Tom Hofman

Multi Stack Software Engineer

Anet A8 Plus with Marlin 2.0

It’s a pain searching for Anet A8 Plus, but I got my Anet A8 Plus
equipped with the latest Marlin firmware the bugfix-2.0.x version to
be precise.

1. Download the latest Arduino IDE

2. Download the Anet A8 board definition
3. Follow the readme (i.e. place it in My Documents\Arduino\hardware)
4. Download the latest Marlin 2.0 firmware
5. Extract the downloaded archive
6. Navigate to \config\examples\Anet\A8plus
7. Copy both files to \Marlin
8. Open \Marlin\Marlin.ino
9. Go to Tools > Board: “…” > Select Anet V1.0 (Optiboot) if this doesn’t
show restart Arduino IDE.
10. Click “Verify/Build” (you might see some warnings)
11. If this throws an error like:
u8glib.h: No such file or directory
1. Sketch > Include Library > Manage libraries
2. Wait for download to finish
3. In the “Filter your search” box, type “u8glib”.
4. Scroll down until you see “U8glib by oliver”. Click on it.
5. Click “Install”
6. Wait for installation to finish
7. Click “Close”
8. Click “Verify/Build” again to retry
12. Connect the Anet A8 Plus to your computer
13. Click “Upload”
14. Voila your Anet A8 Plus is now equipped with Marlin 2.0

 2019-06-15  Tom Hofman  3D Printing

43 thoughts on “Anet A8 Plus with Marlin 2.0”

Bob
2019-06-15 at 15:56

Hi Tom ,

What is better with Marlin compared with original firmware ?

Tom Hofman 
2019-06-16 at 11:48

Overall response speed of the interface and less loud beeps!

Carey Price
2019-06-16 at 03:48

I wondered about the bug fix 2.0, and now I know. Thank you

Carey Price
2019-06-16 at 05:04

When I try to verify before upload on Anet A8 Plus in Marlin 2.0

bugfix, I get an error fail to compile for Anet A8 Version 1.0 board.
What programmer should be used (AVR ISP MkII) or something else.
Do I need to use the Optiboot 1.0 board version.

Tom Hofman 
2019-06-16 at 11:24

I’m sorry I missed that step, yes I used the Anet V1.0 (Optiboot) from
https://github.com/SkyNet3D/anet-board

Celil
2019-06-23 at 16:43

Hey Tom i got allways erros like missing libary by token and if i put //
behind the if there is coming other erros.. i get frustrating about the
config files

Tom Hofman 
2019-06-23 at 16:47

Hey Celil, do you have some console output of the error? I’m going to
record a video on how to compile and upload Marlin soon might be of
help too

steve white
2019-06-23 at 18:34

i had to disable a few things to get it on the board due to lack of mem-
ory but seems to work well now

Tom Hofman 
2019-07-02 at 08:38

Hey Steve that’s quite strange since I didn’t have to disable anything
and still had quite some space left, looking into adding an auto bed lev-
eling sensor soon which I reckon will still fit within the Anet 1.7 board,
as it also fit on the older revision on my classic Anet A8.

Carey Price
2019-06-30 at 08:42

Hi Tom:
After you home all axis, where does your X axis sit at, mine sits at -26.
That isn’t anywhere near being over the bed before the Z axis comes
down to the bed. Why would this be.

Tom Hofman 
2019-07-15 at 11:31

To prevent smashing into the glass bed I think, and to keep oozing of
the nozzle off too the side and not somewhere on the build plate.

You could adjust it, but I rather like the feature.

 Hussein Hussein
2019-07-13 at 03:51

Hey Tom,

I have been having issues with my Anet A8 Plus (not been modified
with any hardware or firmware). When I try to set the temperature of
the nozzel to i.e 30C it increases dramatically to 40C. I have replaced
my thermostat 3 times, still same issue. I have had prints before but af-
ter 2 weeks it started to have this issue. I figured the thermostat is
functioning correctly so I tried to upgrade the firmware since lots of
people have found that helpful. I just upgraded to 2.0 Marlin and I still
have the same issue, any thoughts? If you can help me get this straight-
ened out, I will pay you my man. Thank you.

