No Serial/USB facility

[RosieTheRabbit]

Version

Version of Slic3r Prusa Edition used goes here Use About->About Slic3r for release versions For -dev versions, use git describe --tag or get the hash value for the version you downloaded or git rev-parse HEAD

Slic3rPE-1.42.0-beta+win64-full-201903171406

Operating system type + version -

What OS are you using, and state any version #s In case of 3D rendering issues, please attach the content of menu Help -> System Info dialog

Windows 10 Home edition

3D printer brand / version + firmware version (if known) -

What 3D printer brand / version are you printing on, is it a stock model or did you modify the printer, what firmware is running on your printer, version of the firmware #s

Prusa I3Mk2.5s

Behavior

• Describe the problem
• Steps needed to reproduce the problem
  • If this is a command-line slicing issue, include the options used
• Expected Results
• Actual Results
  • Screenshots from Slic3r preview are preferred

In previous versions there was an option to set up the virtual Serial Comm port to allow connection from PC to Printer via USB cable. In the Configuration/Preferences menu there used to be an option to disable / enable the serial port. In the Printer Settings menu there was an option to select a Serial port and speed and do a test connection to the printer.

Neither of these two options are available.

Image one - screenshot of Serial Port enable/disable option

Image two - same menu in most recent version showing the Serial Port option missing

Image three - shows the selection of the Serial Port, speed and test button

Image four - shows that option of selecting Serial Port is not available now

Is this a new feature request?

No - it is a request to reinstate a very useful feature that has been left out of latest version

Project File (.3MF) where problem occurs

Upload a Slic3r PE Project File (.3MF) (Plater -> Export plate as 3MF for Slic3r PE 1.41.2 and older, File -> Save / Save Project for Slic3r PE 1.42.0-alpha and newer)

Problem occurs all the time

By the way - thanks for a fantastic piece of software.

[HuguesDug]

Same problem for my version.

It is really a missing capability of last release 1.42.0-beta + win64

[RosieTheRabbit]

Prusa commented that the USB/Serial connectivity to the printer has been removed from latest versions of Slic3r. I don't really understand why but it is what it is. For Firmware upgrades, the part of Slic3r that does that is still able to connect via USB/Serial so upgrading to a newer firmware won't be a problem.

There are other options but to be honest I am just putting the GCode onto an SD card on my PC and the putting that in the printer. There is a benefit to doing printing this way. If the PC decides to restart, like it did after installing windows updates recently, in the middle of a print job then the file on the SD is unaffected. If I'd had the PC controlling the printer there would have been loud and extreme expletives coming from my workshop after over 20 hours of printing was wasted. Lucky for me I was already using the SD card method.

An alternative is CURA. On the PRUSA site there is a link to the configuration files for Cura for the various things like material, bed size and so on. Seems to work OK and you can use the USB/Serial link to control the printer.

I think if Prusa receive enough requests to reinstate USB/Serial capability they might reconsider - who knows ?

[uniacke1]

I'd like to request it be reinstated as well - I found it very useful for quickly iterating over various print settings (calibration prints, for example) as opposed to doing the SD card shuffle. Sure, it may not be ideal for lengthy prints but I think the legitimate use case of successive short prints is a valid one.

[supermerill]

You can install octoprint as a middle-man between slic3rPE and the printer. "send to printer" will send it to octoprint and it can start the print directly. You need to install an other software, but it's much more powerful and versatile.

[nate98252]

The usb/serial feature was very handy don't remove it. forcing people to do things a certain way is kind of messed up.....give your users options instead of taking them away

[vojtechkral]

forcing people to do things a certain way is kind of messed up.....give your users options instead of taking them away

The USB serial feature was kind of messed up too. It wasn't removed in a bad faith to force users to do something, it was removed because we figured we don't have the cycles to fix / polish / finalize / maintain it, and so it was removed rather than keeping an unreliable functionality.

[frakman1]

it was removed rather than keeping an unreliable functionality.

