Current state of Octiprint with Mk3
I'm considering the Mk3 as my first 3D printer. I'm new to 3d printing, but not electronics, and I'm generally pretty handy. I've read the assembly manual for the kit, and it seems pretty easy to do.
Based on some advice from a co-worker, I was hoping to hook up a OctiPrint running from a Pi. either the Pi0or a Pi3 (and work out my own enclosure, cabling, etc) My use case is that I'd like to be able to have basic progress from OctiPrint so I can see if a job is going wrong and stop it if I happen to catch it. I'm aware of the CPU limits of the Pi0 while streaming video and running a print. I plan to either buy a Pi3, go lower res, or use a SnapStream plugin to reduce load on the RPi.
My question is about the current state of things with USB/Serial printing on the MK3, I've read a bit about in the past, and it's difficult to tell whether things generally work on the current (as of July 12th, 2018) firmware. Or if not, what workarounds are available.
Thanks for any help, this is pretty much the last thing holding me up.
P.S. I'm aware of wifi-endable SD cards, and I wouldn't mind that, but from what I can tell, OctiPrint can't meaningfully monitor a print that it isn't controlling and that means it needs to stream the gcode over serial/USB.
Re: Current state of Octiprint with Mk3
The following is an issue for both prints initiated by OctoPrint and from the SD card with OctoPrint monitoring in the latest 3.3.0 firmware: https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware/issues/924
I believe the previous firmware is not affected.
FYI: Normally OctoPrint can monitor an SD card print just fine, it will update with the temperatures and progress.
Re: Current state of Octiprint with Mk3
Thanks for the reply. I'll watch out for that.
What about the USB/serial communication problems when Linear Advance is turned on? Has that been solved?
As a sort-of related question, is it possible to buy a slightly higher powered controller board and get the Prusa firmware running on it? I assume I'd have to compile it myself. Has anyone gone down this path?
UPDATE: I just found: https://shop.prusa3d.com/forum/user-mods-octoprint-enclosures-nozzles--f65/octoprint-issues-and-tips-t13156-s260.html
I'll start reading thru that.
Re: Current state of Octiprint with Mk3
Running latest octoprint on rpi3b with camera while printing from sd card running firmware 3.2.1. It works very well. Only issue I sometimes run into is a read timeout that ends disconnecting octoprint and cannot reconnect mid print since printer reset when connects. Timeout happens at the very beginning during heating. AFAIK, firmware 3.3.0 and upcoming octoprint release have a fix for this.
I used both usb camera and also rpi camera. Both work great. I have a reverse proxy running in front that provides another layer of authentication when I access from the internet.
Last piece of info, I created an open source (of course free) octoprint client for iPhone. As soon as I submit first version to the App Store, I’ll publish the source code.
Re: Current state of Octiprint with Mk3
Running latest octoprint on rpi3b with camera while printing from sd card running firmware 3.2.1. It works very well. Only issue I sometimes run into is a read timeout that ends disconnecting octoprint and cannot reconnect mid print since printer reset when connects. Timeout happens at the very beginning during heating. AFAIK, firmware 3.3.0 and upcoming octoprint release have a fix for this.
Great news! I got impatient and ordered an Mk3 earlier tonight, What USB cam do you use? Also, where/how did you mount the pi3?
Re: Current state of Octiprint with Mk3
The MK3 was my first printer and I had no issues printing. It really makes printing easy if this is your first printer. Hope you enjoy it and have as much fun as I do.
I started using a USB webcam (some old 2MB logitech that I had around) and it worked well. But I then wanted something smaller with higher resolution so I went with the RPi Camera v2. From what I read (did not test to confirm), the RPi camera uses the GPU (not the CPU) since it is connected to the camera port. This should give you better speed. With the USB camera, I noticed a few random times that the image was lagging but not sure what was causing it. I barely see it with the RPi v2 camera.
I tried a few different mounts and the one I liked most (easy to print and convenient setup and nice location) is this mount
Re: Current state of Octiprint with Mk3
Thanks for the reply. I'll watch out for that.
What about the USB/serial communication problems when Linear Advance is turned on? Has that been solved?
As a sort-of related question, is it possible to buy a slightly higher powered controller board and get the Prusa firmware running on it? I assume I'd have to compile it myself. Has anyone gone down this path?
UPDATE: I just found: https://shop.prusa3d.com/forum/user-mods-octoprint-enclosures-nozzles--f65/octoprint-issues-and-tips-t13156-s260.html
I'll start reading thru that.
earlier mk3 firmwares were garbage with octoprint, but the latest firmware and octoprint versions work seamlessly for me now. no failed prints or layer shifts in months. the only issue i have seen that if you do get a power outage, the pi will reset too, but when it reboots, resets the mk3 when it loads up. the printer seemed to recover perfectly from the power outage, but the pi rebooting caused it to reset the printer.