this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2024
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Hi all. Yesterday, my printer stopped responding to commands from the touch screen, so I shut the printer off and turned it back on. Now, the printer and screen turn on (power fan spins and screen backlight comes on), but the screen does not display anything, and the printer cannot be reached via USB. Multiple power outlets and cables have been tried, and all cables inside the main chassis are securely connected except for the Z- cable (which has been replaced by a BLTouch). There is a single red LED on the motherboard that lights up when the machine is powered on. Does anyone have any ideas how I can try to diagnose this? I've sent an email to elegoo, but I've heard it can take weeks to get a response, and I'm trying to get things ready for a DnD campaign starting this weekend.. thanks for any tips.

Edit: for anyone finding this post looking for help, you're SOL. Elegoo responded to me, and after sending them a couple pictures, they've determined my motherboard to be dead, and are not willing to provide a free replacement since I'm just outside of warranty. Now I'm torn between getting a new motherboard (waiting on a quote from them) or just saving for a better printer.

Edit 2: after some very light complaining, Elegoo is making right and sending me a new motherboard free of charge.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Do you have a picture? looking at images online, there's... alot of LEDs on that board. There should be documentation somewhere saying what it means. (Not holding my breath on that documentation...)

since the LCD and fans turn on, it's unlikely to be a power issue. (a bad PSU will usually either just not work; or work until there's high draw and crap out on you.)

It's unlikely to be a physical connection issue, unless there's some sort of jumper pins for flashing fresh firmware, which might put int into a different mode for that. (i assume you weren't doing that recently?)

I suspect something happened to the firmware; If you have a copy of the firmware, either the stock firmware or whatever you flashed last time it was working it may take a fresh firmware from the SD card. Personally, I'd hunt down what the board does during boot first and identify what that LED means.

if you can, also check the board for signs of physical damage, something may have shorted out, etc. if it's hardware, you'll need to work through Elegoo for replacements.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I also suspected a firmware issue but hadn't yet tried anything. I just loaded the stock firmware on to an SD card and still no response from the printer.

I managed to find a circuit board diagram for what I believe is my main board. There are several indicator LEDs, but I think most of them are for indicating that a heating element or fan is turned on, I only see one LED in the diagram that looks like it should be on with the printer.

I've just tried completely disconnecting the BLTouch and reconnecting the stock cables. No change in behavior.

Photo of mainboard

Note that in this picture the nozzle thermistor has been disconnected, but the behavior is still the same.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

When you flashed the firmware, did it do anything to show that it was taking the firmware?

either way, I'm thinking you'll have to get help from Elegoo- either instructions to clear it, or a new board. Apparently, though there's two boards in those printers that need flashing. (the main board and the LCD touch screen.) Unfortunately, I can't find any resource online identifying what the LED's indicate :/

EDIT:

So I found MKS's github, which seems to have things for the board here, but i'm not seeing any board hardware stuffs that match a Robin Nano_DW v2.1

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I was unable to flash the firmware. Putting the SD with the stock firmware does nothing to alter the behavior. It's still just a blank screen with the backlight on.

Here's a link to the PDF I found of the board's schematics, if you're curious. The LED that lights up for me is on the 3rd sheet. All the others are connected to the hotend, bed, fans etc.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

According to elegoo's firmware instructions, the screen itself has updatable firmware too. Maybe you could try updating that as well

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Thanks, I had forgotten about the screen firmware. Unfortunately, I just tried that, to no avail.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

nothing that says what it does.

(would that be too much to ask for... Elegoo? or whoever made that board. those LED's cost money. It's such a shame they don't have a top level "troubleshooting" guide that lists what they do... /sigh)

Yeah, It sounds increasingly like there's something wrong with the hardware on the board. that may or may not have wrecked the firmware, but unless you can identify what went wrong, and have the skills and tools to deal with soldering in things... you'll need to get Elegoo to send you a new board. sorry I couldn't be more help.

And just to verify, that LED isn't normally on?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (2 children)

That LED is normally on. It's been about a year since I've had the chassis open so I can't recall if there are normally more than one on when it first boots up or if it's only the one. Looking at the diagram it seems like it's just a main power indicator.

Thanks for taking them time to respond. You may not have been able to fix the problem, but you've at least assured me there's no other troubleshooting steps I can take until I hear from Elegoo.

I guess my DnD players will have to live with quarters and pen caps in lieu of customized minis. Haha.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I found this diagram for V2.2 which looks the same. The lit LED is D5 which is the one you mentioned on the 3rd page. It looks like it only indicates that the 5V to 3.3V regulator beside it is working and has power.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

That LED being lit at least more or less confirms that power is not the issue. Thanks for digging that up.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

I guess my DnD players will have to live with quarters and pen caps in lieu of customized minis. Haha.

I read a lot into that "Haha"... like "They wont live that long anyway,"

maybe I'm projecting a bit.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's my very first campaign. I'm actually afraid the combat and encounters are going to be laughably easy, since I'm running a premade campaign made for beginners and I don't feel comfortable yet tweaking with monster stats.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

There’s nothing wrong with easy, even no-combat fluff campaigns.

My players prefer a mix of challenging one shots (that don’t kill characters they’re attached to,) and easier, longer campaigns.

I mostly set up homebrews for the campaigns- I like the world building. The current campaign uses the Stardrifter rule set, and the galactic domination has gotten far enough along they have plenty of in-world one shots. That help affect the overall story arc.

The best advice i can give is two things: have fun, and make sure everyone else is having fun too. Also, contrary to popular belief… one can have too many printed terrain tiles.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Did you say...

Printed terrain tiles

Printed terrain tiles?

I'm honestly so thankful the printer only decided to die after I got the terrain project finished. It would've killed all the motivation I had to getting a game started.

Thanks for the advice. My players are all well aware that I'm a baby DM and they fully expect it to be a rough, choppy campaign that's harder for me than it is for them. But if we all have fun, the next campaign will be better, and so will the next.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Those look great!

I suck at the painting part so they never quite look right for me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Thanks! The painting is much easier than you might think. The models I printed have indents for the brick mortar (don't know if that's the right word), so I spray painted everything black, then used a sponge brush to quickly paint the bricks gray while leaving the black lines. Used a small brush to paint some of the bricks brown, a napkin to dab some green over everything, then a basic wash layer (tiny drop of brown/ black paint in a bunch of water) to finish it off.

Terrain and buildings are easier to paint than minis and figurines and whatnot. I have very, very little painting experience, but things like this are easy to make look good. Keep trying if you're not happy with how yours looks, the next one will always look better than the last!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Hey, in case you were curious, Elegoo emailed me back and diagnosed it as a motherboard failure. And since I'm a couple months out of warranty, they won't send me a new part. 😔 I'm now debating if I want to pay for a new motherboard and wait a month to get it, or just save up some cash and buy a better printer a month from now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

A few months out of warranty? That ain’t suspicious timing….

It sucks that you’re down for a month. But, you don’t necessarily need to get their board.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah, I figured there are other places to get it, but when it comes to circuit boards and whatnot (especially ones from China) I'm always a little hesitant about getting off brand stuff. I figured I'd see what quote they hit me with and take it from there

Edit: they're actually sending me a free one! I halfway complained in my response but stayed polite (basically just said I was disappointed in the response) and the guy messaged me back overnight that they'd send me a new one.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That’s nice of them. A little surprising though. I haven’t had any interaction with them, so, I would have assumed they were like creality- warranty repair being like pulling teeth.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I've seen mostly positive stories about their customer support online, mostly only complaining about response times. I was pretty surprised when they told me no initially. At least they decided to do right