Sunday, July 2, 2017

Repetier host "Exception during socket read:Too many items in the combo box" - Solved!

I purchased a new BoXZY (3D printer, laser and CNC Mill) and have been pretty pleased so far.
See https://boxzy.com/

One little issue though is that I have been trying to configure it so that I can 3D print from my laptop without having to connect a USB cable to the printer.
The layout in my office is not convenient for the cable to span across the room.  Also, when I start using it for CNC Milling, I do not want to necessarily have my laptop too close to the router making all the dust. 

My first attempts to install Repetier Server on various platforms was less than successful.
I found that I often would get the error message "Exception during socket read:Too many items in the combo box" when I connected the application to whatever server that I configured.

What confused me is that it would work perfectly on one of several computers,. but I could not find a root cause.

In addition, I received a Smart Controller (Beta) from BoXZY which came with Windows 10 Home as well as the BoXZY interface. 

For me this would be a perfect remote server for Repetier since I could execute print jobs directly from the device, or I could submit them from my laptop,

Unfortunately, my first few attempts to get this to work were also not successful.
In desperation, I also installed a Raspberry Pi with Repetier server and had the same issue. 

After reading a couple of forums that described these same symptoms, and some rather confusing instructions on how to reproduce the problem, I think that I have figured out a work-around to this issue.

Basically, the issue is with the client, and having more than one printer defined. 
In fact, this thread http://forum.repetier.com/discussion/3360/too-many-items-in-the-combo-box-exception-in-reperier-host where the responder, an official with the Repetier group, says "I think I have solved for next release".

In any case, here is what I found.
Starting with a configuration that gives me the error as follows:
  • I install Repetier Server on the new computer.
  • I launch the Client, in my case the BoXZY interface
  • In the client, I select to configure a new printer.
    • Select Config -> Printer Settings
    • I Configure the connector to be Repetier-Server, and then fill in the IP address of the above server.
    • Click the Show button and a web page for the server will be launched,  Copy and paste the API Key from the server.
    • Now, in the Client, click on Disconnect and then Connect and you see the error message "Exception during socket read:Too many items in the combo box".
If the above happens to you, here are the steps that I found will fix that client.
  • Click Disconnect to detach the connect from the printer.
  • Click on Config -> Printer Settings
  • Click on the little Trash Can Icon next to the Printer name
  • Click Yes on the popup to confirm
  • Now enter a new name in the printer field.  The name should be what you want to use going forward. Then click OK.  
    This will pop up an error message: Unhandled Exception has occurred in your application.
  • Click Quit.  This will close the client application.
  • Now relaunch the client application. 
  • Select Config->Printer Settings one more time.
  • You will notice that it has your Printer name, but a default configuration.,
  • Change the Connector to Repetier Server, and enter the IP address of the server.
  • Click Show as above and again copy the API key from the web page.
  • Now it should be working properly.

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