Try a different slicer with your Sovol (or any other printer).

Included with the Sovol printer is a link to install the Cura slicer.

This works well but I thought the new Prusa slicer had a nice user interface and some good features so I gave it a try and now use it all the time.

The slicer can be downloaded free from here

https://www.prusa3d.com/prusaslicer/

Once installed you need to go to the configuration settings and change the bed size to 300 x 260 and the Z height to 300.

Under Printer settings> Custom G-code I changed the start code to the following which gives a nice nozzle priming strip down the left of the bed before the printing start.

M140 S[first_layer_bed_temperature] ; set bed temp

M190 S[first_layer_bed_temperature] ; wait for bed temp

M104 S[first_layer_temperature] ; set extruder temp

M109 S[first_layer_temperature] ; wait for extruder temp

G28 Y0 X0 Z0 ;Home

G92 E0 ;Reset Extruder

G1 Z2.0 F3000 : Move Z Axis up

G1 X 10.1 Y20 Z0.28 F5000.0 ;Move to start position

G1 X10.1 Y200.0 Z0.28 F1500.0 E15 ;Draw the first line

G1X 10.4 Y200.0 Z0.28 F5000.0 ;Move to the side a little

G1 X10.4 Y20 Z 0.28 F1500.0 E30 ; Draw the second line

G92 E0 ;Reset Extruder

G1 Z2.0 F 3000 ;Move Z axis up

I found the slicer easy to use and it’s easy to make multi colour prints, lay the model flat on the bed, and print only the top or bottom of a model if you want to do a test to see how it looks. Custom supports can be added or removed.

Control your printer from your laptop or PC.

For this I bought a Raspberry Pi and used the Octoprint application.

I used Pi model B, I believe other models can be used but cannot confirm this, I know the Pi Zero has a smaller memory but it may be sufficient.

There is information on this on the Octoprint forum and installation instructions on the Octoprint site.

No need to buy a case for the Pi, plenty of designs on thingiverse to choose from. I printed https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:604915 which small and fits neatly at the back of the printer. You also need a power supply.

I leave the Pi powered up all the time and just switch on the printer when needed. When the printer is off and Pi is on, the Sovol screen will be lit as it is being powered by the USB Pi to printer cable. To avoid this, one pin on the USB plug needs insulating and an easy way to do this is to 

add a slip of paper as shown below and in the video https://youtu.be/neoeAJqdJ_M

The Octoprint app can be downloaded from here https://octoprint.org/

Once installed and set up there is no need to use the micro SD card to load files to the printer ever again. Control of each axis including the extruder can be done from your PC or laptop. Temperature can be seen and adjusted and a webcam can also be plugged into the Pi so the progress can be watched. You can also record a timelapse video of your print.

Control your printer from your smartphone

One step further, full control of your printer even when you are not at home.

I used the Printoid Pro app. You can download Printoid Lite free and for a few pounds Printoid Premium gives all the functions. Get it at the App store.

No need to have your PC or laptop switched on, everything can be done from your smartphone. The video from the camera is live streamed to your phone, if you see a problem you can stop the print.

The Printoid Premium App

 To summarise, installing the above will allow you to choose your model, slice and start printing without leaving your chair! No need to take that mico SD card out of your laptop and transfer it to the printer. No need to ever touch the controls on the printer, well maybe to change the filament.

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