Newbie can not get Xtool F1 working with Lightburn

LightBurn Hardware Compatibility xTool
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Fair warning: First laser, first time using lightburn.

I installed the latest Lightburn, imported the file for the F1, and it is connected. I can make it do things…kinda.

Open lightburn, turn on laser, LB shows laser as connected. Create text, place text in lower left corner, click frame…

Sometimes the blue dot that is centered in the red dot on the laser base turns off and nothing else happens.

Sometimes I see a blue frame at the top center of the base. Clicking stop in LB makes the blue frame go away, but the blue dot does not reappear.

In either case, the button on the right side below the knob seems to toggle between framing and the blue focusing dot.

No matter where on the LB screen I put the text, the frame is always in the same place, top center. Very often I have to press that button on the laser to get the frame to show up. I have tried changing the “Start from” and “Job origin” locations and nothing changes.

The F1 is brand new, the computer is Win11 i7, LB is the latest version as of last week, laser connected via USB.

I am pretty sure that it is not a laser, connection, or driver issue as I can close LB, open XCS, and complete the project on the first try, no issues. It frames perfectly, turns off the frame perfectly, moves the frame to where I place the text on the screen. Absolutely eveything I try succeeds.

Any ideas? I would REALLY prefer to use LightBurn if I can but I just can not get it to work.

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XTool support is not perfect in LightBurn since xTool does not help much in supporting it. They have XCS and no interest in getting other tools running. They have their own ecosystem.
Therefore xTool-Support in LightBurn is more like beta status. Just search the group for similar issues.

Bottom line: if you buy xTool, use XCS, if you want to use LightBurn, don’t buy xTool.

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I see lots of people using Lightburn with the Xtool F1, and since I can not seem to get mine to work at all, that tells me that something is wrong. Yes, I went into this knowing I may not have access to all the features. But there is a difference between that and not being able to use it at all. I thought someone here might have some suggestions on where to look for answers.

And not to be rude, but telling someone who obviously already bought an xtool device and is trying to get it working with the software this forum supports “dont buy xtool” is not only not helpful, but rather insulting. If you don’t have a suggestion on making the combination I have sitting right in front of me work, please don’t respond. Thank you.

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This forum is full of xTool grief. To get yours working, you will probably have to do a lot of reading. There is no short path to success with xTool machines. xTool could not care less about Lightburn and shares nothing. Everything that works in Lightburn has been discovered by trial and error. The fact that Lightburn has issues with xTool machines is not the fault of Lightburn or any Forum member.

Yes, @misken could have been a little more discrete, but we have all read your complaint many, many times. Unfortunately people buy the laser first, based on advertising claims, then discover Lightburn and the Forum.

I am going to be rude as well: If you cannot be satisfied with XCS and prefer to use Lightburn, maybe you can return the machine and buy one that is much more compatible. Or you can tough it out and get it working as best you can.

This we can do, if you don’t count my suggestion to search the Forum for solutions..

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Search the forums?!?!?!?! What a novel idea!

I just find it amazing that I am in a category specifically devoted to the Xtool and lightburn and I get basically called an idiot for my choices and told to search the forums. Is everyone here a troll or are there actually people who can point someone to things that might help?

Yes, I read the post about the f1 not working with wifi, and the one about the xtool stopping after half the project, and the one about it disconnecting 4 times and then they could not get it reconnected, and the one about the software update deleting their settings and they dont have backups, and the one about it not working with a VPN, the one about the life expectancy of the lasers (1-5 years aint bad when you are talking continuous use!), etc etc etc. I went back until somewhere around lightburn 1.5x and then I figured so much had changed that any solutions wouldn’t matter for the new 2.x version.

Yes, thank you, I did my research before I bought the laser:

xtool article/496
youtube watch?v=n1WPLMabHCI

xtool article › 1263

Now, if anyone has anything CONSTRUCTIVE to add to the conversation, I am all ears.

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Quite the contrary, you are a consumer like the rest of us. What you need is an xTool F1 owner that can answer your questions directly. Be patient, eventually someone will reply.

In the meantime, replies are sometimes used to let the person posting a question know they are not being ignored. I myself believe a weak answer is better than no answer at all. No insult we may have offered was intentional at all.

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Not a single word of me or Mike has been meant to offend anyone. We just tried to clarify the situation. Not a single word meant that you are an idiot. The only one that starts to get rude is you.
We’re here to help, try our best, and do it for free in our free time. No guarantee that it works out every time.

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Hi.

First of all, welcome to the LB forum @Flea .

My reply will probably sound rude as well, but is most definitely not intended as such.

As wasn’t the replies by @misken or @MikeyH either, they are among the most knowledgable and helpful folks in here.

Tldr: The harsh and an unfortunate reality is that:

At least do not expect the latest (if any) version to work (fully anyway), no matter what xTool advertizing claims.
.

I’m a fellow xTool owner -D1 Pro instead of F1 You have- but as far as LB compatability goes, we are firmly in the same exact rut.

Except for the small consolation that I can -and eventually will- swap the controller for something 100% LB compatible, You unfortunately most likely don’t have that option since the technologies are decades apart.

It’s actually a small wonder that our xTool lasers can be made to work at all with LB, and the thanks for that fall entirely to the LB staff going the extra miles to satisfy ~1% (?) of the customer base.
When they actually don’t need to.
If You want to blame someone /-thing, blame Makeblock for their protectionistic policies and less than truthful advertizing.
I know I do because Makeblock/xTool will keep doing everything in their power to make things more difficult for third party software developers and users.

Yes, even though I had zero experience with hobby lasers or laser control softwares when I made the desicion to purchase my D1 Pro a few years back, the claimed full LB compatibility tilted the proverbial scale on xTools favour.

And Yes, in a hindsight, I’d be ignorant to deny that I didn’t do my homework properly, relying mostly on the xTool paid reviewers and xTool own advertizing.

Had I read the D1 grief threads on this forum instead, I probably wouldn’t have chosen xTool.

About the only constructive(ish) advice I can give is the same as @MikeyH gave:

It may take a few hours, a day, or a week, but eventually someone will be able to help You to get as far as possible ATM.
I have a hunch that it’s not going to be as far as You’d wish, but the time will tell.

This:

IMO can not be stressed enough in todays discussion forum culture either, even a “day old” post may well disappear onto the mass and a person who could help will never see it.

Very, very few people who have been here years use the tags correctly, and even though You’re new here You did, and that will work to Your advantage.

Regards,

Sam

:finland:

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Hello, I own the xtool F1. It’s a bit goofy, sometimes it will frame a design larger than it should or in an odd spot.

Two things to try, make sure that you are using the latest firmware, this can only be updated in XCS.

Set your start from position in your laser window to Absolute Coordinates:

Is your laser set to frame continuously in your device settings?

Your preview window should display your design, does it?

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I have the Xtool S1, and use Lightburn excluseively, I have about 100 users with xtool s1 who use my camera kit with their laser and lightburn daily for their bussinesses.

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