Skip to content

AD5X IFS Serial Protocol

Jump to bottom
GhostTypes edited this page Mar 16, 2026 · 3 revisions

AD5X IFS Serial Protocol

Overview

The Intelligent Filament Station (IFS) on the AD5X communicates with the main printer controller via a dedicated UART serial connection. This document details the hardware interface and complete command protocol discovered through reverse engineering the firmwareExe binary (firmware v1.2.1).

Hardware Interface

Property Value
Device /dev/ttyS4
Baud Rate 115200
Data Bits 8
Parity None
Stop Bits 1
Flow Control None

Command Reference

F10 — Manual Unload (Debug Panel)

Unload filament from a specific slot via the FourToOne calibration panel. Performs a crotch cut before unloading.

Format: F10 C<slotId> L1000 S<unloadSpeed>

Parameter Description
C<slotId> Slot number (1–4)
L1000 Fixed length parameter
S<speed> Unload speed from printer config

Operation Flow:

  1. Call checkCrotchCutting(slotId) to cut filament at junction
  2. Send F10 C<slotId> L1000 S<speed>
  3. Poll F13 field 3 until it equals 5 (complete), sleeping 1s between polls

F11 — Load/Unload Filament

Primary command for loading or unloading filament from a specific IFS slot.

Format: F11 C<slotId> <colorCode>

Parameter Description
C<slotId> Slot number (0–3 internally, displayed as 1–4 in UI)
colorCode Hex color code (e.g., 1200 for red, ffff)

Load Operation Flow:

  1. Send F11 C<slotId> <color>
  2. Poll F13 to monitor progress
  3. If field 3 returns 0x7F → send F15 to continue
  4. Wait for field 3 = 5 (complete)
  5. Check filament sensor
  6. Send F112 to finalize load

Unload Operation Flow:

  1. Send F11 C<slotId> <color>
  2. Send M400 (wait for motion buffer clear)
  3. Poll F13 to monitor progress
  4. If field 3 returns 0x7F → send F15 to continue
  5. Wait for field 3 = 5 (complete)
  6. Verify slot bit cleared in F13 field 5

F112 — Finalize Load

Sent after a successful load operation (F13 field 3 = 5) to finalize the filament loading.

Format: F112

F13 — Query IFS Status

Returns comprehensive IFS status. This is the primary polling command.

Format: F13

Response Format: Colon-space delimited fields prefixed with ok:

ok <f0>: <f1>: <f2>: <f3>: <f4>: <f5>: <f6>: <f7>: <f8>: <f9>: <f10>: <f11>

Key Fields:

Field Purpose Description
3 Operation status Status code for current load/unload/cut operation
5 Filament presence Per-slot bitmask (bits 0–3 = slots 1–4)
9 Stall detection Per-slot motor stall bitmask
11 Motor number Active motor number (only during printing)

Field 3 — Status Codes:

Code Meaning
5 Operation complete / ready
0x7F (127) Needs F15 command to continue (driver error)
0x7E (126) Error state

Field 5 — Filament Presence Bitmask:

Bit Slot
0 Slot 1
1 Slot 2
2 Slot 3
3 Slot 4

Field 9 — Stall Detection:

Per-slot bits for odometer roller movement. If the bit for the active channel is NOT set during printing, a stall counter increments. After 200 consecutive non-movement detections, error E0109 fires and the print is paused.

Polling Intervals:

State Interval
Idle 200 ms
Printing 1000 ms
IFS offline 1000 ms (with retry)

Special: F13 bypasses the IFS online check — it can be sent even when the IFS status flag is false.

F15 — Continue/Retry Operation

Sent when F13 field 3 returns 0x7F during load, unload, or cut operations. After sending F15, the original command (F11/F24/F39) is re-sent to retry.

Format: F15 or F15 C

F19 — IFS Version/Probe (Heartbeat)

Query IFS firmware version and verify the module is alive.

Format: F19

Response: ok ... version:<version_string>

Special Properties:

  • Bypasses IFS online check (like F13)
  • Used after firmware update to verify new firmware is running
  • Retried up to 3 times after firmware update

F23 — Clear Channel Status

Reset the status of a specific IFS channel after a load/unload/change operation.

