Laser stopped working after RRF3 upgrade

FelixH

@o_lampe thanks for your feedback!

I didn't share my config file, because I am pretty confident it has nothing to do with the problem at hand, but you are right, sure is sure, so here it is:

; Configuration file for Duet
; executed by the firmware on start-up
; WorkBee Firmware Version 1.1

global systemSettingsVersion={1.2}

; Network configuration executed by config.g

; Configure Connection - ENABLE ONLY ONE OF THE BELOW THREE
M552 S1 ; Enable Wifi Network
;M552 S2 ; Enable Access Point Mode
;M552 S1 P192.168.251.2 ; Enable Ethernet - Change IP Address to suit

; Network settings
M586 P0 S1 ; Enable HTTP
M586 P1 S0 ; Disable FTP
M586 P2 S0 ; Disable Telnet

; Network machine name
M550 P"WorkBee Test" ; Set machine name

; Drive configuration executed by config.g

M569 P0 S0 ; Drive 0 goes forwards
M569 P1 S1 ; Drive 1 goes forwards
M569 P2 S0 ; Drive 2 goes forwards
M569 P3 S1 ; Drive 3 goes forwards             

; Axes configuration executed by config.g

M584 X0 Y1 Z2 U3 ; Apply drive mapping to axes
M584 P3
M906 X2400 Y2400 Z2400 U2400 I100 ; Set motor currents (mA)
M92 X400 Y400 Z400 U400 ; Set steps per mm
M350 X16 Y16 Z16 U16 I1 ; Configure microstepping
M203 X2500 Y2500 Z2500 U2500 ; Set maximum speeds (mm/min)
M201 X150 Y150 Z150 U150 ; Set accelerations (mm/s^2)
M566 X500 Y500 Z500 U500 ; Set maximum instantaneous speed changes (mm/min)
M669 K0 X1:0:0:0 Y0:1:0:1 Z0:0:1:0

; Axes Limits configuration executed by config.g

M208 X0 Y0 Z0 S1 ; Set axis minima
M208 X270 Y270 Z88 S0 ; Set axis maxima

; Axes Calibration configuration executed by config.g

M92 X400 Y400 Z400 ; Set steps per mm

; Endstop configuration executed by config.g

M574 X2 P"xstop" S1 ; Set active low X endstop
M574 Y2 P"ystop" S1 ; Set active low Y endstop
M574 Z2 P"zstop" S1 ; Set active low Z endstop

; Other Settings
M453 ; Put the machine into CNC Modes
G90 ; Set absolute coordinates
M140 H-1 ; Disable heated bed
M564 S1 H1 ; Disable jog commands when not homed
M911 S21.0 R23 P"G91 G1 Z3 F1000" ; Configure power loss resume

; User Configuration files
M98 P"config-user-settings.g"

M501 ; Load Stored Parameters

In order to switch to Laser mode, I have the macro I posted earlier on the thread.

I have not been able to test it on movements because, as I said, when I execute the macro, the laser turns on full blast.

It seems like the pin is doing absolutely nothing.

Once I get it working, I will take care that my Laser engraving software generates the adequate G-Code, but first things first... I have to be able to control the laser

Phaedrux

@felixh said in Laser stopped working after RRF3 upgrade:

M98 P"config-user-settings.g"

What do you have in this macro?

If you send M452 by itself after running your macro, what does it respond with?

If you send M452 S0 does it disable the laser?

Have you taken note of this change?

Very important! If you use M452 to put your machine into Laser mode and are running Firmware 2.02 or above, you must replace all S parameters in G0/G1 commands in homing files etc. by H parameters. This is because S is now used to control laser power.

FelixH

@phaedrux

on that macro I have nothing

if I send the M452 the machine does change to laser mode

if I send M542 S0 by itself, I don't know what happens because I haven't tried it yet

I did take note of that, but as I said I haven't had the chance to do movements with it

FelixH

well I've done some "progress", if I can tell it that...

The good news is that now everything is working as expected. Router, RPM, Laser, etc...

The bad news is that, in order to do that, I had to downgrade the firmware to the latest RRF2 available with the Ooznest web overlay. So now I have everything as it used to be.

