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Solved.
I ended up getting an old pc machine set up and used the Xloader app to load the .hex Grbl file onto the arduino. I had to separate the uno from the gshield to get it to upload right but in the end it loaded the .hex file. I then switched back over to my mac an went thru the easel set up process and everything worked like factory at that point. I still don’t know what was going on with my mac and the arduino software in conjunction with the Hexloader but in the end the problem got solved.
@sketch42 your help has been exceptional and I owe you a beer if you ever in the Portland Oregon area! Thank you for you time!!!
iMac upstairs for design/setup in Easel → MacBookPro downstairs for gcode generation → Raspberry Pi in the workshop to run the gcode.
Sound needlessly complex? Yeah I think so too. But, here’s why I do it that way:
I’ve figured out that Easel saves the configuration of my X-Carve somewhere (don’t know where) upon completing the setup routine. It then adds things to the gcode it creates, for instance – commands to “lift and start the spindle” and “shutoff and go home” These commands do not get added if I create the gcode file from my upstairs iMac because it’s never actually had an X-Carve connected to it and had the setup routine completed.
So, today I decided to tote my machine up to my office just so I could connect it and run the setup routine.
Which got to the “connect and power up” dialog and then hung.
I can see the arduino in my USB tree. I’ve tried connecting it via hubs and directly into the iMac. No bueno. I got sick of trying and brought the machine back downstairs, reconnected it to the Pi, and everything is normal again.
The only thing I can think of is that I’m running the El Capitan beta on my iMac, and Yosemite on the MBP downstairs.
I did not try UGS while it was connected to see if it’s an Easel thing or an OSX thing.
I have an iMac (24 inch, early 2009 with OSX 10.10.4 Yosemite) and had the same issue. After disabling my Norton anti-virus software, all is well. On a side note, I have to boot up my iMac before I plug in the Arduino. If I connect the Arduino before booting up my iMac, OSX won’t load at all. Also, I am using Chrome instead of Safari.
Same problem - I can connect to X-Carve with Universal Gcode Sender and X,Y,Z and spindle controls all work. But Easel will not connect and I have tried Safari, Firefox and Chrome.
Could someone provide the GCode that is used by Easel for its set-up then I can do the job via UGS?
Further to my previous note. I have tried a “cold-start” on my Mac (pressing the Shift key on restart - which disables all start-up apps). This meant that Easel noticed the absence of the Easel Local and IO had to reinstall. Still no luck…
But, on doing these steps
1)“Easel - Confirm Settings”
2) Power-up the X-Carve
3) Plug in the USB
I did notice a tiny sound of one of the stepper-motors grunting. So there is some kind of connection going on.
But clearly there is a bug in Easel (or Easel Local).
Any ideas, anyone. I have tried a conversation with the Easel Team, but they made a few suggestions, but have dried-up over the weekend.
I’d like to bump @KevinKarney 's question since I am in the same boat. I bought my grbl shield separately since I already had an arduino uno r3 lying around. I uploaded grbl to the arduino using the arduino ide, and the inventables grbl github fork (there is a link the fork in another thread on this topic). I can’t get Easel to connect to my Macbook Pro no matter what I try. I can make the machine move with UGS, so I know that the grbl install and the connections are OK.
I’m having the same problem as the others who’ve posted here. The only difference, from what I can tell, is that I was able to connect to the X-Carve via USB previously and carve normally, although there were a few instances where I had to reboot my machine (OSX 10.9.5) in order for the USB connection to work. Today I (carefully) moved the machine six feet and now Easel hangs on the “Connecting to X-Carve” dialog. At one point Easel did show that it had connected for a brief moment but then it hanged again.
This is just rehashing what others have said, but here’s the rundown:
I have a brand new (<1 week) 1000mm X-Carve with about 3 hours mileage.
My Mac shows it’s connected to the Arduino.
All LEDs on the Arduino and grbl board are glowing as normal.
Sometimes the steppers chug slightly when I try to connect from Easel. Other times nothing happens at all.
I have checked and rechecked and checked again all wiring/continuity. Everything is correct. Or my meter is lying.
I’ve checked the connection between the grbl and Arduino, reseating the board several times. This definitely seems like the weakest link as the Arduino/grbl case is a wonky design. When I first built the machine I was constantly losing connection between grbl and Arduino (the grbl won’t seat itself fully into the Arduino; there isn’t enough clearance for the limit switch pins). Modifying the case remedied those problems.
I’ve tried every combination of reboot/power cycling (including hitting the reset switches on grbl and Arduino and taking the spindle out of logic) with no luck.
Does anyone have other ideas on how to solve this problem? I spent all day designing a circuit and making an .svg for the X-Carve. I’d really love to be milling PCBs soon. Thanks for any help.
I have Easel connecting to the X-Carve again. Here’s what I did (I’m really not sure which part actually worked as this doesn’t make much sense to me but hopefully someone can use the info):
Re-uploaded grbl onto the Arduino as explained by sketch42 above
Rebooted the Mac
Started Easel in Chrome again (I failed to mention that’s what I’ve been using). Still hanged on the “Connecting” dialog. For some reason I was also prompted to install Easel Local again, which I did even though it’s the same version I already had installed. Anomaly?
