Firmware & Guides

Ender 3 V2 BLTouch Firmware Installation Guide by Smith3D.com [Updated –13 November 2022]

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
01
Aug
Contents hide
1 BLTouch Installation
2 BLTouch Mount
3 Firmware
4 Some UI customizations the community has added
5 Some other features were offered compared to Stock firmware
6 And remember to add “M420 S1” in Cura!
7 You can also add G29 for Bed Leveling before every prints
8 Nozzle Crashing Into Bed?
9 Steps to produce a good leveling
10 What if you are not getting an accurate Z Offset from the Tool? (Live Adjust Z Offset)
11 FAQ
11.1 Z-axis won’t budge
11.2 Black Screen of Death after flashed
11.3 Bltouch probe not centered / change probe offset
11.4 Manual Leveled & still printing in mid air or nozzle hitting the bed
11.5 Sometimes Probe doesn’t finish during leveling
11.6 Setting is not saved
11.7 OctoPrint Settings
11.8 Power Lose Recovery doesn’t work
11.9 Motor making noises and freeze during print.
11.10 Sometimes UI/ print progress bar does not reflect to the latest
11.11 Can I use 3DTouch or BLTouch older than v3.1?
11.12 Where can I get the source code? How to compile?
11.13 How to donate?
11.14 What happens If I don’t want a BLTouch anymore?

BLTouch Installation

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
If you are using a different extension wire, please pay attention to the wire colors above.

BLTouch Mount

BLTouch Mount for Ender3 V2 – Link here (Use the two screws provided by BLTouch to screw it in.)

Firmware

Download Marlin Firmware V2.0.1 – Jyer Builds
Download Marlin Firmware 20221002 – Professional Firmware Builds

* Last Update from Jyers has been 1 year ago, Professional Firmware has more features but setup guide maybe different.

The very first thing you should to is go into Control > Advanced and adjust Probe Offset X to -42 & Probe Y Offset -10 (Printed Mount). and Control > Store Setting.

If you are using Creality official BL-Touch set, you have to set it to Probe X Offset -44 & Probe Y Offset -6.

MountProbe X OffsetProbe Y Offset
Custom Mount V3-42-10
Creality Official Mount-44-6

Video Guide by CHEP : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TroPjdkSEOY (Video guide doesn’t include manual leveling, do make sure you do manual bed leveling after adjust the z offset)

Unless your system is well tuned, please use the firmware above instead of high speed. Slow Probe & 5 x 5, which is great for first time tuning.

[8th April] As for Smith3D firmware, we have depreciated our firmware & move on to Jyer firmware as it offer much better features & functionality.

For BTT Filament Sensor & Standard Filament sensor, do enable them
inside Control > Advanced > Filament Sensor/Runout Distance

If you have never change your motherboard, it’s 4.2.2 by default

For 4.2.2 5×5 (High Speed) – download here
For 4.2.7 Board 5×5 (High Speed) – download here
For more info regarding this release
For people who’s suffering random probe fails, please refer to the FAQ below for z switch port firmware.

If flashed & auto leveling doesn’t work, please reset configuration (Control > Restore Default) or try to flash again with different filename. If you are getting Black screen, do format your MicroSD Card to FAT32 and rename the firmware & try again.

Older Build (V1.3.5b)

If you are facing issue on newer builds, you may try the older build

Download Marlin Firmware V1.2.2 – Jyers

What’s BL Touch High Speed Mode?

  • The high speed mode probes multiple points without stowing the needle, making it much much faster. But also prone to crashes if your bed is severely slanted. Please make good use of Manual leveling before you try this.

For Ender 3 V2 no bootloader installation is required. Copy the firmware into your SD card and then slot it in, the printer will begin flashing once you reboot it. Do remember that you need a different filename each time you flash a new firmware eg. firmware1.1bin > firmware1.2bin, else the system will ignore it.

