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Simplify3D Opens and Immediately Closes [SOLVED]

Simple fix for this issue. Please note that this will remove your FFF files, so make sure you have them backed up prior

Navigate to
C:/Users/%USERNAME%/AppData/Local/Simplify3D/

Delete the folder named:
S3D-Software

Now you can launch Simplify3D and the issue is fixed

ENDER 3 PRO – OCTOPRINT – BED SIZE ISSUE [SOLVED]

When you send a print job to your Ender 3 Pro, using your Octopi, it starts to print, and the hotend does not recognize the correct size for the bed. The hotend is pushed off to the side, begins clicking, and the print is a mess.

Solution:
Make sure your Slicer has the correct bed size set in it
Make sure the OctoPi has the correct printer setup in it
Turn OFF your printer
Turn OFF your OctoPi
Disconnect the USB Cable in your Ender 3, from the OctoPi
Wait 30 seconds
Turn ON the printer
Turn ON the OctoPi
Wait 1 minute
Plug the USB cable back into the Ender 3
Login into your OctoPi
Click connect so the OctoPi works again with the Ender 3
Send the print job that failed before

And now it works!

Unable to connect to Octopi.local on Windows 10 [SOLVED]

So you can connect to from your Apple device (iPhone, Mac, iPad, etc) but you cannot connect to it from your Windows 10 computer.

This occurs because Microsoft doesn’t natively recognize .local extensions.

Solution:
Install iTunes onto your Windows 10 computer. This will add the bonjour service which will allow you to connect to octopi.local

After you install iTunes, visit http://octopi

You can now use your Windows 10 system with OctoPrint

ENDER 3 PRO – EXTRUDER CLICKING [SOLVED]

When you begin printing, your extruder starts to click, and continues to click for the first few minutes

This happens because the filament is unable to be pushed through the nozzle.

Solution:
1. Check the temperature of your nozzle and make sure it is hot enough to melt the filament. For PLA that would be 185C.

2. Level your bed. If your bed is too high the filament cannot extrude. By re-leveling the bed, and lowering it a notch, your issue should be resolved.

Disable Web Search in Windows 10 Search Bar

One of the worst features is the data leakage that comes out of your Windows 10 computer, every single time you search it for a local app. What I mean by this is when I click on my search bar, next to the start button…Say I search for Putty. It shows me Web results first, then my Putty app second. Now anyone monitoring a network can see the constant stream of requests coming out of a network and fingerprint the applications in use. HUUUUUGE issue in my opinion.

To disable this feature do the following

Click the Type here to search bar

Type Edit group policy

Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search

Double click the Allow Cloud Search policy and set to Disabled. Click Ok to save

Double click the Don’t search the web or allow web results in search policy and set to Disabled. Click Ok to save

Double click the Don’t search the web or allow web results in search over metered connections policy and set to Disabled. Click Ok to save

That is it. Your data leakage settings have been changed.

Writing OctoPrint to SD Card

Quick How-To using a Windows 10 Computer

Simply put, you need to download a third party application to write the OctoPi image to an SD Card. I suggest Etcher for this

Download Etcher from https://www.balena.io/etcher/
Install Etcher onto your Windows 10 computer
Download the OctoPrint image from https://octopi.octoprint.org/latest to your local hard drive on your Windows 10 computer
Unzip the OctoPrint image once the download finishes
Plug your SD Card into the Windows 10 Computer
Open balenaEtcher
Click Select Image
Select your OctoPrint***.img file
Your SD Card should be automatically found and selected by Etcher
Click Flash
The image will now be written to the SD Card
When the image has completed writing you will see the message Flash Complete!
You can now insert the OctoPrint SD Card into the Raspberry Pi and fire it up



Thanks for reading

Hardware that I use:
Raspberry Pi 4 (4gb)
https://amzn.to/3q551IO

SanDisk 32GB Ultra microSDHC UHS-I Memory Card with Adapter
https://amzn.to/2Vfvo0y

CanaKit 3.5A Raspberry Pi 4 Power Supply (USB-C)
https://amzn.to/3fNTYPu

CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 Micro HDMI Cable – 6 Feet
https://amzn.to/33u5hr9

Western Digital 500GB WD_Black SN750 NVMe
https://amzn.to/3nZ5pH4

Plugable USB C to M.2 NVMe Tool-free Enclosure
https://amzn.to/3lflV3L

Installing Python on Windows 10 – for Makerbot Firmware Upgrades

This is a quick article on which Python version you will need to assist with manually uploading the Makerbot Firmware.

