Geeetech

Hello.
I completed my 301, and it seems fine mechanically.
The Electronics have, unfortunately, a problem.

1.0 The Control Board:
Upon connection with Repetier, the Control Board sends its Boot-up message perfectly ("FIRMWARE_NAME:V1.0.02 PROTOCOL_VERSION:V1.0 MACHINE_TYPE:Rostock301 EXTRUDER_COUNT:3 UUID:").
After that message, the board seems to hang. No Repeiter commands are acknowledged by the Control board.

2.0 The Display:
When I first powered up the printer, the display was clear and bright, but only displayed 2 lines of black squares. Turning the control, or pressing reset on the panel had no effect -nothing changed.
After the printer had been on for about 15 minutes, the display went completely dark, and has never lit up again.

What I have found out so far:
1. The power supply is good. I have measured the voltage on the Control board (12volts is coming in from the power supply).
I have 5 volts on the Control board, and the LEDs on the control board light up for 5v, 3.3v, VDC, and Vbed. All good.

2. Communication between my computer and the Control board is good. Upon boot-up, the firmware version is printed on Repetier, and the Control board communication LEDs light up when the boot-up message is sent. All good

3. Disconnecting the Display from the Control board does not change the situation.

4. There is no current going to the XYZ stepper motors -they move freely. The fans for cooling the Control board and the Print head are always on.

What I have done:
I have loaded the correct FTDI USB drivers. I am using an Apple computer running Sierra (10.12.2), this is the same computer that I use for the 3d printer (Printerbot) which I have used for 2 years now.
I have configured Repieter for the delta configuration printer as shown in the Users Manual.

Thanking you in advance for your help,
-Karl

Did you have a right Baud Rate(115200)?
About the LCD,you can unplug the two ends of the cable and re-plug them to take a look(maybe loose connection).

1. Yes, I have the correct Baudrate (remember, I do have proof of communication between computer and control board because I get the message:"FIRMWARE_NAME:V1.0.02 PROTOCOL_VERSION:V1.0 MACHINE_TYPE:Rostock301 EXTRUDER_COUNT:3 UUID:" on my computer).

2. I have tried re-connecting the ribbon cable a number of times with no change at all.

In case this thread helps anyone, I thought that I would continue with my story.

Over the telephone, I told Geeetech my problem with the display board, and they immediately sent a replacement display board and cable.
I installed the new display board, and it worked.
Using the display menu, I discovered that the motors work, the HOME command works, and the heaters work.
So, the display problem is solved.

Unfortunately, the main board has stopped communicating with my computer. It used to send information to my computer after a reset or power-on, but not receive anything from my computer.
Now, it does not send anything out of the USB port at all.

Did you install the right driver for the board?
http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/CDM/CDM21224_Setup.zip
And you mean it didn't communicate with computer since you receive the board?

Hello.
Yes, I have installed the drivers (for Macintosh).
1. From the first power-up, the controller board has been able to transmit to the Macintosh (the power-up message, and the files on the memory card are displayed on Repieter).
2. The printer's controller board does not receive information from the Macintosh. I have tried two different cables, and two different computers. Repieter just says "Command Waiting" when I send a command to the printer.
3. Otherwise, the printer works. I can use the front panel to control the heaters, and motors.
4. I can load a G-code file into the memory card, and the printer prints the part (very poorly, because I have not yet been able to calibrate the Home switches or level the table -I need Repieter for that).

Thanks for your help.

Have you tried it on a Windows computer?You can have a try if you have.
And i guess the FTDI chip on your board may have a problem if the issue persists.

Thank you for your suggestion.
I borrowed a Windows PC and tried it out.
The results were the same.
I guess that you are correct -the FTDI circuit has a problem, and the board will need to be replaced.

Thanks again.

So did you speak to the vender?