Ref. Image below. As soon as I hit that start button in the Live Framing pop-up, etching commences.
I’m a new user of Lightburn. I’ve dug through different settings but cannot figure out why my laser etches instead of frames. I am unsure if it’s a configuration issue or faulty software.
Just to clarify, is the laser marking as soon as the Live Framing window opens (“When I press the frame button my laser immediately etches”), or only when you press the Start button in the Live Framing window (“As soon as I hit that start button in the Live Framing pop-up, etching commences”)?
If it’s the former, can you share a screenshot of your IO Port settings under Device Settings > Ports and Laser Settings? If you have the Start Framing port configured incorrectly it could trigger the laser to start marking instead.
Hey Mate. I really appreciate the assistance. I’m away from my computer-laser for a few days but will get back to you soon with that screen shot.
Big thank you.
Thanks for this. Since you have no ports set, there is nothing in those settings that could cause the Framing button to trigger marking.
I have a couple more questions now.
When you press Start, does the Framing screen open? If not, that part is an easy fix - go to Laser Tools → Device Settings and make enable Require Framing Before Start.
When you first set up your device profile, did you import the markcgg7 file from your EZCad2 folder? That file includes several settings that are important for your machine to work properly. Since you have no ports set currently, it’s possible you need to set the correct Red Dot port to get framing working. If you never imported those settings, try doing so now. You can find instructions on that here, but in your case instead of going back through Fine My Laser, you can just click Devices in the Laser Window, double-click your current device profile, and go through the setup process again.
I checked the Monport USB. It doesn’t contain a markcfg7.cfg file because the machine uses BSLFibre (BslAppSimple) rather than EZCad2.
It also came with a factory LightBurn Param File.ibdev. Does that change your thoughts on why Frame immediately starts engraving instead of framing when using Lightburn?
I had another guy reach out to me through the forum. He is experiencing the same framing (or lack of) issue.
Yes, rather than the markcfg7 file, you should be looking for a BslCAD.cfg or LmcPar.cfg file in the “config” folder you see on your thumb drive. I would hope the .lbdev file Monport provided eliminated the need to load the .cfg file, but given the issue you’re seeing I think it’s best to make sure you try loading it.
However, I am still not 100% clear on the exact behavior you’re seeing, however. Can you clarify which of these it is?
You press start and the laser fires immediately.
You press Start and the Framing window opens, but the laser does not Frame. When you press Frame, the Framing window opens, but the laser does not frame. The laser fires when you press Start in the Framing window.
To confirm what is happening.
When I press the frame button, the “Live framing” window appears. I then press start and the laser immediately etches. I believe it should frame at this point.
I checked the USB and can confirm it contains both BslCAD.cfg and LmcPar.cfg. My Lightburn installation doesn’t have an option to import the .cfg file - only to load a COR file.
I’ve checked the Device Setting and nothing appears obviously wrong
Please note *I have updated my LightBurn to the new version 2.1.03 but this has not fixed the problem.
I have two lasers available within LightBurn. BSLFiber and bm.See image:
BM is the laser that is configured and the one that I use. I did a trial by changing to the BSLFiber laser, and when I pressed frame and then start the laser did not immediately etch but it did not frame either. Nothing happened.
So I am still unable to frame.
Also, I’m not sure if this is what is supposed to happen but I have a red laser that remains on at all times when the laser is turned on.
When the Live Framing window opens, the laser should begin framing. Pressing Start should cause it to fire, as you’re seeing, so that part is correct.
You will need to click Devices in the Laser Window, then double-click your “bm” device profile.
Click Next to keep the device type as BSLFiber, then click Import SEACad Config, and load the BslCAD.cfg file, then click Next and finally Finish through the rest of the wizard. Be sure to click OK to close out of the Devices window at the end. If you click Cancel or X-out, the changes will not be saved.
I followed your instructions. And now my BM configured laser (the one I imported the SEACad Config and BsiCAD.cfg file to) no longer works. No framing, no etching.
To test to see if my laser would still work I selected the other device (called BSLFiber) that is not configured and that device worked, kind of. It did not frame, but it etched immediately when I pressed start from the live framing window. I think it etched upside down and sideways.
