was working.
