AutoDustBoot¶

The AutoDustBoot is a stepper-driven dust boot with its own onboard controller. The controller does the retract / expand mechanically — there's no pneumatic cylinder and no spring — and exposes two control paths so the boot works with a lot of different CNC setups.

V1 vs V2¶

AutoDustBoot V1 is TTL-only: the controller listens for a level-triggered input on a single wire — high retracts, low expands (or vice-versa depending on how you wire it). Anything that can drive a 3.3 V or 5 V logic output can drive it. That's how the original AutoDustBoot integrates with Masso, Buildbotics, grblHAL, and every other controller that has a spare TTL-level aux output.

AutoDustBoot V2 ^Soon keeps the TTL input for backward compatibility — so it drops straight into a V1 setup — and adds a wireless link to ncSender through the Wireless USB →. On the wireless link the controller reports state, position, saved position, and homed status, and accepts direct retract / expand / home / save commands. That's the "better communication" a V2 buys you on grblHAL + ncSender.

You can run a V2 as:

Setup	What it uses	Works on
TTL (V1-compatible)	The TTL aux input	Any CNC controller with a spare 3.3–5 V logic output (Masso, Buildbotics, grblHAL, …)
Wireless + ncSender plugin	The Wireless USB →	ncSender only

If you're running ncSender on grblHAL, wireless is what you want. If you're on another controller, keep it wired to a TTL aux and drive it from your G-code.

TTL setup¶

What you need¶

Any 3.3 V or 5 V TTL aux output on your CNC controller. Common choices on a grblHAL / FluidNC board are the Flood (M8) or Mist (M7) pins, since they're already broken out and driven by standard G-code. Any M64 P<n> / M65 P<n> aux pin works equally well.
Wire from that pin to the AutoDustBoot's control input. Signal and ground.

The AutoDustBoot only cares about the logic level; it doesn't care which pin drives it or which controller you're on.

Operating it¶

Once wired, retract / expand is a simple G-code toggle:

Action	With M7 / M8	With M64 aux pin
Retract (pin high)	`M8`	`M64 P0`
Expand (pin low)	`M9`	`M65 P0`

From ncSender, no plugin¶

If ncSender is running the machine but you don't install the plugin, you drive the boot yourself:

From the terminal — type M8 (retract) and M9 (expand) whenever you want.
From your G-code / CAM post-processor — most of the workflow lives here. Add the retract before M6 / $H, the expand after the first XY move at the next cut location, etc. Vectric, Fusion 360, and every other CAM has a post-processor you can customize to add the commands.

You're on the hook for correctness

Without the plugin, ncSender doesn't know the AutoDustBoot exists — every retract / expand has to come from you or from your G-code. If your program has an M6 without a preceding retract, the boot will run right into your spindle carriage.

From other controllers (Masso, Buildbotics, …)¶

Wire it the same way — pick a TTL-level aux output and drive it with whatever your controller uses to toggle that pin (usually M8 / M9, or your controller's macro / event system). The AutoDustBoot behaves identically; it's just a logic input.

Wireless setup (V2 only)¶

The V2 controller talks to ncSender over the Wireless USB →. Getting connected:

Plug the Wireless USB into the computer running ncSender.
Power up the AutoDustBoot V2 controller.
Open the AutoDustBoot plugin (Plugins panel), Connections tab.
Flip the toggle to Wireless, then click + Pair New Device in the Wireless USB dialog. The Wireless USB opens a 30-second pairing window.
On the AutoDustBoot, put it into pairing mode: hold the top (Retract ▲) and bottom (Extend ▼) buttons together for about 3 seconds until it starts scanning.
Once paired the plugin shows the boot's state, position, saved position, and homed flag; you can drive the boot up and down manually from the Connections tab.

Wireless setup requires the plugin — there's no equivalent to "type M8 from the terminal" for the wireless controller because it doesn't sit on an aux pin.

Physical buttons¶

The V2 controller has three physical buttons on top: Retract (▲), Mode (●) in the middle, and Extend (▼). They give you a useful subset of the plugin's actions right at the machine — handy for setup, bench-testing, or getting out of trouble without walking back to the computer.

