Hello First time here. When I plug usb into xPRO board and connect to the proper com port I do not get the grbl settings from the board. Some info becomes Highlighted like it connects. But that's it. Thanks Jeff
Got the right baud rate? Is this a brand new board? Try talking directly to the xpro via a terminal program.
Greetings Phil, Need your help...please I just set up my xPro (version 3, GRBL at version 9) which I am trying to update ...I had the board for a while and I just installed it in my box build this weekend so the firmware is behind, in any event I plugged / connected to my laptop via a usb cable, my laptop is running windows 10 and the xPro board does not register or show up, I get the chime sound indicating that something has been connected but no corresponding visual indication, both power and the led's for each of the axis's on the xPro board are on but there is no visible connection. on my laptop..so there is no way for me to access the board.. Would greatly appreciate your input... Window 10 is current for all updates and no attempt by windows to install drivers... I was going to use the XLoader 3. Updating GRBL Firmware · Spark-Concepts/xPRO Wiki · GitHub Method 1: Update firmware using XLoader NOTE: MAC/Linux users may follow Method 2 or upload GRBL firmware (*.hex files) using AVRDude included in the Arduino IDE software - MAC Users / Linux Users XLoader is a simple Windows based program that can be used to reload GRBL Firmware or any *.hex file to an arduino compatible board without the need for a flash programmer. Then simply connect USB to the xPRO, start XLoader.exe, choose the xPRO COM port, pick a hex file and press upload. That’s it! Releases · gnea/grbl · GitHub v1.1f (2017-08-01) Release chamnit released this on Jul 18, 2017 Assets 83.8 KB grbl_v1.1f.20170801.hex Regards Ed Zac,
The xPro has an embedded Arduino. So you need the drivers used to communicate with an Arduino to be installed. Take a look at the Arduino webpage and either download their IDE (which installs the right drivers) or see if there is a driver-only download that you can use.
What program are you using on your PC to talk to the xPro? I like GRBL Panel and bCNC but any of them should work. Look to see if they offer a port. I'm not that familiar with the XPro - the "connection" chime may simply be from getting power, not an actual USB connection. Try the normal things you do when debugging a USB connection: switch to a different USB port on the PC, try a different PC, try a different known good cable, verify drivers (check for updates and such). The wiki has a few other things for this kind of situation. Try installing the Arduino IDE and see if the board's port shows up. By the way, I went to the spark web site and checked their forum - yikes! they'd be better off just getting rid of it.
Greetings Jonathan, Phil, I want to thank you both for responding, I have spent the better part of the day working on this.... Phil: Yes the Sparks forum appears to be hijacked ... I bought the board from Open Builds and did not check the forum out first.. hopefully it will get remedied.. For the Firmware upgrade to the Xpro - I had two options that I could possibly manage with my limited skill sets.. Compiling Grbl - Not Used Compiling Grbl · grbl/grbl Wiki · GitHub I downloaded the Adrino IDE and almost attempted to load the GRBLe files... however I found some discrepancies between the instructions and the GRBL file structure as downloaded and decided that I did not want to risk loading the wrong Library and then having to fix... Method 1: Update firmware using XLoader - I went with this 3. Updating GRBL Firmware · Spark-Concepts/xPRO Wiki · GitHub I ended up updating the firmware via the HEX file which I finally got to work after getting the proper drivers to finally load in windows 10 Hopefully I did this right? ...confirmation below was not sure about the "Device"... but it seems to have worked as it confirmed that 30492 bytes uploaded... and I did see the XPro board based LED's flickering while the upload was in progress.. and I did not get any error messages during or after, however I don't think that the X load utility is capable of any feedback other that bytes uploaded... One thing that is still throwing me off ... the xPro board is pluged in I still cant see it from my computer, below ... this is all I see, I tried acessing using UniversalGcodeSender-v1.0.9, but there is no visability... it;s only a utility... How do I confirm?: Uno (ATmega328) Current GRBL revision / level Or is this normal????? Thanks again to both of you... Regards, Ed Zac
You won't see anything in that view. I connected a Nano GRBL breakout board to my PC. It uses an Arduino Nano but it's work just the same as any other Arduino running GRBL (like your xPRO). Here's what I see. In GRBL Panel you will see a com port (com10 in this case) In the Arduino IDE, you will see a com port (com10 again) I don't use the gcode sender app but I bet it's similar.
