Need some help! I haven’t used my Shapeoko in a while, today I was in need to cut some carbon fiber, when I plugged the shapeoko usb to my MacBook, I open grbl afterwards, I hit connect and grbl seem to be doing its thing, except that i don’t hear the step motors getting locked as they usually do… i continued on with my file got it all ready and when I hit the “start” button, grbl does what it normally does but the shapeoko wont move at all… any ideas what might be the problem? Thanks in advance!!
Are you abe to jog the machine at all? When was the last time you rebooted your MAC Book? Some times the USB ports get hung up and the only way to clear it is a cold boot. This happens to me from time to time when plug and unplug from the USB port.
@Michael_Omiccioli hi Mike! It seems like even tho the grbl it’s doing its thing it won’t communicate with the board, my Mac it’s reading the USB coming from my shapeoko… it’s weird that it’s not working
Sounds like the GRBL shield might not be getting power.
@Marc_Schaefermeyer here u are always ready to save me! lol it’s powered on I can see the blue light
Hmm ok so USB port is not hung if it sees the device. I assume you don’t have more than one application trying to talk to it. what hardware are you using to drive the ShapeOko, Arduino, stepper shield, speed controller? When the gcode is being sent is there indication of the gcodes being received on the controller(ie blinking lights)?
@Michael_Omiccioli Mike, im using gahield, when I hit begin, there’s no light on the controller as if receiving info from the computer… however the grbl acts like it’s sending all the info and processing normal tho
If you manually move the machine with the power turned off, do the lights light up on the GRBL shield?
Let me check…
@Marc_Schaefermeyer even when I turn the machine on, the motors won’t engage, when I apply power I’m able to move the machine with my hand same as if it was off
The motors typically don’t lock until they are told to by the controller. Sounds like a com problem between the MAC and controller. Try a different USB port. How long has it been since a reboot?
Bummer can you connect to the arduino using the arduino IDE?
Good. That means that the wiring between the stepper motors and the g g shield are good.
@Marc_Schaefermeyer you know Mark I haven’t use my CNC in a couple of months, not sure if I might of done an update that screwed up my set up
You have to download the IDE from the Arduino site and install. Then connect to the arduino and check connectivity via the serial port.
Can you access grbl command prompt via the serial port? Or, can you issue commands by typing? Try typing $$. If that shows you some info, grbl is working and it might be a power issue. Do you have a separate power supply for your steppers? Make sure that’s giving the correct voltage.