I recently updated LB to the latest release and ever since I have had communication issues to the Ruida on my 100 Watt CO2. If I send simple lines for cutting out, no problem, but if I send text to engrave, it only gets about 1/4 of the data, then errors
“There was a problem sending data to the laser. The machine may be busy or paused.”
It acts like buffer overload, but worked fine before the upgrade to LB. Unfortunately I do not have a USB cable long enough to reach the laser, it is hardwired into my switch, and connects fine over Ethernet.
No files loaded. That was my first thought, but I don’t have it storing files, memory gets wiped when powered off. Even checked on the panel itself, no files loaded. It only seems to do this when sending fill to the laser. Line goes right through no problem, but fill sends a couple items, then errors, laser does those and parks like job completed.
Even switching layers, putting line first, then fill, it sends a bit of data and errors. I may revert back to the earlier version and see what happens, but I am not sure what version it was, pre-2.0 maybe?
Unfortunately, I have to say that the connection is also interrupted quite a bit here at my place. That is, the same messages as you describe, with the “same” conditions.
A new LAN switch has not given any improvement.
Sometimes the error message comes once and the next attempt succeeds, other times it seems as if the process is completely locked. I typically turn off and start the Ruida itself and can now send the job - until the next time. Otherwise, there are no signs of problems with the “live connection” between the computer and my laser, i.e. interaction between LB and the laser works fine, except for “Start”.
If I am not mistaken, there is at least one (other than you) from the forum who can recognize the problem and has the same setup (MacOS), but also has not found a real solution.
Because it is a sporadic problem that does not affect many users, I think that a real investigation is not high on the priority list, which I can partly understand.
(The problem is not a 2.X.X related problem as far as I can tell.)
When sending with start, the file is temporary and over written on the next Start. It stores the last used job on reset. I don’t load jobs to the laser since everything is stored on my NAS.
Both, if line, it sends and starts, if fill, then it sends partial and errors on both.
I just recently started having this issue and only with the later versions of LB. Been running LB and this same laser since 2019 and never had problems sending jobs to it.
I have a second laptop that I will load the earlier version on and see what happens. If it works, great, problem is software related, if not, then I need to dig into the Ruida and find out why its dropping the connection.
OK, loaded 1.7.08 on my other laptop, same network configuration using WiFi. Installed the prior version that worked, setup the laser in it manually, transferred the file I have been working on to the new laptop, of course got the newer version error, but went ahead anyway, hit start and it loaded instantly, no delay, full file ran both line and fill like it used to.
So I either have a communications issue with this laptop, Software issue, or this latest version has a bug. It is also possible a firmware incompatibility between my Ruida and the newer version as I have not done any updates to it since I got it 7 years ago. If it aint broke…
Only thing I did to this laser is replace the tube, which was the Chinesium 60Watt when it blows up, so ran it at 80% max, got 7 years out of it that way, and put in a true 100 Watt tube, 100 Watt PS, a GOOD one, and new mirror stands to accommodate the taller tube. I will eventually install the Z Axis servo and get auto focus working as it didn’t have that when I got it. But as far as touching the firmware or any of the electronics, still all original. Works great with the 1.7 version of Lightburn, but been problematic with the newer 2.x versions. In fact I thought the Ethernet died on it as LB would not even see the controller and had to delete and reenter everything via USB, then it worked once I had a fixed IP on the controller.
I hereby revise this statement, during a test today I had to find that the entire connection to the laser is interrupted in these situations. I tried to send the laser to a specific place after a start signal was not executed - without result. Turn off and start the laser machine and everything works 3—4-5 times… or not
I have a slightly different procedure. I always use send, not start.
My machine lives in the garage and I don’t want it to start without my presents, so have never really used start.
Not sure what you’re asking, but I’m using V1.7 of Lightburn on my Linux box. I’ve never seen any of these issues, so it’s news to me. Of course, not using start, I don’t think, ever.
I’m Ethernet connected via a wifi bridge (from Amazon) to my lan. I paid $12 when I got mine a number of year ago.
If I can get a step by step on how to try this, I will. I can just ensure the lps is turned off and use start.
I have determined my issue is related to the version running on this laptop as it works as always on my newer laptop with a fresh install of the version that has worked well in the past, 1.7.08 Windows.
So that rules out the network, the controller, and version 1.7.08. Does not rule out my older Lenovo though, could still be a driver issue, software issue, or hardware issue.
Well, problem has been resolved. Apparently the beta version did not get fully uninstalled, when I went to uninstall the current version after exporting my prefs, I found both versions listed, even though only one Lightburn folder existed. I uninstalled both, had exported my prefs to a different folder where I also store all the downloaded versions first, then went and deleted all references to Lightburn on both drives. I did not touch the registry so my key remained intact. Reinstalled 1.7.08, worked perfectly. So went and upgraded to the current version, ran the problem child, and it worked perfectly. Imported my prefs, so those are all back in place, and reloaded the same job and tried again, worked perfectly.
Whew, laser is back in business!
Now in review, I did not see a second Lightburn folder under program files for the Pre-release install, but I did find an AppData folder for it. So my guess is that since the pre-release did not get properly uninstalled, which it should have, chances are some files either did not get overwritten on the install, or were additional ones interfering with the program. In any case, completely removing all traces of Lightburn and doing a fresh install did the trick.
Thanks for the offer. Our profiles are similar and the procedure only differs from “start” - “send”.
What makes (my) problem so remarkable is that it is not just reproducible.
Today I had to cut some 4.5mm circles, very simple task, I made an array and simply started the task with one circle at a time - to provoke my start/connection problem. Out of the 30 or so starts there were only 3 or 4 times where there was a small pause, the small spiral/pause icon only managed to show up for a second or 2. But not really an interruption, today. Not even by starting the entire array with 30 circles.
I used my “design-construction” MBP today as the executing computer - test, test, test…
Mac’s internal wifi diagnostic tool has found no problems with the network and I do not observe any dropouts either, but that is of course subjective observation.
I want to work more with my LAN/Wifi and see if it is really as stable as I think.
