Four days ago, I got one cut out of my glowforge then it got stuck on centering/scanning and said the camera didn’t capture a picture. I cleaned the machine, checked cables, rebooted wifi, computer, and glowforge and it didn’t improve. I left it on centering for almost two hours and eventually it came up to print one more time the next day. Rebooted this morning, got one cut, then stuck again. Customer service said it could be the black cable. But if the cable was broken, it wouldn’t work at all right? They were supposed to contact me to send me a new cable yesterday but they never did. I’m losing money every day this machine sits unusable. Any other suggestions to try?? Thank you!
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When I first got my GF I would have the same issues. I read in some post sometimes lighting can cause issues with the GF camera. My GF sits in front of a window with the sun shining into it and I also have big hanging light from the ceiling that shines directly into it.
Now I keep a piece of cardboard over the GF glass as it is booting up. This fixed my problem.
Also on top of the laser head there is the GF logo. The camera needs to be able to view that logo.
I also read there should not be anything on the honeycomb tray when it is booting up.
So basically make sure your GF is empty and cover the glass while it is booting up.
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Thanks for the tips! I read that too so I covered any light near the machine and moved the laser head directly under the camera upon boot up and still can’t get it to work.
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You are never supposed to move the laser head. The laser head always needs to be in back into the far left when you boot up the machine
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It generally is. I was following advice I found on another forum that suggested trying to put the laser directly under the camera to help it be able to pick up the logo. It’s frustrating that we have to resort to trying to troubleshoot based on community forums instead of being able to get quality customer service directly from glowforge. Thank you for your help.
That’s actually the point of posting here - you can email to work with support directly/in-private, or post here to get help from the community while you wait (posting here also opens a ticket) as as a small company, it can take a while to get a response…
Unfortunately it’s not clear unless you study the many wordy stickies at the top of this forum! 
The issue has been discussed a lot but unless you know what to search for it’s not obvious. The lid camera has to “find” the GF logo on the top of the head when the machine is powered on. Clutter in the image - cut material, or stray light “polluting” it, might precent it from finding it.
Manually moving it with the power off can help, but it’s not the best solution as you can all-too-easily knock the carriage out of square. Clean optics, no clutter on the bed, either from cut material or external light, all help as well.
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Yes, I understand as I’ve had to resort to the forums several times for answers. I’ve read every forum I can find discussing this issue or any issue similar to it. Unfortunately, nothing I’ve found to try has worked. I received an email response from glowforge suggesting I try exactly what I had already told them I had tried to do. Unfortunately, they tend to send copy and pasted answers instead of direct communication with the customer to discuss the issue. The chat representative said someone would be in contact by the end of the day yesterday to send a replacement cord but I was not contacted.
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They’ll always default to changing out the black lid cable first, because it’s a lot cheaper to have you try that before sending back the entire machine. Support doesn’t stock or ship parts, they send off a request to the folks that do. That will take time.
If you’re trying to run a business with a laser, you might want to investigate backup options for situations like this.
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Hi @lindsay_jorgensen. I’m sorry to haven’t heard back yet with the replacement order for the black lid cable to address the issue with your Glowforge getting stuck as it is centering/scanning. I looked into this, and saw you were chatting with my colleague, Augustina, yesterday. Your information was forwarded over our team that handles replacement part orders. It is currently being processed, and I apologize for any delay. They will be following up with you next through email once booked.
I saw you were getting some help from fellow owners in this thread. I was able to review the troubleshooting completed, and the best next steps to help resolve this issue will be the black lid cable replacement. To avoid any confusion with this opened Community ticket and email/chat ticket, I am going to move this to the Everything Else section. That will allow the discussion to continue. Thank you for your patience with this.
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As long as the machine is powered off, it’s OK to move the laser head up underneath the camera so that the logo is aligned with that.
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Yep - there was a time when the first production units were being delivered that Support recommended doing so. No longer needed, but doesn’t hurt a thing, as @Xabbess mentioned.
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