Firmware-Update k8400 arduino 1.8.1

Vertex 3D Printer Vertex - Printer software (repetier, slicer, ...)
1

HI,

i have had a hard time to update the firmware of my brandnew k8400

thought i should do a step throug because i didnt find a nailed answer to the problem…

  1. Download Arduino ide ( V1.8.1 )
  2. Load up Marlin.ino ( vertex-m1-v1.4-h2\Marlin\Marlin.ino ) as an example.
  3. In Arduino IDE go to Tools -> Board -> Board Managment
  4. Search for “Arduino AVR Boards”
  5. Downgrade to 1.6.11 !!! ( Down-Left dropbox Version than Install)
  6. Check if it compiles…
  7. Dont forget the Boardjumper ( marked as JPROG )
  8. Hit Upload
  9. Wait… after upload it will recompile and flash the firmware ( caution progressbar stops when coimpiling is done… but will not show you flashing… just WAIT. takes abou a minute or less. )
  10. reset printer.

please tell me if i have forgot somethin…

regards MK

2

Use Arduino 1.0.x as stated in the instructions. Later versions won’t work.

3

In order to use Arduino > 1.0, you should use the newest Marlin version.

I adapted the config files of Marlin RC1.1 BugFix to make them work with a dual head K8400.

(I still have somme functionality to config, like LEDs commands M420)

You can download the firmware here :

github.com/cormier8/Marlin/tree/RCBugFix

It compile fine with Arduino 1.8.1

4

I am a little confused about Arduino versions & Vertex FW.

I have the current Velleman Vertex FW with a couple of modifications for dual E3D V6 heads & GT2 belts & pulleys, plus re-calibrated extruder. I have compiled & uploaded successfully on Windows 10 with Arduino 1.6.5 several times, although I do get a warning “Low memory available, stability problems may occur.” after compliation.

This morning I installed Arduino on a Linux machine and ‘apt install’ installed Arduino 2:1.0.5+dfsg2-4, the latest available as ubuntu package.

The FW still compiled successfully (without the low memory warning) but I haven’t tried to upload yet.

According to various comments on the forum I should only be using max 1.0.6 - am I missing something or am I likely to run into issues?

I do plan to upgrade to the RCBugFix version sometime soon.

John

5

To make the situation more curious, I would like to add my experience.

Within this forum there is the continuous statement to use Arduino 1.0.6 for the latest Vellemann firmware. This is the official statement from Vellemenn, any other work is on your own risk.

In fact, when using the next versions of the Arduino (1.1, 1,2) the compilation failed with a lot of warnings due to multiple redfinition of pins and an error due to improper variable declaration. This behavior was the major cause for me to work on the firmware and do my own modification.

For the later versions of the Arduino IDE this error doesn’t appear any longer, the original Vellemann firmware can be compiled with Arduino 1.5 and 1.6 without error messages (not tested with higher versions). It should be noted, that the resulting binaries have different sizes with respect to the compiled version with Arduino 1.0.6.

The transfer tool for the upload of the firmware is basically the same for all arduino versions, so there shouldn’t be any issue. I’m using the Arduino on a Linux machine without problems. Since I selected the Eclipse flavor “arduino-eclipse” for the software development, I’m using only the libraries from Arduino 1.5.7. Within this environment everything is fine and running.

6

Thanks for that feedback hoh61, it seems I was lucky going straight for 1.6.

7

Thanks for the boards info fix, I had lots of issues trying to compile the new marlin 1.1.8.

Now with the boards 1.6.11 had no issues compiling!

Thanks!!!