Skip to Content

First Setup

The first time you power on a finished build, you tell the enclosure what hardware you actually fitted, and it tests all of it. You can run this again at any time from Settings, then Configuration.

Choose Configuration > [Features] > System Check > Calibration > Home

1. Choose a configuration

Turns on
RegularBME680, MQ-2, MEMS, load cells, both fans, LED bar, LED strip
ProEverything in Regular, plus the PMS5003 particle counter
CustomYou pick, one by one

These presets do not line up exactly with what the kits contain. Read the next section before choosing one, or just use Custom.

What your kit actually has

Some of what the presets switch on is not supplied with every kit, or with any kit:

HardwareLiteBasePro kit
BME680noyesyes
MQ-2 gas sensornoyesyes
MEMS smoke sensornonoyes
PMS5003 particle counternonoyes
Load cells (filament weighing)nonoyes
Optical smoke sensornonono
LED barnonono

Two things follow from that table:

  • The optical smoke sensor is not supplied with any kit, including Pro. It is an optional part you fit yourself, so no preset switches it on. Use Custom if you have fitted one.
  • The LED bar is not supplied with any kit either. It is an output the board can drive if you wire something to it.

So a Pro kit matches the Pro preset. A Base kit has neither the MEMS sensor nor the load cells that the Regular preset switches on.

Custom is the honest choice for most builds. Enable exactly what you fitted and nothing else, since a sensor switched on but not present just fails its check and reports nothing useful afterwards.

Regular and Pro jump straight to the System Check. Custom shows the Features page first.

If you fitted an optical sensor

Use Custom and turn it on there, then set opticalAlarmEnable = 1 in data.clu to arm the alarm. Those are two separate switches and both are off by default, so nothing acts on the optical input until you do both.

2. Features (Custom only)

Nine toggles: PMS5003, BME680, optical smoke, MQ-2, load cells, filter fan, cooling fan, LED bar, LED strip.

These are not display preferences. A sensor switched off here is not read at all, and anything that depends on it stops working. Turning off the BME680 also removes overheat protection, because there is no temperature to act on.

3. System Check

Each enabled item is tested in turn and marked pass, fail, or skipped.

PMS5003

Waits up to 3 seconds for a valid data frame.

BME680

Attempts one read.

Optical smoke sensor

Passes if it reads no smoke within 3 seconds. A sensor that is not connected fails here.

MQ-2

Same again. It passes if it reads no smoke within 3 seconds.

Load cells

Passes if both cells respond within 3 seconds.

Filter fan

Runs the fan at 0% for 3 seconds, then 75% for 5 seconds, and checks the tachometer reading actually rose. This one takes about 8 seconds.

Cooling fan

The fan spins up and the screen asks you whether it is turning. This is the only test that needs you.

The enclosure is unresponsive for roughly 15 to 20 seconds while this runs, because the tests use blocking waits. It has not crashed, so let it finish.

Reading the results

Continue past failures. The automated checks cannot always be fully accurate, so a fail is a hint to go and look at something rather than a verdict. Nothing forces you to fix anything before carrying on, and a failed check does not disable the hardware.

Common reasons for each:

  • PMS5003 fails. Check the connector, and that you selected Pro or enabled it in Custom.
  • BME680 fails. I²C wiring, or the wrong address.
  • Optical fails. You enabled it in Custom without fitting one, since none is supplied. Otherwise the sensor is disconnected, or there is genuinely something in the air.
  • MQ-2 fails. Check the connector, or try it in a clear room.
  • Load cells fail. Check both HX711 connections, since the test needs both to respond.
  • Filter fan fails. Either the fan is not turning, or it has no tachometer wire. A fan without a tacho signal cannot pass this test even when it works perfectly.

4. Calibration

If load cells are enabled you are offered the choice between running calibration now, or restoring the factory seed values from data.clu.

Calibrate now if this is a new build. The seed values are a starting point rather than a substitute.

5. Done

Press the final button and everything is written to the mainboard’s memory. It survives power cuts and firmware updates, so you only do this once.

If the save fails you get a failure page. That means the enclosure’s memory chip is not responding, so check its I²C wiring. Your settings will not persist until it is fixed.

Last updated on