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Joacim Breiler edited this page Jun 23, 2024 · 43 revisions

Configuring the Controller

Firmware settings

The firmware settings is available for GRBL, TinyG and g2core

Your controller firmware settings is available in a configuration dialog and will let you tweak the inner workings of your hardware. It is available in both the UGS Classic and UGS Platform edition:

  • UGS Classic - Open the menu Settings → Firmware Settings
  • UGS Platform - Open the menu Machine → Firmware Settings

Setup Wizard

The setup wizard is currently only available in the UGS Platform edition and GRBL.

Setting up your controller firmware configuration by hand can be challenging and may require a lot of documentation reading. The Setup Wizard will help you set up your controller without the need to know how to create bitmasks and what features are dependent on another.

  • To start the wizard open the menu Machine -> Setup wizard...

    Start the setup wizard
  • If you aren't connected to your controller a connection dialog will be presented:
    Connect to controller
  • The version of the controller will be shown after connecting and the available setup steps will be loaded for your controller:
    Connected controller
  • If you have a settings file from your machine manufacturer or if you have a backup of your settings you may import it here:
    Import settings
  • On the motor wiring configuration page you can test the direction of your motors and change its direction if needed.
    Motor wiring configuration
  • On the step calibration page you can move the machine and measure the actual distance. It will then recommend a step setting for your machine:
    Step calibration
  • If you have limit switches you may enable them on this page and test if they are firing correctly:
    Limit switches
  • If limit switches are enabled you may enable homing as well. This page helps you figuring out in which direction the homing should be made:
    Homing setup
  • If homing is enabled you may also configure soft limits so that the controller knows if it can process a command without triggering limit switches:
    Soft limits setup

Configuring UGS Platform

Configuration files

The configuration for UGS Platform is divided into two types; the UGS specific settings and one for the user interface (ex. describing how the different windows should be placed and so on).

The UGS specific settings (which is also common with the UGS Classic edition) is located in your home directory. It contains UniversalGcodeSender.json which holds the settings such as: jog feed rates, your macros, your file history and so on. There is also the directory firmware_config which contains several configurations for different types firmwares.

  • Windows: c:/users/[your username]/.ugs
  • Mac: ~/Library/Preferences/ugs
  • Linux: ~/.ugs

The UGS platform settings is located in your home directory. These settings contains the positions of the windows, and which modules you have loaded:

For UGS 2.0.13 or later they are located here:

  • Windows 7 and higher: C:/Users/[your username>]/AppData/Roaming/ugsplatform
  • Windows XP: C:/Documents and Settings/[your username>]/AppData/Roaming/ugsplatform
  • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/ugsplatform
  • Linux: ~/.ugsplatform and ~/.cache/ugsplatform

For UGS 2.0.12 or earlier they are located here:

  • Windows: C:/users/[your username>]/.ugsplatform
  • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/ugsplatform
  • Linux: ~/.ugsplatform

Language

To change the language in UGS. Open Preferences, select UGS, Sender Options and finally set your language. Click Apply and restart UGS for changes to be applied.

UGS platform language settings

Log files

When creating an issue it is often helpful for us to trace the error in your log file.

For UGS 2.0.13 or later they are located here:

  • Windows 7 and higher: C:/Users/[your username>]/AppData/Roaming/ugsplatform/var/log/messages.log
  • Windows XP: C:/Documents and Settings/[your username>]/AppData/Roaming/ugsplatform/var/log/messages.log
  • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/ugsplatform/var/log/messages.log
  • Linux: ~/.ugsplatform/var/log/messages.log

For UGS 2.0.12 or earlier are located here:

  • Windows 7 and higher: C:/Users/[your username>]/.ugsplatform/2.X/dev/var/log/messages.log
  • Windows XP: C:/Documents and Settings/[your username>]/.ugsplatform/2.X/dev/var/log/messages.log
  • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/ugsplatform/2.X/dev/var/log/messages.log
  • Linux: ~/.ugsplatform/2.X/dev/var/log/messages.log

Configuring the toolbar

See Usage / Toolbar

Configuring panels and windows

All panels and windows can be resized and moved to different locations by dragging and dropping them:

Resizing windows

Disable the Welcome tab

To disable the welcome tab you need to uncheck this checkbox:

image

Editor settings

The editor will be shown by default when opening gcode files, this behavior can be disabled in the settings by unchecking the option Show editor when opening g-code files:

Configuring the visualizer colors

The visualizer colors can be changed from the settings:

  1. In UGS select Tools -> Options (Windows and Linux) or ugsplatform -> Preferences (macOS).
  2. Click UGS
  3. Click on the Visualizer tab

Note: for linear movement colors there are four different colors which will be mixed depending on the feed and spindle speed.

image

Configuring Macros

TBD

Using dark theme

There is a dark theme (Look and Feel) in UGS that can be enabled through the settings:

  • Open the preferences:
    Open preferences
  • Go to Apperance -> Look and feel and choose FlatLaf Dark:
    Select FlatLaf dark
  • Restart and the dark themed UGS is used:
    UGS with FlatLaf dark

Gamepad and joystick

See Usage / Gamepad and joystick

Configuring UGS Classic

Configuration files

The UGS settings (which is also common with the UGS Platform edition) is located in your home directory. It contains UniversalGcodeSender.json which holds the settings such as: jog feed rates, your macros, your file history and so on. There is also the directory firmware_config which contains several configurations for different types firmwares.

  • Windows: c:/users/[your username]/.ugs
  • Mac: ~/Library/Preferences/ugs
  • Linux: ~/.ugs

Language

Open Sender Settings in the Settings menu, and select your language. Restart for changes to be applied.

UGS classic settings
UGS classic language settings