That's interesting. I didn't know it was unreliable. It has worked almost perfectly for me. If it ever failed to start a print for whatever reason, I just hit Disconnect, and Connect and it worked fine. That is a lot less hassle than shuffling SD cards around and selecting the file from the menu every time I made a small change and wanted to try again.

I'm sure you weren't acting in bad faith either. Still, it's very disappointing to have a very convenient and crucial (albeit slightly flawed and imperfect) feature go away so suddenly and completely like this. I hope you will reconsider and re-instate USB printing in the future.

[davidelang]

On Fri, 17 May 2019, Frak wrote:

I'm sure you weren't acting in bad faith either. Still, it's very disappointing to have a very convenient and crucial (albeit slightly flawed and imperfect) feature go away so suddenly and completely like this. I hope you will reconsider and re-instate USB printing in the future.

The good thing about having the project in git is that it's very easy to pull back in code that was removed, so if anyone is willing to do the needed development, they can pick it up fairly easily.

I'm new here, what were the problems that people were having that got it marked as unreliable?

David Lang

[HuguesDug]

Via USB, I had sometime the necessity to go to the touch pannel of the printer and to do a "confirmation" thing for the print to start... but otherwise, never had any kind of problem in USB.

Still, seeing this option was gone, I installed Octoprint. It took me a week-end and 50 euros to do so... I would have like to avoid this spending, although Octoprint is top.

[TimBloom]

The card-shuffle is unacceptable in my situation. I won't be using this PrusaSlicer until it's reimplemented. I have had no problem with it from Mac until now.

[pepelevamp]

oh my god this is driving me insane. they have removed this feature for the most ridiculous of reasons. it is NOT ok to make using sd-cards the norm. how are you going to make 3d printing common-place if they insist on this weird sd-card thing?

gcode? exporting? what the hell is that? we don't need to know these things. by removing usb printing you've made it necessarily for people to do technical things. and given them lots of extra steps.

it is an extremely unwise decision to remove USB printing. and why? because it was effort to maintain? it worked fine before.

[RosieTheRabbit]

I have been using the usb connection since I first got my printer, years ago. Never once had a problem transferring models direct from slic3r. Faffing around with SD card is a total nightmare. The thing is that the slic3r still has usb capability cos the firmware updates have to be done that way.

Senseless drop of a useful feature.

On 24 May 2019, at 18:01, pepelevamp notifications@github.com wrote:

oh my god this is driving me insane. they have removed this feature for the most ridiculous of reasons. it is NOT ok to make using sd-cards the norm. how are you going to make 3d printing common-place if they insist on this weird sd-card thing?

gcode? exporting? what the hell is that? we don't need to know these things. by removing usb printing you've made it necessarily for people to do technical things. and given them lots of extra steps.

it is an extremely unwise decision to remove USB printing. and why? because it was effort to maintain? it worked fine before.

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[StephenRC]

I haven't used USB since I bought a Duet. :)

On Fri, 24 May 2019 10:01:47 -0700, pepelevamp notifications@github.com had a flock of green cheek conures squawk out:

oh my god this is driving me insane. they have removed this feature for the most ridiculous of reasons. it is NOT ok to make using sd-cards the norm. how are you going to make 3d printing common-place if they insist on this weird sd-card thing?

gcode? exporting? what the hell is that? we don't need to know these things. by removing usb printing you've made it necessarily for people to do technical things. and given them lots of extra steps.

it is an extremely unwise decision to remove USB printing. and why? because it was effort to maintain? it worked fine before.

[vojtechkral]

From technical standpoint, I don't think the USB Sender GUI was ever re-written from Perl. There are also some problems in the C++ part, it doesn't build against new versions of Boost, for instance. I also remember there being some realiability problems, either during in-house testing or maybe even reported, I don't remember which one.

TL;DR to include the Sender in the current or next release, it would need to be refactored one way or another. No one has had the cycles to do that. Sorry.

