Ground Control connection issue

Software Ground Control
1

when i plug in the usb ground control will connect then lose connection and repeat non stop any ideas what is wrong. i am not very computer savy

i am running on a mac. i have downloaded all the newest firmware and updates

2

Welcome @cawjenchicken!

GC prints the ‘connected’ message when it connects to the chosen port. Then it starts a dialog with the firmware. If the dialog fails, it prints the ‘disconnected’ message, disconnects, waits a bit then tries again.

There are a couple things that can cause the dialog to fail. One is when some other program (often Arduino) has control of that serial,port. Quitting that program should correct that. Another is not having the firmware loaded. Another is choosing the wrong serial port in GC (on the Mac, it will be named something like ‘/dev/tty.usbmodemFD151’).

Check these things, and let us know how you’re getting on.

3 Likes
3

thanks for the fast response

looks like the firmware did not fully load. i uninstalled all firmware and reinstalled it and ground control started working.

5 Likes
4

Great news! Many happy wood chips :grin:

3 Likes
5

i will just copy that.

3 Likes
6

Hi. jumping in here. I have the same issue with windows 10. even after shutting down and walking away.

7

Hi, let’s get you connected! You could check to make sure that the firmware has properly loaded on the Arduino Mega. In the Arduino program, in the ‘Tools’ menu, choose ‘Serial Monitor’. At the bottom of that window there is a drop-down list of baud rates, choose ‘57600 baud’. You should see somethinbg like:

Grbl v1.00
ready
ok
[Forward Calculating Position]
position loaded at:
0.01
-0.01
<Idle,MPos:0.01,-0.01,-0.11,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
[PE:0.00,0.00,127]
<Idle,MPos:0.01,-0.01,-0.11,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
[PE:0.00,0.00,127]
<Idle,MPos:0.01,-0.01,-0.11,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
[PE:0.00,0.00,127]
<Idle,MPos:0.01,-0.01,-0.11,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
[PE:0.00,0.00,127]
<Idle,MPos:0.01,-0.01,-0.11,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
[PE:0.00,0.00,127]
<Idle,MPos:0.01,-0.01,-0.11,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
[PE:0.00,0.00,127]
<Idle,MPos:0.01,-0.01,-0.11,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
[PE:0.00,0.00,127]
<Idle,MPos:0.01,-0.01,-0.11,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
[PE:0.00,0.00,127]
<Idle,MPos:0.01,-0.01,-0.11,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>

If you see that, you’ve got the firmware loaded and it’s waiting to talk to GroundControl. Quit Arduino, run GroundControl and check that the port selected is the right one.
If you don’t see anything like the above, go through the steps to load the firmware again.
I see that quitting GroundControl and starting it again helped in the instance above, that might work for you as well.

1 Like
8

Blurfi Thanks for that info, New to Arduino, But not CNC. After I posted my request, I did walk away and returned to my shop at 4:30am, And got it running, What I did in my case was to remove the Maslow board then update the Mega 2560. Replaced the Maslow board, hey presto, connection and held it for well over 3 hours. Now all I have to do is finish my frame with the motor’s. Thanks again

2 Likes
9

I know what you mean about “walking away”. Sometimes that’s just the right thing to do. I also understand the part about about 4:30 AM, too!
Glad to hear of your success. :+1:

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11

make sure the arduino software isn’t runing at the same time as GC

try to get a shorter USB cable

try not to route the cable near the power cables

consider switching to WebControl on a Pi with a really short USB cable.

David Lang

12

I watched a video online and got it going. The firmware was corrupted. Thanks anyway.

1 Like
13

So, i am get a lot of disconnections in arduino. The virtual com lost the address and the GC messages becomes crazy. Only works again when i log out and log on again. Check the firmware and GC version and all its ok. I use linux Debian.

14

It sounds like it could be a usb power issue or a questionable power supply. There were a few batches of power supply capacitors that blew a few years back. I remember the early imac all in one screen pc’s having bad motherboards because the capacitors were counterfeit and blew. Power supplies don’t hit their rated voltage when things get really noisy. I’m not saying that is necessarily it, but as a process of elimination, you might consider trying to isolate power as a variable to verify the arduino doesn’t do the same reboot behavior with a different PC or laptop, then try your debian machine again perhaps with a powered USB hub (connected to your PC) as a way to isolate if it is an over current on the arduino or a brown-out capacitor on the USB.

15

Ok. I will try buy one hub.