updated firmware now cnc job stops

Controllers Smoothie
1

I was using a 2013 version of the firmware and still do on one cnc device with all working good.
On another device I am using edge-2163ccd Date Dec 28 2015 also all works fine.
I tried an update to latest firmware and job starts but smoothie freezes up after about 30 seconds into the job, all communication to USB port via Ubuntu 16.04 is lost.
I found that the working 2015 firmware is about as close to a newer working version I can get. If I downgrade to 2015 from newset firmware all works fine again using the same config file with no edits so it’s not interference or cabling.
Tried both cnc-firmware and stock firmware and grbl-mode and grbl disabled with same freeze results.
Any ideas of what changed from 2015 to latest firmware that could cause this?

ps: Using the newest firmware via network works perfect but I’d like the USB option.

Thanks

Imported from wikidot

2

When upgrading such extremely old firmwares, you must grab the latest version of the example configuration file, and edit it to match the right values for your setup. Using an ( insanely ) old config with a fresh firmware will lead to all kinds of catastrophy.

3

Make sure you use the CNC variant. I had problems using the standard version which went away when I switched to the CNC one.