[haarp]

Due to the removal in Slic3r/Prusaslicer, I ended up writing a small G-code streamer for Linux in Python. It shouldn't be too hard to adapt for Windows either. It does exactly the same, but being independent from the slicer means you don't lose a print when your slicer crashes yet again. And it shows you the current line in the G-code file it's at, so you can restart it with the next line in case you accidently unplug the USB cable or something (untested)

Find it here: https://gist.github.com/haarp/79d957f5be7e2de437dc41dd1b38eace

[frakman1]

@haarp That's an awesome python utility. Thank you for sharing. I had no idea it was so straightforward to write to the printer like that.

So you mean if I know what line I was at, I can start from there and it will continue where I left off? I've lost so many prints midway due to filament change errors that never fully recovered and ended up resetting the printer.

I can't wait to try this at home on Windows. If I get it to work , I'll post an update.

[haarp]

So you mean if I know what line I was at, I can start from there and it will continue where I left off?

Yes, exactly. My script will also continuously print the line number so you know where you stopped.

But I just remembered that the printer resets when you first open the serial port, and I haven't figured out a way to prevent that. So unfortunately you can't continue prints as-is, since the printer needs the setup g-codes again, or at the very least the temperatures.

[vojtechkral]

But I just remembered that the printer resets when you first open the serial port, and I haven't figured out a way to prevent that.

You can't prevent that, sorry. The printers are hard-wired to reset on serial connection. The purpose of that is to ensure that the printer is in a well-defined state upon serial connection.

[frakman1]

Even after a reset of the printer, can we just do an initial setup (set temperature but skip the bed leveling) then continue with the print?

[haarp]

I've updated the script to try to avoid the reset if a print is to be resumed. I've also moved it to it's own repo to avoid spamming the PrusaSlicer issue tracker with this topic. It can be found here: https://github.com/haarp/gcode-streamer

[BorisKozo]

I am just starting with my MK3S and I can't believe I can't print directly from the PC. My other printer CEL ROBOX has this option and I worked with it all the time.

[owebeeone]

I just got my MK3 and I am very disappointed this is missing. I was using an someone else's printers and it was working perfectly with this and now I have this funky thing with sneakernet and sdcards. No loving it.

[pepelevamp]

well-said. me too. me freaking too. it really, really cheeses me off.

On Sat, 25 May 2019 at 05:28, RosieTheRabbit notifications@github.com wrote:

I have been using the usb connection since I first got my printer, years ago. Never once had a problem transferring models direct from slic3r. Faffing around with SD card is a total nightmare. The thing is that the slic3r still has usb capability cos the firmware updates have to be done that way.

Senseless drop of a useful feature.

On 24 May 2019, at 18:01, pepelevamp notifications@github.com wrote:

oh my god this is driving me insane. they have removed this feature for the most ridiculous of reasons. it is NOT ok to make using sd-cards the norm. how are you going to make 3d printing common-place if they insist on this weird sd-card thing?

gcode? exporting? what the hell is that? we don't need to know these things. by removing usb printing you've made it necessarily for people to do technical things. and given them lots of extra steps.

it is an extremely unwise decision to remove USB printing. and why? because it was effort to maintain? it worked fine before.

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[dietzm]

I send gcode files through dropbox, google drive or direct network connection to a cheap Android tablet which is connected through USB to the MK3S. Then using the GCodePrintr App to print works reliably.

[Gallion]

This is incredibly annoying. I hadn't used my printer in a while. Right now I can't print because I have nothing to read/write an SD card with and those crappy little SD to USB readers just keep breaking.

[BorisKozo]

I started using Pronterface that comes with the Prusa Slicer and its ok. The annoying thing is that it is live so you cant turn off the computer while it prints but it does solve the problem

[supermerill]

The annoying thing is that it is live so you cant turn off the computer while it prints

so as the USB Sender, no?

[BorisKozo]

The annoying thing is that it is live so you cant turn off the computer while it prints

so as the USB Sender, no?

Before Prusa I had CEL Robox and when you print something on it via USB, the g-code is transmitted to the printer internal memory and you can turn off the computer. The only thing Prusa needed to do is to have an option to write to the SD card directly over the USB connection then all this fuss would be avoided.

[vintagepc]

Technically Marlin has that capability but from what I recall because you're writing to the SD over SPI it's incredibly slow and not really practical. (as in minutes for even a small file).

