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Find My Laser

Start by clicking the Devices button in the Laser window to open the Devices Page.

Devices

In the Devices page, click the 'Find My Laser' button, and you'll see this screen:

FindMyLaser

Make sure your laser is powered on, connected to your computer with a USB cable, and has completed any startup sequence it needs to, like homing. Click next when the laser is ready.

LightBurn will list the devices it was able to recognize after a short scan:

FindResults

In the above image, I have two lasers connected to my computer—the first, a GRBL controller on COM9, and the second—a Ruida DSP controller on COM3. Select your laser and click Add Device.

Is your laser a GCode, DSP, or Galvo device? What if it wasn't found?

GCode devices

If you have a GCode controller, you'll be asked if your machine is an X-Carve or Shapeoko because there are some specific settings that need to be configured for those machines. If you have one, click the appropriate button. If not, click Other. You may be asked where the origin of your machine is and if you want to home on startup. Nearly all GCode systems use the front-left corner as the origin.

Enable the homing on startup if your machine has homing or limit switches, otherwise leave it off. If you see Error: 9 in the console later, it means you've enabled this feature, but your machine isn't configured for homing.

With some GCode devices, additional configuration of either LightBurn or the controller may be necessary.

Next: Connecting to the Laser

DSP devices

If you have a DSP controller, the next screen will ask you for the machine origin location. This is the corner the machine moves to when looking for the homing switches after power up. Click the home corner. If you get it wrong, things may be backwards or upside down, but don't worry—you can easily change it later.

Click 'OK' on the Devices page to exit after your laser has been added.

Next: Software walk-through for beginners

Galvo devices

Galvo devices have a few more steps comparatively, where LightBurn will attempt to import the markcfg7 file from your EZCAD2 setup. Select the location, enter your workspace size, and you're done. See the Galvo Setup page for a step-by-step guide on completing the required steps.

Next: Software walk-through for beginners

What if my laser isn't found?

If LightBurn can't find your laser, it could be for a number of reasons:

  • Missing drivers: Install your laser-specific drivers and software. Even if you don't plan to use it, they can include the necessary drivers that aren't included with LightBurn.
    • In the case of galvo devices, they have a LightBurn specific driver that needs to be used. See here for more information.
  • Can't connect: Only one application can talk to your laser at a time. If you run other software, like RDWorks, Easel, Carbide Create, AutoLaser, LaserCAD, etc, make sure that software is not running when you run LightBurn.
  • Networked device: LightBurn can't automatically configure a network-connected laser. For this, you'll have to click Create Manually and follow the outlined steps.
  • Marlin controller - If you are using a Marlin controller, they have a variety of baud rates and configuration options. They take significantly longer to reset than most other controllers so it's not practical to auto-search for them. Click Create Manually and follow the listed steps.