I have my 1F controller connected directly to my Internet Router by Ethernet cable. My upstairs computer connects successfully to the controller by Wi-Fi via the Router. I can download a gcode file when I am at my upstairs computer to the controller just fine. However when I am downstairs I can’t seem to find a way to download a gcode file from the controller monitor unless I run back upstairs. Loading a file from downstairs sure would be convenient. Is there a way to do this?
Yes, you can pull files directly from the OF controller, its a Network issue you are having, that is a whole ball of wax but there are several topics on the Forum that address network issues.
-Alex
Links to topics for this subject? Thanks
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I configured my 1F to see my Windows computer folders across the network by first creating a an empty folder on the 1F and then “linking” this empty folder to a remote (network) location using the CIFS (common internet file system) protocol. For my 1F machine, and I hope all of them, CIFS should have already been installed and turned on from the factory.
Please note that the following instructions require you to know how to log into a remote Linux computer and how to do basic editing of a text file on Linux, all of which is out of scope for the forthcoming wall-of-text.
PHASE 0 - Preparation
To remote into the 1F from Windows, I suggest using a program called PuTTY (free) which uses the SSH (secure shell) protocol and is what Linux supports natively. Please download before continuing. Also, you need to make sure you have a password set within Windows. In other words, if you turn your computer on, and it goes directly to the Desktop without asking for a login password, then this entire process will likely fail as Linux does not like doing anything without a password. Again, enabling this is out of scope for these instructions.
PHASE 1 - World of Windows
You first need to turn on and/or configure folder sharing in Windows. There should be countless instructional resources online for how to do this in detail, but basically, right-click a folder → select Properties → and then Sharing tab. I personally like to go directly to the “Advanced Sharing” option and turn sharing on via that path as it tends to be a little more foolproof. But either way, once your Windows computer is broadcasting this folder as being shared, onto the 1F Linux side of things.
PHASE 2 - Land of Linux
Using PuTTY, connect to the IP Address of the 1F (on port 22). Note, you need to login using the user account that 1F created from the factory which is called “bbmc”. To get or reset the password for this account, use the regular 1F webpage interface and look under “Settings”.
Once you are logged into the 1F, here are the four commands I issued:
sudo -i
The sudo command tells Linux to execute the command immediately following as “root” (Administrator). I like to use “sudo -i” on the very first line all by itself as this will make sure ALL subsequent commands are root and I hate typing any more that absolutely required.
mkdir /home/bbmc/cncProjects
This mkdir command will create the directory named “cncProjects” which is what the folder is called on MY Windows computer and what I chose to call it in Linux. Please use whatever name you want, and no, it does not have to be the same as what is on Windows, but avoid the confusion and keep it the same. Note, the “bbmc” user folder (under the main home folder) is where this has to live as you are logging into the 1F Linux OS as this user and it is what the 1F web interface uses as well.
Now that the empty folder exists on the 1F Linux OS, we need to link (map) this folder to our Windows folder. To do this, I used the built-in Linux “pico” text editor and modified the “fstab” file:
pico /etc/fstab
After you are inside the pico text editor, with the fstab file opened, modify and add the following line and save the file
//172.16.42.10/cncProjects /home/bbmc/cncProjects cifs username=YourWindowsUserName,password=YourWindowsPassword
Breaking down this entry in the fstab text file:
//172.16.42.10/cncProjects = IP Address of your Windows computer and the name of the shared folder in PHASE 1 above.
/home/bbmc/cncProjects = The path to the Linux folder you created with the mkdir command above.
cifs = The desired protocol to use.
username=YourWindowsUserName,password=YourWindowsPassword = As shown, your username and password in Windows.
FINALLY, in order to get this whole ball of wax rolling, issue the following command, after which you should be able to refresh the 1F webpage interface, click the Open folder button and you will see “cncProjects” folder listed on the left rail of the pop-up window.
mount -a
What is happening here is, the fstab file will actually do the mounting every time Linux boots up, so the mount -a step isn’t doing anything except letting you test it now without a reboot.
Then, to properly and cleanly exit PuTTY, type the word “exit” twice; once to get out of sudo -i (root) mode, and the second to actually logoff.
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Thank you so much! This is the functionality I wanted. I appreciate the effort you put into this. I’m going to give this a try after I get a few projects done. I have a wireless mini keyboard working with the controller, so typing this in will be much easier.
Once again thanks for taking the time!
Phoenix
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