Profile Import Issues
My company recently purchased two Anycubic Kobra Max's. While our initial prints used Cura, we decided to migrate to Prusa Slicer due to the features. However, when we import the .2 PLA profile provided by wabbitguy ( https://github.com/wabbitguy/Kobra_Max_PRUSA_Profiles) the default filament and print settings lists vanish and are only selectable when we go back to a default printer (in my case a Mk3 as I have one at home). If I go to add the .3 Draft PLA profile provided, it replaces print/filament/printer settings.
What do I need to do so that the import will add (or so I will end up with) the printer, add those two print settings to the added printer (rather than two printers), but leave the default system filament settings available.
Alternatively, how would I be able to import/add the printer as a default printer?
Thanks in advance.
RE: Profile Import Issues
If you search you will find threads that cover this. There is a whole complex dependency system in place. A Prusa Printer like a MK3 has access to a vast range of filaments etc as they have been tested and added for that printer. Other printers might only have generic ones accessible.
This is because the filaments also have settings in them, namely the linear advance settings in the filaments custom gcode sections. That makes those filaments suitable only for the printers they are designed for so they get 'locked out' of any other printer vendor. Basically it means that all of your MK3 print and filament profiles are not usable by any other printer. Even within Prusa offerings many are not available, for example a MMU doesnt have anywhere near as many filaments in the list as a MK3. Choose a different nozzle (and therefore a different Printer profile) and the available list is different again. This is not an easy or straightforward subject.
If you want to have a print or filament profile accessible to a non allowed printer then you need to Detach it from the vendor profile. Which means saving it as a copy first (as you cant modify a built in system preset) and then going through the detach process, removing any of the legacy dependencies and finally resaving with the changes. After making sure there's no settings that are wrong for the generic printer anyway. It's a toss up if modifying a default or just creating a new one from scratch is quicker. Depends on experience I guess.
RE: Profile Import Issues
Ok, I think I understand the general concept there.. I am assuming then, that in the case of these profiles, I would need to edit (at least one of them). so it is just print settings only and matches the printer name variable in the other ini file?. I haven't done a full comparison yet, but each .ini file when imported gives me a whole know filament/print settings/printer, and I believe only the print settings differ.
Part of my confusion comes from the fact I have the Generic PLA, as well as a few others, set to show up for all printers but they aren't for the inported printer on my slicer install but generic do show up for my coworkers slicer install.
My coworker and I can manage with the way things currently are, but we are trying to get this setup so we can pass out an instruction sheet to our design team with install/config instructions for 2 or 3 detail settings with minimal chances for confusion.
RE: Profile Import Issues
Not really no. The old method inherited from upstream slicer but still in there and still in use is the Dependencies.
SO making sure you are in Expert mode so you can see everything first of all. Select your MK3 profile from your printer list. Now select one of the Print Settings profiles for it. Scroll down to Dependencies at the bottom of the list.
You will see sections for Compatible Printers and Compatible Printers Conditions. These are the old way of locking out incompatible profiles. Those will look and match against settings from the other profiles. For example In Printer Settings>Notes you should see a printer vendor and printer model. The Print Settings>compatible printers field should match up with those. That makes a profile compatible with the printer.
You can edit those on either the printer settings or add to the notes of your printer. The filament profiles have similar. Other things it can check for is the right nozzle size etc.
Thats the 'old' way. The new way is Vendor Spaces. Thats a whole big other kettle of fish. Its a bunch of linked settings, and if your printer isnt part of the Vendor space properly (every i must be dotted and t crossed for it to even hope of working) then you wont even see the profiles available at all, even if you have show incompatible profiles selected in your preferences.
Thats where the 'Detach from system preset' button in the dependencies section comes in. That removes it from a vendor space making it available to ALL printers (as long as the compatible printers condition is still ALSO met) lol. See its all dead simple.
The vendor space is a clever idea but its got a few problems. Besides complexity and no user editing tools. For example the PLA settings will be in a default PLA section. If that basic PLA profile has say Temp 210 and Bed say 50 then it will use 210/50. However if you have a filament profile (called silk PLA for example) that uses the PLA default as a dependency but changes the temp to say filament 225 then it will use 225/50.
If Prusa decide they want to change the Default PLA settings when they do a config update to 200/60 then the Silk PLA profile will be using 225/60. Notice how its pulled through the bed temp as that wasnt explicitly set in the Silkj PLA profile. So all of a sudden your filament profile that you had been using for ages is now suddenly different.
That same process applies to EVERY profile type now, so print, filament and printer. Its good in that they can update all printers based on say a MK3 by changing the MK3 default and it propagates down to anything using that default. It is not so great as it means things can change without you being aware.
Its why I detached all of mine some time ago and only use my own profiles now. When Prusa release a config update I use the compare tool in PS to check whats different and decide if I want to incorporate those changes into my profiles.
If you are just distributing particular setups then probably the best way is to set up an initial computer with everything you want/need and make sure its all accessible. Detach everything so they are your 'own'. Then once you are happy with it use File>Export>Export Config Bundle. That saves all NON system profiles of all 3 types into an ini file. It does not include any system profiles. Its also a good way of creating offline backups.
Once you have a bundle you can install/run PS on a different computer and use the File>Import Config bundle option to install everything contained in the bundle in one go.
Importing a config using File>Import Config or Loading in a saved project (3mf) using File>Open loads them temporarily, you have to manually save each profile using the save icon next to each profile. Thats ok if you want to check out settings before deciding if you want to keep them as part of your setup. Importing a BUNDLE though automatically adds everything to your system in one go.
The import / export options and the compatible printers stuff predate Prusa forking it to their own version. The Vendor spaces is all Prusa.
There used to be some bundles around with the filaments detached already (but they weren't sanitised of any linear advance settings so were use at your own risk) that you could import using the bundle option.
GenericFilaments_Neo_20200401 like for example this one I happened to save 😉 Its a bit old now as you can see from the date.
RE: Profile Import Issues
Ok, thanks for the process walk through and clarifications. Luckily we do have a computer just for the printers so I will make a note to work off that one for now when tweaking.