Frustrated, I quit Chrome and opened Easel in Safari. Bing! Works.
Went back into Chrome and now Easel connects fine from there too.
Weird-out. But whatever, now I’ll annoy my neighbor and his new gf with some late night carving. Thanks to all who posted info here, it was a huge help.
Well, I tried everything @Gumcontrol mentioned above. Still no luck. I wasn’t able to get hexuploader to work, so I used the Arduino IDE to reupload the latest GRBL from the inventables fork. However, I wasn’t prompted to reload Easel Local. Is there a way to remove it manually so that I will be forced to reinstall? Maybe that will do it. I’ve already tried reinstalling it without removing it. Seemed to go ok, but didn’t solve the problem. Maybe there is some corrupted file that is not being overwritten with a fresh copy.
Out of frustration, I borrowed a friends PC laptop. Worked fine the first try. That is pretty frustrating. There is clearly a bug somewhere in Easel or the MacOS that makes the two incompatible under certain circumstances. These circumstances seem to be very difficult to find and sometimes resolve themselves spontaneously. Not a description of robust software. At this point, I’m ready to find an old PC to run this thing.
Just got my Xcarve 1000 together and up and running. Modded the gantry to stiffen it and using the DW611 palm router. Like the previous comments, using Mac and absolutely no luck connecting to Easel, regardless of browser, restarts, etc… Almost gave up out of shear frustration, but as I also bought Vcarve had to figure out UGS eventually, so just bit the bullet and got it running. Had a few mishaps as I had to do the initial machine testing and troubleshooting (only two wires in the wrong place) with UGS and not Easel, but finally had a couple of successful cuts with UGS. Even though Vcarve is great, I would love to be able to eventually be able to use Easel as well. I am integrating this into my kids robotics club, and see Easel as a very quick and easy option they can use to get something cut out quick. Was there ever a resolution to the Mac vs Easel connectivity issue? Looked thought the forums and have not been able to find anything beyond this thread. Thanks again Inventables! I love my Xcarve!!
So, I have a few questions that might help us here on the forum help you troubleshoot:
First, you did run it with Easel at some point right? On a Windows machine? This is a key stage in setting it up properly, so Running it with Easel at least once is important.
Can you give us some specs on the Mac that you are trying to use? What version of the OS are you using? Browser? Firewall? Etc.
I think one of the reasons you don’t see a whole lot of people posting about solving Mac issues on this forum is because for most of us using a Mac the process was hiccup free. We just plugged the X-Carve in and it just worked straight away without any extra steps. That being said, If I can get some of the information about your Mac, I’d be happy to try and help you out.
I never did fix the issue I had getting my mac (Yosemite) to connect to my x-carve via easel. UGS worked just fine (I didn’t run them at the same time). An inventables employee offered to remote into my machine and check it out, but I haven’t had time to deal with it yet. I decided I didn’t want my mac to remain tethered to the x-carve anyway and just bought an old PC for that purpose. When I get a chance, I I’ll be happy to have somebody remote into my machine to figure out what my connection problem was. I tried everything, so I think the bug (if it is a bug) is pretty obscure.
Glad you are at least up and running. Keep us posted as to whether or not someone remotes in and finds anything. It is definitely a curious thing that UGS worked and Easel didn’t.
I actually have different macs, one a comid 2012 mac book air 11" running OS X 10.9.5, no firewalls, etc. The other a 2014 macbook air 13" running OS X Yosemite, also no firewalls. With both machines I tried Firefox, Chrome and Safari, with the same “Connecting to X-Carve” screen. The first attempt was via the link in the instruction for the initial setup, which I was never able to complete. Even if I close everything down and even restart the laptop, I get the same result. I just saw another post yesterday from someone else with the same issue. Again, I am able to use the machine via Vcarve and UGS, but it sounds like I a missing a key step in completing the Xcarve setup. Plus, as I mentioned, I really want to kids to be able to use Easel for some of their projects. Thanks again, Brad.
Hmmm… I would give Inventables a call @BradleyKFritz or at least shoot them an email.
I am sure they would love to help you and your class up and running with Easel. Also, the Easel setup is what initializes the settings on your Arduino/gShield.
These forums are pretty great, but direct help with an issue like this from Inventables will be even better.
I was having the initial issues as described by @KyleThomas in a couple of Macs (air and powerbook). I just did everything wrong and then was able to find a solution. To start, I ran the “blink” program and this led me a few steps back (I recommend to not try blink at all as it will wipe the grbl you need).
The HexUploader did not succeed, so I installed the latest Arduino software, installed the grbl library through the Arduino IDE (as recommended by @sketch42) Compiling Grbl · grbl/grbl Wiki · GitHub
After restoring this I went back to a Windows computer and I did not got stuck on the “Connecting to X-Carve” screen anymore. It was helpful that the new Arduino software installs the drivers for Windows so the COM3 port was readily usable.
