Hello, can this forum possibly help me to get a Lowrider 2 functioning?
So this belongs to a good friend who knows even less about this than me, it hasn’t worked for about 3 years since ‘someone’ tried to upgrade the code/ firmware, so now nothing at all, nothing functioning and the screen is completely blank albeit lit up… so nothing works at all!
I’ve spent the last week printing replacement parts on my 3D printer as most of the others were falling apart (decayed) or broken.
I am retired, having spent a career in electronics but have ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE at all about programming, I have tried watching a ton of YouTube videos but I’m struggling to get anywhere it is completely over my head.
From what I can gather, I should be able to move the CNC steppers via the small LCD, and get it to run a program via g-code by loading it on the memory card (as I do with my 3D printer)
I have downloaded just about every uploading software but any educational videos are out of date and following the steps becomes impossible.
So… the board is a mini RAMBo 2560 chipset and I have the MINI LCD screen, I have brought back home x1 stepper motor to see if I can test the functionality of the board but as indicated everything is non functional.
I can’t code in any way… but I believe the board is working, I’m guessing, but I am under the impression I simply need to flash the hardware to ??? version and then upload code to the RAMBo to function and also apply add-on’s so that the mini LCD and the Memory stick port is recognised?
Is that the case??? simple eh?.. if you know what you are doing!!!
So, hopefully someone can help me get this board and screen functioning and I can take it back and install it in the CNC unit
Many thanks in advance…
so you are in luck, no coding necessary unless you have a very unique setup.
Hopefully the board you describe is this one:
Ultimachine Boards - V1 Engineering Documentation or this one Ultimachine Boards - V1 Engineering Documentation
Firmware is here:
Releases · V1EngineeringInc/MarlinBuilder · GitHub or Marlin Firmware - V1 Engineering Documentation
and instructions are here:
XLoader - V1 Engineering Documentation
I think the one you want is the Ramps DualLR, someone will be along shortly and confirm.
wow, what a quick reply… many thanks Riley!
yes that is the board I have… no idea what I’m doing… but I’ll give it a go
So I can see x2 mini Rambo zip files… V1CNC mini rambo and V13DP? I’m presuming its the first one? the board is a version 1.3a I believe
Well I tried using the V1CNC mini RAMBo file. the link to the preconfigured XLoader doesn’t work.so I downloaded the generic copy. However, when selecting the device I only get these options CC01 CR03 and not the Mega 2560… any ideas?
Your issue is with the devices.txt file. Here are the contents of the preconfigured devices.txt:
Mega(ATMEGA1280);m1280;stk500;57600; Duemilanove/Nano(ATmega328);m328p;stk500;57600; Duemilanove/Nano(ATmega168);m168;stk500;19200; Uno(ATmega328);m328p;stk500;115200; Mega(ATMEGA2560);atmega2560;stk500v2;115200;
Replace the contents of the devices.txt in your XLoader directory with the above text. In fact, all you really need in the devices.txt is the last entry for the ATMEGA2560.
…and ‘V1CNC_MiniRambo’ is the firmware you want.
Many thanks for the update Robert, I’ve done what you indicated… and WOW its working!.. kinda?
So the small LCD now displays all the information but its ‘ticking’ and flicking backwards and forwards between the info screen and media Init fail screen… removing the memory card from the side of the screen makes no difference…
Update… Changed the media (memory card) now indicating that media is inserted but still flicking backwards and forwards between screens… and the screen tick’s every time. Have I done something wrong?
Honestly I doubt it, this time sounds like a hardware item. Is this the screen with a selector? Is it stuck?
I would start to troubleshoot the problem by disconnecting the screen and communicating with the MiniRambo from a computer over USB. V1 documents using Repetier-Host to run jobs over USB. If the Mini Rambo is working correctly, then you can Troubleshoot the display. A replacement display, if needed, is around $15 from Amazon.
Many thanks for the updates, I do appreciate it… i too suspected it could be a stuck button/ control on the LCD unit, but it seems in good stead and seems OK… although the fault does represent just that, as if a selection button is stuck. The board is not connected to anything other than x1 stepper motor but I’ll try and figure out how to run Repetier Host too…
I’ll post an update tomorrow… its getting late here in Cyprus now!
Many thanks again for your help… nearly there!
KMichael -
he board is not connected to anything other than x1 stepper motor
The Mini Rambo board only has four stepper drivers, but it needs to drive five stepper motors. The solution is to wire the pair of steppers (Y and Z) in series. Assuming this machine was ever working, there should be two serial wiring harnesses for the two pairs of steppers. If these wiring harnesses have gone missing, you will need to make your own, or replace the control board with one that has five or more stepper drivers.
Also, it is best to power down the control board before making any changes. If the wires to a stepper are disconnected while the stepper is running, there is a good chance that the stepper driver on the control board will be blown, and the drivers are soldered in (not socketed) on the Mini Rambo, making them difficult to replace.
Here is the V1 Repetier-Host documentation.
Riley - I’ve never used UGS, but it should work. It has been mentioned a number of times on the forum. It looks like the USG interface is simpler than Repetier-Host’s interface.
Hi Robert and Riley, apologies for not getting back to you sooner on this, I picked up Covid the day after our communications and not had the chance to test the board on my friends conc unit yet!
Hopefully get to see him early in the New Year and I’ll post as soon as I have an update!
Have a great New Year!
Get well!
Good evening everyone…
well with the help of Robert and Riley I have managed to get the board kinda running and today I ‘tested’ it on the CNC setup. The problem here is the LCD screen is flicking between two pages of info twice every second.
I have tried uploading older versions of firmware but it seems like I do have a problem with one of the boards, not surprising as this setup sat around for 3-4 years after it stopped working.
So, since the boards are not that expensive and my friend has done many favours for me… It seems easier to simply replace the boards.
So which one do I buy? Is there a newer version to use other than the mini rambo? and are they directly compatible?
many thanks in advance
Good afternoon everyone… so I have a new mini Rambo board and full graphic smart controller, no change to the situation.
I have tried a different download the V1 ZXY download, this build seems to work and the screen flashing stops??.. but its obviously not the correct one, the display indicates ZenXY 515Z ready.
When I load up the V1CNC build the screen constantly flicks between the Info, Motion, etc etc screen and the V1CNC 515S ready screen.
any ideas anyone? what am I doing wrong?
The signal on the lcd screen that tells it you pushed a button or spun the knob is just a digital input. One of the gray cables. I would double check the wiring.
There have also been cases that press the knob in and some screens are bound too tight and something shorts, causing something similar. So get it out of any case, after you check the wiring. If that doesn’t fix it, you can try to loosen the screws holding the screen together. Or just buy a new screen.
Hi Jeffeb3,
Its a new screen, cables and MiniRambo board… the other setup does exactly the same… the problem is just as if the button is stuck… but its in the software as the other version (V1ZXY) doesn’t do it. i purchased a new board etc because I suspected it may be a hardware fault
i wonder if its the firmware file that causing the problem? is there a specific version I should be using?