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06-24-2023, 12:10 PM
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#16
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LQ Guru
Registered: Jan 2006
Location: Ireland
Distribution: Slackware, Slarm64 & Android
Posts: 17,282
Original Poster
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This is a busy time at home here, making getting stuff difficult. I can't just run over to the shops these days. I have new PLA, but I'm still on the older stuff ATM.
I achieved fairly good bed adhesion with print head @200ºC and bed @30ºC. I printed a skirt, and the first layer But whereas the bottom of the layer was smooth, the top was rough and the parallel lines weren't fusing into a surface, but remaining separate like strings.
Part of my problem is that most of my files use nearly all of X dimension, , nearly all of Y, but very little Z on my 300mm² printer. That's the way the design is. My new reel of PLA has arrived, but I'm still trying with the old one to get things as right as possible. But nearly 2 hours in, I had just started the second layer, when the print head started bumping off the lower layer (see right of picture just inside the skirt). And anything I put on the bed might have to wait 2 hours to get it's first layer of print. So I'm not keen on hair spray.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ep0...usp=drive_link
Next try will be no skirt and bed @ 40ºC, but I can't set the bed too hot or it affects the adhesion. Any thoughts on what's up with the print output welcome. The printer is in a dry outhouse with a µPVC double glazed door (it was spare) but it's not ideal as an environment.
Last edited by business_kid; 06-24-2023 at 12:12 PM.
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06-25-2023, 11:55 AM
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#17
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LQ Guru
Registered: Jan 2006
Location: Ireland
Distribution: Slackware, Slarm64 & Android
Posts: 17,282
Original Poster
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Just keeping this up to date, and fiddling around. As I have spare PLA, I'm learning about this thing, doing tests and analysing the results.
After multiple washes with Isopropyl Alcahol, the glass bed is a bit tacky, and I need nothing now to stick to it. So that bit of the problem is solved. It appears the way to get the bottom to stick is to increase the extruder temperature. Likewise to get the layer to hold together better, I need to increase the bed temperature. Those are the exact opposite of what I would have expected, but that's what my experiments are showing.
What I'm having a problem with is two things:
1. I write 3 or 4 files to the sdcard, but in the printer, I only see 1 file.
2. The print starts by drawing a box around my large flat box, and then fills in the middle. This comes out rough & bumpy just where the middle meets this plastic line. I haven't a clue what causes that. Bottom layer only, but I don't want to try building and wrap a lot of plastic around my print head.
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06-26-2023, 09:34 AM
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#18
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LQ Guru
Registered: Jan 2006
Location: Ireland
Distribution: Slackware, Slarm64 & Android
Posts: 17,282
Original Poster
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It seems my bed issue is sorted and I'm now moving on to print quality. I'm still on the old PLA. I printed the Cal Cube that's lying about online. Here's the result:
The bottom and one blank side (opposite "X")came out smooth as a baby's posterior."Y" was also smooth, but the side opposite "Y" had horizontal layers that would catch your fingernail. "X" was only slightly grainy, but had a poor finish. "Z" had diagonal lines that fitted your fingernail between them.
Is that sort of quality normal, or should I expect better? Any suggestions?
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06-26-2023, 02:09 PM
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#19
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LQ Guru
Registered: Jan 2006
Location: Ireland
Distribution: Slackware, Slarm64 & Android
Posts: 17,282
Original Poster
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I ran a grep through the file
Code:
bash-5.1$ grep -ne 'M104' -e 'M109' -e 'M140' -e 'M190' XYZ_Cal_Cube.gcode
46:M140 S60 ; Start heating the bed
48:M104 S200.0 ; start heating the hot end
49:M190 S60 ; wait for bed
50:M109 S200.0 ; wait for hotend
322:M104 S195
22862:M104 S0 ; Extruder off
22863:M140 S0 ; Heatbed off
22876:M104 S0
bash-5.1$
Apparently it prints the first layer and then resets the heat with the line in bold to do the rest. Increasing that to 200 improved the quality.
I'll mess a little with the beginning, as the bed is much slower to heat up, and if I let the nozzle get up to temperature first, it will dribble plastic.