Format: F23 C<slotId>

Parameter Description
C<slotId> Channel number (1–4)

Typically called after load/unload operations, followed by F39 (post-operation crotch cut).

F24 — Crotch Cut (Pre-Operation)

Cut filament at the crotch/junction point before a slot change. This is the primary crotch cutting command.

Format: F24 C<slotId>

Operation Flow:

  1. Send F24 C<slotId>
  2. Poll F13 field 3:
    • 5 → complete, exit
    • 0x7F → send F15 C, re-send F24 C<slotId>, reset retry counter
    • 0x7E → error, exit
    • Retry count > 20 → timeout, exit
  3. Otherwise: increment retry, sleep 1s

F37 — Enter Firmware Update Mode

Puts the IFS module into bootloader mode for firmware flashing.

Format: F37

Firmware Update Sequence:

  1. Send F37 to enter bootloader
  2. Close serial port
  3. Execute: /usr/prog/PROGRAM/control/IFSCommand /usr/prog/PROGRAM/control/ifs.hex /dev/ttyS4
  4. Sleep 5 seconds
  5. Reopen serial port
  6. Send F19 (up to 3 retries) to verify IFS is alive
  7. Parse version from response

F39 — Crotch Cut (Post-Operation)

Secondary crotch cut used after channel clear. Same flow as F24 but with max retry count of 10 (vs 20 for F24).

Format: F39 C<slotId>

Typical Sequence:

F11 C<slot> <color>    → Load filament
[poll F13 until done]
F23 C<slot>            → Clear channel status
F39 C<slot>            → Verify crotch cut
[poll F13 until done]

F44 — Query TMC DRV_STATUS

Query the TMC stepper motor driver status register from the IFS module. Diagnostic command shown in Status screen UI.

Format: F44

Response: ok DRV_STATUS:<hex_value>

Only sent when the IFS present flag is true.

F45 — Query TMC GSTAT

Query the TMC stepper motor general status register (GSTAT). Reports over-temperature, short-to-ground, and driver error flags.

Format: F45

Response: ok GSTAT:<hex_value>

Only sent when the IFS present flag is true.

Command Summary

Command Purpose Parameters Polls F13
F10 Manual unload (debug) C<slot> L1000 S<speed> Yes
F11 Load/unload filament C<slot> <color> Yes
F112 Finalize load (none) No
F13 Query IFS status (none) N/A
F15 Continue/retry operation (none) or C No
F19 IFS version/probe (none) No
F23 Clear channel status C<slot> (1–4) No
F24 Crotch cut (pre-op) C<slot> Yes (max 20)
F37 Enter firmware update mode (none) No
F39 Crotch cut (post-op) C<slot> Yes (max 10)
F44 TMC DRV_STATUS query (none) No
F45 TMC GSTAT query (none) No

Error Codes

Code Description Trigger
E0100 Channel 1 feeding timeout Slot 1 load timeout
E0101 Channel 2 feeding timeout Slot 2 load timeout
E0102 Channel 3 feeding timeout Slot 3 load timeout
E0103 Channel 4 feeding timeout Slot 4 load timeout
E0104 Channel 1 retracting timeout Slot 1 unload timeout
E0105 Channel 2 retracting timeout Slot 2 unload timeout
E0106 Channel 3 retracting timeout Slot 3 unload timeout
E0107 Channel 4 retracting timeout Slot 4 unload timeout
E0108 Failed to feed filament to extruder Filament sensor timeout
E0109 IFS odometer roller not moving Stall count > 200
E0114 IFS homing error fourInOneLoadFristStep returns 10

Channel Change Sequence

The core filament swap routine (changeChannel) during multi-material printing:

  1. M400 — Wait for all moves to complete
  2. Save current state (crash recovery)
  3. M114 — Get current position
  4. Move nozzle to purge position
  5. doLoadAndUnload() — Physical filament swap (unload old, load new via F11)
  6. Calculate flush volume via getFlushVol()
  7. Run cleanFilamentBox() 1–2 times (2× if flush volume > 400)
  8. Set fan speed: SET_FAN_SPEED FAN=fanM106 SPEED=<value>
  9. Move nozzle back to print position
  10. G92 E0 — Reset extruder position
  11. SDCARD_CLEAR_REFUELLING — Clear refuelling flag

Core Protocols

References

Printer Families

Advanced

Clone this wiki locally