Why is it that with the cheapo K40 Nano PCB that a perfect functioning USB produces 100% data flow and the Smoothie is only equiped with a very doubtful serial to USB connection?
I cannot see a reason why, unless it is the cost of USB licencing!
Smoothie has native USB, how do you think we implement multiple serial ports, SD card access and DFU update over USB? Have you done any research at all into Smoothie?
Perhaps you can explain why so many users have problems with graphic input over USB!
I’m not sure what you mean, Smoothieboard has native USB. On that we implement serial ( at full speed ), mass storage, dfu. What’s the problem ?
@Brian_W.H_Phillips What does “graphic input over USB” mean ? Also, what sorts of problems exactly ? We definitely don’t have any widespread reports of USB issues. Some users have to adjust their setup to mitigate issues with EMI or similar interference issues, but they always end up with a perfectly working setup after taking a few steps.
I have been told that it is an inherrent problem with Smoothie USB and that I must try better USB leads and use chokes etc. But none were helpful. So my problem may be that I have a klone smoothie and must go to the expense of a genuine smoothie board to cure the problem. I don#T mind doing that if I can be gauranteed no USB problems!
You can never be guaranteed no USB problems. However unless you live 3 meters from the LHC rings ( understand : in a very electromagnetically noisy environment ), it’s very unlikely problems can’t be mitigated.
I think we see more reports of USB problems with the MKS than with the Smoothieboard, but it’s hard being absolutely sure there is a relevant conclusion to be taken there. It’s possible their design is correct too but we see more reports because they don’t do any customer support.
Smoothieboard definitely is designed the correct way, a lot of care was taken to that, and it’s existed for years now and we are still to see a user for whom we can’t get USB to work correctly.
You still don’t say exactly what your problem with USB is though … that would be helpful.
OK understood thank you: The problem is that after a few bytes of data the smoothie board stop engraving and then eventually returns to start mode. The amount it scans before stopping is dependant on the data density. This problem is constant with graphic data and only occurs occasionally with large detail cutouts. I had the impression that the Smoothie ram was full (if indeed the ram is being used as data short term store) or no buffer space etc.
I am using visicut which I find to be a user friendly program.
So wait, we’ve gone from “smoothie only has usb-serial” to " I have an ostensibly smoothie-compatible board of questionable design and the usb connection is crappy no matter what I do" ?
I’ve regularly had connection uptimes of literally months to my smoothies (genuine but home-assembled) simply by using a decent USB cable and sensible host; never tried a clone but I hear they can be pretty bad…
I’ve seen one clone that routed the USB traces under a stepper driver which frankly is an excellent way to have incessant USB problems due to the high current high dv/dt signals that stepper drivers produce… I’ve also seen boards with a hopelessly inadequate amount of decoupling capacitance which is another excellent way to ensure constant, unsolveable problems.
We were reasonably careful with the design of smoothieboard wrt noise and interference, but we have absolutely no way to control the design of other’s clones…
@Brian_W.H_Phillips Visicut’s Smoothie support is extremely new, I don’t expect it to be ready for general use. That’s your problem, extremely likely.
The method that should work best for you at this point, is instead of doing “execute”, you “export” the file as gcode. Then paste that gcode onto the Smoothieboard sd card, then execute it with “play /sd/file.gcode”.
Many thanks I will try that.
You’ll get better and faster support the more accurate you are in your problem description.
If you’ve got a MKS Base you don’t have a Smoothieboard which is a product of it’s own. You have a board that runs smoothiware.
Tell me where I can buy a smoothie board in the EU at a sensible price, and I will buy one!
@Brian_W.H_Phillips Robotseed is in the EU and should be back in stock next week.
you can also buy from http://www.filafarm.de
yea you get what you paid for. You bought a cheap chinese clone, you have usb problems (not surprising as it is a 2 layer board). Please don’t tar smoothie with your problems. go talk to MKS.
Very kind thank you
I’m curious why you expect to get support from us? You bought a board from a company that leaches off our hard work. They do not support the ecosystem, they help to actually destroy it (this thread is a perfect example, you point the finger at smoothie when the problem is the cheap board you bought). What do you expect? Why should we support a board that blatantly does not support us or help the project in any way?
Why are you so arrogant young
man.you tell everyone that smoothie is open source and then claim that all the design and development questions and answers should only refer to your product.if you want your product to be unique then complete it and test it 100% and then sell it as a package.
I really do not think it is worth arguing with this guy. He appears to be totally clueless. Blames S/W for a H/W problem. and calls me “young man” When I have been in the business for over 40 years. (Wish I was a young man 