We already had lightburn setup on another Mac (on MacOS Mojave), which we were easily able to connect via the ‘find my laser’ tool, and this has been working since day 1. I’ve tried to setup the same laser cutter on another mac with some difficulty.
The Macs at that time were both OS Mojave, i’ve since updated OS on the second laptop to Monterey and have been able to connect the laser cutter after following the steps below:
I’ve only been able to connect the second laptop by turning on the laser cutter and plugging the USB into the mac with Lightburn open and then restarting the laptop. If I open lightburn after the restart it will read as connected. If I unplug the USB and reconnect it again it won’t read it and will state ‘disconnected’. I’ll have to complete the above process again.
Does anyone know why I’m getting such different results, one Mac works as expected each time and other doesn’t recognise the USB unless it’s been restarted with the USB plugged in?
I’d be interested to know you thoughts and if they’re any fixes for this problem.
There are well known issues with connecting Mac to Ruida controllers via USB. Searches here will reveal a lot of that.
One of the reasons for the creation of LightBurn Bridge was to address this. Have you considered using Ethernet for control? Or is using the Bridge an alternative? If you have a Raspberry Pi you can download the software for free and create your own Bridge.
Are you describing a Wifi to ethernet adapter? If so, be aware that this may exhibit some unreliability due to limitations on the Ruida (ie using UDP vs TCP). The LightBurn Bridge specificaly addresses that by providing a TCP accessible device that then relays UDP to the Ruida.
If this works reliably for you then you should be good but just be aware as it depends on local network conditions.