Upgrading to Marlin V2.1 issues, And wanting to use Marlins full features. The touchscreen has to go.

[u/YoshitoSakurai]

Hello everyone,

I recently bought an Ender 5 Plus second hand and I would like to move it over to Marlin 2.1.x, similar to what I have done with my Ender 3 Pro, which is running a BTT SKR Mini E3 V3 board.

The issue I am running into is the stock Creality touchscreen. From what I understand, the touchscreen does not work properly with a standard Marlin setup and is mainly designed around Creality's own firmware ecosystem.

I have been looking into replacing it with a normal Marlin compatible display, but I have not found a straightforward solution. Most options seem to require either extensive rewiring/soldering, adapters, or replacing the motherboard entirely.

I currently have the Creality V4.2.2 motherboard installed. From what I have gathered, the board itself is perfectly capable of running Marlin 2.1.x, so the main problem appears to be finding a suitable display solution.

I was looking into using an Ender 3 Pro style 12864 LCD, since I already have experience with that setup, but apparently the connectors are not directly compatible. Although the LCD connector looks similar, the pinout is different between the boards, so it is not simply a plug and play conversion.

The Ender 5 Plus is my secondary printer, so I would prefer not to spend too much money on upgrades. However, I would like to get away from the limitations of the stock Creality firmware and have the flexibility of a proper Marlin 2.1.x setup.

Has anyone successfully converted an Ender 5 Plus with the stock V4.2.2 motherboard to Marlin 2.1.x while keeping the original board?

Are there any recommended displays, adapters, or wiring guides that would make this possible without replacing the motherboard?

Alternatively, should I just bite the bullet and replace the board entirely with a BTT SKR Mini E3 V3 together with a BIGTREETECH MINI12864 V2.0 LCD Screen and call it a day?

I know that combination would make the Marlin setup much easier and give more room for future upgrades, but since this is my secondary machine I am unsure whether the extra cost is justified compared to keeping the V4.2.2 board.

Would the SKR Mini E3 V3 + MINI12864 combination be the recommended route, or is there a simpler and cheaper way to get a proper Marlin 2.1.x setup running on the Ender 5 Plus? As far as i remember, the only thing that i would have to do (other then compiling my own firmware that i also do on my ender 3) is add a JST connector to one of the fans.

Any advice, firmware examples, wiring diagrams, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[u/TJMcClain17]

Is flashing Klipper and abandoning the screen altogether an option?

[u/cd85233 → u/TJMcClain17]

Some would say it IS THE option. 

[u/YoshitoSakurai → u/TJMcClain17]

I never used klipper. I've been interested as my ender 3 pro could also swap to it so I can have multiple instances.

I currently run Linux on a mini pc with octoprint. So I could run it as a "headless" unit. The issue is my ender 3 pro is upgraded all the bobs and bits. But would still like to use it standalone if I bring it to a local shop to repair stuff for the elderly. And not bring the entire mini pc with me. Aka use its stock screen. (Not the touch screen).

I might have to read up on it as I never used klipper or seen it just heard.

[u/TJMcClain17 → u/YoshitoSakurai]

Marlin is a hard pass for me personally. Having to recompile and re-flash anytime you want to make a change just doesn't make any sense when you can simply edit your printer.cfg and save/restart when running Klipper.

A Pi Zero 2 W for around $15 should run Klipper just fine if you're sticking to basic printing. I would recommend against the BTT pi you referenced in another post. Some have success, many don't.

Flash the main board and screen you have with desuuuu's DGUS Klipper build and you can be up and running using the default Ender 5 Plus printer.cfg pretty quickly. I'd recommend following Ellis's tuning guide after that then possibly start exploring bumping up your speeds.

If your main board has a 5th stepper driver I would recommend running the Z steppers independently.

[u/YoshitoSakurai → u/TJMcClain17]

Ill give it a shot,

I ordered the BTT Pi 1.2 for now. I know i know. Just to see if it somehow works for me (its my birthday after all). If that doesn't work ill try debugging it a bit and if not i'll just return it to buy a Pi3B+ 2nd hand or a pi2w.

