The Klipper in this repo is a fork of Klipper3D/Master, which has been modified - largely by Desuuuu, and a little bit more by me - to work with the DGUS-reloaded DWIN_SET for CR6 printers located in this companion repo.
This repo was forked from the master DGUS-RELOADED project repository. The Desuuuu repo is in-turn forked from the master Klipper3D.org github repository.
NOTE: Desuuuu has also indicated that he intends to stop maintaining his dgus-reloaded-klipper fork, soon, so I am looking for CR6Community help to maintain and extend this fork. (See How to Contribute to This Project, below)
If your goal is to run Klipper on your CR6 without using the stock T5L DWIN display hardware, then you do not need this modified version of Klipper. Just install the master Klipper3D.org version and configure it for your CR6 printer per the Klipper3d.org installation and configuration documentation.
This repository may also be very helpful to get you started with Klipper on the CR6: https://github.com/KoenVanduffel/CR-6_Klipper
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Perhaps most importantly, Desuuuu has indicated that he intends to stop maintaining his dgus-reloaded-klipper fork.
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To enable the CR6 UI functionality, it is necessary to edit a few of the Desuuuu/Klipper files, for which I needed to make my own (this) fork of the t5uid1 application files.
Given both points 1 and 2 above, negotiating a common standard interface in both versions of DGUS-Reloaded was not a practical option.
No.
As of 3 April 2024:
- Thinkersbluff is no longer able to merge the updates into this repo, from another fork of Klipper3D/Master maintained by gbkwiatt, without conflicts.
- The pre-built klipper.bin files available here DO, however, continue to work with the latest Klipper v0.12.0
At some future release of Klipper, changes to the klipper.bin or Make Menuconfig functionality may no longer work with the pre-built klipper.bin files available here.
You certainly could, but I don't recommend it.
When I first created this repo, I did not yet know whether users of any particular motherboard would need to create their own klipper.bin file.
Now, we know that the same klipper.bin file works on all 3 of the Creality boards, and the firmware.bin file works on the BTT SKR CR6 board, so we do NOT need to install the modified Klipper files.
I have left the modified files here and have left documentation that describes how to install it, but I recommend that users instead follow the guidance in the next two sections.
Yes, you can! That is what I do, and I let Moonraker update it, regularly. As of Apil 2024, that still works.
You need only make these TWO modifications to a standard Klipper v0.12.0 installation, using the files available from this repo:
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The T5UID1 folder adds the DGUS-Reloaded Python scripts to the ~/klipper/klippy/extras folder of Klipper.
The DGUS_Reloaded DWIN_SET application is programmed to interact with those scripts, to provide a User Interface (UI) on the stock DWIN TFT. You can just copy (e.g. SFTP) that folder to the ~/klipper/klippy/extras folder of ANY Klipper installation, you do NOT need to clone this entire modified Klipper to your system. -
Some of the Make Menuconfig files have also been modified, to enable you to build your own klipper.bin file.
Since I have already built the klipper.bin files for your CR6 printer, you do NOT need to install the modified Klipper that would allow you to build your own.
When Desuuuu created his fork, he set it up as a complete modified fork of Klipper, to enable a wide range of users to build their own klipper.bin file. I, on the other hand, am ONLY providing a working DGUS-Reloaded setup for ONE Creality printer family (CR6-MAX and SE.) I have therefore already built, tested, and uploaded the klipper.bin files (One for each of the four motherboards designed to work with the CR6 printer).
NOTE: It is this file which may someday no longer be compatible with some future update of Klipper. If you ever update your Klipper and find that the klipper.bin file no longer connects correctly, you will likely have to roll-back your Klipper and stop applying updates, OR stop using the CR6 stock interface. I keep hoping that someone with Python programming chops will decide to figure out how to update the klipper.bin or Makefile before that day...
Rather than install the full modified Klipper from this repository, with DGUS-Reloaded already installed, you can instead follow these instructions to first install the latest Klipper and then add the DGUS-Reloaded functionality. That way, Moonraker will automatically maintain your Klipper installation.
