Help with machine setup

LightBurn Software Questions
1

Hi y’all!

I am new to all this (like just got this laser for christmas and I am trying lol) and for the life of me I cannot get my project to line up.

I have an Atomstack A5, 400x410 (or 410x400? x is 410 y is 400…)

I wanted to try and burn an outline of simple MM to approx inches (fractions) to exact inches (decimals) onto a board to keep handy (since i have been constantly looking up "how many inches is xx mm)

it. will. not. work.

I have it typed out (painstakingly) at 173.887W 307.205H. I set the location on the grid to begin the burn at the bottom left (closest to 0,0) at X185,Y35 (there is a speed/power chart that burned just fine on the left of the wood) When I frame it is wrong. If I click “go to origin” it goes to X70Y100 and I have no idea why. no matter where I move the project, it will not go (it should be going to X185,Y35) even if I align it to 0,0 it wont go.

I have been looking at looking with no success. I do not have any offset (if I tell it to go to 100, 100 - it goes)

I can’t figure out how to set a home, but with no stops, I read to put it at 0,0 when I shut down the machine and unplug the usb so it tells it at startup that it is at 0,0.

I have burned a few things, but never really payed attention to where the machine was actually going - I just moved the project. I cannot do that this time, as it grinds the belts at the top (since it is making the height of the project at start 407.205 and the Y is only 400.

I don’t know what I am doing wrong or just not understanding.

This is what it tells me in the “console” box - AFTER loading the machine, image, moving, and going to origin.

Waiting for connection…

error:7

EEPROM read failed. Reset and restored to default values.

$0=10

$1=25

$2=0

$3=0

$4=0

$5=0

$6=0

$10=1

$11=0.010

$12=0.002

$13=0

$20=0

$21=0

$22=0

$23=0

$24=25.000

$25=500.000

$26=250

$27=1.000

$30=1000

$31=0

$32=1

$100=80.000

$101=80.000

$102=250.000

$110=6000.000

$111=6000.000

$112=1000.000

$120=1000.000

$121=1000.000

$122=10.000

$130=410.000

$131=400.000

$132=200.000

Grbl 1.1f [’$’ for help]

ok

[VER:1.1f.20170801:]

[OPT:VI,15,128]

Target buffer size found

ok

Project loaded in 2 milliseconds

Starting stream

[MSG:Pgm End]

Stream completed in 0:01

It does this in ALL activity, not just this one.

I have no idea what EEPROM read failed. is and google was no assistance. It says something about this error being attached to older lasers, but this one is pretty new.

I also tried “G92 X0 Y0”, “$10=0” per another post in this forum. That didn’t work either. :frowning:

Thanks for any help (and if this is the wrong place, I don’t know where else to put it lol)

2

Hi Amber, welcome aboard…

Might have posted this in the

The chosen title won’t help attract other Atomstack users to help you… Just a suggestion for future posts, don’t let it keep you up at night…

Setup is not as straightforward as most think with these machines, so take your time during setup to understand what you are telling the machine. They are not very forgiving…

Did you go through the Lightburn Documentation for the Grbl setup?

It’s also good to read the Coordinate and Job Origin docs…

Good luck

:smiley_cat:

3

Hey thanks. I have no idea what I am doing, to be quite honest.

I am new to the forum as well so I didnt even see the atomstack subheading.

My $30 and and baud is good. I did go thru the set up and and the other docs. I think the main problem is I dont speak or read g-code. This is essentially putting a document written in russian (or japanese, spanish - pick your flavor) and then telling me to read it outloud. I have googled away at how to find out what each $ setting corresponds to but it is such a toss up.

Thanks for the advice!

4

Hey Amber. Let’s take a step back.

A few things to know.

  1. Something I learned today is that the Atomstack lasers will not persist any GRBL configuration changes after a restart. GRBL configuration are the $ settings you’ve been listing.
  2. The good news is that you should not have to set any of these parameters for this to work.

Can you try a few things and report back on the findings?

  1. Shutdown and restart the laser with the laser head in the lower left
  2. Type these commands into Console one at a time and capture the output window and paste here.
$#
?

I suspect most the issues you’re experiencing are related to an understanding of the coordinate system.

5

You don’t really need gcode knowledge. It is handy for an initial setup but many here can supply you with the minimum of what you need if you need the gcode. You apparently have found enough of it around…

Anytime you move to another ‘technology’ you have to learn the terms or jargon that is used and how to apply it. Part of the game. You will pick up what you need, just be patient.

If you read through the documents on Coordinate and Job Origin it talks about ‘home’ for a machine with no limit switches.

Most grbl machine with no limits will think 0, 0 is where ever they power up. Having said that, they operate within a quadrant.

In the quadrant system ‘home’ is always where the x and y axes cross. Which quadrant you are in determines which way the machine move for a positive or negative movement.

This also relates to how you have the ‘Start From’ and ‘Job Origin’ setting.

Lets start with the two above… What are they set to in ‘Laser’ window?

:smiley_cat:

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7

This is what it gave me - if i did this correct…

$#

[G54:0.000,0.000,0.000]

[G55:0.000,0.000,0.000]

[G56:0.000,0.000,0.000]

[G57:0.000,0.000,0.000]

[G58:0.000,0.000,0.000]

[G59:0.000,0.000,0.000]

[G28:0.000,0.000,0.000]

[G30:0.000,0.000,0.000]

[G92:0.000,0.000,0.000]

[TLO:0.000]

[PRB:0.000,0.000,0.000:0]

ok

?

<Idle|MPos:0.000,0.000,0.000|FS:0,0|WCO:0.000,0.000,0.000>

ok

8

I saw the mm/in flip yesterday and just stared at it wondering when I hit it.

I thought oh, thats going to make this easy and no. didnt help at all lol

9

Okay. This tells me that you have no work offset set and that your starting position is set to 0,0. This is good in that you should be good to go. I suggest you always follow this same startup procedure. Just the laser head position and turning on. Not running the commands in console.

Switch your Coordinate system to Absolute Coords in Start From in the Laser window. This will be the most intuitive to understand. The workplace in LightBurn, as in the grid that you position objects in, basically matches up to you the bed of your laser. So an object at the lower left should match the lower left of your laser bed.

You should be able to move to specific positions now and have it be correct. If not, report back here exactly what’s happening.

10

…absolute coords. deal done. I am going to blame that on straight exhaustion… <3 thank you!

11

Glad you’re up and running. You should review the documentation on the coordinate systems and job origin as it will give you more flexibility in the future but it’s good to get accustomed to the laser and LightBurn using Absolute Coords first.

Coordinates and Job Origin - LightBurn Software Documentation

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12

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