Updating/upgrading your 3D

printer firmware

A few words first:

This page is dedicating to upgrading/updating your marlin
firmware for your 3D printer.

Here we will also show what settings to use for Scalar XL 3D

printers, but the main idea stay the same for any other
printers. Be advised however that the philosophy can be
slightly different for Delta 3D printers and that you might
look for another type of guide if you own a Delta 3D printer.

Also the described marlin firmware is from 2015 August 24th so

if you want to update to a newer version be advised that some
modifications might be needed that are not covered on this
guide.

First things to downloads first:

You will need to download and install a few tools first:

Arduino ide from the official website

here: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
 7Zip from the official
webside: http://www.7-zip.org/download.html

Unzip the firmware on your hard

drive.
After installing the tools above, you will need to download a
copy of the marlin firmware.

Marlin is also available from the official repository here

Process to flash your firmware
using the .hex (binaries)
Download Xloader
Unzip it, you should have the following file struture

Download the .hex corresponding to your 3D printer

configuration (see below)
unzip the .hex.zip before using it
Connect your 3D printer to your PC using a USB cable
run Xloader.exe
Select the.hex file
Select the output device Mega(ATMEGA2560)
Select your 3D printer COM port
Click the « Upload » button

Firmware Updates:

Needed libraries in order to

compile Firmware 1.1.9: (not needed
if you are using the .hex files)
TMC2130
TMC2208
Neopixel

Procedure to install these

libraries:
Procedure in order to enable
« Power_loss » feature
Warning! No support will be made from us on this feature!
Use it at your own risks

A proper APU is needed with a TTL output is greatly advised

for this feature.

Inside file Configuration_adv.h uncoment line 591

Version 1.1.9

Version 1.1.9 (Changelog) , available for Scalar 3D printers

since 11/08/2018

Scalar S

E3DLite6 1.75mm + heatbed 95°C Max (binaire) (sources)

E3D lite6 1.75mm + heatbed 140°C Max (binaire) (sources)
E3D lite6 1.75mm + heatbed 140°C Max + Trap
(binaire)(source)
E3D lite6 1.75mm no heatbed(binaire) (sources)
E3DLite6 1.75/3mm + heat bed 140°C +Trap+ Dual Extrusion
Chimera (binaire) (sources)
E3DLite6 1.75/3mm + heat bed 140°C + Dual Extrusion
Chimera (binaire) (sources)
E3D Chimera 1.75mm + heat bed 140°C + Z M8 + RRD +
TMC2208 in X and Y + Dual end of filament modules (in
 D11 and D6) (binaire) (sources)
E3D V6 1.75/3mm + heatbed 140°C Max (binaire) (sources)
E3D V6 1.75/3mm + Tr8x1.5 (binaire) (sources)
E3DV6 1.75/3mm TR8x1.5 + end of filament (binaire)
(sources)
E3DV6 1.75/3mm TR8x1.5 (MKS GEn 1.4 + TMC2130(spi) en X
et Y, et DRV8825 en Z et E) (binaire) (sources)

Scalar L

For Z axis 10mm trap screws

E3D Lite6 1.75mm (binaire) (sources)

E3D Lite6 1.75mm + end of filament (binaire) (sources)
E3D V6 1.75/3mm (binaire) (sources)
E3D V6 1.75/3mm + end of filament (binaire) (sources)

For Z axis 8mm trap screws

E3D Lite6 1.75mm (binaire) (sources)

E3D Lite6 1.75mm + end of filament (binaire) (sources)
E3D V6 1.75/3mm (binaire) (sources)
E3D V6 1.75/3mm + end of filament (binaire) (sources)

Scalar XL Premium

For Z axis 10mm trap screws

E3D Lite 6 (binaire) (sources)

E3D Lite6 1.75mm + BLtouch (binaire) (sources)
E3D Lite6 1.75mm + end of filament (binaire) (sources)
E3D Lite6 1.75mm + Titan Extrudeur(binaire) (sources)
E3DV6 1.75/3mm (binaire) (sources)
E3DV6 1.75/3mm + BLtouch (binaire) (sources)
E3DV6 1.75/3mm + BLtouch + end of filament (binaire)
(sources)
E3DV6 1.75/3mm + end of filament (binaire) (sources)

For Z axis 8mm trap screws

 E3D Lite 6 (binaire) (sources)
E3D Lite6 1.75mm + BLtouch (binaire) (sources)
E3D Lite6 1.75mm + end of filament(binaire) (sources)
E3D Lite6 1.75mm + Titan extruder (binaire) (sources)
E3DV6 1.75/3mm (binaire) (sources)
E3DV6 1.75/3mm + BLtouch (binaire) (sources)
E3DV6 1.75/3mm + BLtouch + end of filament (binaire)
(sources)
E3DV6 1.75/3mm + end of filament (binaire) (sources)

