Groundcontrol crashes when connecting

Axel · June 3, 2019, 8:11am

Hi, i see, the post is an older one, but ive got a similar situation and cannot solve it. Ive already done al lot of things, EEPROM Reset, Updates from Firmware and GC, tests with other Arduinos, but when i try to connect GC and the Arduino GC crashes with the info EEPROM read fail… . The start situation was a working system. Then i plugged off the z-axis cable for a short moment. After that GC works, but i can`t run any kind of GCode. Then i started Updates, Resets, … . Greetings from Cologne, Axel

Gero · June 3, 2019, 10:07am

First measure i would try in that situation is:

shut down everything
unplug Arduino from USB
re-plug Arduino
start up GC and try again

Report back if it does not work. Not the solution perhaps, but fast to do and it would exclude some occasions where the Mega just went into a ‘insane state’.

The Eprom message is normal when the firmware was newly uploaded. However, there should be a notice that the default are loaded. Can you upload the log.txt from the GC folder? (a fresh one is preferred, delete old one before staring GC, a new one should be created)

What operating system, what version number of FW/GC?

Gruss, Gero

Axel · June 3, 2019, 10:24am

Hi Gero, thank for your response. I did everything you mentioned and i tried it with Versions from 1.11 to 1.26 of both. One thing i saw a few minutes ago, that GC only offers Com4 and COM5 for connection, my arduino works with COM3. Could this cause something. And here is my log File:

[Computed Settings]
distperrot = 63.5
kpposmain = 1300
kiposmain = 0
kdposmain = 34
propweightmain = 1
kpposz = 1300
kiposz = 0
kdposz = 34
propweightz = 1
kpvmain = 5
kivmain = 0
kdvmain = 0.28
kpvz = 5
kivz = 0
kdvz = 0.28
chainoversprocketcomputed = 1
fpwmcomputed = 3
kinematicstypecomputed = 2
distperrotrightchaintolerance = 63.5
distperrotleftchaintolerance = 63.5

[Maslow Settings]
bedheight = 1490
openfile =
motoroffsety = 545.7
sledwidth = 275
zaxissafeheight = 5
bufferon = 0
bedwidth = 2520
comport = COM3
macro1_title = Macro 1
sledheight = 80
macro2 =
macro1 =
zaxis = 1
sledcg = 65
macro2_title = Macro 2
colorscheme = Light
zdistperrot = 3,17
motorspacingx = 2985

[Advanced Settings]
rotationradius = 157.7
chainextendlength = 1650
kiv = 0
gearteeth = 10
spindleautomate = 0
kdvz = 0.28
chainsagcorrection = 23.635398
chainpitch = 6.35
chainlength = 3360
propweightz = 1
zencodersteps = 7560.0
maxfeedrate = 800
enablepospidvalues = 0
rightchaintolerance = 0
enablevpidvalues = 0
maxtouchprobeplungedistance = 0.0
kpvz = 5
kdposz = 34
chainoversprocket = Top
kpposz = 1300
fpwm = 490Hz
kdpos = 34
encodersteps = 8113.73
truncate = 0
homex = -882.26
homey = -341.64
kinematicstype = Triangular
kipos = 0
kdv = 0.28
kiposz = 0
digits = 4
kppos = 1300
kpv = 5
propweight = 1
positionerrorlimit = 2.0
kivz = 0
leftchaintolerance = 0
zaxisauto = 0

[Ground Control Settings]
zoomout = pagedown
centercanvasonresize = 1
viewscale = .45
zoomin = pageup
validextensions = .nc, .ngc, .text, .gcode

[Background Settings]
backgroundfile =
manualreg = []

Thanks for your help!

Gero · June 3, 2019, 10:30am

So now you are running Firmware 1.26 together with GroundControl 1.26?
If the com port is not correct, GC will just not show ‘connected’. It should not crash.
Did you try the refresh ports if com 3 shows up?
Does GC close right after you start it?
The log.txt I was asking is in the GC folder. The .ini you posted might also be of use.
I hope we can pin this down somehow.

dlang · June 3, 2019, 10:39am

are you sure that you don’t still have the arduino IDE running and talking to
the maslow on com3?

you could also try renaming groundcontrol.ini to some other name and letting GC
make a new one when it starts up (if you haven’t already tried that)

David Lang

Axel · June 3, 2019, 11:21am

Hi, ah ok, so is that the right file:

Connected on port COM3

PCB v1.1 Detected

error: EEPROM read fail. Using default settings.

Sent: $$
Grbl v1.00

ready

ok

Sent: B05
[Forward Calculating Position]