Gesture	What it does
Retract ▲ tap	Nudge the boot up one jog step (fine height dial-in).
Retract ▲ hold	Continuous retract (release to stop).
Extend ▼ tap	Nudge the boot down one jog step.
Extend ▼ hold	Continuous extend (release to stop).
Mode ● double-press	*Save the current position as the expand* position** — where the boot returns to after a retract.
Mode ● long-press	Reboot the controller (which re-homes on startup).
Retract ▲ + Extend ▼ held together (~3 s)	Enter pairing mode — the controller starts scanning for a Wireless USB. Use this with + Pair New Device in ncSender.
Hold Retract ▲ while powering on	Skip auto-home on boot. Useful when the boot is stuck in a position that would crash into the workpiece if it re-homed.

The plugin's Connections tab mirrors the same actions — Retract, Expand, Home, Save — so anything you can do on the buttons you can do from ncSender too, and vice-versa.

The plugin¶

Install the AutoDustBoot plugin from ncSender's plugin catalog, then open it from the Plugins panel.

Connections¶

Pick which control path you're using — Wired or Wireless — and configure it. The tab reshapes itself around the choice.

Wired mode. Assumes the boot is driven by an aux pin on your CNC controller (Flood / Mist / M64 P). You edit the exact G-code sequences the plugin fires to raise and lower the boot; anything valid for your controller is fair game, including G4 dwells to let the boot finish its stroke before motion continues.

Retract Sequence — G-code fired before homing / tool change / (optionally) console rapids. Default is M8 · G4 P0.1 · M9 · G4 P1 — pulse the pin on, dwell, pin off, dwell so the motion completes.
Expand Sequence — G-code fired after the boot's job is done (e.g. right before the next cut). Default is a single M8.

Wireless mode. For the V2 wireless controller only. Once paired, the plugin drives the boot directly over ESP-NOW and gets live state back.

+ Pair New Device (via the Wireless USB dialog) — starts a 30-second pairing window. Put the AutoDustBoot into pairing mode (see Physical buttons below) to complete.
Direct control (once paired) — Retract, Expand, Home, and Save actions live on the Connections tab, with a read-out of the current state, position, saved position, and homed flag. Handy for testing outside a job.

Options¶

The three toggles decide when the plugin injects retract / expand commands into your G-code stream.

Retract on Home (on by default) — lifts the boot before any $H. Homing rapids across the whole work area; without this the boot drags across the workpiece.
Retract on Rapid Moves (on by default) — lifts the boot when a G0 "move to" command runs from the console or a macro. G0 moves inside a running program are left alone (the program's own logic handles positioning).
Show in Terminal (off by default) — echoes every injected command in the console. Leave off for a quiet console; turn on when troubleshooting.

Click Save after changing anything.

Firmware¶

Check for and flash new AutoDustBoot firmware over the wireless link. Only applies to V2 wireless controllers; V1 (TTL-only) and wired-mode V2 setups don't have firmware you update from here.

The card shows the connected controller's firmware version and lights up the Update Firmware button when a newer release is available; the button is disabled (like above) when you're already on the current release. Flashes go over the wireless link — no cables needed if the AutoDustBoot is already paired.

What the plugin does that a wired setup doesn't¶

Everything the plugin buys you is automation on top of the physical mechanism. Skip the plugin and you handle these yourself in G-code.

Tool change (M6 / $TLS). The plugin retracts the boot before the tool change, then re-expands it right before the first XY move that follows — which is when the machine has finished positioning for the next cut. If your G-code already contains an expand at that spot, the plugin comments it out so the boot doesn't double-pulse.

Homing ($H). With Retract on Home enabled, the retract runs before the $H.

Manual rapid (G0). With Retract on Rapid Moves enabled, a G0 typed into the console (or fired from a macro) triggers a retract first. G0s inside a running program don't trigger this — that's on the program.

Troubleshooting¶

Wired: boot doesn't respond. Verify the aux pin is wired to the AutoDustBoot's input and the polarity is right — bench-test by typing the matching command in the console (e.g. M8 if you're on Flood, or M64 P0 if you're on an aux pin) and watching the stepper move.
Wireless: boot doesn't retract on tool change. Confirm the AutoDustBoot shows as Connected in the Wireless USB dialog →. If it's disconnected, power-cycle the controller; if it stays disconnected, re-pair it.
Unexpected retract mid-job. Retract on Rapid Moves only fires for console / macro G0s, but a macro that fires a G0 during a job window will trip it. Turn the option off if that's causing trouble.
Boot travels the wrong distance. Boot travel is set on the controller itself (Save button in the plugin's Connections tab, or the equivalent gesture on V1). If the retract doesn't clear your workpiece, re-home the boot and re-save.