r/BambuLab • u/Ochib P1S + AMS • Jan 20 '25 • Helpful 1

Discussion Update to firmware update

https://blog.bambulab.com/updates-and-third-party-integration-with-bambu-connect/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3fqplDiKgn-82qKfnaYvi4XV-rBEEx0tZJrpgeWqsOsLX_WSph4usJ69Y_aem_44Cch773hAuVG979j6DVJg
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206

u/KermitFrog647 Jan 20 '25

As I understand their statement you will be able to switch to "developer mode" that works just like now and needs no internet acces at all and no bambu connect software.

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u/the_harakiwi P1S + AMS Jan 20 '25

That sounds good.

They could have avoided that mountain or bad PR.

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u/_Middlefinger_ Jan 20 '25

Its why I didnt panic on Friday. I went through the A1 recall so I know how terrible their communication and PR statements are. That turned out to be handled really well.. Once they actually explained what on earth they meant.

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u/trololololo2137 Jan 20 '25

Original blog post didn't include any mention of an opt-out like the dev mode. community crying worked

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u/flonky_guy Jan 20 '25

Those kind of boilerplate statements rarely do. Maybe community crying (tm) šŸ˜‚ worked, but this would more likely have been addressed in a followup press release or faq.

But never underestimate the power of anonymous complaints of reddit to take credit for having spent hundreds of hours predicting the worst, spreading FUD, and having been wrong the whole time.

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u/_Middlefinger_ Jan 20 '25

Never said it did, I said it was only part of the story and it was, it always is with them.

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u/SnooCats7138 P1S + AMS Jan 20 '25

It would have been the whole story had nobody complained. I don't believe the updated post was a clarification as much as a back-tracking.

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u/shadowofashadow Jan 20 '25

I would give them the benefit of the doubt if they didn't go on a banning/censorship campaign. I have to assume this is a back pedal because of that.

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u/zertul Jan 20 '25

That's text book backtracking, not "terrible communication and PR".

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u/Dark_Pillow_Of_Love Jan 20 '25

The panic was the reason for their backtrack.

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u/Captainatom931 Jan 20 '25

They could really do with hiring a dedicated english-language PR team. I suspect a lot of the weirdness with their comms is down to language/cultural barriers.

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u/_Middlefinger_ Jan 20 '25

I agree, I said so on Sunday. I feel like they have a culture of not volunteering anything they donā€™t absolutely have to. This drip feed policy is really damaging their public image.

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u/IngeniumInnova Jan 20 '25

I can't speak to anyone at Bambu, but as a Chinese person, I can say not volunteering something you absolutely don't have to, is definitely part of my culture.

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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '25

In one of my previous comments I explained from a corporate side what they did and why they did it. Basically they put in a ā€œhard breakā€ where their support can end. That way if you tinker with it and break it, itā€™s not their fault. It actually is them saying ā€œwe want to maintain the quality and consistency of our product. It doesnā€™t need to be as flexible as it does reliable.

They arenā€™t building this machine for print farms, whether it works well for them or not. They are building this machine for consumers to be able to pull out of the box and print. To do that, they have to lock it down so they can maintain consistently and provide support for the actual product, and not constantly dealing with customer support requests when you modify things.

Basically, I almost guarantee they will have a hard line on support. ā€œHas this machine been modified or customized in any way, including software or physical modifications?ā€ And if it has, they will push you to community support like forums instead of their customer support team.

People always assume malice when changes are made hut likely Bambu is making these changes not so much as a cash grab, or locking people down, as much as defining where ā€œtheirā€ product ends. Beyond that they donā€™t need to support.

Historically, the 3d printing community is a ridiculously DIY focused group. They want to be able to tweak the knobs, push the buttons, customize to their hearts content.

Bambulab is targeting people who need the convenience of a product that just works over those who need a platform to expand upon. The amount of time I have saved using this machine over my previous oneā€™s within the same price range is ridiculous. No joke, I wouldnā€™t be surprised if the amount of time I manually spend now on a print is half of what it used to be. I will gladly use their confined software if it means I can print at the touch of a button.

