The ReCube Wand Help Thread.

[TommyDee]

Welcome to the ReCube Wand help thread.
Restoring the code of the light version of ReCube on the Arduino Nano device
~or~
Upgrading to Tomuro's ReCube Pro code, this is the place for discussions.

- - - - - - - - - -

Your ReCube Wand, or derivative, has a preloaded version of Tomuro's ReCube Light code loaded on an Arduino Nano device.
Tomuro at haxtom.com offers a ReCube Pro version of the very useful tool to change your cartridge chips to anything you like, within reason.
You would contact Tomuro directly at tomuro@haxtom.com to arrange e-delivery of your own personalized version of ReCube-Pro.

First about ReCube light;
The following download from Tomuro's site will yield all the tools needed to install the code on your Arduino Nano that resides in the ReCube Wand or derivative thereof.

You will need the linked download to install the Pro version!
BE CAREFUL - this download page goes to a serious trap ad! Don't do anything yet, read on.
Open the link and Wait for the timer in the upper right hand corner of the window to count down.
Proceed when the upper right hand corner prompts SKIP AD.
Also deny any authorization attempts by the site.
Your virus protection will also light up.

EDIT 04-03-2020; the file has been moved to https://mega.nz/#!Mrhh3RxI!TtYtRHLOz...ih8IgyW8zc6r2w
Download the file ReCubeV2Light.zip

In the zip file you will find the following:

Avrdude folder
ReCubeSchematic folder
ReCubeV1board folder
program.bat
README.txt
ReCube.ino.hex
ReCube.ino.with_bootloader.hex

Most of the ReCube Wands that have been sent out have the latest Arduino bootloader installed.
This has a minor implication in the batch file to install ReCube Light or ReCube-Pro as I will discuss.

Place all the files in a folder of your choosing.
The included batch file, program.bat, should be edited to reflect the following:

Avrdude\avrdude -C Avrdude\avrdude.conf -v -patmega328p -carduino -PCOM(n) -b115200 -D "-Uflash:w:ReCube.ino.hex:i"
PAUSE <= add this
EXIT <= optional

REPLACE (n) with your COM port assignment, no brackets.
To find your com port assignment, plug in your device and open the Device Manager from the Control Panel, and open the Ports entry. There you will see what port Windows assigned to your Arduino Nano device. The entry should read USB-SERIAL CH340 (COM[n]) where [n] is a number.

Once edited, you can run the batch file by double clicking it. Ignore any windows error messages or warnings, if any.
This batch file will open a Windows Command Prompt window showing the F/W installation process.
Note, if the batch process fails and the Avrdude command line hangs or exits with an error, change the -b115200 to -b57600 in the batch file.
This simply means your device has the old bootloader and requires a lower baud rate. Do not attempt to update the bootloader ...unless you know what you are doing.

Upgrading to ReCube-Pro:

Reading all of the above is relevant to the remainder of this discussion.
Once you have arranged the upgrade with Tomuro, he will email you 2 files.
The files Tomuro will send you will have identical file names as the two files for ReCube Light.
ReCube.ino.hex
ReCube.ino.with_bootloader.hex

Ignore the ReCube.ino.with_bootloader.hex. (!)

Replace the light version of ReCube.ino.hex with the file Tomuro sent you.
With the ReCube device plugged in, simply run the batch file again.
This time you will be installing your personalized Pro-version of ReCube.

Using the full potential of your new ReCube-Pro:
(...and access to your ReCube Light limited interface; here you can change your fill percentage for modified Cube F/W.)
You need to install a communication port application to read and write information regarding the ReCube-Pro operations.
I recommend Arduino IDE which can be downloaded from here: https://www.arduino.cc/en/main/software
Under the Tools tab, you will need to configure your device;
Board: "Arduino Nano"
Processor: "ATmega328P"
Port: "COM[n]" <== your COM port from above or whatever it is now. See instructions above.
...
Programmer: "ArduinoISP"

These setting do not require a proper accounting for the bootloader; Some of these settings may be irrelevant. I know these work, however.

Okay, one more step to communication;
Tools | Serial Monitor
Initiating this window will prompt the Nano device to send a window full of data.
Be sure the Serial Monitor is set to 115200 Baud in the lower right corner of the window no matter which version bootloader you have installed.

Commands can be sent to the ReCube Wand or derivative using this window. Entering 0;[enter] will refresh the window.
Commands can be strung together; 1; 3; 4; 5; 7; 8,98; 7;[enter] will get you everything ReCube Light will allow and set your cartridge to about 98%.
The response lines will generally read; command, error code, data - related to the menu. Error code should always be .., 0, .. unless something went wrong with the connection to the chip or the input was invalid. Simply try again making sure your connection is good. 1;[enter] is a good place to start to confirm the chip type.

Be sure to open a new Serial Monitor and cycle the power on your ReCube Wand when you recharge another chip!
This may be me being overly cautious but I do know some data gets stored or hung in the Nano device. I do get erroneous readings if I don't close and reopen the Serial Monitor window. Recycling power on the device is just an added precaution.

Bottom line, this entire operation lacks a serious sense of accomplishment. You get all this done and "click"... it's over!
You can play and hack the chip to your hearts content, but in the end... yes, you are a single [enter] away from being done with this entire operation and you are ready to print for another 40 some-odd hours before you get to do it again. Rest assured; your wallet will feel the difference!

