v1.5.2

• Fix issues with remote mode disconnecting main client and jobs stopping when connecting from remote mode.
• Significantly sped up file loading and rendering on larger files
• Job end notifications will no longer appear if toggled off
• SVG visualization no longer teeny-tiny on inches postprocessor files
• Plus and Minus buttons returned to jog speeds with the prior existing logic
• AutoZero touchplate renamed to just AutoZero
• Added new Config option for Jog Delay, which configures how long a keypress/UI press/gamepad press before swapping to continuous jogging.
• Commands sent later in connection cycle to reduce situations where Error 1 occurs when unlocking and resetting the board
• Generating a surfacing file no longer causes issues on main visualizer if not sent there
• Motors sections again will disappear from config when empty
• Restore defaults and default highlight works correctly in Config on settings considered hybrid between grbl/grblHAL
• Prevented situations where alarm list was not populating correctly
• Continuous jog without soft limits now sends more sane values when jogging in Inches across both controllers
• Stopping a file that has an early M0 already sent will no longer pop up the pause modal
• Config look and Feel tweaks
• Shortcuts rearranged so more commonly set ones are higher up
• File stat feed rates now convert correctly
• Zero All on grblHAL no longer sends Zero on A if A Axis not reported
• Various look and feel changes

v1.5.1

• Addressed issues where jog values kept reconverting.
• Fixed crash when importing settings.
• Updated some AltMill and LongMill default values.
• Removed Zoom icons from visualizer.
• Override sliders have switched to decaf and are now less jumpy.
• Fixed unit issue with Go To popover and default values no longer populate Z with Y value
• Using tuning tools (Squaring and Steps/mm) now refresh EEPROM state and respect UI units
• Abs/Inc toggle in go to moved to top.
• Fixed issue where M0 in macros could result in a paused feeder state after unlocking preventing further code sending
• Fixed issue where Machine status overlapped unlock and connect on smaller resolutions and made them unclickable
• Disabling a drawer tool now defaults you to the first drawer element
• Fixed issue with tool select in probing working inconsistently and defaulting to Auto
• Rotary Axis travel resolution and maximum rate appearing again when connected with GRBL.

v1.5.0

gSender 1.5.0 New U - Goals and Philosophy

After nearly a year in development, we’re excited to announce that gSender 1.5.0 (New U) is now available to the general public. This version includes an entirely new UI, techstack, and functionality.

As a reminder of our initial goals, we approached this Edge iteration with the following items in mind:

• Maintaining gSender primary principles of simplistic unopinionated controls, substitute technical jargon for simple language, and only showing functionality that you need for your specific machine.
• Better support for various screen sizes (from desktop down to phone) and more intuitive, usable touchscreen support.
• More thought into use of space for existing features to not feel like an afterthought and create space for new features to slot in.
• Lower technical debt on the front-end side of the application.

Through iteration across our 8 Edge releases and multiple internal builds and testing, we’re very excited with how this version reached these goals.

With a new look and feel, better touch support, landscape and portrait mode, and streamlined tools we’re thrilled to continue to push the hobby CNC space forward in terms of usability and user friendliness. gSender 1.5.0 should be familiar to existing users, but we hope the improvements are noticeable.

This was a gargantuan undertaking, with over 1700 commits made by our team over the course of development. Internally, we’re very happy with this final result, and think it’s a great platform for future development. As always, thank you to everyone who used and gave feedback on our Edge versions, along with everyone who submitted issues or contributed changes on Github.

Upgrading

Before installing gSender 1.5.0, we recommend going through the “Transitioning to 1.5.0” document to familiarize yourself with the changes and where old functionality is now located:

https://resources.sienci.com/view/gs-setup-and-layout/#transitioning-from-classic

This article should generally cover any old functionality that’s moved or been redesigned so you don’t get lost.

As always, when upgrading versions we recommend you backup your gSender settings and EEPROM before upgrading. You can find the instructions on how to do so within the following article:

https://resources.sienci.com/view/gs-classic/#gsender-updates

Documentation on gSender has been updated to account for the new version, and can be viewed in total on our resources section:

https://resources.sienci.com/view/gs-installation/

New features

Apart from the new look and feel, gSender 1.5.0 comes with a host of new tools and functionalities.

