Problems flashing the Prusa i3 mk3 firmware on Linux

 Well now, I've been churning out a few print over the past couple of weeks, but the Prusa Slicer kindly informed me that there was updated firmware available for the printer. In fact every time I sliced something and transferred it to the printer, it would beep at me saying that there was updated firmware and I had to do an extra click to acknowledge that. It got a bit repetitive so I eventually decided to update the firmware.

And that's when the problems started.

Firstly the printer is not recognised by the system.

There are no identifying entries other than the actual values. So you have to rely on the Prusa Slicer being able to recognise it. All well and good, but when I first plugged it in with the supplied USB cable, I got nothing. Absolutely zilch. I had to go searching to find out that I wasn't alone in this regard. The supplied USB cable was useless. So I unplugged one of the other printers and used that instead. Now it could see it. Time to select the downloaded firmware and update.

Not so fast! I kept getting permission denied. You see, I use Linux as my operating system, and what they don't tell you is that under Linux everything, files and connections etc., is owned by something. The Prusa Slicer I was running as my logged on user (Dragon) whereas the port used to communicate with the printer was owned by the Root group, but more specifically the "dialout" user, and I wasn't allowed to touch it.

Fortunately there are ways around that:

sudo chmod a+rw /dev/ttyACM0

This command (after I entered the root password) adds the ability to read and write to that port by all users. I re-ran the Slicer and now it worked. The update went through without an issue.

However I do seem to be having a slight problem with my prints. There is a definite mis-alignment on the X-axis when printing some items. I suspect that something may be loose, but it isn't the x-belt and extruder assembly. I have yet to figure out exactly what at present, but I'll see how things develop as I print more.

First Print

 So it took me a while to get everything put together. Why the delay? Well I needed decent light. My Otaku Room has an eco-friendly bulb as 99% of the time I'm programming so I don't need bright lights. But to put the printer together I had to open up the curtains to *gasp* the outside light. But I can only do it after I finish work, and before darkness falls. Good job I'm doing it now as later in the year I could only do this at the weekends.

Anyway, the hardest part that I found was connecting the extruder cable bundle. Well not the cable. But that enclosure at the top took me about 30 minutes to get it to screw in.

Anyway. It was eventually done. Next problem was mains wiring. I will eventually drill a hole in the back of the cupboard to allow mains to be connected, but in the meantime, a simple extension cord is supplying power. Next off there is the issue with the filament. The cupboard is too small to allow the supplied spool holder to sit on top of the printer let alone have a spool of filament. So at present the spool is on the outside, and I am manually unwinding the filament as the printer needs it. Which basically means that every 5 mins I need to check the printer. So no over night prints for the time being.

So, time for calibration. I ran the calibration routine 3 times to try and figure out how low to bring the z-axis down far enough. I think I have it. Time for the first print. Can you tell what it is yet?

Yes it is the tried and tested 3D Benchy. The base layer went down really well and everything got off to a good start. But then... disaster.

The model came unstuck from the base. Fortunately I caught it within a couple of minutes and could stop the print. I hadn't done anything special to the board other than give it a clean. So I put a dab of glue-stick on the sheet and set it going again. This time with results...

No signs of any stringing. But there are some improvements to be made. The top of the arches are not quite perfect. Also there is a gloop of plastic at the bottom of the ship so I suspect that I didn't quite clean the nozzle properly. But on the whole I'm happy with the way it turned out. Certainly the quality of the print is pretty good.

There is still quite a bit I need to sort out and get used to, but for now I'm happy that everything is working as intended.

Continuing the build...

 So the replacement Y-Axis belt arrived from Prusa. After a little work I managed to complete the Y-Axis build and managed to claim my first share of Gummy Bears.

From there on, I managed to complete the X-Axis, and the Z-Axis, before starting on the E-Axis. At this point the tips of my fingers were beginning to ache from all the fiddly work.

So, for today I've decided to call it a day. I'll start again tomorrow.

