4.3 KiB
Klipper is currently in an experimental state. These instructions assume the software will run on a Raspberry Pi computer in conjunction with OctoPrint. Klipper supports Atmel ATmega based micro-controllers and Arduino Due (Atmel SAM3x8e ARM micro-controllers) printers.
It is recommended that a Raspberry Pi 2 or Raspberry Pi 3 computer be used as the host. The software will run on a first generation Raspberry Pi, but the combined load of OctoPrint, Klipper, and a web cam (if applicable) can overwhelm its CPU leading to print stalls.
Prepping an OS image
Start by installing OctoPi on the Raspberry Pi computer. Use version 0.13.0 or later - see the octopi releases for release information. One should verify that OctoPi boots, that the OctoPrint web server works, and that one can ssh to the octopi server (ssh pi@octopi -- password is "raspberry") before continuing.
After installing OctoPi, ssh into the target machine and run the following commands:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libncurses-dev
sudo apt-get install avrdude gcc-avr binutils-avr avr-libc # AVR toolchain
sudo apt-get install bossa-cli libnewlib-arm-none-eabi # ARM toolchain
The host software (Klippy) requires a one-time setup - run as the regular "pi" user:
virtualenv ~/klippy-env
~/klippy-env/bin/pip install cffi==1.6.0 pyserial==2.7 greenlet==0.4.10
Building Klipper
To obtain Klipper, run the following command on the target machine:
git clone https://github.com/KevinOConnor/klipper
cd klipper/
To compile the micro-controller code, start by configuring it:
make menuconfig
Select the appropriate micro-controller and serial baud rate. Once configured, run:
make
Ignore any warnings you may see about "misspelled signal handler" (it is due to a bug fixed in gcc v4.8.3).
Installing Klipper on an AVR micro-controller
The avrdude package can be used to install the micro-controller code on an AVR ATmega chip. The exact syntax of the avrdude command is different for each micro-controller. The following is an example command for atmega2560 chips:
example-only$ avrdude -C/etc/avrdude.conf -v -patmega2560 -cwiring -P/dev/ttyACM0 -b115200 -D -Uflash:w:/home/pi/klipper/out/klipper.elf.hex:i
Installing Klipper on an Arduino Due
Klipper currently uses the Arduino Due USB programming port (it will not work when connected to the application USB port). The programming port is the USB port closest to the power supply. To flash Klipper to the Due connect it to the host machine and run:
stty -F /dev/ttyACM0 1200
bossac -i -p ttyACM0 -R -e -w -v -b ~/klipper/out/klipper.bin
Setting up the printer configuration
It is necessary to configure the printer. This is done by modifying a configuration file that resides on the host. Start by copying an example configuration and editing it. For example:
cp ~/klipper/config/example.cfg ~/printer.cfg
nano printer.cfg
Make sure to look at and update each setting that is appropriate for the hardware.
Configuring OctoPrint to use Klippy
The OctoPrint web server needs to be configured to communicate with the Klippy host software. Using a web-browser, login to the OctoPrint web page, and navigate to the Settings tab. Then configure the following items:
Under "Serial Connection" in "Additional serial ports" add "/tmp/printer". Then click "Save".
Enter the Settings tab again and under "Serial Connection" change the "Serial Port" setting to "/tmp/printer". Change the Baudrate field to 250000 (this buad rate field is not related to the firmware baudrate and may be safely left at 250000).
Under the "Features" tab, unselect "Enable SD support". Then click "Save".
Running the host software
The host software is executed by running the following as the regular "pi" user:
~/klippy-env/bin/python ~/klipper/klippy/klippy.py ~/printer.cfg -l /tmp/klippy.log < /dev/null > /dev/null 2>&1 &
Once Klippy is running, use a web-browser and navigate to the OctoPrint web site. Click on "Connect" under the "Connection" tab.