No response from motors

Software
1

Guys,
new to the Maslow, of course, and have spent quite a few days getting it set up.
But I have a BIG problem and cannot seem to find a way past it. Could do with some help :slight_smile:
Followed Electronics set up; everything lights up.
Downloaded Arduino IDE (1.8.3 windows) and set up the board and uploaded.
Downloaded Ground Control (0.84).
Now my issue;
nothing worksā€¦
Tried testing motors (orange light flashes, but nothing moves)
Tried Calibrating (no movement)
log keeps telling me ā€œUSB connection lostā€ so tried different USB cable, but still nothingā€¦
Read thruā€™ lots of forum topics and have tried all sorts of things, but I canā€™t help wondering if thereā€™s a fault with the board?
Or am I just stupidly missing something simple?

2

Hi @Waldek, sure you checked that the power supply is in the shield and not in the Mega. Happened to lots of us :slight_smile:

  • after uploading the firmware, in the Arduino IDE, click the mag-glass for the serial monitor. Do you see lines like:

ready
ok
Grbl v1.00
<Idle,MPos:0.00,0.00,0.00,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
[PE:0.00,0.00,127]
<Idle,MPos:0.00,0.00,0.00,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
[PE:0.00,0.00,127]
<<< ?
Is the output of that monitor ā€˜stableā€™, or do you notice a drop of connection there already?

  • Is the Arduino IDE properly closed, before you start Ground Control?
  • In Ground Control, on the right bottom side, do you see it connecting and reporting:

Connected on port xxx and reporting firmware and groundcontrol version?

  • Is the drop of connection more random, or is it in intervals, like every 2 seconds?
3

Hi Gero!
Power is connected to the shield, for sure.
Tried clicking mag-glass in Arduino as you suggested and there are no linesā€¦

what does this mean?

4

connection drops every couple of seconds in the log as well

5

No lines in the arduino IDE sounds like the firmware is not loaded. What are the board and the port settings in the IDE?

1 Like
6

image
image.png1366Ɨ768 162 KB

2 Likes
7

That looks good! Confirm that you donā€™t have GC and Arduino open at the same time.
When you uploaded the firmware, it should look similar like this:

arduino2
arduino2.jpg624Ɨ592 101 KB

3 Likes
8

In the serial monitor it should look similar to this:

arduino
arduino.jpg1021Ɨ566 109 KB

3 Likes
9

In your picture you would be uploading an empty sketch to the Mega. That would explain the empty serial monitor.
Opening a new sketch makes Arduino IDE put it in a new window. Close the window with the empty sketch, so only the one with cnc_ctrl_v1 is open before uploading.

3 Likes
10

Hurray!
You star!
I completely missed the downloading firmware partā€¦
doombrain.
Many thanks :smile:
Now letā€™s get this rig going!

5 Likes
11

Hurray! Let us know how it goes. Still worried with the dropping connection. Lets hope that just disappeared :slight_smile:

4 Likes