If you are trying to manually upload firmware for the Makerbot Replicator 2, and you try to use the most recent version of Python (version 3.8 at the time of this writing), it simply will not allow you to run the Makerbot firmware upload tool. If you see the following error when you run the tool, you will know what I mean:

C:\Users\%username%\Downloads\winBotTool_76_G\winBotTool_76_G>Traceback (most
recent call last):
  File “C:\Program
Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.8_3.8.752.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0\lib\runpy.py”,
line 193, in _run_module_as_main
    return _run_code(code, main_globals, None,
  File “C:\Program
Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.8_3.8.752.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0\lib\runpy.py”,
line 86, in _run_code
    exec(code, run_globals)
  File “bot_tool_v1\__main__.py”, line 2, in <module>
  File “<frozen importlib._bootstrap>”, line 991, in _find_and_load
  File “<frozen importlib._bootstrap>”, line 971, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File “<frozen importlib._bootstrap>”, line 914, in _find_spec
  File “<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>”, line 1342, in find_spec
  File “<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>”, line 1316, in _get_spec
  File “<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>”, line 1297, in
_legacy_get_spec
  File “<frozen importlib._bootstrap>”, line 414, in spec_from_loader
  File “<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>”, line 649, in
spec_from_file_location
  File “<frozen zipimport>”, line 191, in get_filename
  File “<frozen zipimport>”, line 713, in _get_module_code
  File “<frozen zipimport>”, line 647, in _compile_source
  File “bot_tool_v1\bot_tool.py”, line 37
    yield (str(value[1]), str(value[0]))
                                       ^
TabError: inconsistent use of tabs and spaces in indentation

To fix this error above, simply remove Python 3.8 and install Python 2.7 from the following link:

https://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.7.17/python-2.7.17.amd64.msi

Windows 10 – Office 365 Error [SOLVED]

“Product Notice. There was a problem checking this devices license status.Please sign in with the Office 365 account this device was activated with”: “Product Notice. There was a problem checking this devices license status.

This message will appear at the top of your office programs when you start it up. If it persists within Outlook, Word, etc, even after you have authenticated, the fix for this is as follows:

Close all of your Office 365 products

Navigate to the White Box next to your Start button and type CMD

The Command Prompt application will appear, Right Click on the app and select Run as Administrator

Now type: cd C:\program files\Microsoft office\office16   and press Enter

Next, type the following: cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus

This will take a minute to run and it will show you all the Keys within this directory. They usually show up as something like HY6LU or KY78N and so on. Make a note of each of these keys.

Now in your command prompt, type: cscript ospp.vbs /unpkey:HY6LU and press Enter. You WILL want to change HY6LU with the keys that you had made a note of above. Repeat this step for every key you have. Once you have cycled through all the keys, you can reboot your computer, and your office programs should work again without this error

How To Upgrade From Office 365 to Microsoft 365

This is a quick how-to when it comes to upgrading your subscription.

Go to http://office.com

Login

Click the Admin link

Navigate to Billing on the left and select Products & Services

Click on your Office 365 Subscription, in my case it is Office 365 Business Premium

Select Upgrade from the menu at the bottom of the screen

Find the plan that works for you. For me it was Microsoft 365 Business

Click Upgrade

Select the Billing cycle (Monthly or Yearly)

Click Go to checkout

Verify your billing information

Click Place Order

Your order is now complete and you can proceed to setting up the new features