For user who would prefer official firmware from Creality, you may check this guide here

Some UI customizations the community has added

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
For Manual Leveling, please refer to CHEP guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EfWVUJjBdA

Some other features were offered compared to Stock firmware

  • Turn on and off display during printing
  • PID Autotune Menu
  • Change Filament menu
  • Adjust probe offset, filament sensor in the menu
  • __h__m Time Format Setting

And remember to add “M420 S1” in Cura!

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
VERY IMPORTANT Add M420 S1; after the G28 in your start G-code in the starting G-code of your cura profile. To enable leveling on every prints. As the current marlin for Ender 3 V2 is unable to make “leveling enabled” persistent after reboot. M420 S1; Enable ABL (If you are getting error for Fade Height) This line of code always appear in other printer profile such as CR10SProV2/Ender5Plus where there is BLTouch built in.

You can also add G29 for Bed Leveling before every prints

Instead of adding the M420 S1 command above. You can replace it with G29 (Place it after G28). G29 basically starts a new round of auto bed leveling , good for users who would prefer a fresh bed leveling before every prints.

Nozzle Crashing Into Bed?

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]

Steps to produce a good leveling

  • Once you setup the Probe Offset X & Probe Offset Y, Store Setting and go to Prepare > Auto Home. Make sure your probe is directly at the center of the bed.
Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
Picture by CHEP
  • Start with Manual leveling to make sure the bed is leveled as much as you can, by manually adjusting bed spring. This is to reduce the amount of Z compensation ABL will need to apply when printing. Please refer to CHEP’s guide for how you can level your bed with a piece of paper. The firmware has included the buttons needed for printer to go to all 4 corners + center so you don’t have to do it via a gcode print file.
  • After the bed is leveled, get a good Z-offset by using the Prepare > Z-Offset. Remember to pre-heat your nozzle while using this as any remaining material stuck on nozzle tip might interfere the result while gauging with A4 paper. This tool will Auto home and then move Z to 0 to show actual Z offset. Prepare a paper to put between nozzle and bed, then try sliding it in and out, Microstep Up/Down & adjust Z offset until you feel a little friction between paper and nozzle. Use Home Z-Axis to double confirm if the z offset is the right one.
Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
Picture by CHEP
  • Once you got your Z offset, go to main menu and press “Leveling”. It will probe 5×5 points and save the mesh to your printer.
  • Done and start printing!
  • Again, it’s very important to heat up nozzle to 180-200 while using Z-offset (if there is PLA in nozzle) Else the Z-offset will vary a lot depending on the leftover material stuck on nozzle tip.

What if you are not getting an accurate Z Offset from the Tool? (Live Adjust Z Offset)

Sometimes moving the Z axis up and down bit by bit might cause a little slippages, which makes the Z-Offset gauging with A4 paper inaccurate.

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
Picture by CHEP

If you want a better gauging result. We recommend user to adjust Z Offset via Tune during printing

FAQ

Z-axis won’t budge

Pay attention to the wiring color, some wires are inverted. If you are using 3rd party wiring, most probably the last two orange and yellow are inverted. You have to manually revert it back using a tweezer.

Black Screen of Death after flashed

Please follow this reddit link for full guide on how to do a proper flash
In summary
– Use newly formated sd card, with only bin file
– Rename bin file
– Unplug & reconnect power cord

Bltouch probe not centered / change probe offset

adjust Control > Advanced > Probe Offset X & Probe Offset Y

Manual Leveled & still printing in mid air or nozzle hitting the bed

Use slow probe 5×5 firmware to see if the situation is improving, if not check if your M420/G29 is added inside the start of gcode. Use either G29 or M420. Remember to save setting after leveled.

Sometimes Probe doesn’t finish during leveling

Solution 1:
Some users has issue with the bltouch port. the trigger signal or ground is not attached properly. Connect the two pin to the z switch stop & flash the firmware below.

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]

Download 2.0.x.17 ZSwitchStop 5×5 Fast Smith3d Marlin Firmware

Solution 2:
Try connect via Pronterface and check what’s the error code returned.