Firmware detection

gSender is now able to detect which firmware you’re running on connection, and use the correct controller. This means the firmware selector is gone, and you are just able to select the port you wish to connect to - one less point of failure and a time saver when connecting across multiple machines.

Default behaviour in cases where gSender is unable to determine which firmware your board is running is to use the Firmware Fallback option, which is selectable in Config but uses grblHAL as a default value.

Portrait and Dark Mode

A whole new perspective, gSender 1.5.0 now supports both landscape and portrait mode. Simply alter your display orientation in your operating system settings or rotate your device if it contains a gyroscope. We are very excited for this option for gControl users, as mounting your gControl vertically gives users all new options to interact with it.

As well, gSender 1.5.0 ships with Dark Mode, allowing users to use a higher-contrast version without burning their retinas. This option is selectable in Config, and alters the entire interface. Internally, this has become extremely popular as an option, and we know it’s been highly requested, so we’re happy to make this option available to the user base as a whole.

Config

Preferences and the Firmware tool have been streamlined and combined in order to make a one-stop shop for configuration. On top of categorizing related EEPROM and application settings (for example, all rotary settings being grouped together), the new Config tool has a number of new features.

• Restore defaults: all settings, both EEPROM and application, can be restored to their default value with a single click.

• Search has been improved to filter both EEPROM and application settings and allow easier lookup of relevant settings.

• “View Modified” toggle added, so you can see just non-default settings.

Stats

A number of existing features have been collated into a hub of information about your machine and job history. Stats page allows you to look at your job history, errors and alarm history, maintenance tasks, and generate support diagnostic files.

All stats are filtered to your currently connected com port, providing a quick overview of your machine health and work you’ve done.

Visualizer Updates

The Visualizer has received some new updates for better touch support. New touch gestures, such as Pinch to Zoom have been added for a better touchscreen experience. Zoom is also available in new icons on the left hand side.

Lightweight mode has received a number of behaviour updates, but now behaves with set configurations that are alterable in the Config tool. Use the feather icon on the visualizer to enable or disable lightweight mode.

The loading progress bar has also received some look and feel updates.

Other Highlights

On top of these major features, a number of other small features and behaviour changes have been made to gSender 1.5.0.

• A new Helper has been added, which will contain more information on errors and alarms, toolchanging, and in the future much much more.
• Machine information at a glance has been added to the top area, allowing users to quickly see pin status and current firmware modals.
• A new notifications hub has been added, which allows users to quickly go through past notifications they may have missed in the current sessions.
• A number of tools such as surfacing have had their look and feel updated, or new configuration options added (such as a coolant toggle)
• 4th axis is now a first class citizen in the UI, with jog controls and DRO readouts appearing on the main UI when rotary functionality is enabled instead of being hidden in a drawer.
• A number of new keyboard and gamepad shortcuts have been added.
• Remote mode UI has been updated to reflect the new UI, and expanded to include more functionality.
• Updated and new Altmill profiles are available for new and upcoming models.
• Version updating has been improved, with gSender now previewing release notes for the new version so you know what you’re getting. As well, download progress when updating is now displayed.
• Probe diameters are now addable directly in the probe tool.
• A setup wizard has been added for the Autospin, making sure your EEPROM is good to go for supporting it.
• Default maintenance tasks have been updated and modernized for both the LongMill and AltMill.
• Console can now be cleared.

Bug fixes and other

gSender 1.5.0 is up to date with gSender 1.4.12 with respect to fixes and behaviour changes.

• Start from line feed rate is correct for files using Imperial units.

Thanks

As always, thanks for everyone who used Edge, submitted issues on Github, contributed code, or participated in the initial feedback threads on the forum. We're thrilled with how the community has adopted gSender over the years, and always grateful to see involvement continue to grow.

v1.5.0-Edge-8

Hey folks, another Edge release with a number of tweaks, fixes, and look and feel adjustments

Portrait mode and touch support

We've added portrait mode for gControl and other users who want a different perspective on things. Either swap your display orientation in your operating system or turn the device if it's has a gyroscope to update the layout automatically.

