How To Flash Firmware to the CR6 printer
WAIT! If you prefer to watch videos - you might prefer to go here, instead:** https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfDSKnF0RNcYDkxM5mYtyuvlTfMAMD-Nr
NO, WAIT!! If your intention is to install the Community Firmware to "try", expecting to be able to revert to Creality stock firmware if you change your mind, please read the last section on this page first! We cannot guarantee that there will be a way to revert your printer to the "as-received" condition.
Creality has delivered multiple variants of CR6 printer and they do not all work with the same pre-compiled Community firmware. Some of the modifications you make to your printer may also require you to compile your own "flavour" of this firmware.
Only you - the owner-operator of your printer - can determine with confidence to which machine you are flashing. If you can not make this determination with confidence, you should not try to flash any firmware to your printer. You may instead just render your printer unuseable...
e.g. Kickstarter CR6-SE printers were delivered with Creality v1.x firmware and a DGUS2 kernel which they did not include on the SD card and copies of which have not been found online. If you flash the DGUS kernel upgrade files to such a printer, there may be no road back to restore those printers to stock.
You probably know this one - CR6 is available in two models:
- CR6-SE
- CR6-MAX
Yes, you probably have to open the control board case to inspect the board for this one.
See this page for more details: How To Identify the Motherboard in your CR6 Printer
You can skip the following sections talking about DWIN displays - they do not apply to you.
If you have a DWIN TFT display: identify the version of DGUS2 kernel currently installed on your display
You need to make an informed decision about whether or not to flash DGUS2 v3.5 kernel upgrade files to your display
Approximately December 2021, Creality started delivering CR6 printers with displays flashed with DGUS2* v4.5 or higher. (*DGUS2 is the operating system on the DWIN Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) display.)
Creality makes no mention of this change in their documentation or support pages, but you need to know what is on there, before you flash the Community 6.1-Final (or prior) Touchscreen firmware.
- The Touchscreen firmware bundled in with the Community Firmware at versions 6.1-Final and prior is NOT compatible with DGUS2 variants other than v3.5.
- Flashing v3.5 kernel "upgrade" files to a screen previously flashed with DGUS2 v4.5 requires additional steps to recalibrate the display and going back to stock gets even more complicated.
- As mentioned above, Kickstarter CR6-SE printers were delivered with Creality v1.x firmware and a DGUS2 kernel which they did not include on the SD card and copies of which have not been found online. If you flash the DGUS kernel upgrade files to such a printer, there may be no road back to restore it to stock.
Much easier all-around to just figure out what you are modifying, before you start.
DO NOT install the Touchscreen firmware bundled with the Community Firmware .zip file. Download instead the REFACTORED Touchscreen firmware from the CR6Community/CR-6-touchscreen Repository, and follow those README instructions precisely.
NOTE: If you "did the guy-thing" and flashed your v4.5 system with v3.5 before reading this guide, the README with the REFACTORED firmware will guide you on how to flash back to v4.5.
You can safely install the Touchscreen firmware in the applicable Community Firmware .zip file, BUT you should first try doing so without installing the kernel upgrade files. We expect it to work, and it will save you looking for the DGUS2 bin files later, if you decide to revert to the stock firmware. BUT: If it does NOT work, use the REFACTORED Touchscreen firmware instead! (See previous section)
You can safely follow the readme instructions bundled with the Touchscreen firmware in the applicable Community Firmware .zip file.
Look for the latest pre-compiled firmware specifically configured for your variant in the Releases section of the Community/Marlin repository
The Marlin software on which the CF is based requires that some configuration "switches" be set before compiling the firmware. The Community Firmware developers maintain a limited set of basic Community Firmware configurations in the Releases section of the repository.
If you have a modified printer that needs an unsupported configuration, you will need instead to learn how to compile your own firmware.
BUT remember that those files were released BEFORE Creality changed the game by flashing DGUS2 v4.5 or higher, to their displays, so REMEMBER to follow the applicable instructions above, based on which DGUS2 you have on yours!
Rats!
While we know the firmware flashes just fine on all of our machines, we sometimes find that Creality has modified their design (e.g they changed from 4.5.3 to 1.1.0.3 motherboard, they started flashing different variations of DGUS (1.4, 3.4, 4.1, 4.5, etc.), they moved some of the pins and connectors... So we sometimes learn there really is a new problem to be debugged. A lot of the time, though, a user has just not followed the documented instructions. Your first best bet when flashing does not work is to go back over the instructions and figure out whether you skipped a step or did something we caution against.
The second most likely culprit is the SD card. Sectors go bad, bootloader routines are "touchy", motherboards may work with cards that displays will not, or vice versa. If all else fails, try deep-formatting the card.
Hopefully, the troubleshooting FAQs on this page will help you figure out what happened and how to recover: FAQs
Well, as they say, "We are sorry to see you "go"."
Frankly, the Community Firmware Developers can not ensure that you have a path back to stock, if/when Creality flash their printers with files that they do not release on their own support website...
Creality does not include any DGUS2 kernel files in their distributions, but we have feedback from users that suggests this version of Creality stock firmware does run on the CR6 after flashing the printer with CF6.1-Final and the v3.5 kernel upgrade files:
https://img.staticdj.com/0169cd61ccd233c7ba9c501dec15228b.zip
CAUTION: There are multiple versions of firmware in that zip file
The pair marked "9-language" version 2.1.0.8 have been confirmed to work with DGUS2v3.5 and a 4.5.3/1.1.0.3 motherboard. (ignore the .7z file in that folder.)