Summary (this reddit link explained in detail)
– Make sure bed not totally out of level, probe may out of reach or nozzle hit the bed first
– Check if your bed is badly warped
– Check if your bltouch pin is bent
– Check the XY axis wheel tension
– Check the Z axis for binding

Solution 3:
There is a resistor fix for this, you can solder a resistor and use the bltouch port.

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]

Setting is not saved

Remember to click “Control > Store Setting” everytime you setup completed. Check if eeprom is deleted in SD Card.

OctoPrint Settings

OctoPrint Settings by Jyers

Power Lose Recovery doesn’t work

Power Lose Recovery only works when it reached certain layer. check your SD card if there is a PLR file exist. PLR determine if to display the Resume Printing message.

Motor making noises and freeze during print.

This will happen if you just flashed the firmware & does not reset the configuration. Just turn off and on your printer will do, restore default setting. Another possible issue is the dupont connectors on the motherboard loosen, do hot glue the connectors in place or upgrade it to 5 pin JST connector.

Sometimes UI/ print progress bar does not reflect to the latest

Known marlin bug. Restart, press back, will do.

Can I use 3DTouch or BLTouch older than v3.1?

May not compatible, this firmware is optimized for BLTouch v3.1.

Where can I get the source code? How to compile?

Github Repository is here.

If you are having issue compiling your own marlin, remember to set default_envs = STM32F103RET6_creality in platform.ini

How to donate?

Please donate to Marlin Firmware & https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jyers. Without them, there will be no great firmware for Ender 3 V2

What happens If I don’t want a BLTouch anymore?

You may revert your firmware to the official non-BLTouch firmware downloadable via this link – https://www.creality.com/download/32

Smith3D

1,297 thoughts on “Ender 3 V2 BLTouch Firmware Installation Guide by Smith3D.com [Updated –13 November 2022]”

  1. Peter says:

    Hi,

    Im using Smith3D-E3V2-2.0.x.16-5×5-Fast and it works great.
    But is it possible to get a version with 3×3 probing instead of 5×5 ?

    Reply
  3. C. Telgen says:

    Hello Guys,

    I installed the BLTouch V3.1 on my Ender 3 V2.
    The BLTouch starts glowin red and does 3 touches when starting the printer.
    When I want to Autolevel, the printer checks his x, and y-axes corretly, then it drives to the center of the plate without changing his z-position and starts doing 3 test-touches in the middle of the air. Then the autolevel guide freezes.
    I have also the issue when i try to print. The printer drives to the center, doing three touches in the air and the print is “finished”.

    I checked als cables and i also tried almost every firmware version above.

    Hope u can help me ;( x3
    Greetings from Germany

    Reply
  4. Sasho says:

    Hi,
    Could you compile an inverted filament sensor 5×5 fast firmware? It would be great. I can confirm, with M119, that it reports no filament when in fact the filamant is present.
    I would do it my self if could but I’m new to this and I’m not sure that I won’t forget to modify something in configuration.h.

    Thanks in advance!

    Reply
  5. jhoffy42 says:

    I like this Firmware 4.2.2 5×5 (High Speed) and everything works great…. except the x-y offset where my BL touch is mounted. Is there a guide to use this specific firmware to recompile so I can input those offsets? That’s the only thing I need to change. I know I can’t just reverse the bin file, and I found the source code at Github, but nothing specific to this highspeed version without starting completely from scratch,

    Reply
      • jhoffy42 says:

        Right I understand how to set up the command with my measured offsets, but I’m not sure how to execute it. Would I not need to recompile your Firmware 4.2.2 5×5 (High Speed) with those offsets embedded? That is the part I’m unsure how to do. I could just compile my own, but I want all the features that are already configured in your “4.2.2 5×5 (High Speed)” firmware (just with my probe offsets factored in). I don’t know how to go about that, without starting completely from scratch.

        Reply
        • Smith3D says:

          you can create a text file, rename it to “command.gcode”, right click edit with notepad, add M851 one line of code, and save it, then put it into your printer and print it will do.

