I am cutting plywood using the pass through feature on my Glowforge Pro. When the first cut was finished it took the pictures but my image had disappeared from the software. Gone. No reference to the cutting, scoring and etching actions either. It obviously couldn’t align for the next of two more required cuts without an image.
Now what?
If I reload the image the software likely won’t be able to align for the next cut… or can it? Do I scrap the board and start over? It is a two hour cut on the first go.
Thank you.
Here’s what happened next…
I decided to quit the cut. I took material out, created a “special version of the image cutting off portion that was transferred to the board, put material pack into machine (opened the lid) and the original image appeared in my workspace on my laptop as if it had never disappeared!
My run was done with no chance to continue original cut series.
I tried to manually align the emergency edited file to the partially completed board but was off by about 1/16” which was too much to make a usable piece.
I have decided to start all over.
Anyone know why my file disappeared during the first cut (approximately 2 hours)?
Is there some way to revitalize the file without ending the pass through session?
Hopefully it was a fluke and never happens again. I’ve cut this file 5 times before without any problem. I think the software transfers to the glowforge but maybe not. Possibly there was a problem with my internet connection during the cut?
Thank you!
Tom
It’s been seen before but I don’t recall any “solution”.
There are many posts covering “best practices”, the most relevant I’ve found is to make sure you have a good contrast between cut/engraved and “clean” areas. Also, putting registration markers (simple + will do) alongside the work area, if possible.
I’ve deliberately run jobs with the material at a crooked angle and it had no problem aligning to it. Contrast so it could detect the prior cut/engrave was always crucial.
The image vanishing completely, however, is almost certainly a software bug, and there’s little you can do on your end other than start over - and report it.
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Thank you for taking time to respond…
I’m running it again and again experiencing the same problem as this morning… I’m not seeing the image in the Glowforge display. This is a bit unsettling.
Note the time and send an email to support.
They can check the logs and see what might be the issue.
I know the Glowforge is reading the file (which I cannot see) because it is still working on my first “run”. I know the image will reappear if when the first run is complete I open the lid. This will however defeat the purpose as it will end the session prematurely. Maybe there is a “refresh screen” shortcut I don’t know about? The other thing that bothers me is that when it comes time to shift the material forward there will be nothing happen as far as aligning if I cannot get the file to reappear.
I will try contacting support by email as you suggested.
Someone mentioned in here before in a passthrough tutorial that the image does disappear, just trust that it’s reading it and continue on. Let me see if I can find it.
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Look at step 6 and beyond.
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I rebooted my laptop and turned the Glowforge off and then on again. My laptop is showing me “What’s new in Chrome” and “Your Chrome is up-to-date now”.
I think my computer was doing an automatic update in the background and or some settings got skewed while it updated. My guess is it will work now.
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I read this article. Similar, but different.
In my case… the image disappeared and all references to the file (such as cut, score, engrave settings in the sidebar). It never got to the place where I could “continue”.
I discovered my laptop had been doing an automatic update of “Chrome” in the background. For now… I think this was the problem. I will post “All is well” if I’m right.
I did learn something useful in the “Getting Familiar With the Pass-through”. I did not realize I could open the lid between cuts without accidentally canceling the progressive runs. That’s helpful to know. I had been simply pushing and pulling the materials from the slots.
So many helpful people in this forum.
Good news. I’m not under a time constraint so all this will go down as training time.
Thanks again,
Tom
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Problem resolved!
The disappearing image file appears to have been caused by an automatic update to “Chrome” on my laptop. When I rebooted my laptop I was notified that “Chrome has been updated”.
After two failures over a four hour period with a similar problem… it’s now working normally.
Maybe this note will help others sometime. It was a strange occurrence.
All is good again!
Thanks to everyone who chimed in. Everyone’s thoughts are and we’re appreciated.
Tom
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What an unfortunate time for that to happen! ugh! Glad all is well now.
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