K40 Whisperer Setup (For Windows)

General Information
Windows K40 Whisperer Setup
Windows libUSB Driver Removal

General Information

In order to make using K40 Whisperer as simple as possible I release a windows executable and installer. Included in the installer is a USB driver installer. You will need to select the option to install the USB driver in order for K40 Whisperer to communicate with the stock K40 controller board. K40 Whisperer only works with controller boards made by LIHUIYU. If your controller board says Moshi anywhere on it it will not work with K40 Whisperer.

K40 Whisperer is written in python so it is possible to run it on Windows, Linux and Mac. However there are a lot of dependencies that need to be satisfied in order to successfully use the program. These dependencies are resolved on windows by packaging them in the pre-compiled executable version of K40 Whisperer. For Linux and Mac additional work will need to be performed by the user for proper installation.

The steps outlined below are improved over the previous instructions that required the use of Zadig. Here is a link to the old instructions.

Windows K40 Whisperer Setup

1. Download the latest windows installer

Download the installer file from: K40 Whisperer Download Download the file called "K40 Whisperer Installer x.xx.exe" where "x.xx" is replaced by the latest version number of K40 Whisperer.

2. Run the installer

Double clicking on the installer executable then follow the prompts to install the program. If you have not installed the drivers previously you will need to select the correct option to install the driver for your Windows version if you want to control the laser with K40 Whisperer.

Before installing the USB driver:
- Connect the laser engraver to the computer with the USB cable.
- Turn on the laser engraver

3. Install Inkscape

If it is not already installed, install the latest stable version of Inkscape (0.92.3) on your computer.

NOTE: K40 Whisperer uses Inkscape to create the raster engrave part of SVG designs. Without Inkscape K40 Whisperer will be limited to DXF file imports.

If you install Inkscape using the Windows App store K40 Whisperer will not be able to find the executable automatically. It is best to use an installer downloaded from the Inkscape web page.

K40 Whisperer looks in the most likely places for the inkscape.exe file but if it does not find it you can use the "Find Inkscape" button in the "General Settings" to specify the "Inkscape Executable" location.

If you installed Inkscape using an installer from the Inkscape web page, do not enter anything into the "Inkscape Executable" field in K40 Whisperer. If you have have a non-standard Inkscape install or you used the Windows App store to install Inkscape K40 Whisperer will not find the executable on it's own and you will need to enter the path the executable (Not the path to the installer and not the path to a link to the executable. It needs to link the executable (application) file.

4. Run K40 Whisperer

Double click on the "K40 Whisperer" icon that was created on your desktop (or use the icon in the "Start" menu). The main window of K40 Whisperer should open and you should be able to interact with the program.

If the windows executable does not work right away install:
"Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x86)" for 32 bit windows
or
"Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x64)" for 64 bit windows
The program I use to create the Windows executables (py2exe) has a dependency to this package.
If you don't know which one to use (x32 or x64) you can just try one. If it will not install then you need the other version (Windows will not let you install the wrong one).

5. Next Steps

At this point K40 Whisperer should be up and running. I think the best instruction for new users is the video on making a design. I walk through the process of making a simple design in Inkscape and show how to send it to the laser. Here is a link to the video "Making a Design"

If Windows 10 removes the driver for you during operating system updates you can use this simple driver installer to reinstall the driver: K40_Driver_Install.exe This installer will reinstall the driver without reinstalling the K40 Whisperer program.

If you decide you do not want to use K40 Whisperer you will need to remove the libUSB-win32 driver before the program that came with you K40 (Laser Draw or Corel Draw with Corel Laser) will work. The steps in the table below will walk you through removing the driver from your computer.

Windows libUSB Driver Removal

Use this if you want to remove the libUSB driver. You might want to do this procedure if you want to go back to using Laser Draw.

Step 1.	Make sure your laser cutter is connected to your computer via a USB cable and Turn on your K40 Laser Cutter
Step 2.	Open the windows device manager.	There are a few ways to open the Windows Device Manager. Here is a method that works for Windows XP through Windows 10: 1. Open the "Run" dialog box by pressing and holding the Windows key, then press the R key ("Run"). 2. Type devmgmt.msc 3. Click the "OK" button Instructions with pictures: Opening Device Manager
Step 3.	Locate the "USB-EPP/I2C...CH341A" device under "libUSB-win32 devices"
Step 4.	Right Click on the "USB-EPP/I2C...CH341A" device and select Unistall" from the drop down menu. After the device is removed you can turn the power off and them back on on the laser cutter. When the computer detects the laser cutter on power up the original driver will be restored and you can use the original (LaserDRW) software again. With later versions of windows (Windows 10) you may also need to check the "Delete the driver software for this device" box when removing the driver.	Additional window in Windows 10
Step 5.	After the original driver is restored the device manager should show a "USB-EPP/I2C...CH341A" device under "Interface"

Scorch Works Home

K40 Whisperer Setup (For Windows)

Contents

General Information

Windows K40 Whisperer Setup

Windows libUSB Driver Removal