That confirms that there is no problem with the board, as far as I understand it.

Now I have two boards, one with RRF2 and one with RRF3. I have order some components to put together another Laser breakout board and do some experiments. I will borrow an oscilloscope from work and see if I can find something out here, although my skills with the oscilloscope are worse than minimal...

It would be great if somebody with time on their hands could try to replicate this setup, just to compare.

Phaedrux

Yes we are looking into it. As far as I can tell your config is correct for RRF3.

FelixH

@phaedrux well, it‘s comforting to know that. At least it seems that the whole thing was not because some oversight on my part…

o_lampe

@phaedrux said in Laser stopped working after RRF3 upgrade:

As far as I can tell your config is correct for RRF3.

@felixh said in Laser stopped working after RRF3 upgrade:

M106 P2 S255 ; turn on 12v PSU
...
M452 C"exp.heater3" F200

I wonder where and when " P2" was defined?
Is it a good idea to power up the laser before declaring the control pin for Laser mode?
What's in "config-user-setting.g"? (you call it at the end of config.g)

FelixH

@o_lampe

The M106 turns on the PSU for the laser, as it is a separate 12v PSU, which does not need to be powered on when I am on CNC mode, for example. So I turn it ON and OFF with a solid state relay using a FAN port I declared somewhere.

The config-user-setting.g does not contain anything.

o_lampe

@felixh
That's understood, but why do you switch it ON before you have the Laser-pin under control? There might be an internal pullup or something on the Laser breakout board? (I don't know)

dc42

@felixh you should use this line for RRF3:

M452 C"!exp.heater3" F200

The laser will turn on when you execute a G1 move with an appropriate S parameter to set the laser power.

FelixH

@dc42 and so I did, but doesn‘t work. The laser goes full blast as soon as I power it on.

I will give it another go this afternoon, however. Just to make extra sure.

FelixH

@dc42 said in Laser stopped working after RRF3 upgrade:

M452 C"!exp.heater3" F200

I just tested it again. It doesn't make any difference.
I just had two boards side, by side. One with RRF 3.3 and the other with RRF2.x (don't remember which one it is). On the RRF3, the laser turns ON as soon as I power up, no matter if C"exp.heater3" or C"!exp.heater3".

I even skipped the macro all together and I added the

M452 C"exp.heater3" F200 (with and without the ! on the config.g file...

I am willing to to a video if needed.

Phaedrux

@felixh said in Laser stopped working after RRF3 upgrade:

I am willing to to a video if needed.

Being able to see what you see couldn't hurt. Photos of the wiring perhaps help.

FelixH

@phaedrux I will do just that, but it will have to wait until I get the parts to prepare another breakout board for the laser, otherwise it is a mess and it would complicate things even more

FelixH

@phaedrux

So this is my setup. For testing purposes I am using a 12v PSU which powers both the laser and the Duet.

The small PCB in the middle is the Laser breakout board recommended for controlling a Laser with the Duet.

The thin wire between both boards connect the PWM input on the breakout board and the pin "exp.heater3" on the Duet.

If I am running FFR2.x the setup works as expected:

I can switch between Laser and CNC mode without problems
I can turn ON the laser with M3 Sx commands (I am aware this doesn't work on RRF3)
I can turn OFF the laser with the M5 command

If I run RRF3.x the very same setup:

I can switch between Laser and CNC modes
The Laser powers up immediately when I turn on the PSU
Sending M5 does NOT switch OFF the Laser
changing C"exp.heater3" for C"!exp.heater3" or C"exp.8" or C"!exp.8" doesn't change anything of the above

FelixH

well, good news everyone.

After many tests done on a spare Duet2 (clone) board I finally got it to work. However, I cannot explain why. The only thing I did was to re-flash the firmware again, wire everything again (including putting terminals on some cables) and test.

hopefully my experience will be of some use to someone with the same experience...

EDIT: of course, many thanks at everyone who brainstormed with me! It is really appreciated!

Phaedrux

That feeling you get when it starts working again without understanding why.

FelixH

@phaedrux you get me!