          Reply
  7. Peter Batch says:

    I got the firmware all set up and the bed leveled just right. and the z off set just right. but when i print its like i didn’t even install a bltouch. idk if my commands in cura are working or what because I’ve tried M420 S and G29 i see them both go and do their bed leveling but it seems like it doesn’t even adjust it for my kind of warped bed. If you guys could help that would be awesome

    Reply
  8. mhighstone says:

    Hi,
    i want to upgrade my Ender 3 V2 with a BLTouch, but i don‘t know what Firmware Version i need.
    I have a V4.2.2 Mainboard and a BLTouch V3.1 without Adapter Board. So what is the right Firmware Version for this Setup? Hope you can help me

    Reply
  9. Taif says:

    Hi, is the Smith3D-E3V2-2.0.x.16 firmware compatible with both the 4.2.2 and 4.2.7? It none of the axis moved for me when I installed in on my 4.2.7 so I used the “fast” 4.2.7 firmware and that seemed to work.

    However, my prints randomly stop and the printer displays “it looks like the last file was interrupted”. Another time it was just on the home screen with the print 20% finished and cooled down. Any ideas? Much appreciated!

    Reply
      • Taif says:

        Thanks for the reply. Yes I am using the 4.2.7 board. None of the firmware work properly (they all crash) including the one provided by creality.

        Im now using the printer without the bltouch (and the same SD card) and its working fine. The bltouch worked fine with my older 4.2.2 motherboard and using your firmware. But it does not seem to work on the 4.2.7.

        Reply
  10. vandykdesigns says:

    Ok got my screen back from being blank, but still unable to print, this is the firmware I reinstalled Smith3D-E3V2-2.0.x.16-5×5-Slow. so which one should I try. the hot end does not heat up and also does not print.

    Reply
  12. Mihai Birzu says:

    Hi, I have a problem… but not just me.. jerks don’t change.. original i’m imposed at 8 in x and y but i would like them to stay at 10 but when I get off the menu they go back to 8 and the prints come very bad

    Reply
  13. Andrew says:

    Great firmware! Works like a charme!
    Thank you so much

    I would love to see some more extended menu like autotune PID (execute and store to eeprom)

    Reply
  15. Brian Gallucci says:

    Looking at getting latest firmware working with Octoprint and not sure which one I need to use.. GitHub has two versions – Smith3D-E3V2-2.0.x.16-5×5-Fast-BTTSmartSensor-100121-octopi.bin and Smith3D-E3V2-2.0.x.16-5×5-Fast-BTTSmartSensor-100121-octopi-2.bin

    Reply
  16. Andrew says:

    Is there a firmware with the z-stop switch for a 4.2.7 board? After flashing the `Smith3D-E3V2-2.0.x.16-5×5-Fast-ZSwitchStop-100121.bin` I’m getting no movement when I try to level the bed which makes me think that this firmware was built for a 4.2.2 board

    Reply
  17. Brian Gallucci says:

    Pulled down firmware and working great!! One thing I did just notice is when printing from OctoPrint the display does not reflect it’s printing so there is no “tune” option. Is this something in Marlin that needs to be enabled?

    Thanks,

    Reply
  18. vandykdesigns says:

    So I updated to the last version, but now my printer does not print anymore.
    I preheat, once it is warm I load my file, it takes 2-3 secs, then the printer beeps,
    it retracts my filament and starts cooling… and doesn’t print.
    I have tried every version and still nothing. Any idea why it is doing this?

    Reply
      • Matt E says:

        I’m having the same problem. I tried using the BLTouch 5×5 fast and the regular 5×5 fast firmwares, I did not use the filament sensor one. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I have Ender 3 V2 4.2.2 motherboard

        Reply
  19. George says:

    So I updated to the last version, but now my printer does not print anymore.
    I preheat, once it is warm I load my file, it takes 2-3 secs, then the printer beeps
    it retracts my filament and starts cooling… and doesn’t print.
    I have tried every version so far and the same thing keeps happening.

