Hi Everyone,

I'm part of the team at Modix3D, where we make big printers (up to 1x1x1m, or 60x60x180cm)

We've been using Duet 2 and Duex5 control boards in our printers for the past 2 years, and we're a big fan of the ease of development that RepRapFirmware brings.

I've been working with the team over the past few months to bring some large updates to the configuration and macro files, trying to start to use some of the features that RepRapFirmware 3 bring, in particular G-code meta commands are a game-changer.

One area that we use G-code meta commands heavily is in the homing files. The (move.axes[0].max or min) is something that has made it possible to use the same homing commands across all printers, as it references things from the config.g files.

Things like that have made development a lot easier.

We also use it in the Duex5 enabled printers to do do fully automated tilt calibration, until the tilt of the corners is within a certain range ( less than 0.02mm of adjustment)

While our files aren't the most advanced or fancy ones, hopefully some of our uses can inspire or help you in your own development. We've definitely learned a lot by reading these forums and are hoping to at least give back a little

you can see our latest configuration and macro files on our GitHub: https://github.com/Modix3D/Modix-V3-configuration-and-Macro-files

If for whatever reason you want to store the Z-offset outside of the config.g file (in this example in a file named config_probe.g), here is the method I've found out to work quite well.

This method works for RepRapFirmware 3.4 and up, as we need to use the ability to write to a file using the echo command. It has been tested on 3.4.1

For more info, see https://docs.duet3d.com/User_manual/Reference/Gcode_meta_commands#echo-command

The macro also allows you to automatically compensate for using of a known thickness shim, using the var probing_tool setting at the start of the macro.

Z-offset macro:

var probing_tool = 0.000
; This allows you to compensate for whatever tool you use to measure the nozzle distance.
; It is set to 0.000 by default, you can set this to the thickness of the tool or paper you use for the Z-offset calibration
; A sheet of paper is on average 0.05 to 0.10mm thick.

M291 S3 R"Heating up nozzle" P"Wait for the nozzle to reach printing temperatures"
M568 P0 S215		; set tool 0 (primary hotend) temperature to 215c
T0			; select tool 0 (primary hotend)
M116 P0 H5		; wait for temperature to reach within 5c of set temperature

M300 S666 P666               ; beep
M291 S3 R"Setting the Z-offset Height" P"Press OK to continue, or CANCEL to abort"
G28                          ; home all
G29 S2                       ; cancel mesh bed compensation
M290 R0 S0                   ; cancel baby stepping
G90                          ; absolute movements

G1 Z10
G1 X100 Y100 F1800
G4 P0

M300 S1111 P666              ; beep
M564 H1 S0                   ; ignore axis limits
M291 S2 R"Test Z Probe Trigger Height - Step 1" P"Place a paper sheet under the nozzle and raise the bed until slight friction can be noticed" Z1 ;

G92 Z0                       ; the nozzle should now be just touching the bed so set the logical Z position to match the physical Z position
M300 S666 P666               ; beep
G1 Z8 F300                   ; insure Z position will allow for probing
G4 P0						 ; wait for the movement to stop

M291 S2 R"Test Z Probe Trigger Height - Step 2" P"Please remove the paper sheet and wait for the bed-probing to begin" ;
G30 S-1                      ; probe the bed and report the Z probe trigger height
M564 S1 H1                   ; respect axis limits

;M291 S2 R"Test Z Probe Trigger Height - Step 3" P"Copy the reported height value on the G-Code console and paste it into the config_probe.g file"

var Z_auto_offset = {sensors.probes[0].lastStopHeight+var.probing_tool} ; math to calculate the BLTouch offset
echo >"0:/sys/config_probe.g" "G31 Z"^{var.Z_auto_offset}				; write the Z-offset to the config_probe.g file

echo "the Z-offset has been stored in the config_probe.g file. The Z-offset is", var.Z_auto_offset, "mm"

G4 P0						 ; wait for the movement to stop
G1 Z10 F300                  ; Lift up the nozzle again so it's not pressed against the bed surface

config_probe.g :

G31 Z1.5 

It's a fairly simple macro, but if there are any questions let me know

@mikeabuilder
I've gone through this list and added all the gcode meta commands, including var and param: https://docs.duet3d.com/en/User_manual/Reference/Gcode_meta_commands

In notepadd++, to change the stylers you can go to language -> user defined languages -> define your language -> pick the language from the dropdown and then you can change the stylers

For the var and param for example. they are in the 3rd group. You can change the styler, or put it in a different styler.

I've used a VERY basic grouping, so absolutely do use and adapt it to your own liking! If you send me a message or a Github pull request I'll very gladly add it to the UDL!

When uploading a filament configs zip with the wrong files, the error message states "fiels" instead of "files"

Version: Duet Web Control 3.4.5

I have updated the UDL I made with better colors based on the latest RRF version, with both a dark mode and light mode skin

I was however not able to figure out how to match the styling of certain parts. RepRapFirmware for example does X200 with the X being either white/black, and then the 200 part having color.

