FAQ

Q: Where can I get help setting up Redeem or Toggle?

A: There are two main channels for community support. One is the Thing-Printer Google+ community. The other is the Replicape Slack chat. The chat has the main channels archived publicly so you can search for a previous answer related to your problem.

Q: My steps per mm are wrong/my printer is moving way too far per mm!

A: If you're using the Prusa Calculator on | this site to figure your steps per millimeter, keep in mind that under the 'Steps per millimeter - leadscrew driven systems' section, the Pitch Presets are referring to threaded rod, not leadscrews. Leadscrews are typically measured by diameter, pitch, and starts.

If you look at the end of the leadscrew and you see the ends of two threads, that is a '2-start' leadscrew. If you see 4 threads, it's a '4-start' leadscrew.

Pitch is the distance between threads. A typical 8mm leadscrew would have a 2mm pitch.

You multiply your starts by your pitch, to find out how far the leadscrew would move in one revolution. A TR8*8 leadscrew, is 8mm in diameter, has 4 starts, and a 2mm pitch, which means it moves 8mm per turn. You would need to put 8mm in for the pitch, instead of 1.25mm (the default setting if you select M8 for the Pitch Preset).

Q: Where did /dev/octoprint_1 go?

I'm getting the error: Failed to autodetect serial port, please set it manually.

Why can OctoPrint not connect to Redeem?

A: Chances are, Redeem has either crashed when you restarted it due to a bad config, or it wasn't reporting "Redeem Ready" when you restarted OctoPrint. If you restarted Redeem, wait about 10 seconds before restarting OctoPrint or hitting Connect in OctoPrint. This gives Redeem enough time to get started and be ready for the connection. If you want to connect to the BBB, you can run the following to check the status of Redeem when you restart it:

ssh root@kamikaze.local
systemctl status -n 100 redeem

You should see if there is a problem with Redeem.

On older boards (B3 revisions), the EEPROM may not be updated. <a href="http://wiki.thing-printer.com/index.php?title=Replicape_rev_B#Update_EEPROM">has instructions on how to update the EEPROM. Pleas note, if you have a Rev A4A board, do not run this, as it will brick the Replicape. </a>

Q: Are the stepper drivers integrated into the Replicape, plug in, or external style?

If they’re integrated it could be a problem when I manage to fry a driver.
A: The stepper drivers are integrated, but the DRV8825’s are very hard to fry! They have both temperature protection and over current protection, so I have not been able to fry a single one so far! This is in contrast with the A4988’s that burn easily.

Q: Will the Replicape hook up to thermocouples?

A: I have gotten a few questions about that, so I might extend the capabilities of the board to allow use of thermocouples. However, the best way to handle that is to have the external circuitry necessary closer to the print head. As far as I know, that is the normal practice. I have it on my list to make a blog post on how to use Thermocouples with Replicape, but I have not gotten around to making it yet.

Q: Would the board come with the connectors and pins for DIY wire harnesses?

A: There are connector for the large black screw terminals you see on the end. Most (not all) stepper motors come with four-header connectors as standard, so they might fit directly on or they might need re-positioning. Fans mostly come with 2 female pin headers, but they will likely need extensions. End stops need to be customized and thermistors also. Sorry for not supplying the cable assemblies yet, but I might do it in the future. All I can offer for now is some extra info on the web-page and a link to some suppliers..

Q: Is the Manga going to become available anytime soon?

It would be nice to integrate everything at once.

A: Manga Screen 2 has a Kickstarter going at the moment. We want to get the volume up in order to offer the screen at a low cost.

Q: Why is it so expensive?

A: It’s really not. This is a premium product that uses higher quality components than most of the other electronics boards. In addition it has some clever solutions like stepper drivers with over current protection, programmable stepper driver current, microstepping controlled via SPI, all mosfets controlled with PWM, drivers on all MOSFET for keeping the temerature down, 5V and 12V DC-DC converters so you can use a single 12..24V PSU, EEPROM for identifying the board, high quality connectors, noise filters on the analog inputs, etc. These things drive the price of the components, so the Bill Of Materials is at $96 not including the PCB and assembly. Yes, you can get cheaper electronics, but a lot of them break down due to bad design choices and that costs money for a new board, takes time to reassemble the printer and gives printer down-time.