This 3D Printing lark is a bit like baking a soufflé or meringue. It's devilishly fussy to fine tune; but once you do it, you can repeat it.
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06-26-2023, 02:17 PM
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#20
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LQ Guru
Registered: Apr 2005
Distribution: Linux Mint, Devuan, OpenBSD
Posts: 7,695
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Temperatures for the different layers can be set when working over the design with Cura.
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06-26-2023, 03:02 PM
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#21
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LQ Guru
Registered: Jan 2006
Location: Ireland
Distribution: Slackware, Slarm64 & Android
Posts: 17,282
Original Poster
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Yeah, but I wasn't going to fire up Cura, start farting with all the options, and then reprocess every file. I have put correct versions in one directory, and I'll copy them over from there. I'll do the options before I slice any more.
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06-27-2023, 05:57 PM
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#22
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Senior Member
Registered: Aug 2010
Location: Near Edinburgh, Scotland
Distribution: Cinnamon Mint 20.1 (Laptop) and 20.2 (Desktop)
Posts: 1,707
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Quote:
What I'm having a problem with is two things:
1. I write 3 or 4 files to the sdcard, but in the printer, I only see 1 file.
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I've never tried using an SD card in my printer as I prefer to see exactly what's happening. I have a USB serial link between my desktop PC and the printer and control the print via a program called " Repetier-Host".
(Pronounced Repet ee-ay-Host in Europe, Repit eer-Host in the US.) The G-Code files to print live on the PC and are selected via the program . You can load .stl files and slice them with Slic3r or Cura from within Repetier-Host if you want though I prefer to do the slicing, .stl to G-Code as a separate process using PrusaSlicer, (a modified Slic3r program.)
Repetier-Host allows you to move the axies manually, switch on and off the hotbed and extruder plus modify and monitor their temperature during prints. The ability to generate a temperature graph is very useful and helped me diagnose a badly fitted thermistor which caused spikes in the extruder temperature plus overtemp errors. You can add duplicate prints which will automatically be placed within the print volume (provided there is room!) plus rotate and scale the prints. It displays a 3D representation of the print in progress and there's also a G-Code editor to help identify problems in your print (Never had to use it.)
If you download the Linux gzipped tar file into a suitably named directory in your /home directory and extract it within the directory, everything will run from there. Deleting it just involves dumping the whole file in the bin. Check out the install instructions.
Just my  worth, hope you find it useful.
Play Bonny!

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06-28-2023, 06:30 AM
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#23
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LQ Guru
Registered: Jan 2006
Location: Ireland
Distribution: Slackware, Slarm64 & Android
Posts: 17,282
Original Poster
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Repetier host pronounced as you indicate is French for "To repeat host" if that helps.
The download claims to be tested on Ubuntu 14.04 which is a little worrying. I'm blaming the printer for the failure, but have the process working when sliced by Cura. I can do the USB thing, but my printer has been exiled to the shed.
I went through some heavy exposure to petrochemicals & solvents through my work, but my son and wife were spared most of that. So they understandably rear up at the whiff of IPA in the air or melting PLA.
The Repetier software is 8-10 years old - not a good sign. There is an AppImage, and source. I'll try my luck.
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06-28-2023, 09:19 AM
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#24
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Senior Member
Registered: Aug 2010
Location: Near Edinburgh, Scotland
Distribution: Cinnamon Mint 20.1 (Laptop) and 20.2 (Desktop)
Posts: 1,707
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Quote:
The Repetier software is 8-10 years old - not a good sign. There is an AppImage, and source. I'll try my luck.
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I'm running an "old" version, V2.2.2 which is only 4 years old, the current version is V2,3,1 which supercedes V 2.2.4 so I'd reckon it's pretty much up to date. (I obviously haven't downloaded the latest version.)
Play Bonny!

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07-22-2023, 01:51 PM
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#25
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LQ Guru
Registered: Jan 2006
Location: Ireland
Distribution: Slackware, Slarm64 & Android
Posts: 17,282
Original Poster
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Only now am I getting to installing repetier-host on my laptop. Slackware64-15.0 is there already.
