Yet another extruder not working
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I have no clue what is going on but after another reset, I now have full extruder power ?!?!?!?
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@phaedrux, when I upgrade, should I not be able to just get the 'combined' bin file to upload to my Duet instance and be done ?
I have no idea why the extruder went from maybe 10% power to 100% power with a restart.
I will consider both weirdness's related to beta software .... -
I think you probably should have gone to 3.3 via the full zip file first. In 3.3 a /firmware folder is created that will get all the bin files going forward to keep the /sys folder tidier and for config files only.
Going straight from 3.2.2 to a 3.4 beta probably wasn't destined to be the smoothest.
I think the main problem was the mismatch between mainboard and toolboard firmware.
[Duet 3 + expansion/tool boards] You must update the expansion and/or tool board firmware to 3.3 also, otherwise movement and some other functions will not work. If you accidentally end up with firmware 3.3 on a tool or expansion board and 3.2.x on the main board then the tool/expansion board will not achieve CAN sync with the main board; however it will still respond to some commands including M115, M122 and M997.
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I am answering my own question here in case anybody else runs into this issue.
The file I was expecting to upload is Duet2and3Firmware-3.4.xxx.zip or something like that. It has all the other files in it and is different from the file that I actually uploaded which was Duet2CombinedFirmware.bin which wasn't the right file and therefore did not unzip or install correctly.
The zip file that has everything in it is not available for the 3.4.beta2 version.
As far as the other oddities I encountered - I suspect this was due to being early in the life of the software when bugs and weird things tend to show up.
I did sync up the tool boards to the 6HC firmware that I was running at the time so who knows if it was 3.2.2 as reported by M122 or 3.3 as reported by the tool boards after they were synced.
I do not know if the RRF road map includes some sort of self check to verify that the expansion card and main controller software are matching but I hope that is in the works. There are just too many ways that the user can screw this up if it is something that is left for the user to do/verify. -
@phaedrux said in Yet another extruder not working:
I think you probably should have gone to 3.3 via the full zip file first. In 3.3 a /firmware folder is created that will get all the bin files going forward to keep the /sys folder tidier and for config files only.
Going straight from 3.2.2 to a 3.4 beta probably wasn't destined to be the smoothest.
I think the main problem was the mismatch between mainboard and toolboard firmware.
[Duet 3 + expansion/tool boards] You must update the expansion and/or tool board firmware to 3.3 also, otherwise movement and some other functions will not work. If you accidentally end up with firmware 3.3 on a tool or expansion board and 3.2.x on the main board then the tool/expansion board will not achieve CAN sync with the main board; however it will still respond to some commands including M115, M122 and M997.
Thanks! That is a good point! The 1LC board seemed to be synced based on the regular flashing of the red light. It never occurred to me that part of the functions could work and other functions wouldn't work. I was also under the mistaken belief that if I upgraded the tool board, that it would be synced with the software on the 6HC board which is why I was sure to upgrade the tool boards as soon as they were installed. I figured that the files on the 6HC were all from the same release and since the tool boards reported 3.3 then everything would be 3.3 including the 6HC.
Well I am glad that things seem to finally work as expected. I will put the tool back into one piece tomorrow and see if everything still works (knock on wood)
Thanks again for your help, I would not have been able to resolve this without your help! -
I should have included the link to the 3.3 zip file and told you to upload that and it would likely have "just worked".
https://github.com/Duet3D/RepRapFirmware/releases/download/3.3/Duet2and3Firmware-3.3.zip
Beta releases don't get the full zip file treatment. As a general rule with most software I'd say it's a good idea to avoid beta releases unless you either have a working system and want to test the new changes, or you know there is a fix to a specific problem only available there. Jumping into a beta release during commissioning or troubleshooting is a recipe for chaos.
@jens55 said in Yet another extruder not working:
I do not know if the RRF road map includes some sort of self check to verify that the expansion card and main controller software are matching
Maybe. In the meantime you can do this today by creating a macro with M115, M155 B0, etc for all your boards and run it after a firmware update to see if they are all updated.
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@jens55 said in Yet another extruder not working:
I do not know if the RRF road map includes some sort of self check to verify that the expansion card and main controller software are matching but I hope that is in the works. There are just too many ways that the user can screw this up if it is something that is left for the user to do/verify.
...even if there was a selftest, DWC wouldn't show errors unless the user runs M98 P"config.g" after connecting to DWC.
I'm not familiar with Duet 3 family, but there should be another sign of warning (beeper or flashing LED) -
@o_lampe, with a single tool board hooked up things are quite manageable if you know what to look for (big 'if') but I can easily see a big pile of poo happening once you got expansion cards, tool boards and who knows what else all hooked up in a big machine.
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@jens55
one thing to avoid is bad crimping. You (and others) have experienced it. I always solder after crimping to be on the safe side. -
@o_lampe, soldering is bad ju ju after a crimp connection !!!!
The solder wicks up into the wire strands for a bit and wherever it stops you have an extremely high stress point that will fail if there is any wire bending going on.
While I had my share of bad crimp joints in the beginning, once you get the hang of it they are pretty darn reliable.
Now the tiny PH connectors for the 1LC board is something that I have not mastered yet and I am seeing the results I suspect I am using too large a crimp die for the wire crimp. The other issue, there is like a fraction of a mm between the wire crimp and the insulation crimp and the insulation crimp tends to 'fall off' the insulation which could be because of the wrong sized die as well.
Sometimes the wings of the insulation crimp don't form properly and again the joint is compromised.
I am ordering another hundred crimps from DigiKey to give me room for more failures or more practice. Maybe someone who has mastered these tiny things will respond to my thread on crimping .... -
@jens55
Lucky You, having a crimp tool at all. Poor Me uses needle nose pliers.
I'm aware of the stress points when solder raises too far into the strands, but I always bundle the wires and keep them fixed to avoid issues. -
@o_lampe said in Yet another extruder not working:
@jens55
Lucky You, having a crimp tool at all. Poor Me uses needle nose pliers.It's something like maybe $40 and absolutely essential !!!! Do yourself a favour and get the Engineer PA-09 !!!
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@jens55
I could tell you alot about the patent wars going on between various connector manufacturers. All I say is, you always look for the next-best crimp tool, which is an endless endeavor. In my former hardware-lab we had a peg-board wall full of crimptools dedicated to certain connectors. -
@o_lampe , don't I know it .... I don't have a pegboard full but I do have a drawer full of them but the PA-09 is, as I said before, essential for my Duet work. I also have the next size up from Engineer but I rarely use it (still nice to have).
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I splurged and got myself this set.
https://www.amazon.ca/Astro-Pneumatic-9477-Interchangeable-Tool/dp/B0045CUMLQ/
Worth every penny so far.