My printer firmware is 1.11.02.0 I have not updated this in well over a year. I am using Orca 2.4.2 and 2.5 DEV on Windows 11 Pro.
have been using my X1C with Orca with no issues for months now in LAN/Dev mode. Yesterday it became seriously unstable. Sometimes I can connect to it, sometimes not and sometimes after several minutes. About 5% of attempts to print work. Sometimes I can connect but can’t send a file, sometimes I get the video to work and it is REALLY SLOW. Usually the program stalls and after several minutes silently crashes. The program is 0% CPU so it is stalled waiting for “something”.
The SD card was corrupted, so I repaired it. No change in behavior. What started out two days ago with needing to send a file a couple of times for it to work has turned into a couple of times an hour I can actually GET a file sent. Is anyone suddenly seeing this?
The printer has become completely unusable - After spending the last 10 days printing about 2.5 kg of filament, now, totally useless. Did I just burn out its little brain?
Update: This happens with my other Windows 10 computer running Orca slicer as well. Clearly a printer issue.
See if a neighbor’s wifi is interfering with your 2.4GHz wifi channel. Test with a wifi analyzer phone app while near the printer.
Routers should automatically avoid interference, but sometimes a reboot is needed to force a new channel scan. Most phone apps can also suggest another channel with less interference, which can be selected manually in the router’s settings.
I powered the printer off and unplugged it overnight. This morning, everything is back to normal. Local interference may have been the issue since it was sudden to happen, obviously causing packet errors and suddenly went away.
I will need to invest time in better diagnostic tools it seems.
You’d think there would be an iPhone app, but there isn’t, outside of some that use external hardware. On iPhone apps are not allowed to run the WiFi in “promiscuous mode”, required to scan networks you aren’t joined to. (We can’t have nice things because advertisers abused this back when it was possible.) iPhone users who want to find adjacent networks that might be interfering will need a pc, Mac, or Android device.
I use NetSpot on my Mac. It is available for windows and android too. The iOS version can tell you the state of your network but not if others are causing problems.
I think I need to clarify my post, because I posted it from a deeply techie point of view.
There are lots of iPhone apps that can map WiFi strength like the screenshot @Ikraus shared. If you have an iPhone, you do have options.
It’s just that what the iPhone-based apps can’t do is tell you why the wifi is bad in some spots: Congrested channels? Interference from other networks? Signal attenuation? Intermittent noise causing bad signal-to-noise ratio? You will need a Mac or PC for that. (And maybe an Android app; I don’t have that experience.)
That “why” information is important, but often the only thing in your control is where your devices are located. And for that, the mobile apps are useful. They can help you find a better location for your WiFi router, or a WiFi extender, or your devices (printer).
