Does anyone know how to update the Marlin firmware to the latest for a Taz6?

I know that Lulzbot hasn’t made updates for quite a while now and wondered if anyone has a walkthrough on how to DIY or has a latest hex for firmware updating for a single extruder?

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The latest firmware for the TAZ 6 is contained in the latest version of CuraLE. Go to Manage Printers, Update Firmware.

You can also use GitHub - drunken-octopus/drunken-octopus-marlin: An Alternative (Unofficial) Marlin Firmware for AlephObjects Printers.

My TAZ 6 is connected to a Raspberry Pi running OctoPrint and I have installed the Firmware Updater plugin. I just navigate to the CuraLE folder containing the .hex file and let the plugin update the firmware, avoiding moving the USB connection from the RPi to my desktop computer (which is in another room).

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I downloaded the latest version of Cure LE

That firmware is two years old. Marlin is up to 2.0.9.01.

I will try the drunken octopus to see if that gets me closer.

If you want to run the latest and greatest version of Marlin, you will probably have to take on the task of building from sources. There are Lulzbot specific changes to the Marlin sources that you will have to manually merge.

Unless you have upgraded your TAZ 6 beyond what was delivered from LulzBot, 2.0.0.144 is newer than the printer itself. I’ve had no issues with my TAZ 6 using either 2.0.0.144 or 1.1.9.34.

That’s what I thought but was hoping there were steps on how to do the manual merge.
Probably beyond my skill set. Thanks for the information though.

There may be other topics in these forums on building Marlin firmware from sources. The “manual” merge is probably assisted to a large degree by GIT and its tools.

We just released new firmware, its on the latest Cura LE 3.6.25! Granted not all TAZ 6 tool heads are available, but the original extruder and the extruders we currently sell are all available on that one firmware! You can now change tool heads without needing to flash new firmware, and we are working on 2.0.9 soon!

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@rhenderson, can you tell us more about how this universal firmware works? Also, a specific list of TAZ 6 extruders that are supported would be useful.

Thanks!

The “universal” firmware is our naming scheme for the newest firmware, previously we made specific builds for each tool head printer combo. Now we have an in firmware option to change the tool head, this allows us to have a singular build for our printers with an lcd screen. As for the tool heads that are support the TAZ 6 is the only special case, as it originally shipped with a non universal adapter compatible tool head so we wanted to support that as well.

tl;dr
TAZ 6:
Original tool head
SE, SL, HE, HS, HS+, M175, H175
TAZ Workhorse, Pro (S, XT) , Mini 2:
SE, SL, HE, HS, HS+, M175, H175
TAZ SideKick (289, 747):
SK175, SK285, SE, SL, HE, HS, HS+, M175, H175

We are working on the dual tool heads as well but there was a bug the last I heard.

Thanks for the info.
Is the ‘universal’ firmware included in the MacOS version of CuraLE?

I ask because the latest MacOS stable version is 3.6.20 and the experimental version is 3.6.21.
You indicated that the latest version of CuraLE is 3.6.25.
Regards,

Unfortunately we have been unsuccessful in our attempts to build a newer version of the MacOS Cura LE, however should you be able to connect to your printer on 3.6.20 then you can flash the latest firmware to whichever LULZBOT printer you may be using. Download the firmware from LulzBot 3D / Cura-LE / Cura Binary Data · GitLab and use the upload custom firmware option in Cura LE

Thank you for the clarification. I downloaded the firmware no problem. So, if I understand correctly, once I install the Marlin_TAZ6_Universal… on my TAZ6, I will be able to switch tool heads without flashing every time?
I have the std TAZ6 tool head, the Aero 1.75mm, and the SL 0.25mm tool heads. Am I correct?

Thanks, Mike

Yes, there is a new option in the menu something along the lines of tool head selection ( I don’t remember the exact wording atm). Once you select that option it will bring up the list of tool heads and all you have to do is select the one that you wish to use ( be careful to not do this in the middle of a print ).

@rhenderson, Please let us know when the Universal TAZ6 firmware has bug-free support for the Dual Extruder V3 (or 3.1). Thanks!

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I updated my Taz6 to the universal update however it had a few issues.
First the bed leveling procedure started on pad 2, then went back to pad 1. It also barely caught the edge of the front pads. Whenever it did touch down, the second touch (slow one) made an odd noise once it did touch the pad. Almost a “machine gun” like noise for a few seconds. Next I had to abort a print on the first layer. When I restarted the printer it auto-homed to the left side (x axis) but since the z axis was one layer above the bed it ran into the wiping bar. At this point I cannot trust the universal version for my Taz6 so I am reverting back to the 2.0.0.144

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@iguanaman As far as the probe starting on a different pad, NOZZLE_AS_PROBE is a new probe type that is being used and the front right corner is the default starting point. In future versions it will go back to starting on the front left corner. The “machine gun” sound you are hearing is a slow raise of the Z motors to verify that it finds when the nozzle makes contact. This noise on our test machines is not louder than standard motor whine when moving around.

The however, the homing was an issue that I did not catch when moving to 2.0.6 marlin. I have fixed this so that is the Z position is not known it will raise 15mm to clear the wiper pad or any other obstacle if the machine is shut off in the middle of a command. If you want to give this a try, it can be found on our gitlab here labeled as Marlin_TAZ6_Universal_2.0.6.5TEST_efc0ee0c.hex be sure to select the correct tool head from the Tool Heads menu.

I updated with the test hex file and purposely killed the print where it failed last time to see what happened. It did recover nicely. Moved up, well out of the way of the wiper pad. I’m letting it complete a full print now to check behavior but so far so good.

It`s very useful reply. Thanks a lot

Is this still an issue? If so, is there a ticket where I can find details. I don’t know if I’ll be able to offer anything helpful, but I am s software developer who uses a mac.

Thanks

Is the Dual Extruder support fixed yet?

Thank you in advance.