I guess the honeymoon is over. Filament switching problem

Bambu Lab X Series Troubleshooting
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Well, two weeks into my experience with the X1C and things have gone south. I entered a support ticket last night, but so far I’ve only had one response to tell me to update the firmware and Bambu Studio. I already have current firmware and filament profiles and the most recent version of Studio, the Handy app and Orca, just for good measure.

Anyway, my problem: I can’t update the filament in any slot in the AMS, or the external spool. If I manually update it, it will accept the new listing momentarily, then revert to a question mark. If I use Bambu filament, the RFID will do the same… momentarily update, then revert to the question mark.

I have shotgunned solutions at it, downgrading firmware, then re-updating, endless power cycles, a factory reset, etc, etc.

The only thing that PARTIALLY worked was going into LAN only mode. It would update while in LAN mode, but as soon as I switch back to full-internet mode, it reverts to the question marks. I assume this indicates some sort of network issue, so I tried rebooting my router, no help. Also tried the network test, which seemed fine.

My best guess at the moment is that the problem is either with the network adapter in my machine, or it’s some sort of problem with the cloud service on Bambu’s end. I haven’t tried printing in LAN mode yet, but I’d really prefer to have a fully functional printer.

I doubt this will get solved in the forum, but it’s worth a shot and at least I can document my troubles for the next person. If you’ve got a good guess at a solution, I’d love to hear it.

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I’ve not seen this issue myself, but it looks like it’s happened to others. Do you run multiple instances of Bambu Studio or Orca Slicer? There’s a thread where the solution was to make sure you are only one instance of a slicer.

There’s also a Reddit thread where suggestions are to uninstall the slicer software and reinstall. Another suggestion is to power down the printer, unplug the AMS, move to the other available plug, and plug it back in. So there’s some other troubleshooting steps you can take to help resolve the problem.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BambuLab/comments/1bjwpom/bambu_handy_showing_for_all_spools_in_ams/

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I tried powering down and switching plugs earlier today. Like I said, I’ve been shotgunning solutions at it and this wasn’t a complete list. It wouldn’t update the rear spool even with the AMS entirely unplugged.

I do run multiple instances, but not at the same time. The issue described in that thread is multiple instances at the same time. I run dual boot, so it’s just a matter of running in Windows or Linux, depending on what I’m using, but only one OS at a time.

I’m seeing a few current complaints here on the forum (like, today) about network issues, so I’m starting to suspect that this might be a problem that solves itself in a day or two when they get their cloud issues worked out. I’ll try uninstalling everything but the Windows/Bambu version this evening, but I really think it’s a BL Cloud problem, not a ME problem. I get that issues happen in networks, but I’d be a lot more patient if they just sent me a response saying, “yeah, we’ve got some problems today, but we’re working on it.”

If you’re going to build a walled garden ecosystem, you’d best make sure the plants aren’t dying. It’s frustrating to have to work this hard to solve my own problems that seem to be coming directly from their closed ecosystem.

Not intending to go on a rant, I’ve been really happy with the performance up until now.

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I have had a hard time to update new rolls of filament also. I would go to the UI on the printer and then get to the filament screen. With the filament loaded try clicking reset. Then unload and reload filament by hand as you would normally. You may have to do this more than once for each slot.

Also resync it with BS.

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Thanks for the suggestions, unfortunately I’ve tried all of that multiple times. Like, so many times.

BL support suggested I try either moving my router closer or using a hotspot. I opted for the hotspot to try it on an entirely different network. Same issues.

I also managed a complete print last night in LAN mode. I guess that’s good, since it means the machine isn’t entirely an expensive doorstop now, but I value the ability to monitor my machine remotely.

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Aside from what you’ve mentioned, have you logged out of Studio and logged back in?
The only time I’ve had issues that weren’t hardware with the AMS that had solved the issue.

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Yep, multiple times for that as well. I’m considering making another account and linking to it, since the problem really seems to be on the cloud side.

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I hope this helps, the exact same thing happen to me and it was hell to figure out!
Turned out that I had multiple Bambu Studios open and connected to the computer. Closed them all down, powered off the printer, unloaded all the filament and let it boot back up. Then updated firmware on the printer (Yours might be to the latest) and the filament was recognized first try.

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Okay, so I was just typing up how I only have one instance of Bambu running…

…and then I remembered I was playing around the other day with an instance of Orca in a docker container. It was a little laggy, so I sort of abandoned it… running. I had completely forgotten about it.

ADHD is a bitch sometimes! Problem solved everyone. Thanks for the help.

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For the record, I still consider the system’s inability to cope with multiple running instances to be a bug, but it’s a fairly minor bug (if difficult to diagnose, especially if you’ve forgotten about an instance). It’s really something Bambu should straighten out, or at least be ABSOLUTELY upfront about.

The error is one of those things that is probably visible in the log files that “Teddy” from customer support (who I assume is actually a LLM) should have been able to catch. I get that Bambu is trying to protect their IP while having to wage a legal battle against another company trying to protect their IP (most of which I suspect was developed by the community first), but I genuinely think they’d actually benefit from a little more cooperation. The way I understand it, Orca has been actually beneficial to Bambu Slicer and I suspect the firmware project (I forget the name) will probably benefit Bambu in the long run as well.

Anyway, I’ll hop off the soapbox: I’m printing again, so I’m happy.

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