Hi Phil, I see that I have Com 1 and Com 6.. I guess that will have to suffice, thank you for patiently pointing this out.. BTW..in your screen shoot of your GRBL panel what software is that from? For the X Load - Does the Device type matter ? I used Uno(ATmega328) was this correct....? I have a small brain....Comparatively the Arduino IDE looks like it automatically identified the arduino sub type ... which shows something different. than what I selected in the X loader...which had only 5 items to choose from... to the uninitiated it's confusing.. Thanks and Regards Ed Zac
GRBL Panel is the software. Look Here. I wish it ran on Linux because it would be great for my Raspberry PI that I use to drive my CNC machine. I'm not sure what Arduino the xPro pretends to be. I'd guess an Uno but best to find out from the spark site. And, yes, type does matter but it should reject the wrong selection. As to the Arduino IDE automatically determining board type - no it doesn't I preselected the Genuino Uno and what was running was a Nano.
Thank you helping me navigate all this, I got the GRBL interface, I have also contacted Open Builds (since they know when and what I purchased) about the Arduino sub type for supporting the Xloader...Based on their response I will re flash my board if necessary.. I am finishing the box build this week and will start to assemble the OX Metal / Daz CNC build, I will hook this all up and see what happens, I will probably have a few more questions for you then... Regards, Ed Zac
Hi Joe, Here is my box build, Its not a full size PC tower..so it's tight as I am using a mini tower.....https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147248> Bear in mind, I have no experience with building anything electronic.... plugged it in every time I added something, thankfully I had no issues. I have to say that learning to solder was a challenge... I bought myself a nice little Weller WES51 that was a real pleasure to use.. Follow Up - Well I took your advice (see attached PDF drawing) and replaced all the black and white wiring with red and black for DC Power, I used Black and White for the AC in and up to the terminal and the power supply ... Next - Please comment on my grounding strategy for item No.1 Things left to do: Ground the three Limit switches to the ground from the power supply, (that's those loose wires coming off the cables below) as it goes I have two grounding points in this build, one for the xPro Board and one for the power supplies. Connect the Control Box / Resume / Pause Connect the kill switch Start the assembly of the actual OX Metal CNC router Run cables & make final connections BTW....I wanted to say thank you on two counts...first for responding to begin with and second for your patience, I wanted you to know that I really appreciated it ....I would not have gotten this far with out your input.. Again ... thank you Joe, I am sure That I will have a few more questions once I start to run this thing.. BTW... I plan to upgrade my spindle and add this tool changer after I do some damage <https://stepcraft.us/product/hf-spindle/> <https://stepcraft.us/product/automatic-tool-changer/> Regards, Ed Zac
Hello I use grbl panel with the grbl Sparks Concepts xPro board. Everything was working great until I got this system back from a co-op. Now nothing seems to be working. When I power on the board and connect the usb to the computer and open grbl panel I have 3 options for ports. I try com 10 at both baud rates and the stepper motors complete stepper test and the controls are high lighted but the controls dont move anything. There is no connection because there is no grbl settings from the board either. I tried the other com ports, reinstalled grbl panel, new cable and different usb ports but nothing. I looked up the device manager and it shows com port 10 as usb serial port with the manufacture as FTDI, which I read is the arduino. All the stepper motor connections on the board have green lights and the communication port on the board is flashing, which I think indicates it is sending or recieving something. At this point I am not sure what to do. Can you give me advise? Thank you Donald H
Greetings Jeff & Donald I am very new at this as well... Suggest that you download and install Universal Gcode Sender, the interface is pretty easy to navigate, From <UGS> Xpro from what I gather is derived from the Arduino UNO . You may need to override the baudrate if the default does not work (either 57600 or 115200). once you use the right baudrate you should get access to all the settings ...and you will be able to communicate with your Xpro, unlike an external drive ...you will not see the Xpro on your computer but you can access it via the Universal Gcode Sender..make sure the USB drivers are installed first...... To review I suggest that you watch the youtube Video as per the link below, Schematix developed the OX Metal CNC Router and did a great job on putting a series of videos together... Here is my road map...as per SCHEMATX's Video .. I did this and had no issues.. Schematix videos are very detailed.. In this video we look at installing drivers & software to get the OX-Metal moving! From <> USB Drivers: http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm Universal G-Code Sender: https://github.com/winder/Universal-G... Java (only if you don't have it installed already) https://java.com/en/download/ Grbl commands: https://github.com/grbl/grbl/wiki/Con... To update GRBL Firmware Upload current Hex File for GRBL From <Spark-Concepts/xPRO Hope this helps Good Luck...