Previously when I press the frame button and the pop up ‘live framing’ window appears using my old BM device I could hear a noise from my laser and that sound changes when I swap between frame types in the live framing window. ie..swapping between bounds, hull or contour. This noise also happens when test with the unconfigured BSLFiber device. It sounds like it could be trying to frame if that is even a sound that exists.
Questions - brainstorming:
Could it be framing very lightly and I cannot see it?
2, And to confirm, the laser always frames exactly where it etches? (I know where it will etch from my red dot which is zeroed).
Can I get my old BM Device working again now that I’ve added the BsICAD.cfg file, if so how?
If not, do I need reinstall and configure a new laser from scratch?
When I press the frame button in the Laser window - the live framing window comes up. At this point does the laser normally immediately start framing. And when you press ‘start’ from the live framing window - this is the command that starts the laser’s etching?
Noting my preference is to get my device working properly where I can frame and etch.
I think that is unlikely, if you can otherwise see the red dot clearly. But it is worth exploring a hardware failure, so if you have not already emailed Monport I recommend opening a ticket.
The laser should Frame exactly where it etches, but you may need to dial in your Red Dot offsets to get it perfect - if we figure out how to get your laser framing, and it’s off a bit, I can send you resources on that.
Before we discuss options for reverting to your previous settings, can you share a screenshot of the IO port settings in the Device Settings window, with the BSLCad.cfg file loaded? Then, can you try loading the LmcPar.cfg file, and send us a screenshot of that? (and test that configuration).
same as above ^
That is correct - normally when you press Frame in the Laser Window, the Live Framing window opens and the laser immediately begins framing. When you press Start, the laser starts etching.
@misken wrote this German review for an early Monport Gpro a while ago. (Maybe, he has some insights about the correct settings since Monport changed to a different controller and galvo head.)
Monport used to ship this with an EZCad2 controller, and the .lbdev file won’t directly work for the BSL controller.
A screenshot of the IO ports and the config files as Tyler mentioned will be helpful.
@Bigmulloquick test: See if disabling “Red Dot Always On” in the Device Settings helps.
Does the red dot that you see on the workarea appear to come out of the lens, or from the side of the galvo head?
The noise you hear from the galvo head sounds like the mirrors are moving while framing, but the red dot through the lens is not turning on.
This is becoming a battle. I appreciate your tenacity.
The below image is the port and laser config, after I uploaded the LmcPar.cfg. When you said instead of. the ScICAD.cfg… what I did was…edit my laser (which had the ScICAD.cfg imported to it already and then imported the LmcPar.cfg over that profile. Is that correct?
After downloading the LmcPar.cfg file the laser did not work, the framing did not work, there was no sound.
The below screen shot is the BM 150 laser with the ScICAD.cfg uploaded and in this configuration there the laser does not frame or etch and there is no sound.
When I go back to the unconfigured BSLFiber device when I hit frame it continues to make a noise.
The lasers’ red dots appear larger than the red dot aim point. But not large - under 10mm (this could be because it’s not configured).. I believe it was at the correct aiming height. I expanded the image to 200mm x 200m but the lasers size did not expand when in framing mode.
From your question: When I use my unconfigured laser device the laser’s are the two from the side of the galvo head. These are the lasers that make noise when in framing mode.
The red dot’s from the lens (for the device that I named… BM 150) I previously used this device to etch and have uploaded the new files to but now no longer works for etching and yep framing has never worked.
Some good leads. I’ll follow up and let you know if I crack this one.
The first screenshot, with the LmcPar.cfg file imported, looks the most plausible to me because it has actual port settings (and 0 is a common Red Dot port for BSL-based lasers).
Obviously it’s a problem that it’s still not framing or firing with that configuration but I suspect that’s getting us closer to correct.
With that configuration loaded, can you try disabling Red Dot Always On and see if that helps?
One other important question - with that configuration loaded have you verified you’re successfully connected to the laser? You should see “Ready” in the Laser Window if so.
With the LmcPar.cgc file imported the laser will not connect (I previously didn’t notice that). When I switch devices to the alternate unconfigured laser it automatically connects to that one but loses the connection every time I switch back to the BM 150 configured device. Device setting screen shot image is below.
Could you please let me know how to enable this connection? Thank you.
Once I am able to connect, I will disable the ‘red dot always on’ tab under that profile and run a test.
The first step is to check the serial port dropdown menu and make sure you have the correct COM port selected when you are on the LmcPar.cfg device. You can find that in the Laser Window.
