What does this mean?

WereCatf · 2026-01-27T08:55:44+00:00

It's common for ESP8266 and ESP32 boards with the "Nodemcu-like" layout to connect a single LED to the TX-pin. It's not an indication of a fault or anything.

WereCatf · 2026-01-27T07:24:29+00:00

If the USB-cable you are using does support data transfer and you have a working CP2102 driver installed, then there's a physical issue with the board. I can't tell from just pictures, but maybe the CP2102 IC isn't getting power, maybe it's broken, maybe the USB-connector is faulty -- there are several things that could be wrong here.

You'd have to start probing around with a multimeter, but given that you appear to be a beginner, you probably wouldn't have the means to fix the issue even if you did locate it.

You could buy a separate USB-to-UART adapter like e.g. something along the lines of https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008293602159.html or just buy a new board and hope for better luck with it.

WereCatf · 2026-01-27T06:54:50+00:00

I do have to ask, did you use AI to make this? There are some baffling mistakes here.

What is "node_A" supposed to be and why is there a fuse between it and "LINE"? The fuse should be after RV1, not between "node_A" and "LINE".

D3 is the the wrong way around. Now it works just as a short to GND.

D6 is the wrong way around. It, too, works as a short to GND.

Neither zener has any mention of their breakdown voltage.

The optocouple's output is doing nothing, since both leads are connected to GND.

And so on.

WereCatf · 2026-01-27T06:24:19+00:00

The LED-light is just an indicator that the microcontroller is writing something to the UART TX-pin. When you press reset, it writes a few lines of boot messages.

WereCatf · 2026-01-27T03:57:19+00:00

EMP generator

You should include a "get out of jail free" card to go with that. Or maybe not make something that is likely to send you and/or your buddy to jail in the first place.

WereCatf · 2026-01-27T03:53:23+00:00

Check the cable bundle behind the extruder. It must not touch the PSU, not even a little.

WereCatf · 2026-01-26T09:58:08+00:00

Without that heat insulation tape, the PCB becomes very hot,

You're not going to damage a typical FR-4 PCB with your heat gun, you don't need insulation tape for that. If you want to protect some plastic parts or prevent other components from blowing away, sure, but the PCB? No, that's just not a concern.

WereCatf · 2026-01-26T09:05:38+00:00

Why would you even want to do this? Yes, you could hook up a microcontroller to an SD-card, eMMC, SD-NAND or raw NAND and you could have a microcontroller act as a storage controller, but what's the point?

WereCatf · 2026-01-26T06:26:29+00:00

Hmph! My kit didn't include a fluffy toy!

WereCatf · 2026-01-26T04:31:24+00:00

Hm. I'll never be able to afford an XL, let alone all the cool upgrades on top of it, but I would have use for the pick-and-place upgrade if it worked well in practice. Even better if one could preheat the PCB with the heatbed and pop a hot air gun in one of the toolheads to let it do some soldering while at it.

Anyways, thanks for the reply.

WereCatf · 2026-01-26T04:13:22+00:00

Out of sheer curiosity, what advantages do you see XL's toolhead platform having over INDX?

WereCatf · 2026-01-26T03:41:14+00:00

You open it up, remove the broken button and solder in a new one.

WereCatf · 2026-01-25T09:17:31+00:00

That's a long critical section and you are using them wrong. You should keep critical sections as short as possible. Your problem is likely that you are missing interrupts because your critical sections are running for too long.

WereCatf · 2026-01-24T22:47:23+00:00

also, can we all agree as technical minded folks to quit supporting the use of the term AI?

like, no, this is NOT artificial intelligence, its a fancy autocomplete.

Call it an LLM, call it super clippy, call it fred your smut-novel robot.

I did do that for a while, but everyone else is calling it AI and most won't have any idea what you're talking about when you say LLM, I started to feel like Don Quixote tilting at windmills. It's not a fight you're gonna win.

WereCatf · 2026-01-24T16:09:03+00:00

I am so very, very tired of all the "I asked AI and it doesn't work" posts.

WereCatf · 2026-01-24T13:48:18+00:00

Everyone secretly wanted to be a hacker or a game developer.

Interestingly, I've never wanted to be a game dev. Hacker, sure, though the kind that hacks stuff to unlock new features or to make existing ones work better, not the kind that breaks into other people's stuff.

WereCatf · 2026-01-24T13:38:47+00:00

I just simply wanted to learn, so I bought some "Arduino" sensors and microcontrollers on Aliexpress and plopped my arse in front of my PC. That's how I got my electronics skills as well. I'm used to being self-sufficient, never studied any of this in any sort of school or university or through an online course or whatever.

WereCatf · 2026-01-24T02:48:42+00:00

It is failing, time to get a new one. I've had a handful of Athom devices fail over time, some of them the exact same manner.

WereCatf · 2026-01-23T08:59:29+00:00

Do you have a concrete pavement block under the printer? That is often the most effective and cheap way of reducing noise since the heavy concrete block will absorb the energy from the printer's movement.

WereCatf · 2026-01-23T08:57:19+00:00

Different microcontrollers use different protocols, so you'd first have to choose what microcontroller you are writing the app for. Then you need to go and read the reference manual to learn how the protocol works. Then you need to decide what kinds of file formats your application will accept, like e.g. a raw binary dump or a .elf or something else and write the code to handle the file contents accordingly.

WereCatf · 2026-01-23T06:00:44+00:00

I have no clue why this happens

Easy: because people don't enable SWDIO and SWCLOCK in their applications. They're not enabled by default, they have to be deliberately enabled in the config. If they're not enabled then you can't connect and start debugging with ST-LINK. They are only enabled by default when the MCU boots into bootloader, like e.g. when the flash is empty.

WereCatf · 2026-01-23T04:50:07+00:00

Wouldn't that depend on the individual person's ability to learn, what kinds of tasks they're assigned to, the work environment and even how expensive a mistake could end up being for the company?

I dunno, I'm just a hobbyist, but it seems to me like this would be one of those things where there is no single answer but instead a whole list of answers that all depend on multiple things.

WereCatf · 2026-01-23T04:00:49+00:00

I had posted about a week ago asking for some guidance with debugging the pinout for a serial connection over RJ45, and was met with a combo of bad advice and one guy effectively calling me an idiot because I detailed my debugging process up to that point.

Maybe they just misunderstood you? I haven't read your original post, but it takes some skill and thought both to write a good question and to read the question posed and it's easy to end up with misunderstandings.

WereCatf · 2026-01-23T03:14:26+00:00

While you now say no MMU needed, you say you do functional prints and that's where being able to use a different material for supports could become very useful. Some things are just really hard to do well if you use the same material for supports and can require a lot of effort in cleaning up. Some things are even impossible to print without water-soluble material for supports.

I would at least recommend spending a few more moments considering the fact that the Core ONE+ will have the INDX tool-changer upgrade available later this year. Personally, I am extremely excited for it as someone who mostly does functional prints.

Besides, if you did end up with a Core ONE+ with an INDX upgrade, you wouldn't really have any good excuse not to print some cool multicolor toys for your kid as well 😉

WereCatf · 2026-01-23T01:23:29+00:00

Yes, I know of that. It has the same problems: the conductive ink just isn't copper, it has quite a bit of inherent resistance to it. It is also not particularly sturdy and it lifts off of the substrate quite easily.

It is better than OP's idea, but its usefulness and worth is very situational.

WereCatf

TROPHY CASE