Does this firmware have support for GD32F303 RET6 CPUs?

[sinkingfeeling]

Does this firmware have support for GD32F303 RET6 CPUs? As we know Creality swapped their chips without telling anyone and Marlin dev team have been silent on support for new CPUs.

[mriscoc]

GD chips has licensing issues, that's why there is no official support from Marlin team. Because this firmware is a fork of Marlin, we also don't have official support.

UPDATE: Said that, it is possible to make this firmware to work with that chip. Some users report that they successfully flashed the regular Professional firmware in GD32 boards. Seems that the tricky part is to have a proper SD card with the correct format. Some users got a soft brick board but they could un-brick them by re-flashing the original Creality firmware and trying the update again.

[mriscoc]

UPDATE: Just try with regular firmware releases.

This is an experimental version that could be compatible with GD SoC, I don't have any board to verify it, so it is totally up to you if you want to test.

Experimental-Ender3V2-422-BLTUBL-MPC-20221130.zip

Please report if it works for you.

Disclaimer

THIS FIRMWARE AND ALL OTHER FILES IN THE DOWNLOAD ARE PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE WITH NO WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE. SUPPORT IS NOT INCLUDED JUST BECAUSE YOU DOWNLOADED THE FIRMWARE. WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR PRINTER, PERSON, OR ANY OTHER PROPERTY DUE TO THE USE OF THIS FIRMWARE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS THEN DO NOT USE THE FIRMWARE.

[Mysteoa]

I think you are talking about a different thing. I'm not able to see what is on the SD card when the display doesn't go pass the Creality logo. I don't have a problem connecting to Octopring on my phone, but Octoprint is not able to connect to the printer that is connected with usb. I was using it like this previously, I know it was working. I'm only able to get some error msg from the printer when I connect directly to my PC and use Pronterface.

[MarkforU]

Sorry, my mistake. I gotcha now. Dang, 32gig card I use to load firmware, takes just a moment and then you're up and running normally. Must be a slot or memory card issue if you can't get firmware to load up and not get off the modded Creality screen with the new firmware build box on the screen. Wish you luck on that one...

[Mysteoa]

I manged to fix it. It was most likely a problem with the original SD card or becouse I named the FW "Please work". It was just hard to find a SD card smaller than 32gb.

[ghost]

I think the flashing with this chip is just flaky. I have this bin working now (thank you btw) but it took several flash attempts. I've had the same experience with the official bin as well.

[big-griff]

I manged to fix it. It was most likely a problem with the original SD card or becouse I named the FW "Please work". It was just hard to find a SD card smaller than 32gb.

for anyone having issues with this in the future, you can shrink the partition of a 32gb microsd to 4gb, format it to FAT32 4096b and name your .bin a 4-digit filename for consistent flashing
the microsd that comes with creality printers is notoriously unreliable and will fail to flash despite appearing to function normally

[AlexeyPechnikov]

@mriscoc The firmware loaded fast and without any problems on the stock Ender 3 v2 using stock 8 GB micro-sd card:

Motherboard 4.2.2
Processor GD32F303
Stepper drivers t8 = tmc2208
Firmware version 1.0.5

But it does not print stock g-code file - just housing the hot end above the plate center and waiting two minutes and show that the prin is completed. There are no errors or notices. Maybe does it need CR Touch and filament runout sensors attached?

[mriscoc]

Post a capture of the info page and verify that it matches your hardware.

[AlexeyPechnikov]

Hmm, I don’t understand how is it possible to verify when we have firmware build date only on the info page. All that I know about the firmware is “This is an experimental "Maple" version that could be compatible with GD SoC” as you posted above. The info page and the printer motherboard photos attached below:

[mriscoc]

ok, that firmware Experimental-Ender3V2-422-BLTUBL-MPC-20221130.zip is only for printers with BLT (CR/3D/BLTouch)

[AlexeyPechnikov]

No problem, I can install CR Touch to test it. I didn’t install it yet just to test the stock firmware which doesn’t support CR touch. I see there are a lot of steps required and even some meshed should be imported into slicer software but is it possible to miss all the steps and just connect the sensor and print the stock g-code file to check? For now I don’t understand why your firmware requires different table surface interpolations and how should we define all the parameters and how to use the measurements.