[pepelevamp]

Before Prusa I had CEL Robox and when you print something on it via USB, the g-code is transmitted to the printer internal memory and you can turn off the computer. The only thing Prusa needed to do is to have an option to write to the SD card directly over the USB connection then all this fuss would be avoided.

this. this is exactly what i said too. people say that its slow - well, ok let it be slow. the prints take hours to finish. send the first 100kb of gcode before the print starts, and then read in & save the sd-card as the print is going.

i hear the microcontroller has no DMA which kind of sucks. you know what could have solved this problem? an 8mb memory buffer. buying a second computer (raspi) and connecting it to the bus of the printer is no safer than an x86 linux machine talking to it over USB.

we want 3d printing to be normal and easy. this means no floppy disks and removing bullshit like 'export' steps.

[flxs]

Quite disappointed this is missing. I don't really see how transferring files using a USB key or SD card is supposed to be a viable alternative for quickly iterating on small parts (like, just the hinge part of a larger model) – am I supposed to perform this ballet every 20 minutes, for hours on end if need be? I don't really believe I'm the only person with that sort of workflow. I've never had any issues with USB printing over what must be thousands of prints with other printers and software. Being able to quickly eyeball whether what's on the build plate on the other side of the room roughly matches the live preview on screen has saved me a couple of times.

[vintagepc]

TBH now that the latest build supports uploading directly to FlashAir cards, I miss this feature a lot less. I can basically one-click iterations of any slice over to the printer without doing the SD card shuffle.

[scotfor]

Seems absurd to remove USB given that it is a mature technology. I am learning 3d printing with a friends Lulzbot (using USB cable with no problems) and was going to buy an MK3. I am just now testing the prusa slicer and discovered this USB problem. It is enough of an issue for me that I may not get the MK3.

[BorisKozo]

I use Pronterface which comes bundled with PrusaSlicer and it works ok. Still weird to see this feature gone from the main app

[frakman1]

Yes, I use Pronterface. It's an extra step but at least I don't have to move files around or use an SD card. I actually like Pronterface because it lets me manually control the printer which I often need to do.

[majodi]

What? Wait a minute, is this true that the Prusa slicer can not print?? So, to print I have to save the file to a memory stick, walk to the printer stick it in, choose the file again? For every iteration? What is this? For years I used Cura and just click print. Now that I got my Prusa mini of course I immediately downloaded the Prusa slicer but can not find a print button. I looked at this Prontoface pyton thing but it will not run on a Mac (we only have Macs here). So when will Prusa add this most basic functionality of sending the bytes to the printer directly? And what do I do in the mean time? Use Cura? I was hoping for close integration (I read somewhere that the Prusa slicer will produce specialized gcode).

[frakman1]

There is a Pronterface for Mac. I am running it on my High Sierrea MBP. Direct link here Project page here

[majodi]

There is a Pronterface for Mac. I am running it on my High Sierrea MBP.

High Sierra? That was 2017..., of course I updated many times since then. Also I don't know about a Python script thingy with dependencies etc. I think I have a look at Repetier Server (I use that to print gcode to my CNC machine also). But very disappointing to find out that the official Prusa software can not even print to their own printers in 2020.

[frakman1]

Also I don't know about a Python script thingy with dependencies

It's an app. You don't have to worry about any dependencies. You just open it like any other app.

[frakman1]

For 64 bit only MacOS like Catalina and above, you'll need this version:

[majodi]

For 64 bit only MacOS linke Catalina and above, you'll need this version:

Okay, Printrun and Repetier Server both work. I will have to find out which one I prefer. Repetier is just using a daemon, the UI is through a browser which has the advantage that it (the UI) can run on any machine on the (same) network, even a phone. Both need tweaking for the correct bed settings (I think the home position for the Mini is 176/24). I hope Prusa will have a decent solution soon (preferable printing directly from the slicer to the printer connected by UTP, wifi or USB).