I have the AppImage. The fonts are tiny, and it's defaulting to a 200mm³ size. All of my work is over 200mm², but flat enough. My printer is 300mm³. Did you find how to configure that stuff? Is there a config file?
It looks like repetier-host does it's own slicing, as the thing reads stl files. Do you trust it to slice?
Interestingly, I chased the rough surface finish I described on your links, and the suggestion was to alter the %age of PLA being splodged about. You would expect this to be 100%, but sometimes it's 95%. If your top surface is rough, a 5% increase in that is recommended, whatever the actual figure is. That requires reslicing, of course
The way this ends up here, I can slice stuff in my lair, rsync the files accross, and print them in the shed. But I'll always be there personally to start them. Anyone who trusts a 3D printer that much to print remotely deserves whatever he gets  .
Also, I ran down my issues with the prints not sticking. Apart from my slimed printing plate, Prusa Slicer starts with a very thin line of PLA which never sticks. That sets, and drags off and more meaningful printing. So that sets, and it's a floating disaster.
Cura, OTOH, starts thick & heavy. No issues.
EDIT: Aargh! I did a forum search on the font size. It's a fixed font. It can't be changed. The dweeb who wrote it probably has glasses like milk bottle ends. Do you remember milk bottles?
Last edited by business_kid; 07-22-2023 at 02:53 PM.
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07-23-2023, 11:17 AM
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#26
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Senior Member
Registered: Aug 2010
Location: Near Edinburgh, Scotland
Distribution: Cinnamon Mint 20.1 (Laptop) and 20.2 (Desktop)
Posts: 1,707
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Quote:
It looks like repetier-host does it's own slicing, as the thing reads stl files. Do you trust it to slice?
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Nope. The built-ins appear to be Slic3r, Curaengine and Slic3r Prusa Edition. I use PrusaSlice 2.4.1 as a standalone then load the sliced .stl file into Repetier-Host. I design stuff using FreeCAD, save my work as a .FCStd file before exporting the final .stl file.
.stl file ---> PrusaSlicer ---> GCode file ---> Repetier-Host ---> Printer.
I feel I have better control over the printer using Repetier-Host as my printer's controls are an LCD screen and a twiddly knob push button thing.
Quote:
Anyone who trusts a 3D printer that much to print remotely deserves whatever he gets .
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My computer and printer are in my "Cupboard/Man Cave so everything is wired. Regarding leaving the printer (to burn your shed down!) you might like to check out Octoprint, a Raspberry Pi front end which can also control your printer allowing you to monitor the print via a browser or a mobile phone app. I've got an original Raspberry Pi (circa 2012) rigged up but only use the webcam feed which used a cheapo webcam I bought in the local supermarket for £6.00. Check out the download and setup website. I can check the print via the Octoprint App on my mobile phone while watching the TV elsewhere.
Glad you managed to fix your bed adhesion problem, it appears to be a "different strokes for different folks" sort of thing, no one fix!
Play Bonny!

Last edited by Soadyheid; 07-23-2023 at 11:20 AM.
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07-23-2023, 12:45 PM
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#27
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LQ Guru
Registered: Jan 2006
Location: Ireland
Distribution: Slackware, Slarm64 & Android
Posts: 17,282
Original Poster
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I'm using FreeCad .stl, Cura to slice. I'm now less nerdy & geeky than ever. So no thank you for all the geeky gimmicks. Just because it can be done doesn't mean I want to do it! I'm setting the laptop up in installments.
I'll also let the latest visiting clouds move on towards you before I try approaching the printer with the laptop. There's no mountains here worth of the name, really but they'll hang about once the weather hits the Pennines.
EDIT: It wouldn't be hard to imagine better control. I have no control, really. I can set preheat temperatures, but my printer does what it says in the gcode. Any other tweaking is in Cura. The big check that needs to be done is the plate surface for dust/dirt, and no webcam is going to do that for you.
Last edited by business_kid; 07-23-2023 at 12:55 PM.
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