Difficulties experienced by beginner

This is something we do not have. No one (AFAIK) has flashed that controller for a zenxy. I don’t know if any of the experts here have flashed that control board at all. You will have to do some detailed learning to get there with that board.

Some broad steps I would take:

  1. Get one of the other builds from MarlinBuilder releases and don’t change any of that code, just build it using the instructions at platformio. This will get your “toolchain” set up to compile Marlin. Don’t even connect your board at this point. This is just about getting a “Success” in platformio to know that it is working.
  2. Find a resource for compiling marlin on your creality board. You will at least have to change the motherboard type from the one you downloaded previously. There may be some subtle issues after that. If you can build your own marlin and flash the board once (even without configuring it for ZenXY), you will have learned a lot.
  3. You need to combine the changes made for the Zenxy with the changes needed for your creality board. This configuration will be your creation. You need to have a successful build and then flash your board.
  4. Test the configuration by first jogging around (+x goes right, +y goes away from you). Then testing the endstops (M119 should show triggered when the endstops are triggered and open when not). Then homing. Then you can run a pattern.

If you get stuck, we can help. But if you want the best help you need to:

  • Be detailed in the error you are trying to tackle. What did you do, what did you expect, what did you observe?
  • Ask specific questions. You need to be in charge of the development. Broad questions require a lot of text to respond and can lead us to answering the wrong question. A specific question might be, “I changed this parameter and now I get this error, how can I fix it?” A general question might be, “How can I fix the compiler errors?” (without providing more detail). Another bad general question might be, “How can I configure Marlin?”. A better question would be, “I have followed [this guide] and I am stuck at step 6. What parameters are important for me to change?”.
  • Put in the effort and show you are trying. It isn’t totally necessary, but it will be more motivating for people trying to join in and help if they see you pushing on your end.
  • At the end of the day, the solution has to happen on your side. We are more like coaches than partners. We can’t be next to you, so we won’t be the ones solving it.
5 Likes

Yes, this.
Let’s be really clear about this- you absolutely can learn and get there to be able to build software for that board.

Equally clear, you need to evaluate your time and effort against the cost of the controller.

If you’re in it to learn then there is no better way to really learn this stuff than the process that @jeffeb3 outlines above. You’ll learn a lot, your skills will radically improve, and you’ll be an expert that can help others with this. It’s also VERY satisfying.

But, if you’re just looking for the lowest cost way to build a ZenXY, then you might want to buy one of the really affordable supported controllers.

Whichever way you are heading, we’ll work with you to help.

3 Likes

I’m deeply moved by your detailed response. I’ll make sure to put in my best effort so that this project can be successfully completed!

I’ve encountered a new issue. I found firmware that successfully builds through Marlin, but I’m facing many problems while trying to adapt it to my control board. The motor drivers on my board are unclear (either A4988 or TMC2208). Also, when I find firmware that seems close to my motherboard (ATmega1284P) and try to build it, the build fails. These various issues are causing difficulties in my project. It seems like the easiest solution might be to buy a new control board that is guaranteed to work with ZENXY. What do you think?

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Have you checked github for firmware? A quick google showed this Ender_3_Creality3D_v1.1.4/Firmware/README.md at master · olezhuravlev/Ender_3_Creality3D_v1.1.4 · GitHub

I don’t know if that’s the one for your board but another may be.

If it’s failing during build not upload then that’s not necessarily board related - you need to read and work through the errors. Could be a missing library, syntax error or something similar.

Whether giving up and buying a more common board is the best option is something only you can decide.

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You don’t need to know what microprocessor you’re using. The board configuration should configure that and the pins file without you having to do it.