Now the build has been relatively straight forward. Apart from dropping a few of the nuts on the florr, they only awkward parts that I have found have been issues with the way the ABS parts have been printed. There seems to be a lot of stringing across various parts. Especially where the M3nS nuts have to be inserted which has made fitting them a trifle tricky at times. I've taken to wiggling the smallest Allen Key in the slots to try and break any stringing parts to make installation easier. It seems to work as the after I started doing that the nuts slotted in easier.

However I have noticed that I will be heading towards a big problem in the not too distant future.

I wanted to put the printer inside a cupboard. Not only to make it stable in terms of temperature, but also to keep any dust and debris from getting it too clogged up. However after I made up the spool holder I realised that the cupboard is just not tall enough. I can't fully fit the spool holder in place, let alone fit an actual spool of filament onto the holder. So what to do?

I think the best option would be for me to drill a hole in the top. I need to drill one in the back anyway so that I can provide power to the gubbins. But if I put one in the "ceiling" then I can fit a dry box up top to keep all of my filaments in and then feed them down to the printer below. It solves a couple of issues, not only keeping the filaments in a safe, dry dust free enclosure but also I won't need to get a bigger cupboard or have to printer out in the open.

Experiments in 3D Printing.

I have a new toy.

I've been considering getting a 3D printer for a while now. I first contemplated getting one back at the start of the year, but decided that first I had better explore the various options before hand. So I started looking into what types of printers there were. Their costs. Their capabilities. There are numerous types on the market ranging from FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) to SLA (Stereo-lithography apparatus) and each comes with it's own pros and cons.

Firstly I was looking at quality. I want to print various tools for myself as well as being a huge gamer, I would like to print various models and pieces for the many, many games that I own. So the best quality prints for models is definitely a SLA printer. But (and it's a big but) these printers use resin which is toxic and gives off fumes. Now I am severely asthmatic and any type of fumes can lead instantly to an asthma attack. So whilst this would be ideal, I do not fancy having to deal with any kind of issues resulting from the printing.

So that leaves FDM. But again there are different types of plastic that can be extruded. ABS (Acrylonite butadiene styrene) is hardwearing, and pretty resilient, but it does give off fumes when printing which again can cause me issues. So I decided that my best option would be to stick with PLA (Polylactic Acid) which is not as resilient, but does have other benefits such as being recyclable (type 7) and gives off little fumes when printing.

So, the next choice is which printer to use. There are so many depending on what kind of quality output you want, to how deep your pockets can go. Fortunately I can afford decent equipment so I decided to go with the Prusa I3 MK3S.

Now just as I was deciding to go ahead and buy, this whole pandemic thing started kicking off and a lot of the existing printers were re-tasked with printing Personal Protection Equipment for hospitals and health care workers. And this also stopped me going out anywhere (other than to the allotment) due to the afore mentioned asthma issue. So by the time I eventually got around to ordering there was at least a month waiting time for delivery.

But finally it arrived. But there was another issue. Where to actually put the damn thing. The 2nd bedroom is converted into my office/hobby room (usually known as the Otaku Room due to another of my hobbies). I have the room lined with IVAR shelving from a certain Scandinavian company, which affords me ample shelf space - which is already in use.

Ideally the printer should be enclosed to prevent draughts and sudden temperature changes from affecting the printing. Since I can't go out and buy a new cupboard, I'd have to re-purpose one of my existing cupboards. Except the only spare one I have houses some of my gaming stuff at the very top of the stack.

It needs to be brought down to a more manageable height closer to hand. Except the only place I have for it is currently used to hold an extremely large amount of books, manga and DVDs.

So, like any good little boy, I had to tidy my room.

After large amounts of lifting, moving, cleaning and dusting, with no small amount of swearing also included I eventually managed to swap everything around and get the cupboard at a reasonable height and all the printer bits ready to assemble.

The manual supplied is extremely well written with very clear instructions and photos. So I made a start...

The whole thing started out really well. I had just about got my way through building the chassis for the "Y-Axis" when I hit major snag though. The bag for the Y-Axis (on the far right above) appeared to be missing a vital part. Namely the Y-Axis belt. The belt drive is what moves the whole of the bed assembly forwards and backwards. Without it the build just cannot continue. So I sent an email off to Prusa asking for the missing part. I guess the building is on pause for now.