Updating TAZ 5 Firmware

Is there a tutorial somewhere how to update TAZ 5 Firmware? What is the latest version? Where do I download from and how do I flash?

I am trying to see if this will fix the problem I am having with the printer randomly freezing mid-print, but I’m also curious in general.

My printers are currently on Marlin 1.0.0.1 which they came with.

Updating the firmware of a 3d printer is generally more complicated than it sounds, and isn’t generally going to provide a connection fix like a firmware update for a computer motherboard might. Think of firmware for a 3d printer as generally something that will change your printing paramaters and occasionally add new features, but its much less about bug fixing than other devices might be.

If your computer is driving the printer, it’s more likely that the computer itself is the source of the pauses. if you are driving off the SD card, either a corrupt SD card or a heat issue in the controller box is likely the issue.

You can upgrade with the precompiled lulzbot versions, but going with the taz 6 firmware for example would require you to disable the auto bed leveling and change a few bed parameters. You can upload a custom version using the Arduino IDE and compile it yourself and change configuration.h and whatnot to match your printer configuration. The extruder esteps is going to be different for each printer, and things like the Z steps often change from model to model with different leadscrew hardware.

If you are running a windows computer, make sure your power settings are set to “high performance” and the USB ports are set to “Never Sleep”

My TAZ started doing that after 2 years of use.

Printing from SD Card.

I reformatted the Card and all is well.

Kenny

Update the printer firmware through Cura (under Machine -> Install default firmware). That’s probably the easiest way.

The pre-built hex are kept on download.lulzbot.com. Follow the directory for the version of TAZ you have, and find the software - date - Marlin directories. For instance the TAZ 5.0 with .5 nozzle: http://download.lulzbot.com/TAZ/5.0_0.5noz/software/2016Q2/Marlin/

If you want to make modifications to the firmware and compile, the source can be found from:
https://code.alephobjects.com/diffusion/MARLIN/browse/Mangrove/


Hope that helps.

So I have gone to this page

http://download.lulzbot.com/TAZ/5.0_0.5noz/software/2016Q2/Marlin/

and see several hex files. What is the difference?

They all say 1.0.0.1. So is that the most recent?

Are there release notes as to new features or bug fixes with updates?

The names refer to project names. A list can be found here: http://devel.lulzbot.com/TAZ/