Lightburn suddenly doesn't see laser

LightBurn Software Questions
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1

Equipment & Software:
Thunderlaser, Mars 130 W, Ruida Controller RDC6442G-LY-B(EC), firmware RDC-V8.07.70
Lightburn 1.3.01, single user, been using for 7 years without problems and only occasional updates
Desktop Computer, Intel 3.6 GHz process, 64 bit, 16 GB RAM, 1.02 TB storage, Windows 10 Home Edition

PART I: I can open Lightburn 1.3.01, but it can’t find the laser
Something unknown occurred Friday 5/9/2022. Lightburn ceased being able to communicate with the Mars laser after years of normal functioning. I normally use two Thunderslasers, the second is a Nova 130W. For now, I am focusing on troubleshooting the Mars only because I am assuming the problem is with software (Lightburn?).

The Mars is connected to the computer via ethernet cable.
I am able to open Lighburn, but when I try to Get Position or Set Laser Position, etc, I get no response. When I send a file to the laser, I get the message “Transfer failed. There was a problem sending data to the laser. The machine may be busy or paused.”

I can start the last job from the Mars controller confirming the laser works fine.
Attempting to solve the problem, I ran the Lightburn wizard and set up the Mars laser from scratch. I tried Find My Laser. I shut down the desktop computer, Mars and Lightburn and restarted several times. This did not work. Lightburn still can’t see the laser.

PARTT II: I updated to Lightburn 1.7.08, now I can’t even open it.

When I click on the LB icon, nothing happens.

I don’t see a new “Date Modified” for Lightburn Application in Program Files. I only see unins000.dat/DAT File and unins00/Application with the 5-12-2025 date.

I installed the new version twice. I did not uninstall the old version (surely this isn’t necessary), I just ran Setup again.
Upon running Setup the first time, a window appeared requesting me to approve something related to C++, I declined and continued the install.
When the first install didn’t work, I ran setup up again and this time approved the C++ window (I assumed it was some kind of required subroutine).
I completed the installation. Still, I could not open Lightburn.

I turned computer and laser off and on several times. I still cannot open LB

Have orders to complete, would appreciate help in solving this problem.

2

On your Windows 10 computer, Apply the second most famous three-finger-salute..

Ctrl-Shift-Escape

This will open the Task Manager.

See if there’s anything in Processes called LightBurn. If some part of LightBurn is still running in the background it may be what’s holding up the install.

Right-click the LightBurn (If it’s there..) and select End Task.

With LightBurn closed, open your Downloads folder and launch LightBurn right from there.

The C++ ‘redistributable’ might be needed to jump from 1.3.01 to 1.7.08. I’d answer the question with a yes. There’s also a chance a newer one would be needed for 2.00.0.

Uninstalling LightBurn shouldn’t be necessary.

It may be necessary to start by Launching the downloaded file. If LightBurn was interrupted it may not have finished unpacking all the things needed to complete the Setup. Launching Setup after refusing the ‘redistributabe’ may have crossed it up.

Another thing that you may find handy about LightBurn…

LightBurn keeps as many as 50 versions of ‘User Preferences’ files. One or more of these files should have all your communications settings.

Open the C: Drive and execute a search (including program files) for lbprefs on your local hard drive. You’ll probably find them in your Documents folder as a default. You’re likely to see a date in the filename. Select a filename with a date that matches the timeline when everything was working as expected. Make a copy of that file. Stash it somewhere.

Some folks have their Documents Folder ‘Backed up’ or synced with Microsoft OneDrive. Microsoft OneDrive can occasionally cause data loss to shared, synced or ‘Backed up’ files. It’s best to avoid it until the issue is known.

After LightBurn launches, you can import that Prefs file. Click File, Click Preferences, Click Import Prefs, and import that lbprefs file into LightBurn.

Let us know how far you get with this. If it goes wrong again, we’ll attempt some troubleshooting.. :slight_smile:

3

“Transfer failed. There was a problem sending data to the laser. The machine may be busy or paused. I also now see this message on both my Windows PC and my MacBook Pro. I can however, launch Lightburn v 1.7.08. Lightburn is the only thing I have changed before connecting to the laser via Ruida controller. I can transfer my files by saving an .rd file to USB stick .. which is a real bind if you have to change a setting. I am very interested in how to fix this too.

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get the message “Transfer failed. There was a problem sending data to the laser. The machine may be busy or paused.