The PDF version of this article has photos for your ease of reference
Why upgrade Makerware and your Firmware?
One of the best things about Makerbot is the fact that development on their machines does not stop when they are put in the box. They are constantly improving the FIRWARE (the software on your motherboard that controls the machine) and MAKERWARE (the software we use to slice up our models in just the way we want)
As an example, the Replicator 1 came out as a 270 micron machine, and now you can make beautiful 100 micron prints thanks to firmware upgrades. The 7.0 Firmware upgrade, coupled with the Makerware upgrade at the same time also saw a dramatic improvement in the Replicator 2, just check out the photos
(PHOTOS LEFT)
How to Your Upgrade your Firmware
So in theory, when the bot is connected to your computer the you should be able to just
- Open Makerware
- Go to Bots ► upload firmware
and you are away
NOTE : YOU WILL HAVE TO THEN UPGRADE MAKERWARE TO THE LATEST VERSION ALSO
As with Firmware 7.0 the format of files it takes changed from S3G to X3G and trying to run S3G files after the firmware update will shake your machine to bits
This being said the firmware 7 rocks. The print quality improvement is amazing.
IMPORTANT INFO
Tip 1 : Connecting your Bot to Your PC Through Makerware
This problem usually occurs because something has gone wrong with Conveyor, the part of the MakerWare toolchain that handles the connection to your bot. Go to the Services menu and select “Restart Conveyor.”
Some people (ourselves included) have found the latest version of Makerware (1.1.2.67) has difficulty actually
connecting to your bot. So if you have not already updated your Makerware software do the firmware update first.
We have a little app that runs outside Makerware and installs firmware for you.
We can also email an older version for people to use if they are experiencing this problem.
Tip 2 : Connecting to your bot through Replicator G after you install Makerware
MakerWare connects to your MakerBot via a service called Conveyor. Once you install MakerWare, Conveyor will run in the background and prevent other programs, like ReplicatorG, from connecting to your bot. To reconnect to ReplicatorG, you'll have to stop Conveyor. The easiest way to do this is through the Services menu in MakerWare.How to stop Conveyor when you do not have MakerWare open depends on what operating system you're using. On Windows computers, you can stop Conveyor through the Services application, which you can find by searching your computer. On Macs, open up Terminal and enter "sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.makerbot.conveyor.plist". On Linux computers the command is "sudo stop conveyor". If you need to restart Conveyor, you can do that from MakerWare's Services menu.
Tip 3 : Read the article Upgrading Firmware - Upgrade Failed
Tip 4 : Do not hit your head against a wall - if your having problems contact us.
How to Your Upgrade your Makerware
You have to Uninstall Makerware and then install the lastest version which you can download from
http://www.makerbot.com/makerware/
Having trouble installing Makerware?
If you already have ReplicatorG installed, make sure it's not running. It interferes with Conveyor, one of the components of the MakerWare package; and then try running the installer again. Running the installer again may also help if the problem is not related to ReplicatorG. If the installation fails a second time, please contact us.
I get a security Warning when I Try To install Makerware
Your operating system may not recognize the drivers MakerWare is installing, but that's fine. Just hit "OK" and the installation will continue.We have also seen some antivirus programs identify MakerWare as a virus. We assume this is because they haven't seen MakerWare before. Don't worry about it; we promise it's safe.