[flxs]

Another option to get a somewhat similar experience would be to use Octoprint; that requires a Raspberry Pi, but you can set an Octoprint URL in PrusaSlicer and then it'll give you another button next to "Export GCode" that will send the print directly to Octoprint and optionally start it right away. It's not controlling the printer directly, Octoprint does that, but it takes care of the SD/USB key part very well.

I think Prusa said at some point they want to put something like Octoprint on the Mini, so that may be the general direction they're moving. I've been using it like this for quite a while now, and it's been a very nice experience (though if you have different needs YMMV.)

[majodi]

Yep, after working with Repetier Server for some time now I'm fine with the setup. I have a dedicated old notebook attached to the Mini and on my design desk computer I have the UI of Repetier open and also (remote) webcam of the notebook. So now I can design and slice, then upload and print plus watch the printer from one place. This works for me now but I can see Octoprint also as a good solution. Maybe Prusa could make a deal with Repetier or Octoprint to bundle it as a complete solution. Anyway, I guess my expectations were a bit too high. But on the positive side I can see Prusa growing in this area.

[pepelevamp]

all prusa has to do is reinstate the USB printing facility and then say 'the problems with USB printing are not because of us' and then leave it at that. Because not everybody has problems with USB. If there are any problems with USB its because of the silly implementations.

If somebody's USB port plays up during a print - then that is nothing to do with prusa-slicer. this whole thing is a terrible miscalculation and reinforced an awful norm of 'sd cards'.

Its not OK to make it seem normal to use yet another system to 3D print like octoprint or repetier. A desktop laserjet printer has no problem taking in megabytes at a time & then printing. The whole situation is a cop-out.

On Mon, 20 Jul 2020 at 03:03, Majodi Ploegmakers notifications@github.com wrote:

Yep, after working with Repetier Server for some time now I'm fine with the setup. I have a dedicated old notebook attached to the Mini and on my design desk computer I have the UI of Repetier open and also (remote) webcam of the notebook. So now I can design and slice, then upload and print plus watch the printer from one place. This works for me now but I can see Octoprint also as a good solution. Maybe Prusa could make a deal with Repetier or Octoprint to bundle it as a complete solution. Anyway, I guess my expectations were a bit too high. But on the positive side I can see Prusa growing in this area.

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[pepelevamp]

furthermore why should you use an entire complete linux operating system on a raspi just to send gcode to a printer, when you can use a USB cable with a complete linux OS (say my workstation) to send gcode to the printer? the decision to remove USB printing can be proven-stupid in 101 different ways.

On Tue, 21 Jul 2020 at 06:00, Pepe le Vamp pepelevamp@gmail.com wrote:

all prusa has to do is reinstate the USB printing facility and then say 'the problems with USB printing are not because of us' and then leave it at that. Because not everybody has problems with USB. If there are any problems with USB its because of the silly implementations.

If somebody's USB port plays up during a print - then that is nothing to do with prusa-slicer. this whole thing is a terrible miscalculation and reinforced an awful norm of 'sd cards'.

Its not OK to make it seem normal to use yet another system to 3D print like octoprint or repetier. A desktop laserjet printer has no problem taking in megabytes at a time & then printing. The whole situation is a cop-out.

On Mon, 20 Jul 2020 at 03:03, Majodi Ploegmakers notifications@github.com wrote:

Yep, after working with Repetier Server for some time now I'm fine with the setup. I have a dedicated old notebook attached to the Mini and on my design desk computer I have the UI of Repetier open and also (remote) webcam of the notebook. So now I can design and slice, then upload and print plus watch the printer from one place. This works for me now but I can see Octoprint also as a good solution. Maybe Prusa could make a deal with Repetier or Octoprint to bundle it as a complete solution. Anyway, I guess my expectations were a bit too high. But on the positive side I can see Prusa growing in this area.

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[flxs]

It seems Simplify3D recently added a profile for the Prusa Mini, so that would be another alternative for those with a license. They support all the other Prusas as well as far as I can see. I've been using it for years and while the UX could use some polishing, it's incredibly capable and the support generation might be reason enough to give it a try with my Mini. I wonder if I can get Simplify3D to run on a Raspi 4...