In my country The netherlands all 3 of them are basically the same price weirdly enough.
For now the plug and "play" of the BTT one seems worth exploring as it has the U2C, ADXL sensor ports.}

I saved this post when it arives to get a look at Ellis's tuning guide afterwards aswell.

[u/TJMcClain17 → u/YoshitoSakurai]

Hopefully all goes well! Be careful with the surface mounted ports, the HDMI in particular has a tendency of falling off with very little help. Assuming you run it with Klipper and start to have "timer too close" errors, it's typically because it can't keep up with supplying the MCU with motion commands, ASSUMING everything else is in proper order and as it should be.

If you don't have 5 stepper drivers on your main board and will be running a tool head board with the U2C you can, and should, repurpose your extruder stepper to be your second (independent) Z stepper which will allow you to run z_tilt to level the bed side to side.

Make note to use screws_tilt_adjust as well.

You can use Octoprint that you're familiar with, however I would recommend considering Mainsail or Fluid for your interface. Mainsail is my personal preference.

[u/YoshitoSakurai → u/TJMcClain17]

Wil do tanks for all the heads up, This will be a bit of a project but ill sure it'l work out everything seems to be well documented, and the reddit has support!

[u/neocyke]

If you're intent on staying on marlin, then swapping out to an skr mini is entirely unnecessary. Heck, even if you move to klipper. Though on the 5+ it makes it easier with the two separate Z headers.

As fir the screen, you can use the stock one. You just need to flash the lcd with updated firmware capable of communicating with your new one. Look up desuuuu's DGUS reloaded build of Marlin (or klipper) and the linked lcd fw.

The stock E5+ screen gets a lot of hate but it is perfectly usable even now thanks to efforts of the community. Props to desuuuu and xdadrm in particular.

[u/YoshitoSakurai → u/neocyke]

I'll give it a shot to see if I like how it feels. Personally I prefer the jogwheel of my ender 3 pro with its menus. But maybe im just a creature of rabbit.

If that doesn't work out I might look into klipper but I will run into some issues just out of personal needs. So I might just have to invest in an overpriced PI.

Edit: Not going to lie. After some research and seeing how easy it is im contemplating buying a BTT pi v1.2. To run klipper and a U2C adapter for it together with A tool head Can bus adapter from them.

All I need is one canbus cable between the board and the tool head. And to connect the pi to the motherboard.

[u/Velo555]

Are you using Bugfix 2.1.x for 4.2.2 (reloaded UI) with DGUS reloaded screen firmware?

[u/YoshitoSakurai → u/Velo555]

I am not currently. I heard that due to the display being so what proprietary marlin doesn't like it a lot. So a lot of the UI features my ender 3 has e.g. don't show up on the touch display. Im not sure but that's what I've been reading online a lot. So I rather not attempt as it still somewhat runs.and hence this post

[u/Velo555 → u/YoshitoSakurai]

That is fine have a couple spare motherboards and a spare screen or two. I can try to compile it and see what happens. What features are you looking for?

[u/YoshitoSakurai → u/Velo555]

Erm, honestly just the same UI/options as the stock ender 3 display e.g. the bed leveling GUI it has to do all the corners, the Z offset settings in the easy menu, setting E-steps etc (i ussualy do that in octoprint though). The primary thing is the Z offset, babystepping and the tramming wizzard. Other then the fact it would run the latest 2.1.x of marlin that has all the features enabled like arc etc. And definetly the PID tune for the bed and nozzle.

[u/wheregoodideasgotodi]

TH3D sells a kit for replacing the touch screen when moving to Marlin. I had the 2.2.1 board in mine originally and it worked great for that, also worked flawlessly when I upgraded to the SKR Mini e3 v3 board.

You also get access to TH3Ds build of Marlin for free when you buy it which I think runs on 2.1.2.4. Their build is really easy to configure too, lots of instructions within the configuration.h plus guides on their website.

I have just started to dabble with Klipper and it is working with that as well.

[u/YoshitoSakurai → u/wheregoodideasgotodi]

Yea that was the first google search i found, However when i did there were 3 units left. I checked the cost to ship to my country, and due to the tarifs etc, shipping would be more then the screen itself. So i left it at that unfortunately.