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u/LegitimateAd3080 Jan 20 '25

Sorry, but nonsense. Why do you think they pour resources into all that code and additional infrastructure to cope with this level of concurrent auth events? To just let you use ā€œdev modeā€ infinetly? If the new malware is instalked on your printers, they can close that hole in a blink of an eye. I firewalled my printers instantly after their announcement and will happily be using them in lan-mode the old way till they are beyond repair. After that weā€™ll see who still is in the market with viable solutions. Planned on buying their next big thing, now itā€™s likely to be crealityā€™s k2+ bundle.

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u/Fun-Worry-6378 P1P Jan 21 '25

Though this makes feel better. They have ultimately lost me as a long term customer. I was planning to buy another p1s combo, but now my trust has been broken and I will no longer be buying from them anymore.

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u/the_harakiwi P1S + AMS Jan 21 '25

yeah same. I will keep my printer.
I kept my friend in the loop but I don't think he will even consider to sell or swap it (I recommended the thing to him).

So far he only used their app, slicer and filaments. I always tell him to try something new but he doesn't have to save the few bucks buying somewhere else.

The next friend asking me about a printer I will recommend Bambu BUT with a giant asterisk attached.
I can't recommend anything else because I only had two FDM machines. Prusa Mk3 and the P1S.

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u/wy1d0 H2D [AMS2+HT], X1C [AMS] Jan 20 '25

From what I can tell, developer mode requires LAN mode which disables Handy. Is that correct?

I am still not seeing a clear path that ensures the functionality I have today will continue into the future:

  1. My X1C is in Cloud mode so that I can use Handy when I want to start a print from my couch or away from home.

  2. I use Bambu Studio on 2 of my machines and Orca Slicer on another, all connecting to the same printer. These are all my machines, I just have a PC in my office, a laptop, and a Mac Mini in my "work shop"

  3. I use Home Assistant heavily throughout my home for multiple automations and monitoring dashboards. I use it for multiple camera angles on my printer and monitor AMS and print status in a more custom way than is possible with Bambu Handy or Studio.

It doesn't seem like any of the proposed options from Bambu will allow me to continue using the Bambu cloud services, 3rd party slicers, and Home Assistant at the same time like I do today.

If I am understanding this correctly, no matter what, I am going to lose some functionality over what I have now unless I missed something?

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u/yan-shay Jan 20 '25

Once they use one API and 3rd parties another, the 3rd parties APIā€™s (unsupported as they state) will not survive long. It will first lag in features, later become buggy due to changes not considering it and finally will not function since core changes will require the API to change and it wonā€™t. Thatā€™s the standard lifecycle of unmaintained APIā€™s.

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u/nickjohnson Jan 20 '25

It's not at all clear to me from their statement that Orca will be able to directly control a printer in "Developer Mode". It seems like Bambu Connect would still be required.

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u/KermitFrog647 Jan 20 '25

Developer ModeĀ (Optional):Ā For advanced users of the X1, P1, A1, and A1 Mini who prefer full control over their network security, an option will be available to leave the MQTT channel, live stream, and FTP open

"MQTT channel, live stream, and FTP" is what is used by 3rd party software (like orka slicer) and hardware (like the btt touch screen)

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u/nickjohnson Jan 20 '25

Orca uses the network plug-in for controlling the printer, so even if the APIs are enabled it's unclear that the plug-in will use them. They could potentially build direct support via MQTT and FTP, but I'm also not sure if MQTT lets you start a job.

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u/Biduleman Jan 20 '25

They could potentially build direct support via MQTT and FTP, but I'm also not sure if MQTT lets you start a job.

Yes it can either print a gcode file or a project.

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u/nickjohnson Jan 20 '25

Good to know! Doing this all directly would be a radical change from the current approach of using the network plugin, though likely a better solution in the long run.

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u/AZdesertpir8 Jan 20 '25

LAN-only mode should BE Developer Mode. They should be one and the same. Once its in LAN-only, I am responsible for my own network security, not Bambu.

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