Lightburn on macos mojave doesnt detect my 3018 cnc.
But if i add it manually lets me add the port and device. However when this happens and I open the lightburn software, it drives my z-axis down without stopping. It doesnt stop until I close the software.
Any ideas?
Thatâs not one Iâve heard of before. Have you used this hardware with other software, or is this your first try? If I had to guess, Iâd suspect either a wiring issue, or possibly that the machine is trying to home on connection, and you donât have limit switches. Go back through the device setup and turn off âAuto home on startupâ - that might be it.
Yes that is correct. I dont have limit switches. Im thinking of getting some but in the meantime id like to try using the machine. Ok so Ill add the device manually and turn off the Auto Home on Startup option.
Btw, what option should I select for laser controller?
CanCam, Emblaser, Fabkit, Gerbil, GRBL, iLaser, Marlin, Ruida, Smoothiewear, TopWIsdom or Trocen?
That will depend on the firmware you use to drive your system. I see your profile lists your machine as âsod123456â. Please update this so we donât have to ask.
Sorry, but this image doesnât address the needed information. You identified previously (post above) that you could get LightBurn to talk to this hardware. What is reported in the LightBurn âConsoleâ window when you connect?
Please post the complete output for review.
Oh ok, I hadnt seen the console window:
Waiting for connectionâŚ
Waiting for connectionâŚ
Port opened, waiting for response.
Grbl 1.1f [â$â for help]
Thanks, so the last bit shows you are running âgrbl 1.1fâ, so ensure you set GRBL as the device choice during the LightBurn setup.
I really need help setting up the machine because I just clicked on the canvas at a point with the jogger button and the laser started moving and went past that position and made a huge noise until I hit the stop button.
Here is what I see:
and what I want it to tell it where are the ends of my machine so that it doesnt go past those positions. How do I do that?
I just moved it to the front right of my board and position is x-30 and y-20.
I am trying to be helpful. But I need you to follow what I am asking you to do and not get ahead of yourself. It is for a reason. 
Any software will give you odd and undesirable results if you do not have things set properly in firmware first.
The size of your work area is defined in the firmware. Then you tell LightBurn what that is by setting the dimensions of the LightBurn work area. This is the 3rd screen into the âDevice Setupâ.
To make sure you have these dimensions defined in your firmware, type $$ into the console followed by the enter key. Post the entire results here for review.
Im sorryâŚgot a bit excitedâŚwanna burn something!
$$
$0=10
$1=25
$2=0
$3=6
$4=0
$5=0
$6=0
$10=1
$11=1.000
$12=0.002
$13=0
$20=0
$21=1
$22=1
$23=7
$24=25.000
$25=500.000
$26=250
$27=2.000
$30=1000
$31=0
$32=0
$100=800.000
$101=800.000
$102=800.000
$110=2000.000
$111=2000.000
$112=100.000
$120=20.000
$121=20.000
$122=20.000
$130=500.000
$131=500.000
$132=200.000
ok
OK, so there are several things I can see that will need to be addressed. Did you get any instructions from the manufacturer of this hardware? In particular, the recommended firmware settings for this hardware?
Here is a list of each of the grbl settings and how they are used and defined. https://github.com/gnea/grbl/wiki/Grbl-v1.1-Configuration
You will need to set $32=1 (laser mode ON). You will want to set up a macro in LightBurn to be able to flip between Laser Mode and CNC, but we can address that later.
$130, $131 and $132 are your settings for the dimensions of your physical work area and are currently set to X = 500mm, Y = 500mm and Z = 200mm of Max Travel. This needs to change to what you actually have as well.
Once you have that, repost the $$ results again for review.
Ok here is my device setup:
only 1 picture per post for new users
I set it up to 300 x 200 because I dunno actually because the platform does measure 300 sideways, but front to back it measures 180 actuallyâŚso ill fix thatâŚ
ok I changed the origin as well, to rear right, so it matches the job origin in the lightburn window as shown on the far right of that screenshot.
oh waitâŚso my motor that is connected to the threaded rod on the bottom, which moves the platform itself, is connected to the Y terminal on the board. Is that right? I kinda thought that should be X
No that does not sound correct as most always the Z axis is used to move the bed up or down. But this is now getting way outside the LightBrun support area. Your wiring is not something I can help you with.
Have a read here for overview of common setups for gcode/grbl in LightBurn: https://github.com/LightBurnSoftware/Documentation/blob/master/CommonGrblSetups.md#common-grbl-setups
No, the wiring is right. I just checked. X moves left to right and Y moves front to back. Im good. So now what? I set x = 180 and y=300 in the max travel right?
$$
$0=10
$1=25
$2=0
$3=6
$4=0
$5=0
$6=0
$10=1
$11=1.000
$12=0.002
$13=0
$20=0
$21=1
$22=1
$23=7
$24=25.000
$25=500.000
$26=250
$27=2.000
$30=1000
$31=0
$32=1
$100=800.000
$101=800.000
$102=800.000
$110=2000.000
$111=2000.000
$112=100.000
$120=20.000
$121=20.000
$122=20.000
$130=180.000
$131=300.000
$132=200.000
ok
If those are the correct measurements, then yes.
This is worth a review and let us know if you are still having issues. You should also check out our YouTube channel for some additional videos.
Yes thanks, Ive seen those. So Im trying to put it all together though:
Should I set this as my origin by clicking on the Set Origin button in that window?
Im sorry, I saw the videos but you dont really take the user thru the steps of setting up the machine. What the video does is explain what machine origin is and how its often confusing with home and what happens if you flip them. To me, it was just a video that confused me further. Sorry, didnt mean to be rude. Im just trying to understand step by step by setting up my machine.
If you donât have limit switches, you will need to manually set the zero point (the origin) manually each time you power up in order to be able to use Absolute positioning, or the click-to-jog feature - both of those require the use of absolute positions, which require starting from a known zero point.
The âSet Originâ button youâre asking about above doesnât set the machine origin, but the âJob Originâ used by LightBurn as the starting point of a job when you run in User Origin mode (the terminology is confusing for CNC users unfortunately, but because big DSP lasers use it this way I canât really change it).
Not taken as rude. We are aware everyone could benefit from more and better videos. For now, we are focused on the software development as the priority, trying to manage the production of educational content as we can. Some of the current content was produced by our user community. We know this needs attention.
Have you read the document I provided above? I draw your attention to this section:
In the console window, type
G0 X0 Y0
then hit enter. Your machine will head toward its origin position. This isnât always the same as where the home position is. Usually, the home position is in one of the corners. Most often it will be the rear-right or front-left of the machine. In some cases, it might be the center of the work area. If your machine does this, skip ahead to â Center Origin Machines â below.
After it stops moving, type
G0 X10 Y10
then hit enter. If your machine moves 10mm into the work area on both axis thatâs good - it means your machine uses positive workspace coordinates. You simply set the origin in LightBurn to match the machine origin discovered above. If your machine bumped the rails, it uses negative coordinates.
Please do this and please report back.
Ok Im just worried when the machine overruns a limit and my motors make terrible noises.
Ok so machine origin is something that can be changed by me, the user, to wherever I want it to be, right? Or no?
In this picture, are all those (in red) talking about the same origin?
Because according to the top Get Position, even though my machine is at bottom left, it says the current position is x-270 and y+30. So im afraid if I enter G0 X0 Y0, itll go off somewhereâŚ
