Replicator won't connect to mac "Couldn't find a port to use!"

[michael_maker]

I've had my Replicator for nine months now, but I haven't been able to connect to usb for a month.  Not a big deal, I print off SD card anyways, but I want to upgrade my firmware, as I'm still running 5.5.  

Replicatorg was seeing my Replicator just fine for the first seven or so months of ownership.  But recently I can't connect to it.  I used a different usb port, different usb cables, even tried using Makerware instead.  At first I thought my megasquirt software had changed something on my mac ports, as I use my mac mini to program the fuel injection on my car.  

Then I tried two different macbooks, and still can't connect.  They all say "Couldn't find a port to use!"  I 've looked at all the installation guides, and forum posts, but I haven't found a solution.  

Has anyone come across this issue?  

Thanks!

Michael

[Bottleworks]

Did you disable conveyor?  You have to disable that in MW before replicatorg can connect.

[michael_maker]

I did a clean replicatorg install on two new macs, they both couldn't connect. Then I tried installing maker ware out of desperation. So conveyer wasn't running.
Thanks for the ideas! This has been really frustrating!

Michael

[Dan Newman]

On 5 Jun 2013 , at 3:15 PM, michael_maker wrote:

> I did a clean replicatorg install on two new macs, they both couldn't connect. Then I tried installing maker ware out of desperation. So conveyer wasn't running.
> Thanks for the ideas! This has been really frustrating!

When you remove MakerWare from a Mac it doesn't remove Conveyor.
I found in /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ a .plist file for
starting Conveyor when my Mac boots. I then found over in one
of the system frameworks directories Conveyor. I spotted this
when I had this problem and did a "ps -eax | grep -i conveyor"
and found Conveyor running. When I nuked it, it restarted which
was a hint that launchd / launchctl was involved which is why
I then looked over at the LaunchDaemons directory. (I also
checked LaunchAgents.) Since I've cleaned it off of my Mac,
I know longer have the full filenames and framework directory
names to tell you. But, that may be your issue. Simply removing
the MakerWare.app folder isn't sufficient.

Dan

[Bottleworks]

And MBI provides a script to automatically remove all the hidden bits that MW installs, but can't remember where they hid it...

[michael_maker]

Sorry I should have been more clear. I installed replicatorg on a Mac which never had maker ware on it. After replicatorg failed to connect, I installed maker ware, which also didn't connect.

Thanks for the info on uninstalling, that will be good to have in the future.

I'm at a loss, I haven't come across anyone else who's had this particular issue.

Is there a way to ping the device in terminal like you would do with a network connection?

[Dan Newman]

No, it's a serial device. Either the USB enumerated or it didn't. Fire up /Applications/Utilities/Console,
select "All Messages", then power on the bot, and plug in the USB cable and see what, if anything, is
logged. If nothing is logged -- no USB device info -- then something is amiss. If you're running
Lion or Mt. Lion, you shouldn't need any drivers. Ditto for at least one or two releases back.
By the way, not seeing anything logged might mean you're missing drivers (I just had this with
a new FTDI USB chip…). Or it could mean that the USB isn't functioning on the bot. Or it could
mean a bad USB cable.

Dan

[Bradley Pearce]

Despite you having an issue prior to installing MW, you've now added one. Disable conveyer. Then open RepG and rescan. Then select the one that shows up. If that won't work, then we can move forward. Have you opened your sys profiler an looked under USB to see the plugged in devices?

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[Bottleworks]

I believe it shows up as a USB modem. I'm away from the computer, so someone else will have to confirm that.

[michael_maker]

Unfortunately I'm away from my machine until the morning.

Earlier today I did open the system profiler and didn't see the makerbot under USB devices.

I've tried three different USB cables.

[michael_maker]

[michael_maker]

I just opened console, plugged in the bot, and nothing logged.  :(  I'm running 10.6.3, and I tried four different usb cables.  I installed the FTDI driver that came with ReplicatorG when I installed ReplicatorG.  

On my other laptop I'm running 10.7.5, and I still log nothing in console, so I'm really thinking my bot's usb died.

Thanks for the console idea, I'm gonna call Makerbot and see what they say...

[Dan Newman]

On 6 Jun 2013 , at 1:30 PM, michael_maker wrote:

> I just opened console, plugged in the bot, and nothing logged. :(
> I'm running 10.6.3, and I tried four different usb cables. I installed
> the FTDI driver that came with ReplicatorG when I installed ReplicatorG.

It's not an FTDI USB chip so that won't do you any good anyway.
It's an Atmel ATmega8u2. Same chip as on the Arduino Uno Rev2. (The
Rev3 went with a differnt Atmel USB chip.) But, unless you have an
old OS X (e.g., Tiger maybe), you don't need to install a USB driver.
The 8u2 just shows up as an ordinary USB CDC (communications device class)
device and doesn't need a special driver.

> On my other laptop I'm running 10.7.5, and I still log nothing in console,
> so I'm really thinking my bot's usb died.
> Thanks for the console idea, I'm gonna call Makerbot and see what they

When I plug in my Rep 2, I see the following logged

06/06/2013 1:38:31.000 PM kernel: AppleUSBCDCACMData: Version number - 4.1.22, Input buffers 8, Output buffers 16
06/06/2013 1:38:31.000 PM kernel: AppleUSBCDC: Version number - 4.1.22

And if I drill down in "About this Mac" to the "More Info…" and then to the "System Report" and then
Under "Hardware" if I select "USB" on the left, I see over in the USB Device Tree on the right "The Replicator"
under USB High-Speed Bus > Hub.

Same thing on a Rep 1. If you aren't see those then likely your 8u2 is dead or lost it's
firmware. The LCD panel on your bot lights up after a few seconds when you power the
bot on? If it doesn't, then if it's a Rep 2 the fuse may be blown.

Dan

[michael_maker]

yeah absolutely nothing logs, and replicator doesn't show up in System Report.  I do have a Replicator 1.  And the bot works great, lcd lights up, I just finished a six day run, running it almost 24 hours a day.  But it will not connect to any of my machines, mac or windows.

Thanks,

Michael

[Jake Dambergs]

I understand this thread is old, but I was briefly stumped by this as well, so I though I'd post the simple solution. I unsuccessfully attempted to connect to my 2x with Rep G using an XP, Win7, OS X 10.6, 8 and 9. The background service *always* crashes under OS X , so I was quite sure conveyor was not the issue.  I uninstalled Makerware in any case, and also used clean OS installs which never saw Makerware. In the end all I needed to do is specify the Machine Type and Connection via the Rep G Machine menu. I'm not sure why it makes sense to not choose the USB port as the default connection method, but I'm not a software developer.

Hope this saves someone a headache, it sure gave me one.

Jake D