Besides, I've checked again, in their last firmware update notification for the Mini Prusa specifically mention:

We have enabled the first section of Prusa Connect Local. By connecting your MINI to a local area network, you can use your web browser to monitor the status of the ongoing print job. Prusa Connect Local will evolve over time to give you complete control over your networked 3D printers, and it will become a full-fledged print farm software.

So at least for the Mini, the need for a separate Octoprint/Repetier Server machine seems to be going away. Yay for network 3D printing out of the box?

[pepelevamp]

looks great for the newer printers that have internet capability. problem is - ya shouldn't need to have these things on the network. operating systems today are garbage and putting these things on the network is just asking for trouble unless you can secure the whole environment they sit in.

its just one more IoT bullshit device talking over the network when it doesn't need to. prusa forget about their old printers & they will forget about the prusa minis too in time. they will just forget and you're left with some out of date untrustable device that needs the internet or a raspi to function. theres no longevity there. all thats needed is a COM port over USB. even if you had 3 printers, im sure you got more than 3 usb ports.

this is all just wankery & not really a solution to the problem that they artificially created by removing USB support.

On Tue, 21 Jul 2020 at 09:36, flxs notifications@github.com wrote:

It seems Simplify3D recently added a profile for the Prusa Mini, so that would be another alternative for those with a license and a Mini. They support all the other Prusas as well as far as I can see.

I've checked again, in their last firmware update notification for the Mini they specifically mention:

We have enabled the first section of Prusa Connect Local. By connecting your MINI to a local area network, you can use your web browser to monitor the status of the ongoing print job. Prusa Connect Local will evolve over time to give you complete control over your networked 3D printers, and it will become a full-fledged print farm software.

So at least for the Mini, the need for a separate Octoprint/Repetier Server machine seems to be going away. Yay for network 3D printing out of the box?

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[vojtechkral]

@pepelevamp What with the amount of rudeness in your comments I really am not keen on writing an elaborate reply, so I'll just state for the record that the USB facility wasn't arbitrarily removed, it was just never ported over from the old perl-based implenetation, because no one had the cycles to do decisions on it, refactor the implementation (which would've been inevitable), re-create the GUI, test the thing, maintain it... There wasn't manpower to do it, it's as simple as that...

[pepelevamp]

@pepelevamp What with the amount of rudeness in your comments I really am not keen on writing an elaborate reply, so I'll just state for the record that the USB facility wasn't arbitrarily removed, it was just never ported over from the old perl-based implenetation, because no one had the cycles to do decisions on it, refactor the implementation (which would've been inevitable), re-create the GUI, test the thing, maintain it... There wasn't manpower to do it, it's as simple as that...

for starters being 'rude' and actually describing something thats awful arent the same thing. second of all 'not porting it over' is the same as removing it from the software, if they port over everything else.

and their 'no good reasons for it' is whats on the table and being critiqued here. and saying there's nobody there to do manpower, testing etc is a non-starter. that applies to everything the software does and makes it just as relevant as any other feature from the manpower standpoint.

the bottom line is its a poor decision to remove USB printing support. alternatives to it such as sdcards, or network-printing via an entire new computer clipped into the mainboard - are simply ridiculous & overkill.

if you have a computer online 24/7 next to a 3d printer, which is hardly strange - then USB is realistic. its certainly a lot better than sdcards. if you're concerned about longevity of the USB port than that is a windows problem or what not & you can use an alternative.

[vojtechkral]

and saying there's nobody there to do manpower, testing etc is a non-starter. that applies to everything the software does and makes it just as relevant as any other feature from the manpower standpoint.

There's X features, each of which is considered critical by Y people, and then there's Z devs to implement & maintain them, who also have some opinions on the feature set. Your favourite feature would've been implemented if Z and/or Y were higher, but that wasn't the case, so it wasn't. I'm not sure what exactly you're hoping to accomplish here, attitude the devs into implementing it? You don't need the device connected to internet, just local network is fine, or you could even install octoprint directly on your PC. If you say it's up 24/7, that pretty much makes it a server anyway...