I’ve sat through enough tech classes where the first 1-2 hours was dealing with Mac and Windows installation issues that when I started teaching classes I would make a customized version of Ubuntu on a bootable image and have students make those at home and verify they could boot into Linux before class time. Then there were only a handful of WiFi connectivity issues often solved in a few minutes.
The bootable Linux stuff doesn’t change anything on your hard disk unless you decide to do that and so you can try and install anything you want into the bootable system and when you shut down, Windows runs like normal and if you booted the thumbdrive again, it would boot like it was the first time it booted, ie a clean boot. I’ve tested lots of software and hardware this way.
And it gives you a jumpstart on learning what Linux is and the Raspberry Pi since it runs Linux too. Since the year 2000, I’ve only run Windows in a virtual machine if I needed to run it at all.
Okay so I installed Ubuntu. It seemed very basic and easy to navigate, but I couldn’t figure out how to install new drivers from Ubuntu. Since most of your comment deals with the installation of the program, do you know how to locate the laser in Ubuntu and install the drivers?
I’m just going to buy a new controller and cross my fingers that is the issue. It doesn’t seem likely, but going down rabbit holes with new programs and new operating systems didn’t seem like what I want to be doing either. I was really hoping that I messed up the wiring or was missing something basic, but I guess I got all that correct and Windows and K40 Whisperer are to blame…
There are no drivers to install in Linux, that’s why I recommended using it. Devices show up in the /dev directory but I generally will open a terminal window(console it’s sometimes called or a command prompt) and then type ‘dmesg’ which will show you all the kernel messages and the last ones will be the last thing you did. So plug in the machine and run dmesg and you should see something like /dev/ttyUSB0 or /dev/ttyACM0 and that will be the device to connect to. There are probably graphical ways to see this but I like fast results and I’m a 10 finger typists so the console is the quickest way to get results.
This is the exact problem with these kind of forums. Either no one ever finds the reason for the error they are having or don’t post the solution they found. I posted a similar issue today after doing over 20 hours of research and troubleshooting and two people replied. The first one told me to use a program other than K40 Whisperer and the second told me to use Ubuntu with no direction on how to use it. Conclusion: forums like this are utterly useless.
I can understand you are frustrated but it may help if you remind yourself that you aren’t paying anyone on these forums for support.
These forums are a place where like minded individuals can share information. But you are expected to be able to test and diagnose your own issues. Sometimes that means running software other than what comes with your hardware. It may mean doing things that you have never done before and maybe even running an OS that you are unfamiliar with.
The people on these forums can be very helpful but if you expect them to spoon feed you solutions then maybe DIY is not for you.
For the record, I have no idea what error code 43 means. I don’t run windows. But the “device descriptor read/64, error -71” and “device not accepting address 13, error -71”, in the above comments, implies either a hardware issue with the usb device/hub or the user needs to add “use_both_schemes=y” to the usbcore module. But since you have no idea how to use ubuntu, this probably means nothing to you.
I mentioned using a bootable version of Ubuntu so you could test your hardware without all the crap Windows throws in the way. You didn’t understand that Linux has all the USB drivers already installed and gave up because you didn’t know how to install unneeded USB drivers… You should have been able to just follow the instructions for installing K40 Whisperer on Linux and connect to your laser the way the K40 Whisperer describes.
Or you can re-install Windows and see if that works.
Venting your frustration at people is extremely motivating and will encourage them to want try harder to help you. I’m pretty sure that’s how that works. Or, maybe not?
If you want to pay for support, you may or may not find an opportunity to do that. You might be the target market for a Glowforge, Dremel, or other commercially-supported product.
If you want to be part of a community that help each other, and recognize that everyone is a volunteer and no one is obligated, then you are welcome to participate here at Maker Forums on that basis. If you bring an open mind to a perusal of the content here, you will see that many people have gotten actual help. The fact that some questions aren’t resolved doesn’t prove that no problems are resolved.
But if “forums like this are utterly useless” to you then I very strongly encourage you to stop wasting your time here; it won’t be a good experience for you or for anyone else.
In any case, reviving old threads merely to abuse the forum will be considered abuse and moderators reserve the right to delete rather than to respond in future.
I have moved this complaint and responses out from the Smoothie forum (this has nothing to do with Smoothieware) into the thread that engendered the complaint.
If you ever get the driver to detect, such as connecting it and getting the default windows driver it. MeerK40t would be able to use that and rule out driver configuration issues. Odds are pretty good the board is just screwy, but if you detect the device at all, MeerK40t would be a help there, if not connecting to the windows driver but also giving you better error messages if it does connect.
I wonder if the OP replaced the USB cable, changed USB ports and tried using a USB hub just to rule out the “standard” things.
There was a time I felt bad because I was always having to know about hardware compatibility with Linux and even build kernel modules when someone was kind enough to reverse engineer drivers. And then maybe 15+ years ago I helped a friend re-install Windows after 30 minutes on the internet without virus protection saw massive viral infestation. Doing as much as we could offline I remember installing a mouse driver and the anti-virus software popped up warning us the mouse driver wanted an internet connection. It was all downhill from there as lots of friends and coworkers dealt with stuff like drivers disappearing, returning from suspension with devices not showing up and having to reboot anyways, etc etc.
