My firmware is too slow to run Octoprint; the prints get filled with blobs. Intensely filled, and they are random, so even back-to-back prints look different.
My control board cannot even keep up with the touchscreen--it stutters if I try to adjust the temperature, etc.
So, until I get a better control board, I'd like to use OctoPrint to monitor the print status--at least, which layer it is on.
My slicer allows me to insert code when a print changes the layer... but I do not know what code Octoprint can utilize. Can it process the data from an M27, or will I have to read the data in the terminal box? Is there another code that will report the Z position or layer number?
If you are printing from the SD card, then whatever gcode commands you execute will have zero effect since they are on the SD not OctoPrint, and it will have no knowledge of them..
I am slightly confused by the part 'My firmware is too slow to run OctoPrint' - your firmware does not run OctoPrint, OctoPrint runs on a connected device such as a Raspberry Pi, or any other PC etc. that has a USB port.
If your firmware will report the status of an SD print, OctoPrint will know about it already, otherwise you have to either update the firmware or run a print from OctoPrint and not your SD card.
I understand the flow of data, so to correct my statement, I should have said "does not have enough serial buffer and also not enough lookahead in the motion planner" instead of "too slow". I just thought "too slow" was brief and close enough, because a faster processor could likely keep up with the calculations. It was so poorly implemented that the touch screen interrupts motion, and the processor is a 32-bit 160MHz ARM, so I'd blame it on slow firmware.
Either way, it occasionally pauses waiting for commands, so Octoprint prints are garbage on this machine. Unfortunately, it's not open source, so there will be no updates from me, and the company does not seem interested in addressing it. Arc welder reduces the blobs, but it does not eliminate them nor solve the problem.
So, when printing from SD card, is there an M-code (or g-code) I can insert to send Octoprint a status update on layer change, so I can check on status on my phone? I am not familiar with Octoprints capability to process data coming from the printer, other thana showing it in the terminal.