Can't Connect RAMBO to my Laptop

[inventabuild]

Looking in my laptop's Devices and Drivers window it shows my RAMBO board is set up on COM1.

I set up the printer settings in Repetier to use COM1, Baud Rate 25000.

When I try to connect Repetier it says an "Unhandled exception has occurered in your application" and does not connect:

Any ideas how to get my laptop to see my Rostock Max?

[inventabuild]

I updated some drivers on my Dell laptop, rebooted, plugged my Rostock Max into the USB port, opened Repetier and tried to Connect again.

Now I get the message "The port 'COM1' does not exist", but Devices and Printers shows the RAMBO on COM1 and the Repetier Printer Setting is set to COM1. So what's the missing link to get my laptop to see the RAMBO?

[ApacheXMD]

Sometimes when I get the "does not exist" error message, I simply have to unplug and replug the usb cable from my computer.

[inventabuild]

ApacheXMD,

Thanks for the suggestion; however that didn't fix the problem. Still getting the message "The port 'COM1' does not exist".

Very frustating because someone else was able to connect and print to my Rostock Max through Repetier, but I still cannot because I keep getting the error message "The port 'COM1' does not exist".

[Eaglezsoar]

It sounds as though something is running in the background, interfering with your ability to connect.
You did not specify what OS you are running but if it is Microsoft Windows you could try to minimize what opens at startup using msconfig or
a utility called Autoruns http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysi ... 63902.aspx

When using Msconfig or Autoruns write down what you checked to not run at startup, that way you can go back
to your original easily.

[inventabuild]

Eaglezsoar,

Thanks for the suggestion.

First of all I'm wondering is there a way to wirelessly connect my Rostock Max to my laptop that will avoid the issue I'm having of not being able to connect to the COM1 port through Repetier?

Secondly, using Autoruns I'm seeing over three hundred things that startup and I'm concerned if I stop something important I may not be able to boot properly (plus it seems like countless hours / days of unchecking / rebooting then checking rebooting without knowing this will solve the problem). Is there software that will zero in to show me what things are running on which ports?

Thanks,

Mitch

[inventabuild]

...by the way I am running Windows 7.

[JohnStack]

Eaglezsoar,

Thanks for the suggestion.

First of all I'm wondering is there a way to wirelessly connect my Rostock Max to my laptop that will avoid the issue I'm having of not being able to connect to the COM1 port through Repetier?

Secondly, using Autoruns I'm seeing over three hundred things that startup and I'm concerned if I stop something important I may not be able to boot properly (plus it seems like countless hours / days of unchecking / rebooting then checking rebooting without knowing this will solve the problem). Is there software that will zero in to show me what things are running on which ports?

Thanks,

Mitch

Octoprint - a Raspberry PI web server is one way to connect. I've been looking into it. It would be nice to have some kind of bluetooth to bluetooth to USB device but I don't think anyone has invented that yet.

[Eaglezsoar]

Nothing wireless that I am aware of.
If there is software out there that shows what is running on the ports, I am not aware of it.
You should stop the major startup items such as virus checking, spyware detection. I did not intend for you
to stop all the programs that run at startup. Stop the major ones that I mentioned. Reboot and try the
connection. You stated that at first you got an "unhandled exception" then you updated drivers now you
get a different error message about the Com port. It is possible the Microsoft Net Framework on your computer
is corrupted in some way. After scouring the web using Google for the errors you have received one of the main
recommendations is too reinstall the Net framework. This would require going into control panel and removing
all occurrences of Net framework then reinstalling the latest from Microsoft. Sorry but these generic error messages
in Windows can be very difficult and frustrating to repair. My guess is that a different laptop or PC would work fine.
I wish I can help you more but search for the error message on Google and you will see the myriad of things that
can cause such errors. If you do get this working please let me know what the cause was.

[Eaglezsoar]

A sudden thought, uninstall the Rambo that you see in device manager, reboot then reinstall using the Rambo driver.

[Eaglezsoar]

John, that Octoprint running on a Raspberry cake - sorry, I meant PI. Does the server handle more than one printer?
I can see 2 or more printers all controlled from one point of control, now that is something I could get into.

[inventabuild]

Dell Technical Support remoted in to my computer and tried to connect Repetier to RAMBo. He re-downloaded the RAMBo USB.zip file, uninstalled / re-installed RAMBO, reinstalled the .net Framework, etc, etc, etc.

Finally, the Tech Guy said there is a compatibility issue with the RAMBo drivers and the Windows 7 operating system on my computer. He said the manufacturer is most likely aware of the problem.

So who here knows about the alleged compatibility issue between the RAMBo drivers and Windows 7?

[Eaglezsoar]

I think that is a crock the technician was trying to feed you just so he could get rid of the problem.
There are dozens if not hundreds of people running Windows 7 and the Rambo driver without a hint of
a problem. I really hate it when these type of errors happen because they can be caused by so many
different things. Do you have another computer to use that is running the same OS that you can use
temporarily to install the Rambo driver on and test it with the printer? This will prove just one thing and
that is that there is something on your computer that is causing the issue. If it fails on both computers
then that points to a bad cable, or a bad Rambo board. I wish I could help more but I do not know of
any other options. Perhaps someone on this forum who is reading this could suggest other possible things
to try. Inventabuild is out of options and needs all the suggestions that we can offer.

