Hi there
I’ve had my Snapmaker for over a year, and today the USB functionality stopped working. I doesn’t seem to be the port itself - when I plug in the USB stick, the “Files” button on the screen becomes active, but pressing on it does nothing (there is a small noise, but the screen doesn’t change). Is there a reset or something I could do?
Honestly I’ve been very disappointed with this machine. I’ve been at it for over a year, and all I am getting are “acceptable” prints. I got my dad a $200 printer and out-of-the-box it produces results that are 100 times better than what I can do after months of calibration and testing. And now, just after going out of the warranty period, it starts failing on me.
If you have access to a windows machine, try checking the file system. I’ve seen people post about problems scrolling through the contents, and it turns out they pulled the USB drive before it was finished writing. In File Explorer, find the USB drive, right click on it, Properties, Tools, Check. I don’t remember how to check on Mac; probably better to just copy everything off and reformat on a Mac. Same for Linux. If that fixes things, make sure you eject your USB drive, and wait for it to complete before removing it. I’ve had both Windows and Mac fail to eject several times because some background service was doing something to the drive.
What kind of print issues are you having? Care to post some comparison photos and print stats?
This is my first 3D printer, but I’ve been pretty happy comparing my prints to other people’s prints on Thingiverse. That said, I did have to put more effort into calibration than I expected. The paper calibration from the manual recommends caused a lot of issues for me. I switched to using the paper to rough in the calibration, then print a 125mmx125mmx0.05mm square until I’m happy with the bed adhesion. Even that is tricky, because switching between Snapmaker3D, SnapmakerJS, Luban, and Cura changes the calibration slightly.
Thanks clewis! It’s the same USB stick I’ve been using to print for the last couple of months. I also tried two other USB sticks just to be sure, re-formatted them, etc. They all work on the computer, but show the problem mentioned above when plugged into the Snapmaker. I occasionally unplug without ejecting, but that was never a problem before. Either way, I made sure I am not doing that now with the newly formatted stick(s).
It’s also my first 3D printer, and initially I wasn’t too unhappy… I accepted that there is a learning curve. But then I bought my dad’s printer, which was a fraction of the price and comparing the results is just frustrating. Even with lots of calibration and test printing, trying out different filaments, etc. I cannot get close to what my dad’s printer (Ender 3 Pro) can do out of the box. His prints are just better looking, have more accurate dimensions, and much less often fail than mine. We both use Cura (I ditched Snapmaker’s slicer pretty quickly, which gave me a boost in quality), and technically I taught him everything he knows about 3D printing.
Which firmware are you running (you can see it on controller in the About screen)? If it’s not 1.11, it would be interesting to see if it can upgrade the firmware from the USB (and if that solves the issue for you).
If that doesn’t work, it’s probably time to email support@snapmaker.com . Just be aware that they’re in the +8 timezone, so there workday is probably different from yours. There’s also been a lot of reports that they’re slow to respond right now. They seem to be busy finishing up the last of the v2 kickstarter shipments.
Although if you’ve had it a year, you’re likely out of the warranty period. If you don’t mind getting your hands a bit dirty, pop open the controller. It’s not uncommon for USB ports to flex and break the solder connection to the pads. I’ve fixed a few dodgy USB ports by reheating the solder holding the port to the PCB. If you notice the port flexing or shifting when you insert the thumb drive, that’s a good sign of this problem.