Scalar XL Premium 40

E3D Lite 6 (binaire) (sources)

E3DV6 1.75/3mm + BLtouch (binaire) (sources)
E3DV6 1.75/3mm + end of filament (binaire) (sources)
E3DV6 Volcano 1.75/3mm + end of filament + Titan
(binaire) (sources)

Version 1.1.5

Version 1.1.5 (Changelog)

Available for Scalar 3D printers from 22/09/2017

Scalar S

E3D lite6 1.75mm

E3D lite6 1.75mm without heat bed
E3D V6 1.75/3mm Tr8x1.5
E3D V6 1.75/3mm
Hexagone AO 1.75/3mm

Scalar L

E3DV6 1.75/3mm
E3DV6 1.75/3mm + filament runout module
E3D lite 6 1.75mm
E3D lite 6 1.75mm + filament runout module
E3D V6 + PT100 + TFT28
 Hexagone 3mm

Scalar XL Premium

E3D lite 6 1.75mm

E3D lite6 1.75mm + Runout Filament sensor + ZTrap10mm
E3D V6 1.75/3mm
E3D V6 1.75/3mm + ZTrap10mm
E3D V6 1.75/3mm + Runout filament sensor
E3D V6 1.75/3mm + Runout filament sensor + ZTrap 10mm
E3D V6 + Extrudeur Titan
E3D V6 + PT100
E3D V6 + PT100 + TFT28
E3D V6 + BLTouch
E3D V6 + BLTouch + Runout Filament sensor
E3D V6 + Volcano
Hexagone 3mm
AllInOne 1.75/3mm

E3DV6 + PT100+TFT28 Touchscreen

You will need to wire the PT100 on the AUX2 inputs
instead of AUX1 input
Once downloaded, unzip it anywhere on your hard drive

The
Arduino IDE;
After having installed it, execute it.
 After a few seconds
the main window will open with an empty sketch
Configure the IDE to get the line
numbers:
In order to make it easier for you to find the proper location
on each feature inside the firmware, you might be interested
to enable the line numbers on the IDE.

it’s very easy, in the menu bar, just go to File>preferences

Then select
« Display Line numbers » check box and click « ok »
 now the line
numbers should be visible on the left of the editor.

Special Note: The lines numbers are valid for firmware version
1.0.0. For other firmware versions the lines might change a
little bit and some parameter names might even slightly
change.

Load the firmware

In order to load the firmware, in the menu select
« File>Open… »
 Browse into the
folder of the firmware you have extracted, the main folder
content should look like this

Inside
« Marlin » folder the most important files that you will need
to use are « Configuration.h »
 and
« Marlin.ino »

From the Arduino IDE you will need to open « Marlin.ino » that
is the firmware main project.
 Once opened
the ide should look like this
 It’s really
useful for you to increase the size of the window in order to
better see the line of codes later on.

To expand the window size click on the increase size on the

top right corner of the application.

Configure the Ide for Arduino mega

2560 microcontroler
Now you will need to setup your ide in order to properly
select the output platform.

for this you will need to go into your menu « Tools>Board »

and select « Arduino/Genuino mega or Mega 2560 »

And then select the proper Processor « Atmega2560(Mega 2560) »

Now connector
to your 3D printer USB port and make sure that the arduino is
properly detected by your pc.

From this you are set to go to the next step.

Dig into the firmware mysteries!
On the top of the IDE, in the green part, you should find many
tabs called « Marlin », « Conditionals.h »,
« Configuration.h » etc…

Select the one called « Configuration.h »

Now in the text editor

you will see appearing a lot of text.

This file mainly contains all the configuration parameters for

your printer.

the lines in color are active while the lines in grey are
comments.

A few words about comments

Comments are lines starting with « // ». they are often
greyed.

Also a comment can be added at the end or middle of a line. In

that case the beginning of the line will be colored and the
remaining part past « // » will be greyed. The greyed part is
also considered a comment.

Comments are very useful in order to give a lot of relevant

information about the specific meaning of each settings.

A word about parameters

Parameters are often defined following a « #define » keyword.
Once uncommented the parameter following the #define will be
active/enabled.

Let’s start configuration

Customizing your printer welcome screen
massage
At the very beginning of the « configuration.h » file you will
see parameter CUSTOM_MACHINE_NAME followed by some name into
brackets

Here you can setup a custom text with a limited of 13

characters if your lcd language is set to English or french.
(Other languages may display more of less characters.)

Thermistor setup:
in order to tell the firmware which thermistor we are using we
need to select the proper thermistor table for both hot ends
and heatbed.

These tables can be selected near line 146.

In this
example you see 5 parameters related to temperature sensors.

The 4 first ones are linked to hot ends.

The last one is used for heat bed only.