[Eaglezsoar]

After re-reading this thread, you mentioned that someone connected to your printer and it worked fine. So there is
no need to find a different computer, you have already done that. The drivers that you installed - did they come
from Dell and are they the latest you could find?

[geneb]

To put it in the most blunt of terms, the Dell tech is full of sh*t. While the controller is called RAMBo, it's essentially an Arduino Mega 2560 combined with a couple of shields on to the same logic board. There are *thousands* of these things in use all over the world.

Inventabuild, where are you located? If you're up for it, maybe we could get together in a Google Hangout and I can take a peek at see if I can't help you solve your problem. It would have to be after 4pm Pacific Time however.

g.

[inventabuild]

Johnny (tech guy) at Ultimachine.com is awesome. He jumped through a lot of hoops with me over the phone to successfully connect Repetier to RAMBo which brought my Rostock Max to life!!!

Bottom line - After trying numerous things we went into Task Manager and one by one deleted (except for Repetier) all running Applications and all non-critical running Processes (I would not have known which ones to delete without his direction). It turns out my Storage Appliance Corporation "ClickFree" Portable Backup Hard Drive (http://www.clickfree.com/) has an optional executable reminder that starts as a Process on my computer when it boots up and reminds me when it's time to back up my computer. This culprit executable is called SacReminder.exe and it is what was blocking all my COM ports when Repetier tried to connect to RAMBo. That a simple executable reminder like this can block all my COM ports sounds crazy, but it is what it is.

I permanently disabled this executable (it is not a necessary piece of software to run my ClickFree Backups) and now can begin my journey w/ my Rostock Max

Eagelzsoar - You nailed it from day one when you said "It sounds as though something is running in the background, interfering with your ability to connect." Unfortunately I did not know how to isolate it and I don't feel too worthless because even the Dell Tech guy couldn't figure it out

geneb - Thank you buddy for the offer to look at my computer through Google Hangout.

Thanks to everyone else who tried to help!!!

[geneb]

Glad to hear you got it sorted!

g.

[Eaglezsoar]

Hey - We are just glad that you got it working. This blazing new trails stuff can be a learning experience, a frustrating experience and sometimes a distinct pain in the ass.
When you get everything calibrated and do some prints, send us some pictures - we love to see pictures of stuff made on the Rostock Max.
Again, happy to see you got it working and I have a lot of respect for the dude at Ultimachine who helped you get it running. We are here to help and although we cannot
always fix everything, we can point you in the right direction..

[lordbinky]

If someone else gets stuck similarly a reasonable method (for windows users) to check for this scenario would be to run msconfig

From there under the services tab check 'hide all microsoft services' then hit disable all then under the startup tab disable all on that. Save settings and reboot.

You can always go back and selectively enable services or startup programs, although minimizing your startup programs gives you faster boot times.

[JohnStack]

Pulled off of another thread, probably was meant to go here.

John, that Octoprint running on a Raspberry cake - sorry, I meant PI. Does the server handle more than one printer?
I can see 2 or more printers all controlled from one point of control, now that is something I could get into.

From what I've researched, it hasn't quite been done - that is:

Wifi > Octoprint on PI > USB > Rostock

That's from Foosel, coder of Octoprint.

At her recommendation, I emailed a guy named <omitted> and he's got:

WiFi > Octoprint on PI > Serial > Prusa Mendel

I'm not doing that due to the variability of serial ports and voltage leveling....and I don't profess to be an EE.

I see it more like:

WIFI > Pi > Octoprint > USB > USB Hub > Rostock

So, I've ordered a PI, a powered USB hub, a USB network adapter that works with the PI and we'll see where that takes us. It will be two weeks before I get anything done as I'm over to Philly next week.

I know I can pick up the second USB off of the PI via python libs and that's much more friendlier than setting up coms, etc

There's no reason why another USB Com port can't be picked up off of the up from python.

I'll take it as far as one....LOL

[Eaglezsoar]

If someone else gets stuck similarly a reasonable method (for windows users) to check for this scenario would be to run msconfig

From there under the services tab check 'hide all microsoft services' then hit disable all then under the startup tab disable all on that. Save settings and reboot.

You can always go back and selectively enable services or startup programs, although minimizing your startup programs gives you faster boot times.

We went the msconfig route on this particular problem but the conflicting program was not listed there. We then went to Autoruns but Inventabuild was unsure
what to disable from running on startup and was concerned and rightfully so about stopping a critical process and hosing up his Windows.
My point being that your comments on msconfig are good ones but not all startup software or processes are listed there. Once Inventabuild found a competent
technician they found the offending software and probably stopped it from running at startup by using Autoruns. Inventabuild was right to use caution, software
like Autoruns can hose your Windows install if you don't know what you are doing and start stopping the wrong software, processes etc. One thing I learned from
all of this is that Companies like Ultamachine.com are willing to help troubleshoot the cards that they build. It may be the best policy on the difficult problems just
to send the user to them and ask them for help.