Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the CR6 Community Firmware - CR6Community/Marlin GitHub Wiki

Are there any plans to update the CF beyond version 6.1?

Yes and No.

The published goal of the CF project has always been to clean up the CR6 source code, so that it can be merged back into the upstream Marlin master branch.

Once the Community Firmware was stable - at version 6.1 - it was passed on to the Marlin team to perform that merge.

The CF development team has requested that merge and we do see occasional GitHub reports confirming that Thinkyhead himself continues to commit changes to effect that merge. Please note, however, that the CF Devs control neither the priority, the timing nor the direction of that merge activity.

Here is where you can track that PR and you can register for messages tracking progress: https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/pull/19958

Please direct all questions and suggestions about that PR to the upstream Marlin team.

Once that merge is released, you will be able to compile the latest version of Marlin for the CR-6. There will likely, at that point, also be a new Marlin UI for the CR6

The future of the CF project at that point is TBD.

The temperatures go up/down/up/down while bed leveling

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Yep. That is by design, to improve bed leveling accuracy. It impacts all probing activity.

You can turn that behaviour off by deactivating the "Better Accuracy" switch at the top of the Calibrate->Leveling->Leveling Settings screen (not recommended).

I have a v1.1.0.3-ERA motherboard. What firmware do I flash?

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All CF6 users on our Discord confirm to us that their ERA-based system works correctly, after flashing the v4.5.3 firmware. You do, however, need to ensure that the optical sensor is plugged into J705 on the ERA board. Creality firmware seems tolerant of that sensor being connected to the socket J706, but the Community Firmware is not.

My nozzle is driven into the bed

If Creality's "Black Box" ABL system on that breakout board is not sensing enough of a change from the strain gauge, it can drive the head down as far as the Marlin firmware is programmed to allow (2mm in the Community Firmware) before stopping. If the printer is not able to push the nozzle that far, the motor will just keep trying to lower the head further until you power-off the machine. This behaviour has been known to press a dimple into expensive flexible print beds...

  1. Verify that the ABL system can detect the nozzle striking something (or vice versa)

To determine whether the Black Box is able to detect the nozzle striking the bed, try tapping on the nozzle with an allen key and watch the little blue LED on that break-out board. If the LED flashes, then the system is working, move on to Check the Optical sensor.

  1. Check that the optical sensor subsystem is working
  • Ensure that the metal probe attached to the gantry is pointing straight down (some have been bent during shipping).
  • Ensure that the metal probe descends in between the two short arms of the optical sensor before the nozzle reqches the bed. Some users have found that their nozzle encounters the bed before that metal tab descends into the optical sensor. There is a printable mount on repositores like Thingiverse that allows you to mount the optical sensor higher, if required. (There's your clue that you are not the first to have this problem)
  • Ensure that the optical sensor is properly connected. You can verify this by running command M119 from a serial monitor, blocking the optical sensor, and running the command again. You should see a difference in the output, regarding the probe_en endstop.

If the sensor is not working, and if you have one of the Kickstarter machines, those shipped with a spare optical sensor - try installing that.

If your optical sensor is broken and you have no spare, you can build the firmware yourself with the option '#define PROBE_ACTIVATION_SWITCH` commented out.

  1. Update your firmware to version 6.1-Final

A previous release of the community firmware was (incorrectly) tolerant of the optical sensor being connected incorrectly.

  • On the 4.5.2 board, it should be connected to J1.
  • On the v4.5.3 board it should be connected to port J2.
  • On the 1.1 ERA board, it should be connected to J705.
  • On the BTT SKR board, it is connected to the Z-Stop connector.

NOTE: On the BTT SKR board, the red led in the Optical Sensor does not illuminate (only being fed 3.3vdc) but the sensor still works. If you want the red led to also work, you can move the power pin over to 5vdc on the RGB connector, like this:

Optical5vdcConnection

I have a BTT SKR CR6 board. How do I activate Neopixels?

In the configs folder of the CF6.1 Release code, you will find examples for Configuration.h, Configuration_adv.h and Platformio.ini, to activate Neopixels on a CR6-SE. config/btt-skr-cr6-with-stock-creality-tft-neopixel

A utility like WinMerge is ideal, for comparing your current configuration files to those examples, and for making the equivalent changes in yours. Then recompile.

NOTE: The ellensp GitHub repo referenced in those files has since been taken down, so you need to make these two changes, to successfully compile:

If your platformio.ini contains the highlighted line, you need to replace it with this: NeoPixel=https://github.com/bigtreetech/Adafruit_NeoPixel

Same thing with ini/stm32f1.ini

My printer reboots when printing (Creality v4.5.2 boards)

Make sure your SD card isn't corrupt. Also some v4.5.2 boards do not "like" some types/brands of SD cards.

A small number of v4.5.2 boards also get overloaded by the more features that are enabled by the firmware. For most boards it isn't an issue, but some particular v4.5.2 boards are unstable. Nothing you can do, stock firmware only, for you - or upgrade to a CR-ERA v1.1.0.3 or, if you can still find one, a BigTreeTech SKR CR6 board.

You can also try CF[version]-cr6-se-v4.5.2-mb-no-watchdog-[date].zip firmware, but be aware: if the firmware does freeze then there is nothing that prevents the printer from overheating, with the watchdog timer function disabled. Use with caution!

I would like to customize the Community Firmware configuration for my printer - How do I compile my own version?

Our Dev @Sebazzz posted this online guide in his blog: https://damsteen.nl/blog/2021/01/08/how-to-compile-cr6community-marlin-with-vscode-platformio