Using Lightburn without USB

I was reading this forum Running lightburn without a directly connected device and I couldn’t find the area where you go to configure the settings that I need to change if someone could give me more indepth istruction on how to do so that would be highly appreciated.

What’s your goal? Do you just want to run LightBurn in case there is no laser connected? Do you want to wirelessly control your laser? Do you want to save the project on a SD card or USB stick?

I want to be able to run a Gcode on my laser without having my laptop plugged in with USB the whole time.

Import an existing machine profile or create a new “fake” machine profile and start working with Lightburn.

All the features are there and you can save your projects and run them at another time, on the machine you have “fake” created or, with few changes on all other laser machines of the same construction type.

Does your laser support offline operation? If yes, just use the “save as gcode” button in the laser window. Save this file to an SD card and transfer it to your laser.

If your laser does not support offline operation, you can’t disconnect the laser during a job since gcode is sent as a stream of data (assuming that you are using a gcode / diode laser machine).

Be aware that unsupervised operation of a laser is highly discouraged. It’s better to stay close to it the whole time. The USB cable reminds you not to leave :wink:

This link is a Ruida controller. They have can read a file from a usb drive.

Might want to post a link to your laser…

:smile_cat:

Oh right, so I have a Neje Max 4 so there is no way to run my machine wirelessly?

Does the Neje support Bluetooth or Wi-Fi? Then it should be possible. You can also use OctoPrint with a laser plugin. But as mentioned, it’s not recommended.

The sales pitch states

But there is no mention at that site about it or how to do it.

This site, which is a review, states only this. Doesn’t seem like it’s what I’d expect from an off-line operation.


Offline Control

NEJE Max 4 built-in Neje and GRBL dual firmware. The Neje firmware can be used as a controller. It can be used as a virtual instruction controller. Through Neje software, the .gc file exported by LightBurn through the latest Neje Win software transmits files to the device through wireless ways, or can also Perform the operation directly through the Neje software control .gc file. This is currently the most advanced and portable control method.
The Neje control board has updated the NEJE traditional “One Key Start” function, which can manually switch mode, positioning, start, suspension, shut down, and other operations.


The Neje site advises this.


You’ll have to hunt around to see how they actually pull this off.

Good luck

:smile_cat:

I’ve controlled/operated an Ortur diode laser remotely by using a Raspberry Pi running USB-IP and also running USB-IP on my Linux laptop. If not running Linux on your laptop you might need to find commercial options of running a virtual USB port over a network( in this case it’s WiFi ).

Looks like it’ll work on Windows too -

I have stopped using free software, not enought reliablr for me, I now use VitualHere wich is not really expensive and works really really well, also come with a handy notification application (to make one click connect/unconnect remote USB) on windows

Unfortunately you really haven’t stopped using all open source software since most of the internet is run on it including this forum(GitHub - discourse/discourse: A platform for community discussion. Free, open, simple.). But I get it how some open source projects are buggy and picky about how they are run but generally, for people coming from Windows, the main difficulty is often with the installation since there’s no setup.exe or MSI packaged installer( unless your project is part of the Linux distributions software repository/app store but all free ).

For less DIY, there are lots of commercial products available to get reliable remote USB connections. VirtualHere does require a compute device at your laser and they do support lots of platforms from little Raspberry Pi’s to a Windows desktop so lots of choices depending on your hardware and skill set.

No problem, I have myself participated to many projects and started my own open source projects since 2005 (before Github even exist :wink: Sourceforge using SVN ! :slight_smile: ). Also note that open source does not mean always free and vice-versa.

Before switching to Virtualhere I have done a cupple of exchanges with one of the most advanced USB over IP windows client driver opensource project owner to find a reliable solution, but windows client require to pay for a signed certificate, without this, this is a nightmare to make a reliable and user friendly client , having a signed certificate involve to pay for and the author have launched a crowfounding based on my advice.

I use virtualHere with Windows 11 & Raspberrypi3 and it work like a charm.

EDIT:

VirtualHere does require a compute device at your laser

nono, Absolutly no

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VirtualHere is perfect for OEM integration because:

  • Bring your own device - turn any linux based device into a USB Server! E.g raspberry pi0/1/2/3/4/5, desktop, router, switch, blade server or your custom pcb! You choose the most cost effective and suitable hardware for your use.

https://www.virtualhere.com/usb_server_software

EDIT:: It is a two minute server+client side installation and I can’t remember having a single failed/crash

I was referring to the Raspberry Pi at the laser device end as opposed to other commercial solutions which embed an ARM processor into a dongle which plugs into the laser.

Which has me thinking again, could be trouble LOL, there are many Bluetooth wireless RS232 dongles on the market so I wonder if these could work with an RS232-USB module… Probably more hassle just setting that up and it would mean 4 devices(a Bluetooth RS232 and RS232->USB) to work.

But no Webcam (USB), dont know if LB can handle IP caméra ?

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True that and good point. I was mainly focusing on the remote control of the laser by LightBurn. But ya, that camera is a great feature and should be enabled where possible.

:smile_cat:

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