For the life of me, I could not figure out how to implement that behavior, so I just grouped them as one

https://github.com/ComedianTF2/RepRapFirmware-UDL-For-Notepad

@grahamsoukup

Make sure to update the configuration and macro files to those compatible with RepRapFirmware 3.4.1

The instructions can be found on the modix support site, and you can download them here

https://github.com/Modix3D/Modix-V3-configuration-and-Macro-files/releases/tag/v3.4.1.a

@ritz One mistake I see is people keeping the negative modifier in the G31 value, as the default value we provide with the printers is G31 Z-3, just so that in the initial setup it

So if you'd for example get a value of 1.25, from the Z-offset maco, and you don't erase the -, but just replace the 3 with 1.25, you'd get a G31 value of Z-1.25 instead of Z1.25. And with that, the nozzle would be 1.25+1.25 away from the print surface.

You can always reach our support directly at support@modix3d.com, preferably with a copy of your config.g files so we can check that as well.

@phaedrux User confirmed that the pause behavior has been fixed

@Trojan3D If you change it to be >> instead of > on the echo, it adds data to the file instead of overwriting it

So in your case it would be:
echo >>"0:/sys/config-override.g" "G31 Z"^{var.Z_auto_offset} ; write the Z-offset to the config-override.g file

This adds the value to the last line of the config-override.g, however you will see it become quite a mess over time, as the echo >> only adds another line

So after doing it ten times, you it would have the G31 Z value added ten times in a row, with the bottom one being the value you're trying to have.

That's why it's generating a separate file called config_probe.g in this example, and then you can load the Z-offset using a M98 P"config_probe.g" in your config.g and homing files

@dc42 Sadly this did not trigger the calibration prompt

Downgrading to 1.24 and then back to 3.4.1 did the trick, it erased the calibration data going back to 1.24 and triggered the prompt going both to 1.24 and then again when going to 3.4.1.

@AndrewG The config.g you have seems to be quite an old one, and that bed.g wouldn't work with it. I have no idea how that would suddenly revert, but I would try and download the correct variant of the config files to use for your printer

https://github.com/Modix3D/Modix-V3-configuration-and-Macro-files/releases/tag/v3.4.5.c

edit: It might also be worth updating your firmware, those files are made for RRF3.4.5

@Surgikill Good catch, I had overlooked the I1 parameter, though that shouldn't give any problems; the parameter is ignored. The rest of the deployprobe.g and retractprobe.g are correct though, and that should not give an error.

@Surgikill That's quite interesting, I've been working hard to re-write the entire code of the printers, and I am pretty sure I caught all of the depreciated code. But if you point me to anything that was missed, I would love to fix it.

@dc42 Thanks for that.

Good to know that the choice selection for the M291 T0 S4 does not need to be indented, that makes a large difference and with that I should be able to get everything in a single file

@dc42 The problem is not in the variable name, I tested it and it did not work with the following script:

M30 "0:/sys/test/config_globals.g"
M28 "0:/sys/test/config_globals.g"
M29
 
M291 T0 S4 R"Welcome" P"Welcome to your Printer. Please select the version of printer you have" K{"V1","V2"} 
	if input = 0
		M291 S3 R"Version V1" P"According to this, you have a V1 printer. Press OK to confirm, or cancel to re-start"
		echo >"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "if !exists(global.config_version)"
		echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global version = 1"
		global version = 1
	if input = 1
		M291 S3 R"Version V2" P"According to this, you have a V2 printer. Press OK to confirm, or cancel to re-start"
		echo >"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "if !exists(global.config_version)"
		echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global version = 2"
		global version = 2
 
if global.version = 1
	M291 T0 S4 R"V2 to V3" P"Do you have a A model or a B model" K{"A model","B model"} 
		if input = 0
			echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer_model = 1"
			global printer_model = 1
		if input = 1
			echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer_model = 2"
			global printer_model = 2
elif global.version = 2
	M291 T0 S4 R"V2 to V3" P"Do you have a C model or a D model" K{"C model","D model"} 
		if input = 0
			echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer_model = 1"
			global printer_model = 1
		if input = 1
			echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer_model = 2"
			global printer_model = 2

That outputs (when choosing V1 and model A)

if !exists(global.config_version)
   global version = 1

However this combination of scripts does work:

M30 "0:/sys/test/config_globals.g"
M28 "0:/sys/test/config_globals.g"
M29
 
M291 T0 S4 R"Welcome" P"Welcome to your Printer. Please select the version of printer you have" K{"V1","V2"} 
	if input = 0
		M291 S3 R"Version V1" P"According to this, you have a V1 printer. Press OK to confirm, or cancel to re-start"
		echo >"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "if !exists(global.config_version)"
		echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global version = 1"
		;global version = 1
	if input = 1
		M291 S3 R"Version V2" P"According to this, you have a V2 printer. Press OK to confirm, or cancel to re-start"
		echo >"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "if !exists(global.config_version)"
		echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global version = 2"
		;global version = 2
 
if global.version = 1
	M98 P"0:/sys/test/version1.g"
elif global.generation = 2
	M98 P"0:/sys/test/version2.g"

