Support FAQs

There are a number of reasons why your CNC controller may fail to connect to a WiFi network and as each network setup is unique, we can’t guarantee every setup will be appropriate.

We will list a few of the most common reasons here as well as ways to fix them.

Before attempting any of the troubleshooting or fixes listed here be sure to read the "Connecting to your Nighthawk" section of the Nighthawk user manual which explains in-depth how to choose a connection type as well as how to set it up.

We have been made aware of an issue affecting some Commander users where upon connecting to their Nighthawk after the latest Commander update a box pops up informing the user of a Web Portal Update from version 0.00 to 1.5. Rarely this update will fail with a warning message, or it may look like it has completed successfully.

When the user attempts to reconnect to their Nighthawk the update box pops up again with the same information prompting a Web Portal update and re-occurs every time a connection is made.

If you are have issues with Commander after an update the first thing to try is forcing Commander to re-download and apply the newest version which will override any potentially troublesome files which were downloaded with the update causing the issue.

This will not delete any of your custom files like buttons, macros, machine settings etc.

You can force Commander…

We provide most of our CNC3D machines fully assembled, wired and calibrated. As such, we have factory profiles in CNC3D Commander that include setting lockouts to prevent users from overriding machine settings and potentially damaging their machines.

In this support article, we take a look at how to recover your controller from the CNC3D Lock out if you have mistakenly loaded a CNC3D profile on a machine that is not a fully built CNC3D machine.

1. Connect to your controller as you normally would using your preferred connection method.

2. Go to the "Run Job" tab in Commander and in the "Manual Command" section at the bottom right and enter "$User/Macro0=" into the text box below the Manual Command heading. Then click on the "Send" button below the text box.

3.  Disconnect from your controller and completely exit out of Commander and relaunch the program. Reconnect like you normally would.

Below is a list of possible Errors and Alarms which you may encounter while running your GRBL based CNC machine, whether it's one of our Nighthawk family of controllers, or a 3rd-party GRBL controller on something like a laser engraver, pen plotter, or router. In our Commander software you will see the status indicator flash red with ALARM or ERROR when any of the following occur, and you can click on the box for an explanation.