Thank you for your patronage and your dedication to keep these little marvels alive and kicking. Feel free to post below. I will attempt to help however I can.

[dndkeg]

Hello and Merry Christmas,

As you know I have bought a ReCube wand from your ebay before you stopped selling them but I have a few questions. When launching the program itself, on the computer, does the wand have to be in contact with the chip from the cartridge from the start? Because I'm only using ReCube Light, will it only change the percentage of the cartridge regardless of the material the chip was initially programmed to be?

Thanks

[TommyDee]

Hey dndkeg. Merry Christmas!

No, the wand can be live and idle. Probably best to wait for the wand to boot up fully before connecting to the chip. I do wait for the light to go out when I press the button. You also need to reboot between chips by power-cycling the wand.

If the chip is otherwise programmed properly, indeed, a powered wand will charge to 100% on any valid configuration. However, there is more in Tomuro's code in the wand. It will allow you to interrogate your chip and change the percentage to your desired setting. That is what Arduino IDE is for. Letting me set the percentage to 50% for a half full CubePro cart is helpful since I cannot see inside the case. The interrogation routine is not too useful though since the printer does that too. Only to validate a stubborn chip maybe.

Programmed correctly simply means someone had changed a chip from CubePro to Cube3 and forgot to change the capacity for instance. ReCube Pro can get tripped up so you have to check that all the fields are correct. That is not a problem with factory correct chips. Then yes, all ReCube Light does is reset the material percentage value.

Valid configuration is a caveat for possible invalid configurations that the printer doesn't recognize. The machine type, material type, and material color all have to be a valid configuration in the associated app. This is more of an issue for CubePro. This again has to do with reprogrammed chips, not factory chips.

[dndkeg]

Just to be clear, ReCube Light doesn't have access to the commands that's in the README correct, its only in the Pro version of the software?

[TommyDee]

The readme is also a page presented by ReCube light if you are talking about the page that shows all the codes. That means you can do most of the inquiries. But the only affect you can make with ReCube light is the percentage. Either 100% using the switch/pull-up interface, or any percent you want using the Arduino IDE interface.

What ReCube Pro provides access to is commands 2, 6, 10, & 11.

Available commands
0; - This command list
1; - Check cartridge type
...0: Cube3
...1: Ekocycle
...2: Cube Pro
2,<bank number>; - Get bank data
3; - Get max amount
4; - Get material type
...0 = PLA
...1 = ABS
...2 = NYLON
...3 = EKO
...5 = WUD
...6 = FLX
...7 = MET
5; - Get color type
...0:White | 1:Silver | 2:Black | 3:Brown
...4:Tan | 5:NeonGreen | 6:GlowInTheDarkGreen | 7:Green
...8:Teal | 9:Blue | 10:GlowInTheDarkBlue | 11:Purple
...12:Magenta | 13:Red | 14:Orange | 15:Yellow
...16arkGrey | 17:Coral | 18:ForestGreen | 19:PaleYellow
...20:NavyBlue | 21:Gold | 22:Bronze | 23:Natural
...24:InfinityRinse | 25:Wood | 26:Fire | 27:Snow
...28:Water | 29:Blush | 30:Marsala | 31:Midnight
...32:Sapphire | 33:Concrete | 34:Copper | 35:Grey
6; - Get Memory ID
7; - Get Current Amount in %
8,<current amount in %>; - Set Current Amount 0-100
9,<max amount>; - Set Max amount for Cube3 typical 106680
10,<material>,<color>; - Set Cartridge material and color type
11,<printer>; - Set cartridge printer type (for Cube Pro experimental contact with tomuro@haxtom.com before use)
...0: Cube3
...1: Ekocycle
...2: Cube Pro

Hope that helps

Happy New Year dndkeg!

[dndkeg]

Happy New Year!

Well with the chip being reloaded I am wondering on how to actually change the percentage, I have Arduino installed but I can't open the files because of the ".hex" to see if I can change the actual percentage to be 98% since using the wand will always change it to be 100%, the printer will always be prompted to "break" in the new cartridge (I have modified the firmware so the percentage doesn't count down anymore). The README also said to use Putty to change the percentage but I'm not sure how to access the command prompt that way either

[TommyDee]

Aha... I need to understand what you have in hand. I'm assuming you have a wand connected to a chip and can get 100% recharge with the push of a button. If this is the case then you do not need the ReCube code for Arduino. The interface is already installed on the NANO. You need to open a serial port in Arduino IDE.

When you do that, you need to set the serial port baud rate. For old bootloader NANO's, it is 57,600 baud. Most of my wands are new bootloader which required 115,200 baud. Of course, your COM port has to be right. Your NANO has to be plugged into the USB port and communicating before opening the serial port. The baud rate is set in the lower right hand corner of the serial monitor window.
TOOLS/SERIAL MONITOR

Sorry I didn't expand on that earlier. Am I on the right page? Correct me where my assumptions fail me.

[dndkeg]

Nope that's what I was wondering thanks!

But to make sure I am understanding this to set the cartridge percentage it's "8,99;" or "8,99%;"

There's also a command with "9" but I'm a little confused with that as well...

[TommyDee]

Yes, use '8,99;<enter>'

Ah, 9 is a Pro function as well. I missed that. This is needed when you go from CubePro to Cube3 for instance. The max amount is different.

[dndkeg]

So type that command in, and then after follow the same directions to "refill" the chip then?