# Specific 3D Printers, Scanners, & Hardware > CTC 3D Printers >  Ctc fdm 3d printer, newbie asking advice

## Bossblue

Hello,
just bought printer via EBay here in UK.
i am new to all this, can I ask, I have replicatorG, do you advice anything simple to use, also slicing software, possibly free which is compatible 
i understand it is best to print from SD card, I have read people have problems doing this, if there is, is there a fix for this
looking to just make something simple, I did open replicatorG and tried to print 20mm test block but nothing was showing
thanks in advance

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## curious aardvark

to start with - what printer did you buy ? 
ctc make a lot of different models. 
And depending on the motherboard - it can make a lot of difference. 

secondly, you need to find out what com port the printer is using and what connection settings it's using. Then tell rep-g so it can talk to the printer.
rep-g with slic3r is about as easy to use as it gets in the free sector.  ie: rep-g can also be used as a slicer.

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## Bossblue

Hello,
thanks for your reply I believe the model is fdm, I will try to send a photo of it

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## Bossblue

It’s on com port 4 using windows 7

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## curious aardvark

what port speed is it set for ? 
Communications baud rate.
Most printers use 115200

But the real dirt cheap  ctc i3 pro b - uses 250000 baud rate.
I know, I have one :-)

FDM stands for: Fused Deposition Modelling.
Ie laying plastic down in layers that stick to each other. It's the type of 3d printer NOT a model name :-)

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## FDM to SLA

Got a link to the printer you purchased?  I have an old CTC makebot clone and it works well.  I use Makerware to slice my prints (mainly)

It does the job.

Does the printer have an SDcard slot?

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