Ive been trying to get my 3D printer to print properly since upgrading my Ender 3 Pro with an all metal direct drive hot end. I calibrated my esteps perfectly and they're spot on, beds leveled although there is a bit of a dip in the middle, and my slicer has the right settings for this PLA that is new and just opened from the air tight bag. Not sure why im getting these weird first layers.
Slicer settings:
200c hot end
60c bed
50mm/s
Filament recommendations
190-220c hot end
25-70c bed
50mm/s
Does it extrude fairly normally with the nozzle well above the bed? If not, I agree with the jam theory. If yes, your nozzle is probably too close to the bed.
It probably wouldn't jam this quickly on your first layer if it was a retraction issue. Yes, update your config for less retraction on a direct drive extruder, but don't be surprised if you keep seeing this.
Looks like it's got a jam. Did you reduce retractions with the direct hotend? If not, you are probably retracting way too far, which will cause filament to solidify in the cold area and jam up.
This ended up being the issue, I leveled the bed with the hot end and bed both heated before I started the print in the picture, so I'm not sure how it got so bad, so I guess I did a really bad job. I also messed with the retraction and got it in line and will have to more finely tune it later