MakerBot Industries

I just want to make sure that's clear
The big jump is at rep-g 25
26 and higher only works with firmware 3.0 and higher
rep-g 25 and below only works with firmware prior to 3.0

So, again, firmware isn't your problem, it's rep-g. You can cause a problem if you try to use the wrong firmware with the wrong version of rep-g (it just won't connect).

Corrections from operator in the field.

TOM #3253 MK6 HBP
Repg 29r2
Java 1.6.0_16
Firmware 2.81

Works to Manually operate and print.

Repg gives intial warning that the Firmware and Software is mismatched and to proceed at own risk.

I have generated gcode w/ SF35, printed bolts & nuts, 2 color MBI coin and used control panel for axis control, homing, both extruder temp and platform heat, extruder advance, and accessable SD card with no known problems - Today (1/11/12)

That's cool that it worked but lets be clear, you're running 29v2 that it appears they may have put some backwards compatibility in. I know for a fact 26-29 would not connect to anything but 3.0 or higher.
I'm quoting what is recommended and further, lets not confuse the discussion, firmware is not the problem.

The problem was:

After doing so I cannot access the control panel in replicator g and when I try to make a print the maker-bot tries to go past the limits for the x and y direction. Do I need to reload an older version of replicator G or do i need to load a different firmware?

The answer is go back to a previous version of replicator-g and depending on the version, downgrade the firmware as well, or apply one of the patches to 29 and keep version3 firmware.

Just as a guess, the root problem is the motherboard preferences are not set because he cannot open the settings in rep-g. Changing the firmware is only going to make the problem worse because he still has to run the calibration script to set the z height and the wrong firmware version can prevent that from happening as well. The issue is a rep-g bug that is causing him to not be able to properly set up the bot.

Right On Vernon. My Bad.