I would say for now, walk before you try to run. Upgrading the firmware is just flashing new control software onto the same board, but it will reset settings (so you’d need to write down the settings you have, or save them so you can put them back).
I also don’t know yet exactly what board you have, and therefore I’m not certain how easy or hard it would be to do that update, and I haven’t ever done it from a Mac. It’s probably not terribly hard, but given that you’ve said you’re very new to all of this, it’s probably better to hold off until you’re more comfortable with how the stuff works.
Piling too many brand new things on all at once is a good way to make things harder on yourself.
The board that says ‘GRBL CNC Controller’ on it is the brain - that’s your controller. It looks very similar to the controllers used on Eleksmaker laser machines, so the process for upgrading the firmware on those might work here too, but I’ve never done it myself, so I can’t walk you through it.
I know I am absolutely clueless when it comes to coding. I’m not that savvy. Do we need to do a video chat for you to walk me through this and me at the machine? I am so lost. Why do they make these so difficult?
As Oz mentions, that control board is one of many generic designs out there, and not one that we specifically recognize.
There are some resources that may help, but there may also be some nuance to your specific one, so the only way to really do it is to try it and figure out on the go.
Our support team is happy to continue to help out via written communication here on the forum, but this particular topic of “how do I flash my specific controller to the latest grbl” may be getting a bit outside the realm of software support. Hopefully some of our users may be able to help, as a number of them have done this before.
I am absolutely clueless when it comes to code. The best I can do is cut & paste. I have contacted this company Universal Engraver and they are the worst! I cannot get help from them. Obviously I paid too much for a piece of junk that doesn’t work. The lightburn software is excellent and easy to use. I tried using their LaserWeb software but cannot understand it at all. So thanks LightBurn and the forum.
So finally found Xloader for Mac, Downloaded Arduino and in the files from the company I have this hex code
grbl_v1.1h.20190825 (1).hex. I suppose this is the source of all my problems, now how do I get it into the LightBurn?
To help, the concepts you are talking about are for your controller and not LightBurn. The term commonly used for updating the firmware running on your controller is ’ to Flash’. So you are talking about “flashing” your controller firmware to the latest opensource GRBL.
I thank you all for the help. As I said, I am not a person who understands code. I have XLoader don’t know what to do with it. I have Arduino don’t know how to get the code from that to the laser. I guess I’ll just return it. This is all too much when I have spent so much money and was told it would be easier. The software especially Lightburn, piece of cake. Oh well, I quit.
Okay, I have “flashed” the new Gcode grbl_v1.1h.20190825 to the Ardunio. Do I just plug into my controller and somehow upload? Can’t find any information to go from Arduino to my controller / LightBurn.
Flashing the firmware writes the new firmware to the controller. You should be able to just run LightBurn and connect to it. There might be some settings you need to change, because they would be reset by flashing, but start by just running LightBurn and seeing if it will connect to the machine again.
LightBurn is software loaded locally. With a standard installation, we do need to connect to our license server occasionally to verify a valid key, but that’s it. We also offer the ability to do an Offline Registration, allowing you to work with LightBurn without any internet connection at all. This Offline Registration process, requires you have some system that can connect, is done once, then no further internet access would be required.
Well I cannot even get the laser working even trying to use my friends PC. I am returning this laser engraver. As you guys said, the forum is not for someone like me. I expected I should have been able to plug it in and it should work, are there people in local areas that I go to for help? If not, what is the alternative to the Elksman engraver? One in which will already be up to date and I can use out of the box. One that can be used and updated using a Mac.
You may need to find a company that has phone support and can work with you on all this to get you up and running and provide future support. However, I am not aware of any diode machines that fit this criteria (most are made in China) so this probably means buying a CO2 Laser from a US Company with US phone support. That’s a whole other ball game in terms of what it will cost, shop requirements (water cooling, venting exhaust), and capability.
Not sure what other solution to offer you.
I am 100% serious when I say that a big part of getting good at something is actually trying and using Google. You will simply not get far if you do not do that, unless you want to pay someone to do everything for you.