For scalar XL depending if you are using AllInOne hot end or

E3DV6 you will need to use a different thermistor table for
TEMP_SENSOR_0.
Use « 5 » for E3D V6 or AluHotEnd hot ends

Use « 13 » for Allinone

About the heatbed it mainly depends on what thermistor you are

using, for Scalar XL and Scalar M 3D printers we are using
100K NTC beta 3950 1% thermistors so we are using table « 11 »

Setup the hotend PID

The PID, also known as
« proportional–integral–derivative » controller, is used to
control the heating element temperature.

For more information on this topic please check the wikipedia

page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller

Near line 194, you have the ability to enable/disable PID

functionality.

If disabled you are going to use a « bang-bang » temperature

control logic (see wikipedia for more
details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bang%E2%80%93bang_contr
ol)

It’s better to use PID mode for heating element that are
compatible with this mode of heating such as Hot ends and 220V
heat beds driven by SSR.

Avoid using PID mode for standard 12V 200W heat-beds because
the power supply might not handle it very well.

PID control is great if you want a stable reliable temperature

control.

If you just need a more simple way to drive the heating

elements, then use Bangbang mode and disable this « #define
PIDTEMP » parameter.
Special mode for PID mode:
In this mode when the temperature is low, the BangBang mode
will be used.

Once the temperature is close to the target temperature (this

can be configured in the settings) the PID mode will be used.

This mean that the hot-end will be very fast to reach a

temperature close to the target temperature, but it will slow
down at the very end in order to avoid possible temperature
overshots.

Bang Max Parameter

This parameter is located around line 195.

40W heater cartridge:

If you have a hot-end with a 40 watt heater cartridge, you can

lower down a little bit the BANG_MAX value.

Here is an example used for the AllInOne hot-end.

Setting up the PID constants:

Near line 210 you will reach a section where you will be able
to define the PID constants.

On this example you can see that many PID values are commented
and only 1 set of values is left uncommented.

Check what hotend you have and uncomment the 3 set of values
corresponding to your hot-end.
For E3D hot-ends, as they are using 20W heater cartridge, you
will need to previously set BANG_MAX to 255.

For AllInOne hotend, you will need to lower it down to 250 in

order to avoid big overshot.

Setting up PID for heat-bed

Near line 268 you should find the parameters to enable/use pid
function for heat-bed.

Note that depending on the type of heat-bed you are using,

BANGBANG mode might be more suited. Indeed, if the heat-bed
(often 12V heat-beds) is directly linked to the power supply,
using PID mode might crash trigger some safety on the power
supply side.
However if you are using a 220V driven by SSR (solid state
relay), PID mode is something you can consider.

PID for Scalar XL 700W/220V heat-

bed
To enable PID on heat-bed , just uncomment line 268 : #define
PIDTEMBED

then select which heatbed you are using, in our case here we
are using 700W 220V silicone heater mounted on a 3mm 435x320mm
aluminum sheet.

If you are unsure that those settings are good for you, just
pick the one closer to what you have and you will need to
perform PID auto tune (see the procedure here:
http://reprap.org/wiki/PID_Tuning )

Extrusion safety:
Near line 307, just below PIDTEMPBED block, you should find
settings related to extrusion safeties.

#define PREVENT_DANGEROUS_EXTRUDE parameter will allow

extrusion only when hot end is hot enough using
EXTRUDE_MINTEMP parameter at line 311.

If you hot end is below this temperature, extruder won’t move

at all.

#define PREVENT_LENGHTY_EXTRUDE will prevent extrusion if a

single gcode command is asking for a very long extrusion (more
than 200mm).

Thermal
protections:
A mechanism is available to detect if the heating elements are
heating properly during all the print duration.

If the firmware detects any abnormal drop of temperature for a

certain amount of time, an error message will appear on the
LCD (THERMAL RUNAWAY), the print will stop and all heating
elements will power off.

This
protection is available for both hot end and heat-bed and you
can enable 1 or both independently.

Auto bed leveling:

Near line 476 you have a whole section dedicated to Auto bed
leveling (ABL).

This section is responsible for managing the G29 gcode.

On scalar 3D printers, it’s also responsible for using the

induction probe.

At line 476 you can enable/disable this feature.

line 477 #define Z_PROBE_REPEATABILITY_TEST is used in order
to double each measurement using slower speed the second time
to increase measurement precision.

Block near line 498 are the coordinates of each probing points
when using Grid mode.

Just a little bit below, near line 525, you will find the
offsets used by the firmware to determine the induction probe
location from the nozzle tip.

You will also find a few parameters that you can adjust if
you want to tweak how fast the auto bed leveling mechanism is
going.