    Reply
  21. Eddie says:

    Hi, I uploaded your firmware onto 2 newly modified Ender3 V2’s. When auto homing 1 works as it should. The other starts to head to home, but then the extruder starts to spin and then the entire process stops. Any ideas on a fix?

    I have newly installed the Micro Swiss Direct Drive Extruder kit on both machines with Ender3 V2 BL touches directly purchased from Creality for the V2 on both.

    Reply
  22. Josh says:

    Hi, Really appreciate this guide and the information you’ve provided.

    I’ve installed this on my Ender 3V2 but notice that when probing the bed that it doesn’t probe the entire bed and also is slightly offset.

    I have everything seemingly set up correctly (probe offset etc). But I’m wondering if it’s the below options in the source code?
    Do you have this same behavior observed?
    #define X_BED_SIZE
    #define Y_BED_SIZE

    Cheers for any help.

    Reply
  23. Gregory Horn says:

    Can you release an updated version of this firmware: Smith3D-E3V2-2.0.x.9-3×3-MicroSwiss.zip
    Yours is the only one that works properly for me.

    Reply
  25. ercument says:

    Hello there

    I am using Ender 3 V2 Motherboard V4.2.7. BLtouch version 3.1 Antclabs’ product. I installed Smith3D (Smith3D-E3V2-2.0.x.16-4.2.7-5×5-Fast-100121) fully but it doesn’t work. Bltouch is constantly glowing red. I need help

    Reply
      • Vipesss says:

        Hey mate, im having the same issue as above. I try autohome, it will centre, lift a couple of mm and then drop and raise probe 3-4 times and just stalls there and goes no further. I changed board from the 4.2.2 to 4.2.7, I have the probe wired the same way. Does this board need to be wired differently?

        Thanks a lot for all the effort with the firmware 🙂

        Reply
        • Vipesss says:

          So I switched the black and white wires over and now it begins to do the Z axis probe, however it ignores the bed and just continues to crash into it. Have tried a couple of different firmware with z switch wiring and also wiring into the bltouch port on the board and it hasn’t provided any different results.

          Any ideas?

          Reply
          • dkrako1 says:

            I couldn’t reply to your other question for some reaosn.

            I have tried a bunch of different firmware. I’ve used your 4.2.7 fast and slow firmware, no luck. I’ve used teaching techs, TH3D, and compiled my own. Many people suggest it is crashing into the bed because I inverted the black and white wire but if I change it back it does what I was saying earlier where it homes, then just tests the probe 3-4 times without actually probing the bed. I am reading a lot of people suggesting that the 4.2.7 board has a capacitor that prevents the signal from making it through but I don’t understand board design well enough to know what it means.

  26. AZBDaniel says:

    Hey I am sorry if this has been answered but my printer was working fine with .14 then the bl touch lights up but probe does not come down when I hit print with level instead the extruder crashes into the build plate, I updated to .16 and printed once successfully then it started doing the same thing again. It ignores the Z stop and just keeps going down.

    Reply
  28. Kez says:

    The probe goes to the center on autohome (home-ish, a few mm offset but looks ok). But when I print, the whole bed is like shifted 5cm (cm not mm) to the left of the printer. I tried the compiled one, compiled my own from your sources, nothing seems to work. Is there a function that sets/offsets the bed im not seeing?

    Reply
  30. rafkesystem says:

    Hi,
    So i updated to the last version, but now my printer does not print anymore.
    So i preheat, once it is warm i load my file, it takes 2-3 secs, then the printer beeps several times,
    it retracts my filament and starts cooling… and doesn’t print.

    Reply
    • Ryan Brown says:

      I’m having the same problem. It is only on the firmware with the filament sensor. The firmware without the sensor works great. I’ve tried redownloading the file, resetting everything, it still heats, retracts, beeps, then pauses and cools the hotend. While cooling the hotend the temp still shows what it’s set to though, not 0 which is what it usually shows when cooling. Also, if you stop the print, it beeps more and then heats back up.

      Reply

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