Connection Issues.

[ConnorMB]

Hey guys. I tried emailing support and never got anything back, so i figure i might as well post here and get a bigger opinion on what is going on. Running a Rostock Max, following the guide in the offical docs to set up the software and im running windows 7 and 8 in a dual boot config. After connecting to the printer, installing the drivers and booting up repetier, I can issue 1-2 commands before everything locks up. After it locks up, i disconnect and reconnect and can not issue anything. So i unplug the USB and re-plug, and it throwing up a unknown device error. Happens in both W7 and W8. I have reset the rambo board several time, sometimes it will randomly work again and will repeat the entire process. I have tried installing/reinstalling the drivers as well.

Any suggestions?

[Polygonhell]

Hey guys. I tried emailing support and never got anything back, so i figure i might as well post here and get a bigger opinion on what is going on. Running a Rostock Max, following the guide in the offical docs to set up the software and im running windows 7 and 8 in a dual boot config. After connecting to the printer, installing the drivers and booting up repetier, I can issue 1-2 commands before everything locks up. After it locks up, i disconnect and reconnect and can not issue anything. So i unplug the USB and re-plug, and it throwing up a unknown device error. Happens in both W7 and W8. I have reset the rambo board several time, sometimes it will randomly work again and will repeat the entire process. I have tried installing/reinstalling the drivers as well.

Any suggestions?

Define everything locks up.
Does the PC hang, just repetier?
If you turn on all the logging options in repetier does it print any errors?

[ConnorMB]

Just repetier. Logging doesn't show anything as it just immediately freezes. Have to close out and i can connect but then all the commands go into waiting and it freezes up after a bit. After I disconnect the USB it throw up the malfunction USB and i cant connect to it at all anymore. Tried reseting PC, Rambo, and tried a different USB cable :/

[Polygonhell]

Just repetier. Logging doesn't show anything as it just immediately freezes. Have to close out and i can connect but then all the commands go into waiting and it freezes up after a bit. After I disconnect the USB it throw up the malfunction USB and i cant connect to it at all anymore. Tried reseting PC, Rambo, and tried a different USB cable :/

Don't suppose you have a different PC you can try?
It's really hard to say, all Repetier is doing is sending data over the USB serial port, so if it's locking up the most likely culprit IMO is the driver, have you managed to flash the board using the arduino tools?
Can you send commands to the board with the TTY interface with the arduino tools?

[ConnorMB]

Ok, i was able to connect via repetier, and yes, i tried this on another PC and got the same results. I was able to issue a G28, one axis hit its end stop(i was able to test all endstops before) and the next axis started to move, went up a few mm and just stopped, repetier then froze and the COM port was inaccessible to any program (Arduino and repetier)

[Polygonhell]

OK, so you've ruled out something odd with the USB device unless the machines were using the same motherboard.
By default the RAMBO board takes 5V from the USB line, there is a jumper on the board I'd try it in the other position where it draws power from the 12V supply.
If possible enable all of the output options in repetier, especially errors and ack, I'm interested if it's getting comms errors, even when you're not sending anything to the board the host program is continually requesting temperature.
If you watch the board when it hangs, do you see different behavior from the LED's on the board?
I'm assuming you don't have an LCD connected?
The fact it works for a while then dies is at best a little odd.

[ConnorMB]

I actually already switched to that jumper. Sometimes i get a orange light. If i switch back to the other jumper, theres a constant red light. No, im waiting on my adapter for the LCD. I cant even get it to connect right now so i cant get the errors for you, if that changes ill let you know.

[daftscience]

I'm using these these.

[ConnorMB]

Dont really need a crimping tool, need help figuring out this odd issue (at least i think its odd).

On a side note, a friend was building a reprap and stumbled upon this... "issue": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHnN2CC9 ... 1A&index=5

[Polygonhell]

Ok that I've never seen....
I meant to ask have you tried a different USB cable?
Have you tried with ONLY the USB connection in place to see if it behave differently, you won't be able to do much, but you should be able to see if the connection hangs. DONOT plug or unplug any steppers with ANY power to the board I.e. turn off the PSU and unplug the USB connection before unplugging them or you will damage the stepper drivers.
The reason i asked about the LED's is trying to establish if the arduino itself is resetting or if it's just losing the connection. Unfortunately it's hard to tell because connecting to the electronics causes a reset.
I assume you've contacted support about this, because it may not be possible to definitively identify a bad RAMBO board on a forum.

As an aside all reprap electronics use USB for comms and as a connection it's extremely sensitive to ground noise in particular, Ethernet would be a much better solution, but it's an expensive option for the atmell micro controllers that became popular.

[ConnorMB]

Yes, i have tried 2-3 different USB cable to no avail, im begining to wonder if its my rambo board. I get all kinds of weird lights sometimes. I NEVER unplug anything from it while its on besides the USB from my computer. I learned the hard way a long time ago. I did contact support and pointed to this thread as well. He said listen to you, and then i guess i should go back to talk to them after ive tried all else. *shrug* for my first DIY printer, this isnt going as well as i hoped i had a replicator before this. I havn't even touched any of the other electronics once i ran everything. Just trying to get this to work for more than one command before i take on testing everything else

[mhackney]

Wow, check cjdavis618 post last night. Obviously not the same issue but the root of the problem might be the same. It might be worth removing the RAMBo and giving it a good once over checking for loose connectors - like the USB connector, etc.

[Polygonhell]

Yes, i have tried 2-3 different USB cable to no avail, im begining to wonder if its my rambo board. I get all kinds of weird lights sometimes. I NEVER unplug anything from it while its on besides the USB from my computer. I learned the hard way a long time ago. I did contact support and pointed to this thread as well. He said listen to you, and then i guess i should go back to talk to them after ive tried all else. *shrug* for my first DIY printer, this isnt going as well as i hoped i had a replicator before this. I havn't even touched any of the other electronics once i ran everything. Just trying to get this to work for more than one command before i take on testing everything else

You didn't state if you'd actually managed to successfully flash the board with the arduino tools but.
If you get the same behavior with just the USB connection plugged in, you've tried different cables and a different computer, I think you probably need to try a different RAMBO board, there aren't a lot of other things to try in that chain.
Might be worth scanning the board and looking for bad solder joints, but it should work.

They've shipped a lot of kits, there are bound to be bad parts that get through, if it was something like a loose connection or bad solder joint on the RAMBO board it could even have been tested and passed somewhere. Doesn't make your experience any better unfortunately but I always measure a company by the way they respond to an issue.

[ConnorMB]

I'll try and go over everything tonight after class. I can only hope its something as easy as a solder joint . I understand that sometimes this happens. Hopefully we can get it in working order sometime soon

[daftscience]

Dont really need a crimping tool, need help figuring out this odd issue (at least i think its odd).

On a side note, a friend was building a reprap and stumbled upon this... "issue": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHnN2CC9 ... 1A&index=5

lmao... wow sorry, I managed to reply to the wrong thread with that one.

tom

[ConnorMB]

still can't get connection. Every so often, it will let me connect (normally with a fresh OS install). And then once it seizes up and crashes, i can almost never get the silly thing to reconnect :/. Couldnt find any bad solder points for the life of me. Nothing seems out of place or off either.