Tom Hofman 
2019-07-15 at 11:36

Hey Hussein,

Does it overshoot (i.e. eventually comes back to 30C) or keep increasing

beyond 40C? Does the display show the target temp as 30C and the cur-
rent temp as 40C?
Do you have Octoprint running? If not try so and check the tempera-
ture graph, I’m interested to see how the temperature develops.

Hussein Hussein
2019-08-01 at 03:16

Hey Tom,

Sorry I have not replied in a while. Tom my printer will enventually

come back to its set temperature, but it takes a couple of minutes to do
so. The current temperature is higher than the set temperature.
*UPDATE:
I was able to update the 1.7 board with Marlin, still nothing. So I looked
into other discussions online and I saw that the MOFSET might have
been the issue. So I brought a new board to replace the on board
MOFSET. I then installed Marlin again on the new board, and still
showing the same issue. I am not sure what the Octoprint is nor how to
check the temperature graph. Much appreciated.
 David
2019-07-18 at 17:54

Hi Tom,

It’s possible to go back to stock firmware ?

Tom Hofman 
2019-07-19 at 00:03

I don’t know for sure but I reckon it would be possible, it’s simply a bit
of firmware on an Arduino

David
2019-07-29 at 19:09

Hello again Tom, and thank you for your last response. Im wondering
if I install marlin on my anet A8 plus , following your tutorial , I can get
the manual leveling feature, like in this video:
https://youtu.be/88YTA1Pgv54

It is because it’s a nightmare to calibrate the bed , because the 8mm

rods bends. Or probably my bed is bended, I don’t know.
Thanks in advance , and thanks for your great post about this printer ,
regards

daniel
2019-07-30 at 14:58

in arduino , I have to choose board “anet 1.0” or “anet 1.0 (optiboot) ??

I dont have a programmer , I want to upload firmware just connected

via USB to printer.

A video doing all process sure will help to many users , If you can do I
will be very thanksfull

Tom Hofman 
 2019-07-30 at 16:11

Hey Daniel, as stated a little further up, I used the Anet 1.0 (Optiboot)
option.

Roel
2019-08-07 at 14:09

Hi Tom,
I want to upgrade my Anet A8 Plus with Marlin 2.0. as you desribed
here. But as I understand I need to burn the new bootloader first for
the Optiboot option? If so, that’s a “big” extra step to consider and it’s
not mentionned in your opening post, so I’m a bit confused. Can you
clear this out?
Thanx and cheers,
Roel

Roel
2019-08-07 at 15:32

oops, I figured it out myself. I just followed your steps without burning
the optiboot bootloader. But in the Arduino IDE I just choose:
/tools/boards/Anet V1 (optiboot)
Everything seems OK now, I see “Marlin bugfix 2.0” in the startup
screen on the LCD of my printer.
The confusion comes from the readme file from the “Anet Board Mas-
ter folder”. It says that the optiboot function is recommended but you
can only use it by burning the optiboot bootloader.

Tom Hofman 
2019-08-12 at 09:05

Yes there’s no need to burn a bootloader, just select the Optiboot in the
Arduino IDE menu’s!

Cataldo
2019-08-14 at 21:15

I forgot to say that the bootloader size has to be subtracted from the
128k. I don’t remember what it is, it is between 2 & 4 k max
 daniel
2019-08-11 at 17:50

Hi Tom, after succesfull installed marlin 2.0 in my anet A8 plus, i do

some modifications to get extra features and now its it imposible to co-
municate with board. Can you help me ? I follow the same exact steps
but dont work. here its the errors:

Arduino:1.8.9 (Windows 10), Tarjeta:”Anet V1.0 (Optiboot)”

El Sketch usa 123706 bytes (95%) del espacio de almacenamiento de

programa. El máximo es 130048 bytes.
Variables globales usan 5250 bytes de memoria dinamica.
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x60
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 2 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x60
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 3 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x60
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 4 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x60
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 5 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x60
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 6 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x60
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 7 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x60
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 8 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x60
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 9 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x60
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 10 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x60

Tom Hofman 
2019-08-12 at 09:07

I’m not sure but I’ve switched to a shorter USB cable since I occasion-
ally ran into getsync() errors, a 10 out of 10 failure would suggest
something else but I’m not quite sure what.
 Cataldo
2019-08-14 at 21:11

This is because the board has only 128k of flash memry and the extra
features take additional space going beyond this limit. The solution is
to try to drop some features that you don’t really need like bootscreen,
….

