Raspberry pi connection and operation

[tim]

Have just completed assembly of my first 3d printer, the MAX v3 with raspi option. Assembly instructions only mentioned placement of the pi board but nothing regarding connection or operations of the pi board.

Where can I find general and detailed information regarding the marriage of the raspberry pi and the max printer?

Thanks,
Tim

[mhackney]

Welcome to the bleeding edge with the V3!

But, the principle is basically the same as using RPi with any 3D printer. But first, get your printer assembled, tested, calibrated and printing nicely before going down the RPi path. It adds an extra layer of complexity for inexperienced users.

You should also familiarize yourself with the RPi and install OctoPrint or AstroPrint. And, you should get the RPi connected to your WIFI network. Do all of this before you connect it to your printer and you'll be off to a much better start.

AstroPrint info: https://www.astroprint.com/downloads - get the image and learn how to install and configure
OctoPrint info: http://octoprint.org - get the image and learn how to install and configure

As far as connecting the RPi, it looks something like this:

1) mount RPi near the RAMBo
2) power RPi with 5V. You can either use supply from RAMBo or I plan to use a 5V wallwart supply. There are a couple of recent threads on how to power from RAMBo
3) make sure you've installed OctoPrint or AstroPrint and are connected to your WIFI network
4) hook USB from RAMBo to RPi - this is the "magic" connection
5) launch a web browser and connect to your RPi
6) configure OctoPrint/AstroPrint so it can talk to your printer, I recall that there is some configuration you need to do (port, serial speed, ..)
7) print!

But seriously, since you are new to all this, get the printer working and learn to use a control app like MatterControl or Repetier Host first.

[mhackney]

Found this too: https://blog.astroprint.com/octoprint_vs_astroprint/

I likely will stick to OctoPrint.

[tim]

Welcome to the bleeding edge with the V3!

But, the principle is basically the same as using RPi with any 3D printer. But first, get your printer assembled, tested, calibrated and printing nicely before going down the RPi path. It adds an extra layer of complexity for inexperienced users.

You should also familiarize yourself with the RPi and install OctoPrint or AstroPrint. And, you should get the RPi connected to your WIFI network. Do all of this before you connect it to your printer and you'll be off to a much better start.

AstroPrint info: https://www.astroprint.com/downloads - get the image and learn how to install and configure
OctoPrint info: http://octoprint.org - get the image and learn how to install and configure

As far as connecting the RPi, it looks something like this:

1) mount RPi near the RAMBo
2) power RPi with 5V. You can either use supply from RAMBo or I plan to use a 5V wallwart supply. There are a couple of recent threads on how to power from RAMBo
3) make sure you've installed OctoPrint or AstroPrint and are connected to your WIFI network
4) hook USB from RAMBo to RPi - this is the "magic" connection
5) launch a web browser and connect to your RPi
6) configure OctoPrint/AstroPrint so it can talk to your printer, I recall that there is some configuration you need to do (port, serial speed, ..)
7) print!

But seriously, since you are new to all this, get the printer working and learn to use a control app like MatterControl or Repetier Host first.

WOW

You covered all the questions I had and then some. My brain will be busy for some time processing everything. My plan is to take this learning process slowly so as not to be really overwhelmed. The good news is that I have played with the pi boards for a while and have some background knowledge.

I guess the point that had not occurred to me was that the pi is just a substitute for the usual USB connected PC. Now I see the light!

I love ah ha moments!

Thank you so much.
Tim

[Noircogi]

I tried both Astroprint and Octoprint when I got my first 3D printer a few months ago.

Astroprint is much easier to set up and probably good if you want to use their slicer.

The biggest drawback of Astroprint is that its video streaming only supports a very limited set of client devices.

Octoprint is harder to set up but vastly more capable, especially with all of the plugins it supports. It will stream video to all sorts of devices including ipad etc. I use Simplify3D as my slicer, so the built-in slicer model is not really of interest to me for either of them The live gcode view in Octoprint works great with pre-sliced gcode files though.

I definitely prefer Octoprint.

[tim]

Found this too: https://blog.astroprint.com/octoprint_vs_astroprint/

I likely will stick to OctoPrint.

Interesting and helpful.

[tim]

I tried both Astroprint and Octoprint when I got my first 3D printer a few months ago.

Astroprint is much easier to set up and probably good if you want to use their slicer.

The biggest drawback of Astroprint is that its video streaming only supports a very limited set of client devices.

Octoprint is harder to set up but vastly more capable, especially with all of the plugins it supports. It will stream video to all sorts of devices including ipad etc. I use Simplify3D as my slicer, so the built-in slicer model is not really of interest to me for either of them The live gcode view in Octoprint works great with pre-sliced gcode files though.

I definitely prefer Octoprint.

Appreciate your input.

[mhackney]

If you are interested, I wrote a blog about how to setup and configure the Raspberry Pi V3 with OctoPrint. Note that you do not need a keyboard, mouse or monitor connected to your RPi, it is a completely headless install and configuration.