MakerGear Forum

Been thru S3D and cannot find how to transport gcode to a sd card
so I can start a print with the computer, then let the sd card do the rest.
Win 7 operating system. 2.2 S3D.

Any other info to do this right, please help me get it right the 1st time.

Thanks beforehand!

John during the preview just click save to disc. Sd card needs to be in your computer of course. Save it on you sd card then put it in the m2. In the machine control panel click print from sd card, choose the file and your done.

SD card is working.

If you're printing from the SD, settings must be manual into the S3D control panel?
No such thing as factory files with a SD card ...right?

the only thing on the sd that the printer needs is the gcode file that s3d compiles. a gcode file is nothing but settings and movement commands so the computer is not even necessary if you dont want it. some guys here start the print then pull the usb cable right away.

OK, understand the g-code part.

My question is: after you save the preview file to disk, how does printer
know the temp, retraction settings ...etc?

Is that encoded on the sd card when the preview file is saved?

yes, thats what gcode is. its all your settings and movement commands

There is only one file and its the gcode file. The preview is what is shown on the screen. When you click save to disk everything you see in that preview gets saved to gcode file which contains all instructions for the printer to recreate the STL file. Temperature, movement, extrusion, layer height, etc., If you save the file to your SD card then yes all the necessary information is on the SD Card.

also note how you name the file on the SD card and the extension.

The last full paragraph from this page ( http://www.simplify3d.com/support/hardw ... makergear/)
states

"The MakerGear M2 is also equipped with an SD card reader and we would strongly suggest copying your large G-Code files directly to the SD card. Simply unplug the card and insert it into your computer to copy the files. The Marlin firmware requires the use of the 8.3 naming convention, so the filenames on the SD card can only have up to 8 uppercase characters for the filename and up to 3 uppercase characters for the file extension. For example, “3D_Knot_for_M2.gcode” would need to be renamed to something like “M2KNOT.G” when placed on the SD card. Once you have plugged the card back into your M2, you can use the “Print from SD Card” button in the Machine Control Panel to begin the print. This is particularly useful for large parts so that you do not need to have your computer attached and awake for the entire print. It also offers a much lower latency that USB serial protocols which allows for better print quality."

Thanks for great explanations. Was aware of the naming convention in the number of letters.
But it's a good thing to bring up again for those like me in the learning stages.