• Pinch gestures should now zoom the visualizer rather than changing FoV
• FoV alterations so grid doesn't get cut off when zooming/dollying too far
• Still working on sliders being more responsive on touch screen, should be in next release.

Config refinements

• Modified (non-default) gSender settings now also highlight if changed from their default setting and have a one-click button to restore them to default.
• gSender settings are also now filtered by the "Show modified" toggle
• Quick actions no longer appear when not connected to a machine
• Various look/feel and labelling changes
  

AutoSpin setup support

• We now support setup for the AutoSpin inside the Spindle section of Config
• One click and the correct EEPROM changes are made for you based on your connected controller type (vanilla grbl/grblHAL)
  

Harmonized design

• Look and feel of dialogs and modals standardized and branded across the app
• Look and feel of button standardized in a number of places and active (pressed) state added for touch feedback.
• Numerous buttons that cause motion correctly coloured to the primary blue.
• Numerous other tweaks to standardize look of inputs
• Buttons that control accessory state (spindle/coolant as example) now have active indicator states

Tool Change fixes and alterations

• Passthrough option works again
• Skip Dialog option added to config and now skips pause modals on top of combining code blocks without a modal
• Re-ordered strategies
• Added Tool Change state to UI to match SLB LED
  
  

Jogging

• Fixes for selected speed not being used
• Fixes for correct unit being passed to continuous jogging
• Jog commands now emitted to UI console on grblHAL controller again

Probing

• Bit sizes now ordered
• Can now delete any bit, not just custom ones
• Bits now persist
• Adding a new bit should be a bit less troublesome

Miscellaneous

• Dark mode tweaks to some tools that were still unfinished/unclear
• Workflow state controls now allow stopping a file during dwells.
• Surfacing Tool reorganized to look more similar to Rotary Surfacing tool and should be clearer to use
• Coolant tab can now be hidden in config by disabling "Coolant Tab" in the Accessory Outputs section.
• Close file no longer notifies twice
• Start from line correctly shows max file length
• A axis jogging image corrected to the proper rotation
• Secondary functionality tabs tied to config options (coolant, rotary, spindle). This means you need to enable rotary functionality in config if you want A axis controls to appear.
• Stop sign button now stops most motions instead of just Jog movements again
• Added disabled state to numerous buttons that should have had them before
• Resize listener added to carve page so visualizer doesn't disappear when swapping pages
• Stats Diagnostic now exports EEPROM settings similar to main gSender
• Reconnect Automatically now works
• Stat page look and feel and functionality updates
• Pop out console works again

• Opening a recent file that has been deleted/moved now informs the user and removes it from the list

• Pi build for Edge now available (thanks @siganberg)

v1.5.0-Edge-7

Yet another release with a number of fixes, look and feel tweaks, and changes.

Config

• Config menu now only shows sections that currently have inputs available in them
• Config hides sections that are filtered or EEPROM only when not connected
• Added a "Non-Default" toggle next to the search filter that filters all EEPROM values to those not default to your selected machine profile
• Added some AltMill specific settings to the appropriate sections
• Added warning when not connected that some settings that are EEPROM only may not appear.
• Look and feel changes

Tools

• Surfacing tool had units added, labels corrected, should convert properly based on preferred units, and some responsiveness changes
• Squaring and Calibration tools look and feel and behaviour changes

Shortcuts

• Jog behaviour changes again - should be better now
• Added missing Rapid Position shortcuts
• Rotary shortcut fixes

Dark Mode

• Numerous tweaks to look and feel for legibility
• Gamepad shorcut area again usable in dark mode
  
  

Connection

• Work on robustness of auto detect firmware
• Fix for situations where connecting to alarmed machine would result in disconnect state and inability to reconnect

Look and Feel

• Side bar sizing scales appropriately based on monitor size
• Various new icons
• Numerous sizing tweaks to text and interactable elements such as tabs
• A jog icons should now be the correct directions.
• Fixed stats menu to bottom of screen
• Many, many other things

General

• Go To flyout again usable. Labelling improved for incremental and absolute.
• Various remote mode config tweaks
• Updating jog defaults in config should be reflected on main UI
• A number of other changes honestly it's exhausting.

v1.5.0-Edge-6

Hey folks, we're back again with another Edge release.