M291 T0 S4 R"V2 to V3" P"Do you have a A model or a B model" K{"A model","B model"} 
	if input = 0
		echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer_model = 1"
		global printer_model = 1
	if input = 1
		echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer_model = 2"
		global printer_model = 2

M291 T0 S4 R"V2 to V3" P"Do you have a C model or a D model" K{"C model","D model"} 
	if input = 0
		echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer_model = 1"
		global printer_model = 1
	if input = 1
		echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer_model = 2"
		global printer_model = 2

That outputs (when choosing V1 and model A)

if !exists(global.config_version)
   global version = 1
   global printer_model = 1

I don't see a good reason why the script with everything contained in one file would not work, but that same script just split out over three files does work as it should

@dc42 a leftover from trying to diagnose the problems, I re-wrote the macro to be significantly simpler from the one I was working on, but the problems remained.

When removed it still doesn't work

Firmware: 3.5.0-beta.4
Duet web control: 3.5.0-beta.4

I am working on a script to write several global variables to a file, per a series of messages sent to a user, so the user can get the right set of variables for their printer after executing the script.

The first part of the code (line 1 through 15) work well, and in the resulting config_globals.g, the first parameters (version 1 or version 2) are set correctly

However the second set of parameters (printer model 1 or 2) are not set at all, it seems as if nestling the echo commands that deep is causing problems.

M30 "0:/sys/test/config_globals.g"
M28 "0:/sys/test/config_globals.g"
M29

M291 T0 S4 R"Welcome" P"Welcome to your Printer. Please select the version of printer you have" K{"V1","V2"} 
	if input = 0
		M291 S3 R"Version V1" P"According to this, you have a V1 printer. Press OK to confirm, or cancel to re-start"
		echo >"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "if !exists(global.config_version)"
		echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global version = 1"
		global version = 1
	if input = 1
		M291 S3 R"Version V2" P"According to this, you have a V2 printer. Press OK to confirm, or cancel to re-start"
		echo >"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "if !exists(global.config_version)"
		echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global version = 2"
		global version = 2

if global.version = 1
	M291 T0 S4 R"V2 to V3" P"Do you have a A model or a B model" K{"A model","B model"} 
		if input = 0
			echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer-model = 1"
			global printer-model = 1
		if input = 1
			echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer-model = 2"
			global printer-model = 2
elif global.version = 2
	M291 T0 S4 R"V2 to V3" P"Do you have a C model or a D model" K{"C model","D model"} 
		if input = 0
			echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer-model = 1"
			global printer-model = 1
		if input = 1
			echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer-model = 2"
			global printer-model = 2

The output of this file, selecting first version 1 and then printer model 1 is this:

if !exists(global.config_version)
   global version = 1

However the expected and desired code is:

if !exists(global.config_version)
   global version = 1
   global printer-model = 1

Executing the echo commands separately does work, so I am not sure why the commands are not working when used in this fashion.

As another test, I also created two files named version1.g and version2.g, that contained the sub-scripts. In that case, the echo commands correctly wrote the global parameters to the config_globals.g

if global.version = 1
	M98 P"0:/sys/test/version1.g"
elif global.version = 2
	M98 P"0:/sys/test/version2.g"

version1.g example:

M291 T0 S4 R"V2 to V3" P"Do you have a A model or a B model" K{"A model","B model"} 
	if input = 0
		echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer-model = 1"
		;global printer-model = 1
	if input = 1
		echo big120x
		echo >>"0:/sys/test/config_globals.g" "   global printer-model = 2"
		;global printer-model = 2 

@droftarts These are official Duet boards, wiring connections are all good. Using a long ribbon cable, have not tested it out using the 4 pin cable

With the 3.4.1 firmware there are no problems at all

Testing out Paneldue firmware 3.5.0-rc6 (paneldue 7i) in combination with RepRapFirmware 3.5.0-beta.4 (on a Duet 2 WiFi) is giving a weird issue, in that after a certain amount of time, the paneldue stops responding to any kind of inputs on the LCD. I can still see updates coming from the display like temperature changes and homing status, but touching the screen does nothing.

Unplugging and re-plugging in the cable makes it work again temporarily, but after a bit of time (around a minute or so), it stops working again.

It doesn't seem to be linked to the screensaver, I have the screensaver at 120 seconds, and it stops working before the screensaver kicks in

Rolling back to 3.4.1 on the paneldue seems to fix the problem

It's not possible to set a different idle factor for different axises (axis?)

https://docs.duet3d.com/User_manual/Reference/Gcodes#m906-set-motor-currents

From the notes section:

The I parameter is the percentage of normal that the motor currents should be reduced to when the printer becomes idle but the motors have not been switched off. The default value is 30% and will always be at least 100mA - starting from RRF 2.02 setting it to 0 will disable the steppers after timeout like M18|M84 do and if an axis is related to the motor, throw out the "homing" of it, since it is likely that the position cannot be precisely determined anymore. Note that the idle current is applied globally for all motors and cannot be set per axis.