2.0.0 Alpha 3 BB Firmware (latest beta, 6/23/23)

Firmware (BB Buildbotics) Public Beta Tests
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This is the third build of 2.0 Onefinity Firmware.

This has a major rebuild that is 64 bit which will work with either RPI3 (in all current controllers) or RPI4.
Our internal testing uses this pi4: https://amzn.to/3nqKT7i

Known Issues:
1366x768 resolution does not work on RPI4 Only

DO NOT INSTALL THIS FIRMWARE IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO HELP BUG TEST. IT IS NOT READY FOR PRODUCTION. THERE WILL BE BUGS.

New features

  • Built of 1.3 Features (so missing all 1.1.1 features for stability)
  • Initial Wizard
  • After Reset is clicked, initial wizard will reinitiate.
  • Network moved to master list in flyout menu instead of under ā€˜generalā€™ section.
  • Incorporates 64bit programing.
  • Gcode fix from 1.3.0
  • Backend Logging for debugging
  • Add File load prompt before loading any gcode.
  • Add simulated yes or now button.

If you experience issues or bugs, you must comment on this thread for us to see them. This thread is the ONLY place the developers will look to fix bugs, if you donā€™t post them here, they will not be fixed. By downloading the link below, you agree to post about bugs on this thread, and only on this thread (and not on the facebook group, the developers will not see it there and any facebook posts related to 2.0 alpha builds will be deleted immediately).

Download Link:

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OneFinity Firmware 2.0 alpha 3 (I hope this review is more helpful than confusing :wink: )

Test configuration: The controller and a PC, using Firefox browser, are hardwired on the intranet.
Woodworker with a Z-20, added X/Y proximity switches.

First impressions:

The default screen resolution on the controller monitor (the original 7" from
OneFinity) causes a lot of screen scrolling.
(The monitor is turned on before controller power up.)
I donā€™t know how this relates to known 1366x768 issue.
I havenā€™t researched the forum yet for resolution settings.

ā€œWelcome ā€¦ getting startedā€ startup should have a metric/imperial choice.
Wi-fi setup could use a ā€œSkipā€ option. (I know, ā€œNextā€ works)

I did the ā€œWelcomeā€¦ getting startedā€ and then changed all my particular settings.
I did a backup to the PC. See below, the controller settings will be lost on the next power cycle.

Same issues with disapearing Hamburger menu as mentioned in previous 2.0 posts.

To reproduce the situation:
After you get through ā€œWelcomeā€¦ getting startedā€ settings,
go to the menu Admin and Restore setting. It will say success and
Without warning the monitor will go black and after 1:30 or so it
will flash rebooting. After 2 minutes the screen will be back with no menu.
Power off and on power up, the ā€œWelcomeā€¦ getting startedā€ is back.

With just a few cycles, it seems that any setting change/save will cause
another ā€œWelcome ā€¦ getting startedā€.

To continue with testing, I ignored changing my settings after ā€œWelcomeā€¦ getting startedā€ reboot.
I skipped homing during testing since I canā€™t save the necessary settings for proximity switches.

First I just cancelled the ā€œLoad selected fileā€ window.
I donā€™t think it showed which file.

I did load a file from the PC and it displayed the part nc path, same with a second file.
(2 files not enough to test if loading and selecting files correctly)

I did a shutdown and a power up (ā€œpower-cycleā€). It did not show the ā€œWelcomeā€¦ getting startedā€ and
did the pop-up ā€œLoad selected fileā€ window. I selected to load the file, it did.
I then used the control to delete a selected file so there was a blank field for selected file.
I did a ā€œpower-cycleā€ and again the ā€œLoad selected fileā€ window. First file on the list I guess.

This ā€œLoad selected fileā€ window confuses me. Didnā€™t 1.3 already have the last file used
loaded on power up? (I donā€™t remember and to hard to switch SD cards to check)
This is a feature???

The controller monitor goes black after serveral minutes of non-use.
Tapping the black screen has no effect.
Turning the monitor off/on has no effect. It doesnā€™t say ā€œno signalā€ like
after powerdown. I started the PC browser to do a shutdown.

It would be nice that if there still is a signal to the monitor something is shown.
Is there a raspberry setting to keep the screen on during inactivity. Hate to see a
black screen when a part is running.

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Thank you for your input. With what youā€™ve found so far, Iā€™ll skip this version based on the missing burger menu, that one was a big enough irritant in ā€œAlpha2ā€.

Eric

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Does Pi4 need to have additional power connected to function? All I get is firmware not found. Did check SD card to make sure file loaded on. Wanted to give it a shot and see what comes up.

