Summary
- Phase Stepping & Calibration
- Touch support
- Stuck filament detection
- Stealth mode
- Time Zone settings updated
- Filament Sensor Options
- RGB Side Strip Dimming
- XL Enclosure support
- Improvements by Prusa community
- Bug fixes
This is a release candidate for the Original Prusa XL from the firmware branch 6.0.0.
Phase Stepping & Calibration
Overview
In the early stages of development, we selected the Trinamic 2130 drivers to have the options to further improve the stepping of motors in the XL. As a result of this development, we see improvements in print quality and a reduction in printer noise. Due to the natural variance in stepper motor manufacturing, each motor responds uniquely to driver signals, causing visible fine artifacts (VFAs) and noise. Phase Stepping customizes the drive signal for each motor, addressing these discrepancies by reducing VFAs and audible noise, thereby enhancing the printing experience.
How it works
The printer will move the print head (in the case of the Multi-Tool it will select the first print head) to the middle of the bed and start to move the tool diagonally for the X and Y axes at different speeds - while collecting data from the accelerometer located on the Dwarf board inside the Nextruder. The goal is to measure the characteristics of the motors and store these settings
How to Perform the Calibration
After updating the Firmware navigate to Menu - Control - Calibrations & Tests - Phase Stepping Calibration. The calibration shouldn't run on multiple printers side by side simultaneously. The neighboring printer performing similar motions may affect the measurement.
Phase Stepping and crash detection
Currently, if Phase Stepping is enabled, crash detection is disabled. This is due to technical reasons. Developers are investigating whether these two features can work together.
Touch support
Touch is already supported for the MK4/MK3.9/MK3.5, This release extends support for the XL. For now, you must manually enable the touch feature from the menu. Navigate to Settings -> User interface -> Touch.
With the touch enabled you'll be able to control the majority of items on the screen. You can swipe your finger up and down to scroll through the menu. Swiping left or right (depending on your preference) takes you one step back in the menu hierarchy.
There are some exceptions where the knob must be used, such as when setting the target temperature manually or while moving with any of the axes.
Tip: If you experience issues with the touch, please enable the Touch Sig Workaround option in the menu. Navigate to Settings -> User Interface -> Touch Sig Workaround
Stuck filament detection
Starting from this release, the loadcell sensor in the Nextruder will not only be used for the mesh bed leveling but also for detecting whether the filament is stuck and not moving (e.g. when the nozzle is clogged).
When certain conditions are met, the print will be paused, filament unloaded and the system will notify you that the filament was most likely stuck. Once you check the filament, reload it back to the Nextruder, and then you can resume the print job.
It is important to note that detecting stuck filament is possible only inside the Nextruder, as pressure builds up from the nozzle to the upper part of the Nextruder. However, if your filament is tangled on the spool, there will be no internal pressure, just outside tension, which the loadcell won't be able to recognize.
Stealth mode
Similar to the MK3 family, we are introducing Stealth mode, which will make your printer even quieter. This can be useful for example for overnight prints. You can switch between Normal and Stealth mode even during the print. Keep in mind that the mode will be activated once several G-code commands in the buffer (printer memory) are processed.
Once the Stealth mode is enabled, the firmware sets a limit to acceleration, feed rate, and jerk. Setting a cap on these parameters will lower the noise. While this reduces noise, it also affects the overall printing time.
In addition to Stealth mode, we are also adding support for the M73 G-code. You can find more information in this article. To apply the G-code M73 properly, you have to reslice or edit your existing G-codes, make sure you are using PrusaSlicer 2.7.4 and the latest print profiles.
Time Zone settings updated
This release increases the timezone hour offset range up to +14 hours and also introduces a timezone minutes option to select a timezone offset in minutes (0 min, 30 min, and 45 min).
This addresses issues #3550, #1779 and #3141.
Filament Sensor Options
The filament sensor function now lets you choose which filament sensor to switch ON or OFF. This allows you to control the Side filament sensor and the Tool filament sensor individually or toggle all of them simultaneously. Navigate to Settings -> Filament sensors
RGB Side Strip Dimming
Starting this release you can enable or disable dimming for the LED side strip.
Go to Menu - Settings - User Interface - RGB Side Strip Dimming
XL Enclosure support
This firmware lays the groundwork for the upcoming XL Enclosure release, featuring the addition of the 'Enclosure' item in the printer's menu. For now, this feature is disabled, however, once you connect your XL Enclosure, this item will become fully functional.
Improvements by the Prusa community
Once again, thanks to the active members of the community, we could improve the firmware with two new pull-request (#3766, and #3779). Kudos to the user @bkerler!
Bug fixes
- Tool Offset Calibration, which would cause in some cases a red screen or would either fail or not complete is now working properly.
- Opening the Input Shaper (IS) menu was disabled by accident in the previous release, although the IS was still functioning. This restores the user's ability to open the menu and view the currently applied filters and frequencies. All values are currently set automatically, with manual adjustment planned for future releases.
- During the filament loading procedure, the “STOP” button wasn't working properly. This is now fixed.