We're pretty happy with the pace we've made over the past 2 weeks in terms of feature completeness and starting to focus on reported issues and in-person testing. It's very likely that future builds will largely be focused on fixing any behaviour problems and fine tuning the look and feel.

As always, there's a large number of new features and fixes in this version so we'll start with some highlights and dive into it.

Park

We've added a new functionality for machines with limit switches and homing enabled called Park. This function lets you configure a set location, and pressing the new UI button will safely move the router to that location. There's a number of possible use cases (for example, setting the location close to the front for bit changes or near the back to move the router out of the way to clear your workpiece) and we're hoping it's a nice convenience for most users.

You can find the functionality on the main UI near the rapid position buttons if you have homing enabled. The behaviour is to move just below Z max height, move to the configured X and Y, and then finally move down to the configured Z location.

The park location itself is set in Config (Basics -> Park Location) and has convenient buttons to both grab the current location and go to the set location to verify it's accuracy.

Dark Mode

Let there be light dark!

Long asked for, we've added Dark mode to the gSender UI.

You can toggle it on with the click of a switch in Config (Customize UI -> Enabled Dark Mode).

While there's still a number of readability tweaks we're planning to make, we're very happy with the look and feel of this and hope it becomes a popular addition to the software.

Shortcuts

A large effort was undertaken by a couple members of the team to both verify parity of shortcuts between main and Edge and verify they are working as expected. We're reasonably certain we've added in all the missing shortcut functionalities and fixed some broken/different behaviours (such as continuous jogging).

Settings Import in Config should let you import your old configuration from main gSender for testing (this was also true in the last build, but there was a bit of a miscommunication between team members - oopsies).

Gamepad default profiles have also returned, and editing gamepad shortcuts should be more functional in this build.

Lightweight mode alterations

Lightweight mode behaviour has been updated. Rather than individual toggles, we've added presets which govern behaviour. Everything is the default behaviour, with full animations and visualization. Lighter swaps out for the SVG visualizer. Off turns the visualizer off.

Lightweight mode is toggled using the feather icon location on the Visualizer.

gSender Update - more info available

We've made some tweaks to how gSender informs the user when an update is available. On top of our beautiful bouncing boy on the logo informing you when a new version is available, clicking that now takes you to the about page, which now includes Patch notes from the new version so you can check what's changing before you update.

On top of that, we've added a percentage indicator when downloading so you know how long you have left.

gSender_Edge_avOgKmqXl7.mp4

Everything else

• Macros running state and animation returned. Editing and adding macros should behave the same, closing the modal.
• Added numerous missing config options
• Updated some config behaviour to hide options based on other selections
• Added Default Firmware, which is used as the fallback controller option in cases where connection cannot determine which firmware it is connecting to.
• Numerous jogging behaviour and jogging area look/feel changes.
• Jog values again editable
• Added missing jog config feedrate options.
• CW, CCW for spindle commands have been renamed to For and Rev in several places for consistency with most VFD labelling.
• Consistent look/feel on units in Config area.
• Stats tool - numerous look/feel changes and functionality fixes for maintenance tasks
• Various look/feel changes across UI
• Numerous other bug fixes.

v1.5.0-Edge-5

Edge-5 is now available with a number of fixes, tweaks, and steps towards feature parity.

• Fixed event emitter leak affecting UI performance
• Updated router library which should increase performance between pages
• Updated look and feel of rapid position buttons
  
• You can now flash and restore defaults in firmware tool
• Added several new config options, including A axis jog speeds
• Fixed home button not showing when it should have been
• Reload file functionality added to reload the file from disk.
• Added permanent unlock button to cycle start or unlock the firmware depending on state
• Added last file run information and recent files list
• Clicking the question mark on alarms now expands the helper area with a more complete description
  
• Fixed incorrect jog values being used on A jogging
• Print shortcuts re-added
• Rotary surfacing ported
• Maintenance reminders will once again appear when tasks are due on program start.
• Fixed visualizer unloading when swapping between tabs
• Added new animations to a number of drawers and flyout menus
• Lock Stepper Motor toggle has made a re-appearance in the Machine Information area
  

v1.4.12

• Added new machine profiles for Altmill 2X4
• Added support for new rotary track options
• Added fallback for jog values in cases where they were undefined.
• Added EEPROM settings export with diagnostic
• Fixed stepover for rotary surfacing on closed loop motors converting unnecessarily
• Dialog on code option now shows on grbl controller

v1.5.0-Edge-4

Another Edge release with a number of outstanding features and tweaks.

