Hello! I’ve been running into the ‘Print Stopped - Unable To Complete The Print’ issue on and off, usually with success of solving it by turning it on/off, closing out the UI, different things of that nature which seemed to help, but my girlfriend’s Mac laptop the other day using Safari as opposed to my Toshiba running Chrome seemed to load way quicker. So a few questions:
How much does an access point for WiFi help in a case like mine where the router is upstairs and the Glowforge is in the basement? Does it help that much having the access point right next to it?
Is there a definitive test to show optimal results by using MAC/PC , Chrome/Firefox/Edge/Opera , or any other factors like RAM on the computer?
I’ve seen some intricate designs take up the full allotted 3 hour print jobs from other people’s post, I have some 3” X 3” round coasters I can’t seem to do more than 6 at a time of coming in around 56 mins of print time, how can I reach that 3 hour mark and could the aforementioned questions or solutions to them help with that? Thanks!
Yes, having an access point right near by will help a lot. FInd an inexpensive router or AP (TP-Link) that is just 2.4ghz. Run a wire from the back of your upstairs router to the new AP. Follow the instructions in the AP documentation (if it’s a ‘router’ you’ll need to turn off some features in the GUI, for example, and connect to one of the 4 LAN ports, not the WAN port…)
What you do by doing this is create a second ‘antenna’ for your WiFi network, much closer to the forge.
And Chrome seems to work best, IMHO - wife and I use it exclusively when playing with our little machine…
3x3 - depending on how you set them up on a sheet seems the most you’d do in a job is like 9? given the valid cut area of the forge…
If it’s stopping in the middle of doing 6 or so, then it could be wifi, could be temp or something else.
Thank you! Yeah I have a very good Nighthawk Tri-Band with 2.4 and 5.4 ghz but I think the interference from the floor and walls has been an impediment. Also I’m doing 6 of the coasters currently on an 12”X12” and my stagger positioning would actually allow me to get 12 out of a full piece, but anything past 6 throws the Print Stopped error before even starting after roughly 10 minutes, just the 6 themselves takes it about 5 minutes to process, would love to cut that down any amount I could, thank you!
Nighthawk is a good router, but I find that each ‘wall’ adds about 5’ of ‘distance’ to the separation. So in my house, 3 floors, 3 AP’s. The one downstairs is just 2.4ghz for the Forge.
Thank you so much for the details. I’m looking into it now. As soon as I have more information I’ll update this thread.
I checked the log of your Glowforge’s connections to the Glowforge app, and I’m not sure Wi-Fi is the root of the problem in this case. Once we get the “Print Stopped” problem solved, let’s circle back on this topic.
We sometimes have folks run ping tests. Here are the steps we recommend:
If the trouble continues, could you please run another test? This test requires a laptop or desktop computer. If possible, try these steps from a laptop computer placed on top of your Glowforge (and on the same Wi-Fi network) for the most accurate results.
Run the test
Mac: Open Finder/Applications/Utilities/Terminal, then type the following command, and press the return key: ping -c 50 app.glowforge.com
Windows: Open the Windows Run dialog box by pressing the Windows key + R
In the dialog box, type “cmd”, then “Run” or “OK”
Type the following command, then press the return key: ping -n 50 app.glowforge.com
Allow the test to finish. When it is complete you will see results under a “ping statistics” header
Take a screenshot of the results
Mac: Press Shift-Command-4 and click and drag a box around your image. You’ll find the screenshot file saved on your desktop
Windows: Click on the Start Menu and type “snipping tool”. Open the Snipping Tool > New then click and drag a box around your image. Click the Save icon and name and save your file
Attach this file to your reply
Try testing with some of the other Proofgrade settings, and you may find some other settings that have the quality you’re looking for, at a faster speed.
Another option you might want to try out is to raster your design. To convert your design from a score or cut to an engraving, follow these instructions:
To convert to an engraving in Inkscape:
Open your file in Inkscape
Select the part of your drawing that you had previously scored
Choose Edit > Make a Bitmap Copy
Inkscape will make a bitmap copy underneath the original artwork
Click the top shape to select it, then press the delete key
I’ll certainly try all of this and see if any helps, for Inkscape I’ve been doing Trace Bitmap instead of the Make Bitmap copy method, this seems to be way easier and maybe even more accurate than what I was using, so thank you! However the node count in the path seems to come to the same number, so I’m not sure if it will change to a faster print time.
Connect your cell phone or tablet or laptop to the WiFi and then stand a couple of feet away from the GF and see how good a signal you have. If it’s more than 50%, the signal strength isn’t your problem.
I wanted to check in and see how things were working out. I pulled the logs from your Glowforge and see that you were able to successfully print the design yesterday. Did using the Make Bitmap Copy method help?
Hi! I’ve been able to make the print several times since, sadly the WiFi extender/access point didn’t speed up the process, and the copy bitmap option didn’t seem to change the path nodes any differently than trace bitmap did for me, so I don’t know if that would reduce process/print time for sure since all I really do is SVG as it is. Every other print I would need to turn the GF off, unplug, and then restart, is there any other way of fixing this issue?
I’m sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I’ve taken a look through some logs from recent prints, and I noticed some other things that may be affecting the processing time:
In a few recent “cancelled” prints with longer processing times, it looks like the prints contain multiple steps. Specifically, prints involving multiple copies of the same engraved design will treat each copy as a separate step in the print. The bitmaps being used are detailed, yes, but the issue may be that each step is separate - each separate engrave step adds to the processing time. If possible, try saving an SVG file that includes all of the bitmap/engrave steps you want to print as a single file, and let me know if this helps.
Thanks again for working with us to try and resolve this.
It’s been a little while since I’ve seen any replies on this thread so I’m going to close it. If you still need help with this please either start a new thread or email support@glowforge.com.