Updated gsender this morning and my z was inverted without notice. Slammed my probe pin into the spoilboard. Homing was messed up. Cant get it to do anything properly. Then it wanted to home to the opposite corner. Reset everything. Won’t home. Locks up. I’m pretty fed up with gsender, can anyone recommend a better g code program.
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I would like to see an answer to this. Have the same problem thinking I need to reload UGS. Really frustrating
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Wish there was a way to just roll back gsender to the last version. It was running ok before the update. I should know better then to update it. I’ve had nothing but trouble with this program, I swear it’s done more damage to my expensive machine then it’s done good.
I honestly don’t expect a reply from senci labs. From what I can tell they don’t really support people in the forums much at all. We are on our own. Beginning to wish I had spent a bit more money and bought a different machine.
I learnt many years ago, when working on cars, if something is working then don’t fuss/mess with it.
In other words, when I find a stable version of software/program I will never update, because if I didn’t need certain functionality then, then I won’t need it now.
It is hard to continually resist updates, but I work hard to resist.
I have liked gSender, but I do miss the old Mach3 because I could us a true MPG for all tool movements.
Old versions of gSender should always be made available, if not, then ask Siensi to do that.
Yeah, haven’t run the machine in about a month, when I loaded it the update banner was there, clicked it without thinking. Totally regret it now.
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@Johan - You can go back in releases. Go here -Releases · Sienci-Labs/gsender · GitHub. I would recommend uninstalling any/all previous releases before downloading and installing release you want.
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Good of you to direct Johan as to where to find the back releases.
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Johan, our main way to help people is through our site phone and email help system. It’s pretty common for companies to do this. With that said, I can tell that you’ve hardly been on the forum so I don’t think it’s fair to make exaggerated comments which are ultimately assumptions.
I’d be happy to help you out, though I could use some more information such as any pictures, videos, code from the ‘console’ tab when you tried probing, or sending along your firmware settings. It seems to me that the gSender update has also coincided with you recently getting back into using your machine so I also wouldn’t rule out a problem coming from another source rather than the update. If you want faster assistance I’d ultimately encourage you to also consider putting an email through to our support since we’ve got far more people set up to help there than to scan forum posts all day long - the forum tends to be more a hub for people within the community.
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Does it matter how much I’ve been on the forums? Hmm… is this how you talk to a customer. Bit condescending,
Are you saying your machines aren’t reliable if not used on the regular? This stuff is like riding a bike. I deleted 1.1.6 and downloaded 1.1.4 checked my settings and ran the piece no problems. So there was no fault on my end.
It’s to be expected that a guy is gonna be a bit perturbed when his 2500 dollar machine turns into a paperweight when he is on a deadline for a customer who needs a birthday present ASAP.
Actually, the answer to your question is NO!
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Actually the answer is yes, sometimes… it became unusable, unstable and had the potential to damage my machine. Someone with less know how and gumption to fix the problem might have faired way worse and actually damaged their expensive CNC.
That said, I will be using 1.1.4 because it runs fine. 1.1.6 is garbage as far as I can tell.
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@Johan , I have a dedicated laptop to run gSender. Using version 1.06. My laptop is not hooked up to the internet, I don’t update Windows 10, I don’t run any virus/malware programs, sleep mode turned to Never, USB connectivity is set to never sleep, in other words no outside interference to complicate potential capability issues.
I have had occasional USB connectivity issues, but I also had them on a different machine that ran Mach3. Some computers can be a little clitchy. The trick is to find the right port that stays connected. Once found then the connectivity is fairly reliable.
So far I am happy with gSender.
I just have to find a good way to keep the dust/debris off the keyboard & mouse, but still close enough to the work-piece to use the jogging functions.
All the best with your projects.
Looking forward to see them.
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Yeah, I hear ya… I went out and bought a brand new high powered dedicated laptop for the mill. I had connectivity issues at first, but quickly figured that out after gsender crashed my machine multiple times. Making sure the ports never turn off is key.
I’ve had other issues with the machine, not staying square and true. This machine appears to be a bit finicky at times. I’m running the 30x30 mk2. I’ve had good success making stuffs, took my son in law and I a couple weeks to perfect tiling. It’s been fun and I look forward to creating more cool stuff. I just wish the machine was more consistent, it’s been a struggle with this machine. If it isn’t gsender messing up, then the machine itself is acting up. Rarely have we had a flawless run. But we keep learning and moving forward.