- Download and unzip the Source.zip file for the latest release on this repository. (NOTE: The file and folder names in Sources.zip are quite verbose, so you will first need to significantly shorten the top-level folder name in the zipfile ((e.g. to DGUS-Reloaded), to successfully "extract all" the contents.)
- If you have not already done so, now create a Linux computer host for Klipper. (NOTE: If you already have the Klipper/Mainsail host configured and are now updating it to use DGUS-Reloaded, then skip to step 6.)
There are many options for the Klipper host computer and it would greatly complicate these instructions if I tried to try to cover them all.
For simplicity's sake, I will assume you are using a single Raspberry Pi Single Board Computer as your host.
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There are two particularly easy ways to install Klipper with a Mainsail front-end, on a Raspberry Pi.
Both methods are supported by the Raspberry Pi Imager software. Download and install the appropriate version from here: https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/ -
To install MainsailOS (recommended), navigate to https://docs-os.mainsail.xyz/ and follow their instructions. OR
To use KIAUH (which may be easier if using a laptop or desktop computer as the Klipper host), navigate to https://github.com/th33xitus/kiauh and follow those instructions.
Once you have installed Klipper and Mainsail, you should be able to browse to your Klipper host in the Mainsail front-end, to finish the installation and configuration:
- In the "Related Changes" folder from the unzipped Source.zip archive, in the "Overwrite these Klipper host files" sub-folder of the motherboard sub-folder applicable to your printer, find and unzip the applicable MACHINE_Configs....zip file.
- First read the ReadMe.txt file in the MACHINE_Configs....zip file, to familiarize yourself with the purpose of each file and note any changes made since the last release.
- Then copy the applicable files into ~/printer_data/config on your host processor and configure them for your specific printer/preferences.
NOTES:
a) You can upload files to ~/printer_data/config via the Mainsail MACHINE tab, rather than messing about with SFTP and nano, if you prefer.
b) You can use a utility like Winmerge to compare the new files with existing files, if you prefer to selectively modify the existing files, rather than replacing them.
c) You can completely ignore the KIAUH repos.txt file - Copy the t5uid1 folder and contents into the ~/klipper/klippy/extras directory on your host (e.g. by using an SFTP program logged into your host, to transfer those files from the folder DGUS-Reloaded_for_CR6-Klipper_Component-..../klippy/extras that you extracted from the downloaded release zip file on your system.)
- Follow the instructions on https://github.com/matthewlloyd/Klipper-Stable-Z-Home, to also install stable_z_home.py.
NOTE: To Clone a Repo:
i) log in to the Klipper host via SSH (e.g. Using PUtTy)
ii) At the Home directory, type:git clone https://github.com/matthewlloyd/Klipper-Stable-Z-Home.git - In the "Related Changes" folder from the unzipped Source.zip archive, in the "Flash this to the motherboard" sub-folder of the motherboard sub-folder applicable to your printer, find the klipper.bin file and flash that file to your printer.
- Restart your printer.
- Restart Klipper.
Klipper should now connect with your mcu and Mainsail should support printing. Until you have the matching DWIN_SET installed on your stock display, however, the display will still not function correctly.
If instead you see error messages in Mainsail, you will need to resolve whatever problems are reported, until Klipper connects and reports "Ready".
The Print screens rely on receiving M73 P.. messages, to display % progress and M73 R.. messages, to display time remaining. You will need to find and configure those settings in your slicer, for the screen to display those parameters.
Klipper also differs from Marlin, regarding gcode commands and settings, as do each of the slicers. (e.g. variable names passed to Klipper macros are likely to differ between slicers)
See, "Configuring the Data Displayed", below, for what guidelines I can give you.
At 5.7.0, Cura redacted the two Add-ins I used to recommend using, and replaced them with one new Add-In, "Display Info on LCD."
Here are the settings that I use, at 5.7.0+:
The M118 instruction will log reports into the Klipper Log and display them in the Mainsail Console window.
