Hi, new starter is having trouble upgrading from 0.9 to 1.1. I have a woodpecker board on a Chinese machine and it has been running normally with 0.9 loaded. I want to upgrade to 1.1 but I either get a message "upgrade failed" in xloader or xloader freezes while it is saying "uploading". I only have one comm port listed and that is the one I am using with version 0.9. I am keeping the baud rate the same. I have used different copies of xloader and version 1.1 but with no luck. Can anyone help me? Please
You might try the Arduino IDE and download the grbl source code. Looks like the target would be Arduino Nano - Atmel 328P (if I'm looking at the correct board).
Hi Scotty, thanks for your swift reply, I checked the board you mentioned but It's nothing like mine. I will hopefully upload a picture of the exact board. I managed to flash 1.1 but now I get an "unknown" message and nothing works. I have tried to go back to 0.9 but all I get is "upload failed" message. I have emailed the supplier so hopefully I may get an answer from them but as it's in China I won't hold my breath. This is my first venture in to these machines so I'm a bit in the dark at the moment but I'm learning. One other thing I would like to know and that is, is it possible to wipe the board of everything and start again?
That is the board I looked at. It has the atmel 328p chip (Arduino Nano), so that is the target you should use if flashing using the Arduino IDE. I still suggest going that route. I can't promise it will work, but that's what I would try. And yes it's fine to start over. You will need to download the Arduino IDE from Arduino - Software . Then you will need to download the grbl source code from Releases · gnea/grbl · GitHub . Then you will need to carefully follow the instructions at Compiling Grbl · gnea/grbl Wiki · GitHub (Xloader instructions for windows at Flashing Grbl to an Arduino · gnea/grbl Wiki · GitHub but I wouldn't do it that way).
I managed to load 1.1 using the Arduino but still got the same result as I did using the Hex file. The up/down, left/right and spindle control buttons were greyed out and I had the word "unknown" in the box where it usually says "idle or running. I have found 9 different Hex file versions of the 0.9 for the atmega 328 so I tried the latest and it did flash but all the controls are opposite, left is right, forwards is backwards etc but I cannot swap wires round as on most boards because this one has plugs connected both ends of the wires. I think I will have to try the other 8 revisions as a trial and error to see if one will work. A lot of hours searching and I finally have 0.9 running ok. I have given up on 1.1, it just doesn't want to work with my machine, I will stick with 0.9. The solution believe it or not was that I had to open the Laser Lightfire software that also came with the machine and check all three axis boxes to reverse them. I had'nt even looked at the laser side of it as Iv'e been experimenting with the mill. Thanks Scotty, you did put me on the right path and you did confirm what board I have. Lets hope it keeps running smoothly.
I have the same board. You will not be able to program this board via Arduino because the manufacturer did not burn a boot loader into the 328P, and there are other problems as well. I have been trying to upgrade my board with GRBL1.1h. I was able to bring out the ISP pins (RST, MOSI, MISO, SCK , Vcc, Gnd) and tried to program it with my trusty AVR stk500v2 programmer but that did not work. I think there is a problem with the way the reset line is configured. This board has a 0.022uF cap from the RESET line to ground, and a 330R resistor from the reset line to the CH340 USB-to-Serial chip on tech DTR pin. This allows the USB serial to control the reset line. Normally Arduino Nano CH340 boards use a 10K pullup to Vcc from the reset line, and a 0.1uF cap to DTR. Another possibility is that one of the SPI pins has a capacitor attached for use with a GRBL function. Either way, it appears that this board can't be re-flashed, even with a programmer, without modification. I don't know why they didn't install the boot loader at the factory, as it would have cost them literally nothing since they were loading code anyway. It's possible that these are not real ATMEGA328s and can't run the boot loader for some reason, or it may just be an oversight. Onwards.
Hi, thanks for your reply, I gave up on that Chinese machine and board over a year ago. Steppers slipping and unreliable movements so I bought an Openbuilds Ox machine. Had countless hours of fun and frustration. The Ox never fails to deliver, but even that has been superseded by Workbee and Cbeam machines and I can't warrant an upgrade while the Ox is still going strong. Once again, thanks for your reply, Bob.
