OctoPi Tutorial for Zim

Come on. Please look at the threads.
Ryan decompiled some Zim specific G-Codes and Jpod was so kind to post them and the rest is standard which you can see at wikipedia or some site else.
A few threads down is this one:

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I apologize in advance if this has been answered already and I swear I looked before asking 3DPrintEvangelist but can someone explain how the octopi Cura slicer works? How do I create a Cura profile for the zim? Thanks!

Most of the active forum users use Repetier (free) or Simplify3D (paid) or some other external Slicer.
The profiles and tips have been posted in several threads and either you just use them or take them as a starting point.
I have not tried the internal cura slicer from octoprint and from my point of view would not use it.
For every item I print I have to adjust the slicing settings and placement and support and so on.
At least you have several printing profiles ready.
Reptier and Simplify3D display the slicing result and you can modify things necessary.
After slicing the G-Code file is dragged to Octoprint in Browser and start print.
There are other options to share a folder and automatically upload all new files in the folder and so on.

I received my pi b+ ! yeah !
Seems to work great :slight_smile: thank you all guys.

Do you know which command should I use to do an ā€œurgent stop buttonā€ like repetier-host or simplify3d ?

OctoPi looks like the preferred method for Zimsā€¦ but I backed the Astroprint guys on Kickstarter and have a premium account for life. Anyone try their system yet? https://www.astroprint.com I only got it as a backup in case something happened with Zeeproā€¦ $30 bux well spent I guess.

Is it worth the extra $10 for a RasPi 2 with OctoPi?

I wanted to thank everyone on here for all of the help recently. I was pretty lost as to what to do with my Zim with no support from the company available anymore. I have my OctoPi up and running and was able to print one of the best prints I have ever been able to do on the Zim last night!

Thanks again everyone for all the help and for putting all of this info up!

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@Cal Happy to see you are have good luck with it, and great looking print!

@BDub, I havenā€™t looked into Astroprint, but OctoPrint is very capable and worth a try. There is definitely a higher learning curve jumping to OctoPrint than the original Zeepro software, but nothing too strenuous, and the configuration and capabilities of OctoPrint paired with external slicing allow for quite a bit more opportunity to review how the print is going to proceed prior to starting it, and for tweaking the slicer settings per print to get the best prints possible. So far I have no complaints about jumping to OctoPrint. Iā€™m now liking it more than the Zeepro software, mainly due to added pre-print control, and better printer status during prints, plus it seems more stable than the Zeepro web implementation. I really like the gcode viewer during a print and customization options. Some of the plugins are really cool, like Pushbullet sending me a push notification that appears on my phone when a print completed. Also the webcam actually works now! :smile:

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@jpod That sounds amazing and I have every intension to try an OctoPi first! Iā€™ll probably also explore the Astroprint solution after I know more about how to control the Zim with Octoprint. Thank you guys for paving the way on this!

Har har har!!! It lives!!!
(Victor Frankenstein)

I switched from my standard A10 Board to Octoprint on a RasPi 2B today.
After some minor problems, I just started my first print. Look s amazing!
I use a Standard USB cable to connect the RasPi to the ZimBoard (Yes, my USB socket works, even though it was a pain in the a** to remove all of the printed cap.).
But one thing is strange: While printing, the printer sometimes stops for a second. What could be the problem? Maybe the dataflow is too slow?

Iā€™ve noticed this too and still looking for solution. The only answer for me has been to significantly slow down the speed allowed when slicing. I think you are right that there are times when the Pi doesnā€™t keep up with the next gcode instruction, so there is a brief pause. This results in a little blob at that spot in the layer being printed where the extruder oozed until the next move started. So far my prints have been coming out well enough, but if we can resolve this issue I think the prints really will come out amazing.

Well this is promisingā€¦
Marlin 1.0.2.1 has the following change from the version Zeepro used:
Zeepro version:
#define BLOCK_BUFFER_SIZE 4 // SD,LCD,Buttons take more memory, block buffer

Marlin 1.0.2.1:
#define BLOCK_BUFFER_SIZE 16 // SD,LCD,Buttons take more memory, block

According to the reprap link here ā€œBLOCK_BUFFER_SIZE is the size of the movement block queue ā€œblock_bufferā€ā€. Sounds intriguing. A theory I had was that is was not OctoPrint pausing, but the Zim board not handling the number of commands being sent causing the periodic pauses. Apparently the Marlin firmware blocks until space is available in this queue. A series of rapid commands, like very short moves, could fill it I suppose, causing a pause.

I bumped up my version of BLOCK_BUFFER_SIZE to 16 to match the latest Marlin. I also removed any references to RFID in the code. I donā€™t think this was causing any issue, but somehow it was satisfying to rip it out.

So far it is working great! It appears to have resolved my pausing issues on short rapid moves generated by simplify3d, and I can now bump my print speeds from 40mm/s to 80mm/s without seeing any pauses and blobs (not that I would recommend this speed on a Zim, but it was my test for the pausing issue). This set of mods is not thoroughly tested howeverā€¦ And it certainly is no longer compatible with stock zeepro software (I removed some custom gcodesā€¦ OctoPrint only please). This has been pushed to my Marlin github fork (version 1.1.0.17).

Good luck, happy printing!

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Thanks a lot!
IĀ“ll give it a try tonightā€¦ IĀ“m totally amazed that you can read and modify the codeā€¦ I think I must have missed the point to learn a programming language some years agoā€¦ Damn!

(Instead, I know that your profile picture shows captain Kirk in the movie ā€œStar Trek II - Wrath of Khanā€ shouting ā€œKHAAAAAN!ā€ when Kirk realizes that khan trapped him in the genesis-caveā€¦ And I love it!)

Good catch! I chose it because Zeepro left us high and dry. Zim was the Kobayashi Maruā€¦ But we donā€™t believe in no win scenarios now do we :slight_smile:

ZEEEEEPPRRROOOOO!

JĆ¼rgen, did you have a chance to try out this mod? Iā€™m curious If you noticed any improvement.

I AM GROOT! EXPECT A GREEN VERSION COMING SOON :smiley:

@jpod : No, I havenĀ“t had time for any further prints yet. (Was that correct english? Sounds a bit strange to a german earā€¦)
@winstondon: WHAT?? :flushed:

Thanks jpod! I will try to install the new firmware today.

Thanks Winston, Iā€™m not convinced that the block buffer is the only problem, so Iā€™m curious about any improvement you may notice. It seemed to improve my use case dramatically (simplify3d ooze shield was pausing a lot due to short moves at higher feed rates). Iā€™ve since found this link with regard to short moves, and it also seems related, though entirely different cause:

Https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/issues/2525

It appears to be a compiler issue resulting in a Marlin timing bug for the stepper interrupt handler OCR1A calculation, from the thread it appears older compilers do not exhibit the problem. There is a workaround for OCR1A that appears to resolve it. Iā€™m curious if this is also required.

Hey jpod,
I have printed a before and after for the difference in firmware 1.1.016 vs 1.1.017.
see if any of us could spot the difference.


Two of them are with the older firmware and 1 of them was after the update.

Looking at it closely I couldnā€™t find any difference. :stuck_out_tongue:
I was running them with the same 60m/s g-code (maybe I should stress test with faster printing next week)
There are some notable recurring defects, those are prob from my machine.

Thanks for testing Winston. I donā€™t really see any difference there. I think the type of model that would show issues would be one with many short moves. Marvin showed some pausing on my printer, but especially when I turn the ooze shield on I was seeing pretty significant pauses. Simplify3D seems to produce a bunch of short moves for the ooze shield in my case. More time will tell.