I have been trying to get my machine setup with cnc.js by using v1pi. V1pi was easy enough to setup and I was able to get a response from the board when I connect via USB however I do not get anything back from the board when I send a Gcode command. I used the widget for Marlin to request position. I also typed M14 in there just trying one last wag before I posted this.
I have tried starting and restarting everything - the board and the pi. I also removed the screen from the MKS 1.4 but no change there either.
Alright… I’ve gotten a little further wanted to post this to see if this was the correct feedback that I should be getting and also for others if they stumble on this thread
I am still trying to debug exactly what went wrong.
Here is where I am at:
I moved to trying to run Octoprint to control my board. No success. However after manually starting it and reading the logs I found that it updated and would no longer run stable. I get an illegal instruction which I believe (just my theory not proven) comes from Armv6’s limited 64 bit support.
Full disclosure I tried to ride the line and run a Pi Zero… (Microcenter back in the day had a deal 1 for $1 each time you come in so I have a … few … on hand)
I don’t think that I am having a problem with the usb bus but I am not 100% sure because I had gotten a few responses a little longer than the first one I posted.
So how did I get it to work? I took my nice(r) laptop and installed cnc.js as a desktop app to which it was more than happy to connect and drive my cnc.
Now how do I get a 64 bit computer that I can put CNC.js on that isn’t marked up 4x the price because of supply issues?
Maybe sell these at 4x prices and then buy a pi4 at 4x the cost? I honestly don’t know how to fix it.
There are alternative SOC boards like the pi. Things like the orangepi, or odroid, etc. They aren’t free either, but you are buying an entire machine. I doubt v1pi would work on them, but you could probably install cncjs in a docker container or something.
I haven’t tried a pi zero w in a long time. But when I did, it worked. It would just load the interface painfully slowly. Have you tried disabling octoprint to make cncjs work? Or installing octopi without cncjs or the landing page?
I can’t sell the Zeros… I might have another project they are under spec’d for to try with. Ha
I’m going to try and manually install everything. v1pi is nice and quick but I really need to run through the install and boot myself to make sure I am not missing anything obvious. That might be a next weekend project though
Nodejs is a bit tricky to install on arm. At least, it used to be. So if I were configuring just for myself, I would try to find a docker image with at least nodejs for the pi, and then add cncjs. But I also know docker well enough that I wouldn’t have to read the manual.