I upgraded from an Omtech K40+ (which was an absolute joy to use with Lightburn) to a Monport Reno Pro and although I think the new machine is all right, trying to use it with Lightburn is a considerable regression in user experience. I have a handful of small beefs, but two major issues with using Lightburn for this machine. One might be addressable via a setting I haven’t found, but the other needs actual coding.
Framing is painful. In continuous mode, the head returns to the home point after every frame, which is slow and irritating. During framing, it’s very difficult to get out of framing mode in Lightburn. It appears the UI thread is used in some way that makes it unresponsive. I’ve had to kill Lightburn a couple times just to get out of framing mode. No one’s coded background processes to execute on the UI thread in over a decade, so I don’t know what’s going on here. Anyone know if there’s a controller setting that is making this behave so?
Rotary support is abysmal. Gone is the nice Lightburn rotary setup panel. For the TopWisdom controller that comes with this machine, you have to go into the Lightburn Machine Settings panel and fiddle with some settings that are identical to the rotary settings poorly explained in the Autolaser manual in awkward English. I’ve found a handful of posts here saying the TL-A1 is “supported” and you can use a rotary with it if you fiddle with stuff in Machine Settings, but I still don’t quite have my rotary working and I don’t consider this “supported” when other controllers get a nice dialog. Does anyone know if better rotary support is actually coming? Judging from staff support answers on the forum…probably not.
I’m seriously considering turning this into a ghetto mess by trying to hack in a Ruida 6432 controller, which is too big for the machine. I want to get back to enjoying using Lightburn rather than screaming at it.
Sounds like you’ve hit a rough patch with the Reno Pro—switching from the K40+ and suddenly losing the smooth workflow would frustrate anyone.
A few things to help while staying in LightBurn:
Framing: I don’t have a TL-A1 / TopWisdom setup personally, but anecdotally other users have found that in continuous framing, the head can return to home after each frame. That’s a frustrating behaviour, and LightBurn can’t override it. Using single-frame mode or stepping through frames manually avoids repeated movement and keeps the UI responsive.
Rotary: I also haven’t got a TL-A1 rotary setup myself. From what I’ve read, the nice rotary panel is missing, so you need to configure it manually in Machine Settings. The LightBurn rotary guide covers “non-dialog” controllers and is worth keeping open while you tweak. Sharing your rotary setup on the forum may also get input from someone who’s got it working.
here’s the link:
It’s tempting to hack in a Ruida, but focusing on software configuration first will save a lot of headaches. Once you’ve got framing and rotary working, you should be back to enjoying LightBurn rather than screaming at it.
Stick with it—it can be made usable, even if it’s not as slick as the K40+ out of the box.
The Ruida is generally considered one of the more supported dsp type controllers.
Similar, but not a true dsp like the Ruida, the Topwisdom uses an ARM based controller.
Topwisdom Technology Co., Ltd. makes yours.
As far as I know, Ruida Technology Co., Ltd., who manufacture the Ruida line does not tell any western countries how they work. Suspect the same from Topwisdom. Both are located in Shenzhen, China.
As a developer everything about them has to be, what most would call, hacked. The Ruida at least has a page on it’s op codes.
I’d love to have a schematic of any of these, especially my Ruida. Unfortunately, western world and the Chinese world are not really getting along any better as time goes by.
Thanks for the info, guys. It sounds like I won’t be able to fix the framing issue. Regarding rotary stuff, I’ve read the rotary section for DSP controllers a few times, which points to Autolaser’s awful manual. I’m a computer programmer, so I’m well accustomed to reading technical writing, but the explanations in that manual don’t fully make sense and also don’t seem to have worked when fiddling with the rotary settings in the Lightburn Machine Settings dialog. I think I’ve read in a couple spots you need to cycle power to the controller after altering the settings, but that didn’t seem to help, either. I think in the short term, I will grudgingly install Autolaser and try to experiment and understand rotary setup there before trying to apply it in Lightburn.
However, it sounds like long term I just need to try the Ruida board. I know that’s going to be a pain in the butt to rewire and design/print something to hold the controller onto the Reno body, but I figure a weekend of splicing wires and printing enclosures is well worth it if it will prevent me turning into Mr. Pissyface every time I use this machine for the next few years. I’m going to start a new post to make sure I’m managing my expectations correctly with the Ruida 6432. If that change will bring back the delightful experience of working with the K40, I think it’s worth it. I spent a fortune getting the machine shipped to Hawaii, so I’m just not going to be happy with a subpar workflow.
For framing, if you turn off “continuous” mode it should behave. Most of the DSP controllers, when framing, require us to poll them, and they don’t let you stop a move in progress, so the continuous framing mode can be a little finicky.
Regarding the rotary settings, I honestly could never find good information about the rotary setup for TopWisdom controllers that made any sense. They have two numbers that they require you to enter and I couldn’t find anything that described concisely what they were for or how they worked. If I can’t figure out from TopWisdom’s own documentation how to use the rotary settings in their controller, it’s difficult for me to make LightBurn support it.
If you’re looking for a smaller Ruida, the 5121 is nice - it doesn’t have the color display that the TL-A1 has, but it’s a Ruida. And the 7132 is the same size control head, and DOES have a color screen, and includes the motor drivers in the “control box” piece.
Likely because you haven’t read the original Chines manuals, these are done in Chinglish.
I know as does all the people around Lightburn about how difficult it is to interpret some of what they are trying to say.
As I stated, this isn’t driven with a Programmable Array Logic (PAL) electronics, it’s a regular processor (ARM) we’re all used to. Don’t know how much this effects the end user, but I see differences.
If that’s all you have…
I doubt there will be much of an issue swapping controllers at least wiring wise. Most of this stuff talks to other hardware the same way, so just interpreting the signal names in a few places should be it.
Most of the people here with Ruida have a pretty good knowledge of how they are wired, I’m sure enough to change them out.
Thank you, Oz. I’ve seen the forum posts here with other people scratching their heads on the Topwisdom controllers. I’m surprised the manufacturer does not reach out and help you guys, since it should benefit them to have the dominant software package work with their product well. Alas, that’s not the reality.
In terms of framing with this Ruida controller, am I looking at having the same experience with having a difficult time aborting continuous framing? I’d turn continuous off, but my computer is six feet and a 90-degree angle away from the machine, so that is not as convenient. Being able to nudge the item to cut ends up being more convenient than going back and forth to the screen to nudge the design.
Regarding the controller upgrade, I did look at the 5121 but decided to target the 6432 because I found it Cloudray’s store on AliExpress for only $183 including shipping and taxes, which is less than the 5121 and it supports three axes and Ethernet. I did not run across the 7132, but wow, that’s a nice package having the drivers included! Thank you so much for pointing that one out! The Reno’s case is quite compact, unfortunately, so although the panel would fit with only a recut of the acryllic top, getting the mainboard stashed somewhere inside the machine would have been difficult or would need to be external. At any rate, I appreciate the suggestion.
Thank you, Jack. Yeah, I figured it was the Chinglish getting in the way of the explanation. I tried to extrapolate the meaning by going through the procedure they outlined explicitly, but it still didn’t work.
Glad to hear you think it will be okay swapping controllers. That’s the conclusion I came to with 75% confidence using my limited knowledge and some research. Hopefully I will have some good luck and can report back with something that may eventually help others in the same position.