Note: if you decrease too much those values you might

encounter some troubles or even crash the nozzle into the
heat-bed while moving to the next probing location.
Setup Steps/mm for each axis based
on your mechanics
Depending if you are using Belts, threaded rods, trapezoidal
lead-screws, etc… you might need to adjust the amounts of
steps required in order to move 1mm or your printer won’t move
the proper distance.

parameter DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT is handling this notion

for all axis (X, Y, Z, Extruder)

use prusa calculator if you need help in determining the

proper values:

http://prusaprinters.org/calculator/

All parameters with ACCELERATION really depends on you

mechanics ability to move fast, accelerate fast and decelerate
fast.

Enabling EEPROM support and setting

preheat presets:
line 649 #define EEPROM_SETTINGS is used in order to enable
EEPROM support.
EEPROM is the internal memory of the arduino board. it’s a non
volatile memory used to keep the important adjustable settings
into memory for later use.

Most of the settings available from the LCD display are stored
inside the EEPROM of the arduino.

Blocks near lines 659 are pre-heat presets for PLA and ABS.
here you can setup your own. the default ones are shown on
this example.

Configur
ing MQ2 smoke sensor:
The section dedicated to the MQ2 smoke sensor is located at
the very bottom of the configuration.h file.

There line 863 #define MQ2_GAZ_DETECTOR will, if left

commented, disable the smoke detection module. If un-
commented, it will enable the smoke detection module.

When enabled, the next settings can be active.

line 869 #define MQ2_PIN is for advanced users if you want to

use a spacial arduino IO pin.

By default we are using pin 57 (A3/D57 from AUX1 on Ramps

1.4) because it’s capable to be used in both Analog and
digital mode. You can use any other IO pin but make sure it’s
compatible with the sensing mode you are using.

line 872 MQ2_ALARM_TRIGGER_KEVEL_PPM is used when the sensing

mode is used in ANALOG mode, meaning we are using the ANALOG
output of the MQ2 sensor.

To enable ANALOG mode, you need to un-comment line 870 :

USE_ANALOG_MODE

In this mode the analog output voltage will vary depending on

the sensor detection.

In ANALOG mode, the blue trim on the sensor cannot be used, so

in order to adjust the sensitivity of the sensor, the firmware
is using a table that convert the output voltage of the sensor
into PPM. When this PPM value is reached the alarm will
trigger.

If you want more information about what value to use for your
specific MQ2 module (each module is slightly different),
enable parameter « MQ2_VERBOSE » at line 867, connect your
printer to any host software and read the console output. A
lot of values should be listed when you apply some smoke or
gas to the probe.

In order to prevent false alarm, the firmware is taking

several measurements in order to make sure the sensor output
is stable above the trigger level.

Parameter MQ2_CONFIRM_COUNT is used for that purpose. Feel

free to increase or decrease the confirm count to your liking.
Increasing this value too much will reduce the reactivity of
the alarm but will ensure that a real threat is detected.
 Selecting
alarm warnings:
A few warning levels are possible for this module.

1. An error is logged into the serial output console, so

you can catch it using 3rd party hosts software
2. An error message can be written on the LCD display (make
sure you have one if you are using this option
3. LCD buzzer can warn the user performing non stop beeps
4. LCD blinking can also warn the user about something
abnormal

Each of these warning levels (except the first one) can be

enabled/disabled at will and can be combined.

Uploading the Sketch to your

Arduino:
Before uploading your sketch it’s a good idea to first check
that the code and settings have a proper syntax.

On the top left corner of the Arduino IDE, you will find a
round button with a « check » mark on it.

Push it and the compilation will

begin. At the bottom right side of the IDE a progress bar
will appear and a message on the left side will tell you that
the compilation is in progress

Once done the

following message at the bottom of the IDE should appear

Uploadin
g the firmware to the arduino
If everything is ok and no error message appear, you can now
upload this version of the firmware to the arduino.

To do this you will need to click on the button located right

next to the « verify » button, the one with an arrow going
from the left to the right.

The ide will compile again the code and will then upload the
firmware to the Arduino.

The process is similar but will take longer.

Note that the progress bar might get stuck for a while but the
upload process will still be running. On your arduino board a
flashing led will appear, meaning that everything is in
progress.

Once done an explicit message at the bottom of the IDE will

appear, and the flash led will stop.
At the end your arduino will reboot and your new firmware and
settings will be available on your arduino.

Special Notes:
If you already have the EEPROM enabled on your 3D printer
(it’s the case for Scalar 3D printer users), all settings
stored in the EEPROM will still be active.

You will need to restore firmware settings (From the LCD,:

« Control>restore Failsafe« ) in the following cases

if you changed the PID values from the firmware

if you changed the steps/mm settings from the firmware
if you have enabled/disabled PID function
More generally, If you have changed any other settings
that is available from the LCD display.

Before doing that, make sure you have saved/written down

somewhere your « ZOffset » parameter, as it will also be
overwritten by the restore fail-safe operation.