I've given up on Lightburn on the P2

Because I own an XTool P-2 I’ve given up on ever getting the addition support needed to make the software functional. ( i.e camera support). I’ve heard all the “reasons” and witnessed all the finger pointing but the bottom line is that I simply won’t be paying for future subscription/updates I may be just one lost paying customer but I really don’t think I’m alone. Most have already determined that they will have to live with XTool Creative Space and some even embrace it. It’s not what I’d like but looks like I will have to do the same…

Have you seen the progress done on latest public beta?

Although not targeting P2 is huge progress and means Lightburn and Xtool are talking. Maybe is premature to “give up”

The P2 was released bofore the S1 However, The S1 seems to have a large following for several reasons but mainly because it’s more affordable for the hobbyist. It feels as if the P-2 has been skipped over even though it’s still considered Xtools flagship machine.

There are many reasons, which as you said are outside end user control
My point was, there is plenty of hard work being done behind the scene, that we are not fully aware.

Dont give up just yet :slight_smile:

I understand. I’m just telling you that the controllers are not working with software at the moment.

Sorry i somewhat tagged your answer when i meant to tag the whole thread :smiley:

And if your company needs it, then I have the entire fleet of equipment for working with galvo laser machines. I directly work with jpt, jcz, gzt, bsl company’s. Free alpha-tests for your team :smiley:

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Make sure you make yourself known to @JohnJohn and @Rick :smiley: theres no such things as TOO many testers

Should i write them directly?

they will read i am sure :smiley:

Thank you kindly. Noted and will share with our dev team. :slight_smile:

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I also have a P2. I basically do all of my work in LB and then export to SVG, import to XCS to do the layout and parameters and burn.

I know it’s not optimal, but I have other lasers as well so having all my projects in LB is just preferred.

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That’s what I’ve been doing as well but the process has become too difficult to manage having to group/ungroup shapes and reenter parameters for XCS. Save the resulting XCS file then forget which software had the latest settings/changes . I now wish the P-2 just had a framing laser and physcal z-axis adjustment and that would solve 98% of the problem. Curved engraving and conveyor are just a novelity for me at this point with either software.

Completely agree with you on all of this, but I knew that going into it and still went with the P2. It’s honestly a sweet spot of price and features that I couldn’t match with the other brands.

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I think LightBurn is pretty far from giving up on this.

I can’t say with absolute certainty that changes are coming to Camera Functionality and that the dev team has to break another dozen things before the transition can be made.

I can’t say when. As far as I’m concerned - the sooner the better.

I’ve seen some early work and I’m very excited about the possibility of the camera burden being lifted off of everyone.

LightBurn has an xTool P2 at head office with the lead dev, a second one with the Support Manager, and there’s a third one in the hands of the content team for shooting instructional videos when we roll it out.

I don’t have this machine, I can’t help much.

If you’re interested, I’ll review your previous posts and see if I can get an understanding of what might be going on with this camera and what might be making it uniquely problematic.

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The problem is accessing the unique P-2 camera hardware. I won’t pretend to be a programmer but I do know it’s far from an easy task to accomplish when XTool is not exactly willing to provide information to do so. Having said that, it does appear that a github project https://github.com/myktmcmo/P2Controller?fbclid=IwAR1FypBap5csV7MZfycQg6_59_GDA1Zsy6DAz2ODkCT4Q7P7gySQAAEiXrI managed basic access the cam and some of the settings some six months ago but it isn’t a very elegant solution. I am aware that Lightburn cannot get itself involved with any open source projects and I’m not asking anyone to do so just stating that it appears to be possible. As lightburn customers we do not know if any efforts have been made in this area The P-2 is nearly at the one year mark The S-1 some 5 months ago. I’m aware that many factors drive development but vague hints that there may eventually be better support doesn’t give me much hope.

I spent my career in software development (for radio telescopes, of all things) so I understand things take time, and not everything can be top priority. So far I’m coping with the (lack of) integration with the hardware, but it’s tedious. (I don’t care about features other than focus and camera integration). At some point I will give up and accept the vendor lock-in and poorer feature set that comes with switching to XCS, but I’m not there yet.

Ok, not having a P2 but understanding that the camera is useful (haven’t added a camera to either of my lasers yet). It makes me wonder if anyone has tried the workaround of trying to install a standard USB camera inside the P2 and use it instead of the built in one.
I know this concept is not ideal and adds a small cost but the extra <$100 to smooth the workflow etc on a higher end machine is noise if you are using this for serious work (as least in my mind).
As I said, before I get blasted – this was just a random thought of a potential work around

I don’t have one either… but I’m pretty opinionated. :crazy_face:


In theory about anything can be modified or hacked to do what you want…

In reality it’s a little bit more complicated, but still possible.

  1. I think most people who buy these want to use them as is and not have to modify it to work with a non factory software package.
  2. It also could be more costly than the $<100 option…you generally lose the warranty, even if you peel off a label, which could cost you a lot more.

xTool knows what’s going on…

Check out history… this always happens when they add non standard items… some software has issues either controlling it or implementing custom addition.

:smile_cat:

I think the price point of the P-2 would discourage most from attempting some DIY hardware hacking experiment. A software solution presents less risk.