If I replace my Arduino, which version of grbl to use?

X-Carve Upgrades
1

I’ve been looking around for some sort of obvious answer to this, not finding it.

My X-carve is a little over 2 years old. Has the Arduino and grbl-shield that came with it. My endstops quit working on day one, and after much troubleshooting back then, it was determined that I may actually have a bad Arduino. I’ve lived fine for 2 years without them, but I’d like to get them working again.

If I get a new arduino:

  • I presume it should be an Uno R3.
  • Which version of of grbl should I use for it? Releases · inventables/grbl · GitHub
  • Versions 1.0c & 1.1f listed on that page say “for the x-controller” which I do not have. Does that mean I should instead install .9j?

Thanks

2

Uno with 1.1f will work.
I’d recommend you get an Uno with a ATmega16U2 rather than one with a CH340. I’ve never had issues with the cheaper clone boards, but I’ve heard others that have.

3

If you are going to use a laser, use this one, if you are not going to use a laser, use 1.1f here.

2 Likes
5

Thanks for the info everyone.

Laser. … man,… I’ve been thinking about it. On the flipside, everything around my cnc is wood, under my house, that is wood. I’m thinking about maybe upgrading cheap co2 cutter instead… that’s a whole other thread :stuck_out_tongue:

6

I’ve had an issue with a clone board. It was an ATMega, but IIRC it had slightly less memory than advertised, and GRBL needs almost all of it. I only get genuine Arduino’s now, preferably an SMD, but if I need one today, I’ll take an IC.

7

Most likely a different bootloader. You could always reflash the bootloader.

8

Interesting. I always get the one with the removable chip. Most of the time I can recover a blown Arduino by just replacing the chip. (about $3).

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9

So, I bought a genuine Arduino Uno R3 (shipped from Arduino in Italy), got Inventables GRBL 1.1f on it, and the end endstops immediately started working. So mystery solved, bad old Arduino.