How to add a graphical display to your printer!

JadonM

Edit:
Hey guys!

While the DWC (Web Interface) is great for offering full control of the printer remotely, all networks have glitches every once in a while, and needing to get out a phone or computer to load filament is sometimes inconvenient.

One of the big features of the Duet Maestro is support for a Reprap Discount 12864 display. To use it, plug the two cables into the Maestro and add M918 P1 E-4 F2000000 to your config file. Then all you have to do is upload a set of menu files to tell the Duet what to put where.

Therein lies the problem. There are very few pre-written menu sets available, and most of them are antiquated or follow poor coding practices, making them hard to customize.

I attempted to take the best points of various menu systems and combine them into a polished do-it-all menu. I run a print farm and when the network quits I still need to be able to control the printers. This menu system includes support for using the Sd holder on the display as well as on the Maestro (no other menu system supports the card on the display) so you can print without any access to the DWC! (Note: there was a bug in the Duet firmware, so this feature only works with RRF 3.01-RC3 and later versions) It also includes better control of an ATX power supply, BLTouch, and bed leveling.

I decided to share my files with the community, so they're all available for free on my Github page. Feel free to use them however you wish, and let me know if you have any ideas for improvement.

Download either a pre-zipped folder from the Github releases page or zip the files in the repository. Then, to upload the files to your Duet, go to the "Display" tab on the web interface, and click the blue upload button.

Many more details are in the readme of the Github repository, here, and I made a rather rambly video showing a tour of the display here. After watching it you'll understand why I'm a programmer and not a Youtuber!

Enjoy the files, and feel free to post any questions, comments, or suggestions you have. Thanks!
-Jadon

Menu While Printing

Original Post:

Hey guys!
I just wanted to chime in and let you know that I posted my display files on Github so the community can use them!

https://github.com/jadonmmiller/UltimateDuetMenuSystem

I combined the best features of the available menu systems and added a few new features, one of which is support for using the SD card holder on the display. I also revised the code to include comments and a consistent coding style to make customizing it easier.

There are many more details in the Github readme, including a list of feature requests for the firmware relating to the display. Feel free to use these files however you wish, and let me know what you think or how they can be improved!

dc42

Thanks for sharing!

In RRF 3.02 I plan to allow any value in the RRF Object Model to be displayed on the 12864 display. So you won't be restricted to displaying only values for which numeric codes have been assigned.

dc42

PS - would you care to share them at https://github.com/Duet3D/RRF-machine-config-files ? You don't have to provide a complete set of machine configuration files, just a set of menu files will do as long as you describe the basic configuration in the readme file, in particular how many nozzles and extruders it is designed to support (probably 1 and 1).

JadonM

@dc42 Wow! I'm honored.

Yes, I'd be glad to post them, but I'm quite new to github. Would you like me to just send in a pull request with them included?

Also, I really look forward to the update! The flexibility will be great!

zapta

@JadonM, looks very interesting. Can you provide a little bit more details for the uninitiated? E.g. what hardware are you using, how it's connected to the duet? What runs the firmware from that github repository that you posted, pictures, etc.

Thanks.

Phaedrux

Maybe a video showing the menu system in action to show off what sets it apart?

Spanners

Nice job with the display files, thanks for the hard work

JadonM

@zapta said in Showing off my 12864 display files!:

Can you provide a little bit more details for the uninitiated? E.g. what hardware are you using, how it's connected to the duet? What runs the firmware from that github repository that you posted, pictures, etc.

Absolutely! I'm working on more documentation, and I'll finish it as soon as possible.

@Spanners said in Showing off my 12864 display files!:

thanks for the hard work

No problem! If a few people can benefit, it's all worth it!

JadonM

@zapta I just finished a rather extensive edit to my original post, making it much more beginner-friendly. Thanks for the tip!

@Phaedrux I also recorded a rather poor video. (Sorry, I'm a programmer, not a Youtuber! ) Link here.

To everyone else, I noted a slight bug in the code for the external SD card, where it'd only show files in a "/gcode" folder. I fixed that and posted the first official release. It's version 1.00, available on the Github releases page.

Enjoy, and feel free to tell me about any issues, comments, or suggestions you have! Thanks!
-Jadon

Phaedrux

@JadonM said in How to add a graphical display to your printer!:

I'm a programmer, not a Youtuber!

Coulda fooled me! The video was great. Well done on the menus.

OwenD

Great job!

DIY-O-Sphere

@JadonM said in How to add a graphical display to your printer!:

I attempted to take the best points of various menu systems and combine them into a polished do-it-all menu.

Hi Jadon,
well done.
I'm also user of the ThinkerLife menu and have modified some details.

In the main menu (base line) I have added the time remaining estimate.

And in the move section I have added additional columns.
Especialy for the z-axis I was tired of excessively turning the rotary encoder.

Maybe you would like to add something.
adaption.zip.g (rename it back to .zip)

Hopefully @dc42 will add functionality for images to behave like buttons.
That will give some more space for the menu...

Regards
Frank

zapta

@JadonM said in How to add a graphical display to your printer!:

@zapta I just finished a rather extensive edit to my original post, making it much more beginner-friendly. Thanks for the tip!

Thanks JadonM@, it's very clear now. I didn't know about that capability.

JadonM

@zapta said in How to add a graphical display to your printer!:

I didn't know about that capability.

Wow! I assumed the "uninitiated" was someone else. I guess all your great contributions to the forums here made me consider you an expert!

Anyway, thanks for admitting your ignorance. We now know that you're unfortunatly not super-human! I'm glad I could help!

Jadon

JadonM

@DIY-O-Sphere

Thanks for your feedback! I really like the idea of the extra buttons on the move menu, and adding the printing percentage to the bottom while it's printing is also a great idea!

I'll have a look at your files, and it should be easy to implement. I'll let you know, and thanks for your interest and suggestions!

Jadon

zapta

@JadonM said in How to add a graphical display to your printer!:

I guess all your great contributions to the forums here made me consider you an expert!

Far from that, I still have a lot to learn. Meanwhile I am lookup up to real experts such as phaedrux, deckingman, dc42, and others.

JadonM

@DIY-O-Sphere

I just got a chance to implement your ideas. Thank you very much!

I added the new columns to the move page, and changed the bottom part of the overview page to show the print statistics. It shows the percentage completed, time estimate based on filament usage, and Z height; but only when the printer is printing. When it's not printing it shows the axis positions as they were before.

You can get the files here, although I haven't made them an official release yet. You'll have to download the files from the repository, then send them to a zip folder to upload to your printer.

Thanks for your ideas!
Jadon

DIY-O-Sphere

@JadonM
You are welcome!

ljminti

Hi,
Is here an Option, to use this menu with graphical display with the duet 3?

dc42

Duet 3 firmware does not currently support 12864 displays, but does support PanelDue.