[mriscoc]

That issue was already solved, please search on closed issues or open a new one to not polute this issue with off topic post.

[mriscoc]

[big-griff]

on my machine it works but the steppers do not work correctly and will crash

[sammcj]

For anyone that's searching and finds this discussion just FYI works fine with my GD32F303, obviously YMMV etc...

[kp757200]

Hi, is this the experimental firmware or regular firmware? I saw post with experimental firmware for BLtouch but looks like that link is broken. Thank you

[mriscoc]

Currently, use the regular firmware.

[bagsofcole]

This FW is working fine for me too with the GD Chip

[jgemberton]

Trying to compile my own as I am upgrading my (4.2.2 board with GD chip) 3v2 with a Sprite Pro and a CR touch. Should I still use Auto Build Marlin or is there something else that will work better with this board/chip combo?

[mriscoc]

Officially, Marlin doesn't support GD SoC's due to licence infringements with STM, but several users report that the firmware works with GD chips.

Just some comments above: #235 (comment)

[Yasamal33]

+1 to GD chip owners (Ender 3 v2 4.2.2 board).
The main thing is that it's is a lot naughty regarding to SD card within firmware flash. I tried several ones until I found suitable one.

[VitaliyKrym]

Can you describe step by step what you did to make it work. What firmware you use? What SD size you used? I have V2 NEO BLtouch, end sensor with Octoprint. 4.2.2 GD32F303 RET6.

[Mysteoa]

In mine case for my Neo, I used 16gb TeamGroup SD card. Formatted to FAT32 using 4k unit size. I put the FW on the card and insert it in the printer while it is off. Then I turn on the printer and waited at least 5 min. After that, I turn it off and removed the card.

Next step is to put the Display FW on the SD according to the model Screen you have. Insert it in the screen SD slot, and turn on the printer and wait for the process to finish. Shutdown the printer and removed the SD Card.

Now your printer should be working using Professional FW. If it doesn't work, try again with the printer FW. Make sure you rename the FW file after each try, because the Printer remembers the name of the last FW file, and It will not use it again. The maximum size card you can use is 32GB. You can use a bigger card, but you need to partition the SD card with a volume smaller than 32GB. I originally tried with the provided SD card, but that card is JUNK and it failed each time. I can say that I helped more than 5 people that were having failed attempts due to provided JUNK card.

[VitaliyKrym]

What firmware you used? File name? Did you do any configuration check?

[Mysteoa]

The one that is provided here for 4.2.2 with BL touch. File name doesn't matter, but you need to change it on each try. What config check?

[VitaliyKrym]

Config change. My bad. I mean what file you use from the list?

[VitaliyKrym]

It worked!!! Ender 3 V2 NEO BL 4.2.2. GD CPU. Had issue with SD card. Finally, I made 8Gb partition on FAKED SanDisk Extreem 128GB microsd from eBay.

[VitaliyKrym]

Before, to upgrade to 1.1.7 after filament sensor installation I tried many SDs but old 4Gb from trash worked. Now as I use this card in RPi, I had to look for another one. Do I need for change any settings after upgrade?

[Mysteoa]

Yes, by default the FW is compiled with Ended 3 V2 Physical measurements in mind, not Neo. It does have different X/Y and probe offsets. You need to calibrate your bed size, min/max X/Y and probe offset. You should read the Wiki here - https://github.com/mriscoc/Ender3V2S1/wiki/Calibration-Guides . You should also run bed and hotend MPC Tune.

Furthermore, you can probably find those calibration values in a post here, but it would be best to find them on your own and just use those as a reference.

[VitaliyKrym]

For some reason LCD firmware update does not do anything (visually). It updates and shows "Update done" but I still have old stile screen. Any suggestions? It is DACAI.

[mriscoc]

For DACAI there is a firmware update and also a Giadej icon set: https://github.com/mriscoc/Ender3V2S1/tree/Ender3V2S1-Released/display%20assets/Giadej%20compilation

[VitaliyKrym]

Do I need "private" folder only on SD?

[VitaliyKrym]

What settings should be set for V2 NEO? Can anybody share print screens or just numbers?