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free-dmo / free-dmo-stm32

Endless freedom for D.MO 550 series label writer printer.
GNU General Public License v3.0
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Frequent disconnects #48

Open EldoradoGit opened 2 months ago

EldoradoGit commented 2 months ago

Hi There - i've modified a printer successfully, but it seems to have an issue where it requires frequent restarts of the printer (power light will randomly start flashing). It's happened 3-4 times a day, every day. I've opted to keep the rfid reader attached.

Do you have any recommendations on areas i should look?

KudzuKid commented 2 months ago

Hi There,

Without knowing exactly the state of things, quality of workmanship, etc. (no offense, please!), it's hard for me to say.

However, after some fair careers in IT and electronics, I might just make a guess:

Cold/intermittent/shorting soldered connections?

Normally, as I understand it - the way my 5XL works - I only get the rapid blink once I start Dymo Connect. Once I press the power button again, it behaves for the duration of the power cycle unless/until I quit the app or power cycle again.

So it makes me think something is 'spoofing' the signal to check the printer - and if it's happening randomly, then that might be either a bad solder connection (as above) or perhaps corrupted firmware? Just guessing.

Perhaps someone with more experience than I can help.

All the best!

On Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 3:49 PM EldoradoGit @.***> wrote:

Hi There - i've modified a printer successfully, but it seems to have an issue where it requires frequent restarts of the printer (power light will randomly start flashing). It's happened 3-4 times a day, every day. I've opted to keep the rfid reader attached.

Do you have any recommendations on areas i should look?

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/free-dmo/free-dmo-stm32/issues/48, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AF3VKASO3W5KB6X2KQZ7MU3ZTYZWZAVCNFSM6AAAAABNJCAJGGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ASLTON2WKOZSGQ4TEOJWGY2TEOI . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: @.***>

EldoradoGit commented 2 months ago

thanks for the comments! No offense taken, no worries!

I looked over the solder joints, and even reflowed them with air and flux. they look good to me.

one thing i noticed that i didn't notice before is that i dont think the board is genuine. The chip looks genuine when referring to guides online, but the reset button says "RESRT". I'm wondering if that's introducing some instability issues.

Another factor is our implementation is a little different. We are not printing from Dymo Connect, we're using Dymo's API to print directly from our software. I'm wondering if something is happening there...

EldoradoGit commented 2 months ago

Hi There, Without knowing exactly the state of things, quality of workmanship, etc. (no offense, please!), it's hard for me to say. However, after some fair careers in IT and electronics, I might just make a guess: Cold/intermittent/shorting soldered connections? Normally, as I understand it - the way my 5XL works - I only get the rapid blink once I start Dymo Connect. Once I press the power button again, it behaves for the duration of the power cycle unless/until I quit the app or power cycle again. So it makes me think something is 'spoofing' the signal to check the printer - and if it's happening randomly, then that might be either a bad solder connection (as above) or perhaps corrupted firmware? Just guessing. Perhaps someone with more experience than I can help. All the best! … On Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 3:49 PM EldoradoGit @.> wrote: Hi There - i've modified a printer successfully, but it seems to have an issue where it requires frequent restarts of the printer (power light will randomly start flashing). It's happened 3-4 times a day, every day. I've opted to keep the rfid reader attached. Do you have any recommendations on areas i should look? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#48>, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AF3VKASO3W5KB6X2KQZ7MU3ZTYZWZAVCNFSM6AAAAABNJCAJGGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ASLTON2WKOZSGQ4TEOJWGY2TEOI . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: @.>

I've got some more information.

I noticed that the Dymo will go to "sleep" (power LED gets dim) after 30 seconds if the DymoConnect software isn't running. The stock/original Dymo will recover from this sleep state, but the modified Dymo will not, requiring a power cycle.

EldoradoGit commented 2 months ago

Some more info... The dymo goes to sleep (USB LED on the front goes out) after 30 seconds if Dymo Connect isn't running. If I attempt to print in this state, the printer will wake up but power LED will flash.. I cannot print. If I wait another 30 seconds, the printer will go back to sleep.. USB LED goes out, power light stops flashing... And if I attempt to print again, it will print just fine...!

It looks like there's a problem with the label detection on the first wake up, but it works fine on the second wake up. Funny thing is, it does it with official Dymo labels as well as generic.