The Beginners Overview of How to Do Things with Astroprintbox

[John_Katalinas]

OK, I called it Astroprintbox because I am completely bamboozled about when I need to use what, and how to do it.
I have a laptop, next to my CR-10s with a Astrobox connected to the CR-10S with the USB cable enclosed with the Astrobox, which I bought complete and preassembled.
So…

1. Can I connect wired to Astrobox from laptop, and are there pros and cons to this?
2. How do I get Cura GCODE from laptop to CR-10s? Currently, I use SD card.
3. Is the Cura in astroprint the same as my stand alone copy, and could I import settings from one to the other?
4. Once I start a print, currently by “Print from SD Card” on control panel, what can I do and not do from my Astroprint app on my phone.
5. Once I start a print, how do I start and save a time lapse. Ive asked before and not seen the option to do this where it was indicated it should be
6. Am I doing something wrong that I cant see video on my phone, only still pictures?
7. I’m still unsure when I am on cloud or local and when is the appropriate time to use either

[dilanka]

Can I connect wired to Astrobox from laptop, and are there pros and cons to this?

You can Connect your AstroBox via ETHERNET to your Router/Local Network and via USB to your Printer – but not your laptop directly.

The main benefit of Ethernet is that you can still use your AstroBox without using the WiFi Dongle. The downside is that it can be a bit more inconvenient and limited in physical mobility of the AstroBox.

How do I get Cura GCODE from laptop to CR-10s? Currently, I use SD card.

You can use AstroPrint Desktop to find your local AstroBox/Printer and upload the GCODE directly to your AstroBox.

It will look like this:

(Note: While the interface looks SIMILAR, this is DIFFERENT from your AstroPrint Cloud Dashboard)

What you can do is pair your AstroBox with your cloud account, then upload your STL file(s) to your cloud file manager. This way, you don’t need to deal with GCODE as our cloud slicer with slice the STL and automatically send the GCODE to your printer from anywhere around the world.

Notice the three green icons on the top left of the screenshot above. You wan’t all of these to be green to indicate that it is cloud connected + printer is connected + Wifi is connected.

Is the Cura in astroprint the same as my stand alone copy, and could I import settings from one to the other?

We use CURA Engine, so it is MOSTLY the same, but you won’t find ALL the settings and idiosyncrasies of your standalone CURA on our AstroPrint CURA. At the moment, you cannot import settings.

Once I start a print, currently by “Print from SD Card” on control panel, what can I do and not do from my Astroprint app on my phone.

That’s a question with too many answers. Have you read this blog post?

The point of AstroPrint is so that you DON’T have to use your SD card to print.

So, you shouldn’t be using the SD card – instead, you should pair your astrobox with your cloud account so you can print from anywhere.

Once I start a print, how do I start and save a time lapse. Ive asked before and not seen the option to do this where it was indicated it should be

Time lapses can be started automatically in the MONITOR screen:

They’ll be automatically saved in the “Print Captures” app in your cloud dashboard.

Am I doing something wrong that I cant see video on my phone, only still pictures?

No, that feature is still being implemented.

I’m still unsure when I am on cloud or local and when is the appropriate time to use either

Once you pair your AstroBox with your cloud dashboard, there’s no reason to use the Local version IMO because you can do anything you want (with the most features) from the cloud.

Does that help? If not, let me know and I’d be happy to clarify more stuff

[John_Katalinas]

Thanks! It clears up some things, for sure…but I need to try some of these things to make sure I understand. I think one of the clear problems I could be having is that the cloud and local dashboards look the same, but seem to do different things. (Please consider making them look VERY different, or at least obviously so…) Also, I’m mechanically inclined, but not network savvy, so I think I am doing something wrong with WiFi, my laptop and Astrobox. Can you detail how things should be set up? I feel like I’ve struggled with needing to connect to internet (wifi) or Astrobox via wifi. I dont think I am right, but figuring that out isnt my thing. I plan on connecting via the cloud, not ethernet.

[dilanka]

I think one of the clear problems I could be having is that the cloud and local dashboards look the same, but seem to do different things. (Please consider making them look VERY different, or at least obviously so…)

Yes, I agree. I’ve mentioned this to @Daniel (CTO) before as well.

Take a look at this video.

I think that should help you out with setting up WiFi.

Let me know.

[John_Katalinas]

thanks. I just think I was accessing astrobox incorrectly…maybe trying to get to it via local not wifi. I will try some of this on my next print…maybe this will solve my timelapse issue as well