Trouble connecting my laser

LightBurn Hardware Compatibility
1

Hi,
I recently bought LightBurn for our school and I’m trying to test it on my small Arduino nano based laser (grbl type).

My laser machine works fine with Grbl Controller 3.6.1 and Master Engraver but I can’t control anything with Ligthburn.

When I try to find the laser in Lightburn it doesn’t find it. I’ve tried creating it manually with the proper connection port (com5 usb in my case) and the software seems to see something but the console keeps displaying “Waiting for connection”.

I’ve installed all the laser drivers and software but still no luck so far.
Is there something else I should try ?

Here are some screenshot and a picture of the controller if that helps.

LaserIssue1
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LaserIssue2
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20220428_101530
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Thanks,

2

This says that your machine is connected by the ‘Ready’, on ‘COM5’ with a ‘GRBL’ configuration…

Screenshot from 2022-04-28 17-50-10

So I don’t think I understand your question…

:smile_cat:

3

Yes it says connected but I can’t control anything. No axis movements or turning the diode on/off.
The console keeps saying G0 G0 G0 waiting for connection.

29.04.2022_08.59.36_REC
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4

Can you confirm the following:

  1. Have you attempted to connect using LaserGRBL? If not, you may want to try this.
  2. What Device type have you configured in LightBurn for your laser? If you push Devices button in Laser window and highlight your device it will list the device type at the bottom.
  3. What firmware have you flashed to your Arduino?
5

I just installed LaserGrbl (v4.8.0) to try. I can detect the machine on COM5 but when I try to connect it the status in the bottom right off the screen says “connected” for few second, then it says “disconnected” and there’s an error message “Error connecting your engraver. If you need help click “?” button”.

Regarding the Arduino I haven’t flashed anything as I bought it as is and it worked out of the box with the two software mentionned above (Grbl Controller 3.6.1 and Master Engraver. I believe the grbl version is 0.8c.

6

UPDATE: I changed the baud rate to 9600 in LaserGRBL and it works fine now. I’ve tried changing it in Lightburn as well but no result.

7

If this is the actual version then this is ancient. I highly suggest you upgrade to the latest version. You can do this easily from LaserGRBL under Tools->Flash GRBL Firmware. If you have a 2-axis laser I suggest you use the 1.1h custom firmware in the list that’s made available to you.

If you don’t want to upgrade try changing your device type to GRBL-M3. You may have better luck with that. The other setting you could try to experiment with is setting “Enable DTR Signal” in Edit->Device Settings.

Again, you’re much better off updating the firmware if possible.

8

Well I just flashed succesfully the 1.1h firmware with LaserGRBL and now nothing works anymore lol…
I can’t connect anymore with LaserGRBL whatever baud rate I choose and my other software are unable to connect to the laser now…

I’ve tried the dtr signal before all this with no luck.

9

I hope you saved the machine configuration before re-flashing it?

Or did you get the code from the manufacturer?

:smile_cat:

10

Hahaha does it look like I have an idea what I’m doing :rofl:

11

So I’ve fixed the Arduino. It now has the 1.1Firmware and I can connect it to all the software at 115200 baud. Only issue left is the laser doesn’t turn on anymore,only the dim diode but no full power…

12

What was the previous issue with the first flash? Which specific version of the 1.1 firmware do you have?

Can you run these commands in Console in LightBurn and return results:

$I
$$

The key thing for power is that your S Value Max should match what’s in $30. Typically this is 255 for Arduino based boards.

1 Like
13

You’re almost there.
I flashed my Nano 3 based controller to 1.1f.

14

What was the previous issue with the first flash?
No idea. It flashed succesfully but then nothing was working anymore. I did it again but only changed the baud rate and then it seemed to work.

Which specific version of the 1.1 firmware do you have?
Now it is Grbl 1.1f

Can you run these commands in Console in LightBurn and return results:
$I
$$

Sure, here it is:

Running $I
[VER:1.1f.20170801:]
[OPT:V,15,128]
Target buffer size found
ok

Running $$
$0=10
$1=25
$2=0
$3=0
$4=0
$5=0
$6=0
$10=1
$11=0.010
$12=0.002
$13=0
$20=0
$21=0
$22=0
$23=0
$24=25.000
$25=500.000
$26=250
$27=1.000
$30=1000
$31=0
$32=0
$100=250.000
$101=250.000
$102=250.000
$110=500.000
$111=500.000
$112=500.000
$120=10.000
$121=10.000
$122=10.000
$130=200.000
$131=200.000
$132=200.000
ok

Thanks, where do I change these parameters ? In Arduino IDE or via LightBurn or LaserGRBL ? Sorry I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to the software part of lasers lol…

15

Is there a reason you didn’t flash 1.1h again? Not critical but more curious.

Enter these commands into Console:

$30=255
$32=1

Then go to Edit-Device Settings. Make sure that S Value Max setting there is set to 255.

Run a test and report back.

16

$30 is set to 255 and $32 is set to 1. Axis are moving but laser still doesn’t turn on.

17

When you say laser doesn’t turn on. Do you mean to say that the laser is not on at all? Or that it’s weakly on?

Did you update S Value Max in Device Settings?

If you use the Fire button in Move window does the laser turn on? Increase the power level. Does the intensity of the laser increase with power?

18

Laser is weakly on so I can see where it goes but it doesn’t turn to engraving power.

Also I’ve flashed Arduino again with the 1.1h custom this time. I’ve set $30 to 255 and $32 to 1 again.

Not sure where I should find and change the S value.

I don’t see a “fire” button in the Move window. Only “Set origin”, “clear origin” and “set finish position”

19

Go to Edit->Device Settings

image
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You can enable Fire Button there as well. I suggest you also enable “Laser on when framing”

20

Ok I’ve found the S value and also how to get the Fire button. Fire button has no effect, laser stays dim.
I’ve tried to the S value todifferent values but no resiult so far…