So I am almost ready to start printing.

I can use all the commands - move axis, on/off motors, turn heat on/off etc…

I’m using the sprinter 1.2 and above snguinololu /ramps

Have you done this in the firmware:In Sprinter, check the Configuration.h to ensure that Sanguinololu is selected as your board: Board 62 for Sanguinololu v1.2 and newer, board 6 for v1.1 and older.

yes, it is board 62, that is how I got my controls working.

OK it seems that sprinter has EEPROM disabled by default…try command “M503”

unfortunately still nothing.

Exactly what board are you running? You might need to modify the configuration.h file to match it correctly.

At mega 1284p sanguinololu 1.3a from http://norcal-reprap.com

OK so “62” is right.

Yeah, it’s just puzzling that the extruder axis works perfectly as does the extruder, but not the plate or z.

Yeah, I understand, and when you swap the motors they work fine…so it’s not the motors.

Could it possibly be the board?

I don’t know enough about that board…I’m running Printrboard. It’s either the board or the software (firmware). Did you change anything in pronterface…should be similar to this out of the box http://i.imgur.com/UrtLn5n.jpg

looks exactly the same hold the COM 5 I use.

it seems strange that the M501 and M503 commands aren’t working.

EEPROM:
M500 - stores paramters in EEPROM
M501 - reads parameters from EEPROM (if you need reset them after you changed them temporarily).
M502 - reverts to the default “factory settings”. You still need to store them in EEPROM afterwards if you want to.
M503 - print the current settings (from memory not from eeprom)

The M50* commands are to try to read out your calibration parameters.

Do you get anything back from your printer with a M115 or M114 command?

Is it still rough with 1/10 or 1/100th the speed? If so, it isn’t these calibration parameters, so it might be the board. If smooth, then it likely is max feed rate calibration, which you could work around with your slicer. If the steps/mm are way off, that could cause problems too.

You can check your steps/mm calibration by measuring whether it moves the right distance for a pronterface Jog, or things like a G01 X10 command. Moving back and forth, mixed with M114s, you should be able to see if it moves as it thinks it does, or if it is skipping steps.

It sounds like a board communication problem. Those commands should register something in pronterface. @David_Forrest If you watch the video it appears that it’s not really skipping steps, but just stalling or not responding at all.

Good news everyone.jpg
I went back and resoldered some of the terminals on the ramps and it fixed. I now have xxtruder, extruder carriage, and Z all working! I will be soldering the contacts on the final ramp tonight.

Still though, when I swap a working controller to the X direction, it is extremely jerky and doesn’t move the correct amount.
New video: http://youtu.be/7N5fZZAJqqc

So you took the Z axis connection on the board and connected to your X motor? Is that because you are haven’t connected the stepper driver? Also in your post what is the “ramp” you are referring to? Ramps is the whole board…I think you are referring to the stepper drivers? Anyway, if you connected Z board input to the X motor you will see movement issues since the default steps/mm for the Z axis is different than the X axis, try swapping Y and X and see if you see the same result. (in other words, put your Z back on your Z, then swap the Y with the X)

This is defined in your configuration.h and shold be adjusted when you get to your calibration steps.

#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT {78.7402,78.7402,2008/3,7601.1} //x,y,z,e

Sorry my terminology is lacking. I will get it right one of these days. I swapped out the motor drivers on the ramps board from the z axis to the X(platter). So there should not be any problems with the amount of steps/mm. All of the connectors are in the correct slots.