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No, the power is provided through the ribbon cable connection on the side of the RPi.

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Any update of feature list available?

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I have been running 2.0.0 Alpha 3 for several months now, I find it really good, only issue Iā€™ve had since day 1 with it is when I power down the controller and power back up it makes me go through the initial settings each time, hence forgetting all my custom settings.

I have re-flashed the firmware 3 times not and each time same issue. Once I set everything up it has not had any other issues, but one is really annoying.

Is there a newer version that may have addressed this?

-Alex

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almost 6 months without an update is this project dead?

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I agree an update would be nice. Since receiving my Woodworker almost 2 years ago now, my position has been itā€™s a great solidly built machine, but itā€™s weak area is the controller. The tease about 2.0 sounds good, but please keep your user base informed. Is there any target date for its release? What are the current feature set in the pre-release?

Back several months ago I posted some feature requests but to date OneFinity has not even commented.

I am tempted to install the Alpha release but Iā€™m reluctant since there is mostly silence from the developers. We want to be part of the team and are willing to invest our time in refining this product. But OneFinity needs to recognize us as a valuable asset in the real world. We able to improve, what I believe to be the class leader in the hobby CNC market, and bring the machine to an even higher level.

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No, No more work has been done as theyā€™ve been working on some other enhancements.

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Well, thatā€™s a real bummer. The machine was released almost 3 years ago now and this would be a really nice feature improvement. Itā€™s also a little insulting to those of us who placed faith in the new companyā€™s first product offering and waited patiently while the demand far exceeded your capabilities to produce them.

If the project is not going to be completed would OneFinity consider releasing it to the open-source community so it can be completed? And would you take the idea to upper management?

Dissapointed,
John

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Itā€™s all already up on the github as opened source. Always has been.

The project will be, but other features are taking president. Thereā€™s also more thatā€™s being worked on that hasnā€™t been shared. We havenā€™t forgotten or given up on original customers.

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It would be nice to see some feature updatesā€¦ the elite may be nice and shiny but there is a large install base out there who would like some quality of life improvements that certainly couldnā€™t be that hard to implementā€¦ like say, macro buttons on the UI. Even if weā€™re not getting the new hardware.

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Is this the post we are supposed to be using to follow? I think using these forums posts are horrible for updates and tracking when we should be doing updates.

From what i can tell itā€™s been over 6 months and there still is no stable version. Am I right?

Is this the github repo?

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yep, thatā€™s the git hub. Yes. 2.0 has had no developments since 6/23/23.

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Ok.

Is there a reason? Are you guys done working on it and just moving on the Elite?

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That might not be what we want to hear but if that is the case at least we are not all wondering what is going onā€¦

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They answered that they are going to continue to work on it but at the moment thereā€™s other things that are a higher priority. Since this isnā€™t needed, just a possible nice upgrade, itā€™s not as high a priority at the moment.

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And I know from experience that projects that are put aside frequently are never picked up again. My suggestion is that we, the user base, let our voices be heard.

Sure I would to replace or add a newer machine, but the fact is I already own a great CNC in my Woodworker, except for the weak controller. Itā€™s still the best value in its market class. But thatā€™s not going to happen right now.

Right now Iā€™m finishing up on Christmas then my son and I will be back on our Mach 3 conversion. As you can see from the picture, the control boxes below the table and the monitor and keyboard to the right we are getting close. Some debugging and Mach 3 configuration and we will be there. We intend to do a YouTube video on the build and provide help to other OneFinity users wishing to do the same.

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Hey John,

Mach3, really? Here Sebastion End tells at this moment of this video he couldnā€™t use Mach3 because it had too much bugs and failures and was not stable (you can activate english subtitles by selecting Settings ā†’ Subtitles ā†’ Auto-translated ā†’ English. Good that we, the North Germans, speak no dialect, so autotranslating works very well). Also Mach3 runs on Windows and Windows is no realtime operating system. He used Eding CNC and Estlcam which calls ā€œcoolā€ in matters of budget before, but it was controlled over the USB port, so he finally found that only LinuxCNC is reliable enough (comes as an OS image file that has a realtime operating system preinstalled). And if you have a PC and a MESA card (which run on PCI, PCIe slot or on the Ethernet port) and some stepper drivers, you have no costs since linuxcnc.org is Free and Open Software. The MESA cards donā€™t rely on the computing capacity of the PC processor, but have a programmable FPGA that does the time-critical work for running the stepper motors. As you can program this FPGA, you can even change the MESA cardā€™s capabilities.

The user frontend for LinuxCNC that Sebastian End shows in the video is
QtPyVCP. Nice, eh? Lets the Masso User interface look mingy.

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