Tom Hofman 
2019-08-14 at 22:21

This is true as well as the bootloader size being part of the total avail-
able space, check de Verify results in Arduino IDE before trying to up-
load it! Save you a lot of head aches!

David
2019-08-11 at 18:32

Once marlin is installed I can get communication with board anymore ,

do I need an Arduino and flash bootloader for make changes in marlin
2.0 and upload again ? Is the process of your post actually delete boot
loader ?

Tom Hofman 
2019-08-12 at 09:08

No there’s no removing or burning of bootloader part of the process I

described, does Marlin boot on your printer?

David
2019-08-12 at 18:51

yes I can boot, but I can not reflash marlin again with some minor
changes

daniel
2019-08-12 at 20:34
 mine after that is bricked, no image on display…do I have to order a
new board ?

Tom Hofman 
2019-08-12 at 20:51

Did you try another cable, and checked that it was small enough to fit
on the board?

Tom Hofman 
2019-08-12 at 20:52

@daniel, I would also suggest trying another cable and verify that you
have selected all the right options in Arduino IDE

daniel
2019-08-13 at 20:23

all its ok, is the same cable and options that I used the first time I do
the process succesful , but this time I want to reflash again with ad-
vanced pause activated

danimod
2019-08-14 at 19:05

Hello friends, I restored bootloader with an USBASP and all goes well,
my board can boot again, and then I did a little modification to marlin
acording to my needs: like change filament feature, adjust acceleration
and jerks, preheating temperatures, change language, etc etc , If you
like I can upload files for other users. Thanks for your information
Tom.

Tom Hofman 
2019-08-14 at 22:17

That’s great to hear, can you provide the steps for restoring a broken
bootloader? I hope to never need it but it would be great as reference!
 Tom Hofman 
2019-08-14 at 22:39

I already found a very nice example by Thomas Sanladerer: Update

your 3D printer firmware without a bootloader!

danimod
2019-08-19 at 20:59

I flashed the bootloader using an USBASP programmer , selected in

programmer section, and choose anet optiboot in board. then press
burn bootloader. thats all. After that you can upload marlin as usual.

For the USBASP you need an adapter from 10 pin to 6 pin, and connect
to board in J3 port, the red section of the cable un lower part, and you
have to leave free 2 pins up and two pins down, so the connector was
plugged centered.

look at picture:
https://ibb.co/Bgw1gfS

also I upload my marlin configured with advanced pause feature an

some changes. just put this files into your marlin folder, if ask for over-
writte press yes.

https://anonfile.com/K5ya0b34n6/Marlin_zip

Regards,
danimod.

Guillermo
2019-09-03 at 20:46

Thank you for the steps, but a see that you wrote:
” I’m sorry I missed that step, yes I used the Anet V1.0 (Optiboot) from
https://github.com/SkyNet3D/anet-board”

HAve you corrected the steps in order to flash the firmware in the anet
8 plus?
I am ready to do it and wanted to be sure evrything was right.
Tahnk you very much in advance.
 Tom Hofman 
2019-09-03 at 22:30

Hey I’ve added step 9 to clarify that you need to select the Anet V1.0
(Optiboot) board. Good catch!

Guillermo
2019-09-08 at 10:59

Thanks again!

trey
2019-09-12 at 00:37

hello i did compile this firmware and uploaded it to my anet a8 plus

but the option to prepare is gone , i cannot even unload filament.

Tom Hofman 
2019-09-12 at 03:50

Hey Trey, yes I should actually mention this since a lot of people will
use the unload/change filament feature. The prepare feature should be
included by default albeit under a different menu than stock.

Check out some mods/changes you can do to Marlin, see filament

change here http://marlinfw.org/docs/gcode/M600.html

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