Updated Remote Mode/Wireless CNC Control

Remote mode (now known as "Wireless CNC Control") is back and better than ever! We're exposing more functionality and will continue to expand this in future Edge releases. We hope that by splitting up functionality into navigable pages the user experience will be improved and we'll have a much more usable remote interface on the phone. The plan is to get configuration, stats and remote tool changing all present in a future build.

You'll notice that the phone interface is now located at a separate link, "/remote". The QR code has been updated to link to this for easier navigation.

Gamepad Support

Press your buttons, champs. You can find the gamepad configuration in "Tools".

Even more Config Updates

Some sections now have relevant pins and functionalities available on the config page so you can test as you configure.

About Page

You can find this again in the Stats section. The plan is to also include update information here, so you're able to see what's new in updated versions of gSender before actually updating.

Look and Feel Tweaks and bug fixes

A number of small tweaks, small features, and bug fixes have made it in.

Some highlights include an updated job progress bar (with animation), units displayed on UI near the DRO, Back buttons on tools, tweaks to buttons for consistency and sizing.

We've also added touch zoom and lightweight mode to the visualizer as buttons, split recognized and unrecognized ports again, and much much more!

v1.5.0-EDGE3

Edge has seen quite a bit of work with regards to feature parity and we're excited to release our next iteration.

Stats Page

Older versions of gSender had numerous related tool in relatively disparate places - things like diagnostics and configuration overview, jobs listings, and maintenance tasks were all in separate areas. We've combined them into a sort of machine dashboard, where you can get a quick at-a-glance overview of your machine and recent jobs.

On top of the quick overview, you can still drill down into any specific sections you could previously. We hope grouping these related functionalities on top of future iteration on those features themselves will help users diagnose any problems with their machines.

Diagnostics also has also been updated (like in Main) to generate a ZIP file which includes the former diagnostic file, any loaded gcode files, on top of your current settings for easier support.

New Tools

Surfacing, XY Squaring, and Movement Tuning have all been ported over with some UI/look and feel improvements. You can access them under the "Tools" section.

Tool Changing/Helper

Tool changing wizards should be appearing again within the UI. When a tool change is parsed, the new "Helper" area should become active in order to guide you through your tool change process depending on the strategy you've chosen.

In the future, the plan for the Helper is to be expanded to guide the user through several processes/issues if enabled.

Config Updates

The configuration section has had a number of styling and behaviour tweaks to better group related application and eeprom settings.

You might notice that related EEPROM and application settings can now intermingle rather than being kept to distinct sections. We've added an indicator to more clearly differentiate when something is updating something in EEPROM (the microchip) and when something is updating an appliation setting. We hope to hear more feedback on this distinction moving forward.

Nav bar

One point of feedback we've had is that it's not always clear how to get back to where you want to be to run a job. We've made some updates to the look and feel of the nav bar to both highlight the Carve (formerly known as "Control") view and make it more obvious which application section you're currently in as well as increased the visual hierarchy of the Carve section itself.

We're also planning on adding breadcrumb navigation to certain sections of the application (such as tools) for easier navigation when drilling down into specific tools themselves so you always have an easy way to get back to where you want to be.

Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcut implementation is ongoing but we've added a subset of keyboard shortcuts. The shortcut tool can be accessed under "Tools".

Gamepad support is upcoming.

Other

• Various bugs and other UI tweaks are included in this version.
• Small features such as console clearing added
• Nav minimizer removed
• Pinnable machine status flyout
• Support for new spindle message parsing on upcoming firmware release
• Flipped visualizer camera cube and updated camera view to match
• Console input history again arrow scrollable
• Various text/copy tweaks
• Start from Line shows proper last run line

What's next

Since we're nearing feature parity, the next version of Edge is going to focus on the following things:

• Responsiveness and UI cohesiveness
• Dark Mode
• Remote Mode/Portrait Mode
• Gamepad support
• Breadcrumb navigation