Updating EleksLaser A3 Pro Mana Board to use with LaserWeb
After struggling with the deprecated EleksCAM software provided by the makers of the EleksLaser, I decided to take the plunge and use LaserWeb to control the laser etcher. The biggest issue I found with the EleksCAM software that it would always load an SVG file to take up the entire workspace. There is no control to scale the image once it is loaded. While it was fine for doing vector text etches, the software seemed to let me down for any image type I loaded.
I installed LaserWeb and tried to connect the device. Unfortunately, the board used in the device does not work as shipped with LaserWeb. This is what I had to do to get the EleksLaser A3 Pro to work with LaserWeb.
Update EleksLaser with the latest GRBL
Get the latest GRBL release from here. Download the pre-compiled .hex file.
Flash GRBL to the board
The mana se board uses an Arduino Nano for the microcontroller unit. You can use the Arduino IDE to update the board, but I found it easier to use XLOADER to flash the board. You can get XLOADER for here. Download the ZIP or clone and then run XLoader.exe
- Open XLoader.exe
- Browse to the HEX file grbl_version.hex
- Select Device: Duemilanove/Nano(ATmega328)
- Select the correct COM port for yur laser device
- Leave the Baude rate at 57600
- Click Upload and wait (it doesn’t take long)
You can now use the device with LaserWeb. You will still need to configure LaserWeb and GRBL to get things to run properly.