A printer is showing up as 'Offline' - BuildBee Support

A printer is showing up as 'Offline'


If you have gone to print something and your 3D printer appears as 'Offline', your BuildBee CloudDock is unable connect to the Internet. You can run through these steps to identify the cause of the problem:


Step 1 - Check if the SD card is missing or not plugged in properly

- Make sure that the SD card containing the BuildBee software is plugged in properly. Simply remove the SD card and put it back in. If the SD card is missing and you are unable to locate it, please submit a support request.


Step 2 - Check the CloudDock power supply

- Make sure the power supply is plugged into the CloudDock properly. 
- Make sure the power supply is in good working order and is not damaged.
- If you suspect the power supply is the problem, try a different powerpoint or a different micro-USB power supply.
- To confirm that the power is working, you should be able to see a light from inside the raspberry pi case. If power was the issue, you will see that printer's BuildBee reappear as 'Ready'. If there are no flashing lights, plug the BuildBee CloudDock into a computer monitor via HDMI and reboot the device. If you get a readout on the screen, then the CloudDock is still working. If you get an IP address at the end of the readout, try to access it by typing it into a browser and adding port 5000 (:5000) to the end of it e.g. 192.186.43.3:5000.

Read more below in the 'network issues' section.

Step 3 - Check the power socket

- Make sure the power socket is switched on. If using a power board with its own power switch, make sure that is turned on too.
- Make sure the power supply is properly plugged into the power socket. 
- If using a power board or extension lead, make sure all relevant ports are working. (try a different power socket).

 

Step 4 - Diagnose network issues

There are a few potential causes at the network level. The following is a list of things to check for:


a) Check your Ethernet cable (wired connection only)

- If you are using a wired connection, make sure the Ethernet cable is in good working condition and plugged in at both ends. If you're using a port in the wall, make sure it has been activated by your network administrator.

b) Check whether your network is a 2.4GHZ or 5GHZ connection

- Many schools have been switching off their 2.4GHZ network, however, some older BuildBee CloudDocks were only capable of a 2.4GHZ connection. If you think you may have one of these devices and your school has switched off its 2.4GHZ network, please get in contact with us and attach a photo of the CloudDock to the support ticket submission.

c) Reconfigure your BuildBee CloudDock

- Try reconfiguring your BuildBee CloudDock. You may need to check your network settings (network name, username, password, proxy information etc.) to make sure BuildBee isn't being denied access and that you have the correct information in the configuration file you generated. This will also help if your Internet access password has expired.

d) Check your network settings

- There may have been a change in your networks proxy settings or white-listing since you configured the BuildBee. You will need to reconfigure the BuildBee to reflect the new proxy details and reapply all relevant domains to your networks white-list.
- If your network requires a devices MAC address to be white-listed, make sure that has been done.

If you know the IP address of the CloudDock, access it by adding port 5000 to the end of it (whilst you are on the same network as the BuildBee CloudDock). If you are able to access the maintenance console this way but can't see the that printer in your printer list, please contact support.
If you see nothing even after reconfiguring the BuildBee CloudDock with the correct information, please contact support.

    • Related Articles

    • Printer states

      When viewing your printers in the printer list, you will notice that each of them (if you have more than one) will display the current state of that BuildBee. These statuses tell you what the printer is doing and are useful for troubleshooting ...

    • Get Started with BuildBee

      Congratulations! You’re the proud new owner of our latest and greatest CloudDock! With this awesome piece of technology, you can control your 3D printer over the Internet. BuildBee is comprised of two products. Firstly, a physical control box called ...

    • Create or connect a BuildBee CloudDock

      You can now make your own BuildBee CloudDock with existing Raspberry Pi hardware using the built in wizards in BuildBee Desktop. Simply launch the wizard and follow the steps. Prep - Make sure you have all the required hardware - Raspberry Pi 3B or ...

    • DET Edge network support updates (can't configure, printers offline)

      DET NSW are beginning to roll out a new internet service across all of their schools which changes the way devices access the internet. As a result of this change, our BuildBee CloudDock devices have been affected in the schools that have been rolled ...

    • IT: Recommended VLAN Setup

      If your organisation uses an enterprise WiFi network infrastructure, we recommend adding your BuildBee CloudDock to a WPA2 Pre-Shared Key secured VLAN. There are many network configuration options available, but use of a WPA2-PSK network will ...