Dealing with lsusb, dmesg, /etc/udev/rules.d and adduser userid dialout stuff is a cakewalk compared to the hidden magic and voodoo going on in Windows.
And while I’ve never had the chance to try Meerk40t I’m ever so appreciative of the work you’ve put into it. The moment I heard K40whisperer existed and ran on Linux I found my K40 and ordered it and from what I’ve read, Meerk40t really closes the gap between what can / can’t be done with the stock M2 Nano controller.
The K- (TL or LO) input needs a inverted PWM signal (pull down, open collector) but the Arduino PWM pin delivers a normal PWM. So you either can invert the signal with a mosfet (like on most 32 bit boards) or you can use the K+ (TH) input of the LPS. Also make sure the signal is 5V (not 3.3V) or you won’t get full power.
I sincerely apologize for my earlier comments. I had sunk over $1,000 into the laser prior to the 30 hours I spent troubleshooting it. I was extremely frustrated and I took my frustration out on the forums. I don’t understand Linux, and as much as I hate windows, I didn’t want to learn a new system. I should have explained before that I had the laser “working” at one point. It was etching and just not cutting through the acrylic I had, but being the novice I am (i.e. completely ignorant of mirror quality and focal length), I kept increasing the power %. I know from countless forums that I need to install an ammeter as the % is an accurate reflection of what the power supply is producing. I ended up tripping the breaker in my house and frying my power supply at the same time. Long story short, I wasn’t really angry at the people in the forums, I was angry at myself for putting money into a machine I wasn’t qualified to operate. I wanted to toss the laser out the second story window of my house and luckily I was able to refrain and get some sleep. I’d had maybe 8 hours of unrestful sleep while I was troubleshooting the laser. I’ll check the connections you mentioned and see if it makes sense. My only real concern with a new controller on the way is having a bad connection that costs me my new board. Although, as I said before, I don’t see any damage on the current board.
I sincerely apologize for my earlier comments. There is no excuse for them.
The K40 is not a ready to use machine and especially not for someone who’s never used a laser cutter before, ie never taking a laser cutting class at a maker space.
I recommend to anyone who will listen to ready EVERY entry in the Quick Help sections on https://k40.se/
and then go through the K40 Intro on this site.( New to K40: Start Here ).
I read every section of the first link before I even ordered my machine and still learned stuff along the way but I knew enough not to damage my machine. example, water temp less than 25C or shut it off. What I saw, and the K40 Intro here misses, is the dozen or so people who ruined their laser tube in less than 1 year by not knowing the current flowing through the tube… ie the digital displays are worthless and should only be used to set the power to the lowest setting to mark something just to test the machine. From that point forward it should not be used until you know what setting maxes your current at 18mA. On may that setting was 40% power on the digital display…
Your problem looked like it was USB connectivity and because you were not able to get Windows to work, and failed to tell anyone here you’d over driven your machine, popped a breaker and killed your LPS… I mentioned using Linux because it just works and seems to work very reliably but it is not Windows so yup, there are a few things to look up like what lsusb does, what dmesg does and follow the instructions for Linux on k40whisperer and/or meerk40t or you can learn how to trouble shoot Windows device drivers…
Thanks for taking time to cool down! Most of us probably know frustration. As far as I’m concerned, if this turns into an effective reminder for you to sometimes “back away from the keyboard” it’s worth the trouble.
Our (site leadership) goal is that after you have read and understood all of the posts in the Getting Started with CO2 Lasers category, you know what you need to know to run a K40. We’re not quite there yet; maybe we never will be, but we can try.
We are a bit annoyed that these K40 units are sold as if they are ready to use; it’s deceptive marketing practice at best. It definitely takes an investment of time. We can’t fix that, we can only help people learn what else needs to be done to make one work.
I think you are going to need a systematic, patient approach to get back to a working laser. The good news is that you should be able to end up better than new but the bad news is it will take time and money…
Where are you in the process of replacing your power supply?
Only with a known-good power supply, discovering whether you need a new logic board.
You probably need to replace the tube; needing to supply more and more power for the same cut is a sign that the tube may have been damaged.
The fact that it never cut, only etched, is likely a sign that you needed to align it (we have multiple resources listed for that in the intro category).
Also, may I strongly suggest changing your “handle”? I think that “K40Stumped” might just reinforce feeling defeated, and if you do decide to do all the work to get to a working K40, do you want to be reminded of the trouble each time you post? Because after cooling down and apologizing, we definitely welcome you to stay and learn with us!
@GreggA Thank you for taking the time to explain why you are frustrated and why you reacted the way you did. I second what @mcdanlj said. I I’m sure that everyone here has shared your frustration when unable to troubleshoot a problem. The older I get, the more palm to forehead experiences I have!
I hope you noticed that everyone here is rooting for you and support you, even when you get frustrated. We pride ourselves here in being different from other boards. Just like families we will say and do things that may not sit well, but in the end, it is our common goal of finding acceptable solutions that unites us. In fact, when you do finally get your machine running you may take pride in knowing that you may have helped the next person in need with your experiences.