The M73 messages feed the % progress and Time remaining displays on the UI.
The Display Progress setting uses M117 messages to display Current Layer #, Total Layers and Estimated Time to complete the current print, on the display.
By default, OrcaSlicer sends both M73 R.. and M73 P.. messages. Be sure that the box "Disable set remaining print time" in your printer profile is not checked.
NOTE: I have not yet found any way to configure OrcaSlicer display the Layer information provided by Cura. If you know of a way, please post a Discussion or Issue on the DGUS-Reloaded repo.
These are the Machine Code settings I use with Cura:
That last truncated line in the above image is:
start_print EXTRUDER_TEMP={material_print_temperature_layer_0} BED_TEMP={material_bed_temperature_layer_0}
NOTE: I changed HOTEND_TEMP to EXTRUDER_TEMP because that is the parameter name recommended to OrcaSlicer users and I wanted the Klipper START_PRINT macro to be compatible, regardless of which slicer I used. Apologies to any users of DGUS-reloaded who hits a Klipper error message because of this.
These are the Machine Code settings I use with OrcaSlicer:
NOTE: I also select "Use relative E distances, which is why the G92 E0 is necessary at the start of each new layer",
I do not use any other slicers. If you have information you think should be added here about configuring other slicers, please post a Discussion or Issue on the DGUS-Reloaded repo.
Please note that Klipper3D are very good about keeping their online documentation up to date with their latest firmware. This repo, however, is NOT up-to-the-minute with every change they release. That latency can mean that some of their online instructions do not work with this version of Klipper. The documentation in this repo is, however, "frozen" at the most recent version of Klipper with which we have merged.
IF you elect to install this modified Klipper INSTEAD of the Klipper3D version, THEN I recommend that you ALWAYS:
- use this local copy of their documentation, when seeking guidance on how this particular version of modified Klipper is used, if you have decided to install from here and not from Klipper3D/master.
- use the online Klipper documentation, if you have installed Klipper from Klipper3D/master.
Please feel free to contribute ideas and feedback in the Discussions section.
Since some of the behaviour of the DGUS-Reloaded UI is controlled by the DWIN_SET app and some by this Klipper back-end, it will be "cleaner" to keep all Issues together on one repo. If you believe you have found a bug in the way the DGUS-Reloaded UI works on your CR6 printer, please therefore navigate to the Issues folder on the DWIN_SET repo. If there is no existing open or closed Issue that describes the same issue, then please raise a new Issue there.
CR6Community Firmware features NOT present in this release may be developed in future releases, but no schedule commitment is possible for such extensions. Users who are able to define and develop such modifications are welcome to fork this repository and to submit Pull Requests or to open Discussions or Issues as appropriate, to propose those changes.
One "future-proofing" option that comes to mind, for instance, is to pre-compile the Klipper.bin files and package the actual UI interface component (klippy/extras/t5uid1) as a py wheel to be installed into the Klipper3D/master version of Klipper with pip.
If there are CR6Community members who are both capable and willing to take on the challenge of helping to future-proof this fork, please let me know in the Discussions section of this repo. I am certainly open to reviewing PRs.
If figuring out how to install and configure your system to work with this firmware is too difficult for you, but you still want a way to reuse your stock CR6 DWIN display, you may prefer trying this alternative approach, which uses a separate serial interface to the display and the Moonraker API. I only have the bandwidth to focus on this project or that one, but it is in my mind to try to someday develop a single DWIN_SET app that is compatible with either serial interface solution, if such a thing is desireable and possible.
To learn more about Klipper3d.org and about the DGUS-RELOADED project, you are strongly encouraged to follow these links:
https://github.com/Desuuuu/Klipper
This project is the "alternative approach" to which I refer, above.
- His GitHub project is here: https://github.com/seho85/klipper-dgus
- The CR6-compatible fork of his DWIN_SET UI is here: https://github.com/Thinkersbluff/Klipper-dgus_CR6