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gSender works beautifully for me and all the little tweaks improve it further
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@Johan While I don’t agree that gSender is “garbage”, since you asked, you may want to try CNCjs. gSender is based on that. UGS is also used by Long Mill owners.
There are others, but those are the two that I have used.
Since you said that “I’ve had nothing but trouble with this program” and you don’t believe that the Sienci support team really suppor this product, it seems obvious that you would be much happier with another sender. If neither of these other ones suits you, just search on gcode senders. You will get others to try.
Wen I as having tremendous machine problems they constantly told me to check the forums…maybe it’s like you say, and they don’t really want to provide support. I guess I thought there was extensive testing before releasing the updates…but it must be like Microsoft, let the users be the guinea pigs…
Johan,
People like you are really messing up the forum. Which is it, you’ve not been on the machine for a month or you’ve got a deadline? Moreover, it appears that you hadn’t attempted to get support from Sienci, but rather jumped on the forum to whine. A legitimate use of the Forum might have been AFTER you got some support and then sharing that experience with the community. Just venting doesn’t do anyone any good.
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Isn’t this an open sourced, community developed, free g-code sender? Other than GitHub Issues, I’m not sure what support there would be.
It is good to know that version 1.6 isn’t stable. Definitely post an issue on GitHub. I see one is there, but it got resolved very quickly.
As far as others, gSender is a fork of CNCjs. CNCjs was built with React (a JavaScript variant, and not pure JavaScript) and so was harder for people to contribute to. As I understand, gSender is pure JavaScript and therefore seems to have many more contributors and more robust development. You can check the original out and see if it is more stable. The user experience would be very close.
Obviously, the granddaddy of free, community developed, open source g-senders is UGS. In my experience, don’t expect it to be much more stable or easy to use. But it does have a very robust development community and issues are addressed by the community relatively quickly. The most stable and functional of the free g-code senders was bCNC. Unfortunately development seems to have been abandoned a few years ago and it has gotten pretty long in the tooth. It works great, but lacks some of the features that recent GRBL updates have introduced (GRBL is also open source and community supported).
There is also the free, open-sourced, Carbide Create. It’s pretty limited if you are coming from gSender/CNCjs, but it seems to get the job done for many people. You can check that out.
As far as commercial paid software (which gSender is not) with support(ish), there is always Mach3/4. It’s a couple of hundred dollars, but it’s been around for over a decade. Unfortunately, I don’t think it supports GRBL based machines. Depending on what controller box you have, you may or may not be able to use it. If you have a GRBL based box, you may need something like a Smooth Stepper (another $200) to connect to external drivers. You will also need a Windows machine, so no Raspberry Pi. If you have a Raspberry Pi running an ESP32 based GRBL board with integrated Trinamic Drivers and want to switch to Mach 4, It will likely cost you near $600-$700.
Same goes with UCCNC. If you have their controller, the software is pretty good. I actually had a machine with a UCCNC BOB and the UCCNC software. I hated it, and rather than get support from the developer I found myself trading insults (at the time it would not work with Windows 8. Rather than admit that, he insisted that I didn’t understand how to use a computer. About a month later he released a version that fixed Windows 8 compatibility issues). I got rid of the external driver boards and the UCCNC controller and replaced them with a GRBL solution and have never looked back. My first machines all ran Mach 3 and were connected by parallel port (for those of you too young to know what that is, it was something Dinosaurs used in the Mesozoic).
So there are many options, and over the last decade or so I’ve probably tried most. I’m pretty satisfied with gSender. It’s not perfect, but it ticks the boxes for my relatively small (1m2) machines that mostly cut wood. But you are honestly spoiled for choice if you look around.
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You are correct in that any of the MACHx products will not work with a GRBL controller. As for gSender it is based off of CNCjs but has been extensively modified, improved and extended by Sienci Labs. Sienci Labs is constantly upgrading and maintaining gSender. I don’t think there are any other gcode senders out there that have this kind of support. If there are they are probably either proprietary or paid products. GSender, just like any other software, can have problems occasionally but Sienci Labs are pretty quick to rectify issues. As for community developed I don’t believe anyone else modifies or supports this code other than Sienci Labs. Of course users are encouraged to suggest improvements or report possible faults or inconsistancies. I guess you could call that “community developed”. Happy carving!