Q: What is programmable stepper current why do I need it?

A: Programmable stepper current means that the chopping current limit on the stepper motor controllers are set using a Digital to Analog Converter instead of with a trim-potensiometer which is the normal way of doing it. For one it gets easier to share settings among printers as it is loaded from a file at run time and secondly you do not have to have physical access to the board once it is mounted on your printer which gives better choice in electronics placement.

Q: What is programmable microstepping and why should I care?

A: The stepper motor driver in the DRV8825’s have microstepping down to 1/32. That means it needs a total of five dip switches or micocontroller output lines (2^5 = 32) for each stepper motor driver. That eats PCB real-estate or uC pins which is bad. An alternative is to use a Serial to parallel converter, and hook that up to the SPI port. That way, only 4 uC pins are used but you can still control all the 5*5 = 25 pins that are necessary for accessing all the microstepping options. In addition, you do not have to have physical access to the board since the settings for the microstepping is read from a config file at run time.

Q: What screens can I use with Replicape?

A: I’ve only tested Manga Screen and LCD3 cape: http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBone_LCD3, but some users have reportedly used other screens.

Q: Can I use the Ramps LCD? http://reprap.org/wiki/RAMPS_LCD

A: Not without a lot of integration. By that I mean you have to either make a cape to support it or you need to manually wire the necessary pins. You also need to port the software. Probably a great weekend project, but who has the time : )

Q: How can I make sure my axis are moving correctly?

A: The important thing to remember is, when you click on the Control arrows in OctoPrint, they are moving the print head as if the print bed is stationary. This is important for printers that move the bed downward, such as a CoreXY design. If you click the Z Up arrow, the distance from bed to print head should increase. If you have a printer that shifts the print bed in the Y axis, clicking the Y Up arrow should move the bed towards you, moving away from the front left corner of the bed (0,0).

Q: How can I change my homing direction/my system is homing in the wrong direction!

A: First, check the FAQ above and verify that your axis are moving correctly. Once you are certain they are, in your Redeem local.cfg, find or add the following section:

[Homing]
home_speed_x = 0.05
home_speed_y = 0.05
home_speed_z = 0.05
home_speed_h = 0.05 #If you are running a slave stepper

And add a negative sign in front of the appropriate axis, like so:

 home_speed_z = -0.05

This will invert the homing for that axis and make it home to z_max instead of z_min.

Q: My Toggle session doesn't show the model that's printing

A: If you uploaded the STL file and used onboard slicing and it's not showing up, chances are the Toggle REST API needs to be updated. In the local.cfg for Toggle, add the following, then restart Toggle.

[Rest]
api_key = *ChangeMeToYourOctoPrintAPIKey*

Q: How can I rotate my Toggle screen

A: Edit the local.cfg for Toggle, either through the Octoprint interface, or at the command line. Add the following to the file, then restart Toggle:

[System]
rotation = 0

Q: I come from a Marlin/Repetier/xxx (arduino mega) setup what do I do?

A: Well, you could start by looking at this handy migration guide (still under construction though)

Q: I got my Replicape, but Redeem can't communicate with it

A: Are you powering only through USB? If so, that will be a source of difficulties. The replicape needs power applied to communicate with the BBB underneath, the BBB won't power the Replicape. Normally, the opposite is what happens, with the BBB being powered by the Replicape. See Replicape_rev_B#Power for details of the error to look for in your system log.

Q: I can't connect the BBB to my network, how do I get updates from online?

A: Well, if you don't have a USB Wifi dongle, or Ethernet cable you can use to connect the BBB to your network at home, you can follow this guide to get it online using your PC running linux as a bridge through the mini-USB cable.

For Windows users, this is a great guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-NEPiZDSx8