With the custom firmware development for the X1 series still going strong I decided to look into the same for the P1 series.
Of course there is no firmware development right now as Bambu won’t let us.
So there only is script kids using the telnet or MTTQ option to accomplish more or less useful things.
Like binding you printer without the need for an account so you can use it in Orca and such.
The concerning thing is that when you start digging in the right places for custom firmware discussions you find a surprising amount of Bambu users making requests.
Like 'please hack this firmware so I can do… '.
The majority of these users though seem to only want one single thing - hassle free use of the printer WITHOUT Bambu in the middle and sticking their noses into everything.
Mind you that in these places you won’t really find the common users we have here.
You only find those forums and groups that are excluded from our usual search engines if you know some things already and also have some understanding of ROM kitchens and firmware customisation.
These people and those actively working on custom firmwares for all sorts of devices are not really what you could define as a hacker…
They have real world concerns and I think we should address a few of them…
Right now we are in a world of control, whatever can be controlled and monitored simply is, like you smartphone and all the convenient things you do with it.
We no longer actually own these devices, we just have the usage rights.
Made possible by stripping away all warranty just because you replaced a lost screw with some that fits - to overstate things…
Did not use genuine spares and run into troubles - BAD LUCK FOR YOU as the manufacturer can’t be bothered to help you, neither the one for the device, nor the one with the aftermarket parts you bought.
Apple paved the way for this when the realised how much money can be made simply by making user repairs impossible and by refusing to grant repair shops the right to work on their devices.
Later they also excluded them from being able to order genuine spare parts.
The origin story of this and how Apple changed the world with it is actually a quite good read.
Needless to say that what worked so well for Apple had to be tried by everyone else.
And in all fairness - we all accepted this type of highway robbery for decades with with our ink p!!sing printers and never complained.
Today nothing that requires a bootloader and operating system, no matter how basic as accessible by the one who bought it.
You have a very hard time finding ‘connected devices’ that you can still use without being forced to have an account linked to it.
Most you can’t even set up without first creating or having an account.
So of course those few still having a sense for privacy and their right to keep it intact wonder…
We have no control about what these connected devices collect and transmit, no means of finding out how much of our privacy or security is compromised and even less in terms of happens to the data collected without out consent…
But then again we all freely give this consent by NOT bothering to read those Terms and Conditions that are made MANDATORY to agree to…
Why bother to read if without agreeing to get nowhere - a perfect system of abuse.
Bambu is a bit different though as we deal with printers here, not phones or other things actually containing or doing most vital things that could affect our privacy or online security…
So I had to try to contact some of those people who seem to be in the know of things a bit more.
Fairness first, despite the obvious dislike on my end in regards to how bambu handles certain things >
There is NO verifiable evidence that Studio, handy, the drivers or any part of the normal installation would compromise your privacy and security by more than other modern software does.
It all SEEMS to only do as advertised with more or less reliable results.
Sadly it does not change the fact that some data is collected and used by Bambu and possible affiliates.
Same for abusing Windows internals that DO have elevated access rights in order to not having to do extensive programming.
Thing is that despite all Microsoft claims these internals CAN be compromised, CAN be hacked, CAN be spoofed.
Hence the constant need to keep everything up to date and modern programs refusing to work on older operating systems.
I only got a few exchanges with one ‘hacker’ (so far anyway).
From what I understand the issue isn’t as much the sub standard hardware used but how it is used.
A certificate or security token is easy to embed into a closed and locked firmware.
It is also possible to simply do this through fixed items like the MAC address(es).
Through this it is very easy to only allow authorised access through programs or communication protocols using these verifications.
Same for an linking requirements that should not be required to begin with.
It is quite possible to rip it all out of a P1 to put in some nice Rapberry or actually capable board with enough connectivity to run any 3D printing firmware of the open source kind you like.
No one would ever bother though as the required changes for these custom connectors and too short cables cost you more than just building a printer from scratch.
The guy clearly had some insights on how get higher level access on other printers and probably also know a more about the Bambu stuff than what meets they eye but still…
We now can finally do offline firmware updates, but probably also won’t be able to downgrade to much lower firmware versions in return.
Not a deal breaker but we are still waiting on Bambu to make good on their long standing promise to give P1 owners unlocked bootloader and firmware packages and there is still no indication they would provide the required tools to successfully compile a custom firmware from there.
The way it looks this will only come long after their hyped dual head printer failed to impress users for the same reasons…
The modding community is non existing compared to just the vintage Nexus 7 tablet or older smartphones.
Not too many 3D printing people also have what is required to cook firmwares or to install custom ones without making a mess…
Never mind that fact if something goes wrong you have a useless printer that Bambu could not care less about, so no one takes a risk…
Is there some light at the end of this endless tunnel ?
If we still trust Bambu there is - once we finally get a firmware we can work with.
In most countries the law is clear and states we are allowed to install other firmwares and that doing so can not affect our warranty.
That however all depends on the market region.
No problem at all for Bambu to use their region locking ‘features’ to exclude custom firmwares from accessing certain things in certain regions.
You linked printer is custom ? Sorry but those exclusive models can only printed on printers running a genuine and unaltered firmware…
Sorry but those Studio features are only supported on a genuine firmware - you get the idea…
It all comes down to how willing Bambu is to listen to their customers and considering how closed nit they are when it comes to fixing the well known issues I think we still have to wait a long while…
I put my finger towards the 1.10 firmware release for being able to get a firmware that can be worked on…
Considering all I wanted was to replace my worn down dual head printer with a modern and fast multi-material printer is all sounds like a bad joke in hindsight.
Sure I maxed out at around 65 to 75mm/se for PLA and PETG, printing Nylon was near impossible but…
It all worked just fine with constant results.
An old model I loaded came out like it did the first time around, unlike what a Studio or firmware update makes out of my old 3MF files 
Best part though was NOT having to waste god know how much filament for no reason into the poop chute.
Upgrading from a dual head that was slow to a single head that is very fast turned out to not provide any benefits enough to make up for the losses.
Only good thing is the incredible speed possible with my E3D hotend…
Would I recommend a a Bambu printer to someone else ?
Yes and no…
Yes if that someone has a basic understanding of how 3D printing works and is willing to learn that might be missing.
But ONLY is that someone is also willing and able to stick with just what Bambu and places like Makerworld offer.
Certainly a big no if that someone already had some real experience with other 3D printers and is keen to upgrade to something faster or a machine able to handle 4, 8 or more different rolls of filament automatically.
I might change my opinion on this part IF the new Bambu printer is indeed as good as Bambu claims it will be, if it fixed ALL the hardware based issues we keep facing, comes with QUALITY hotends out of the box AND is free of all the bogus Bambu security and calling home 'features…
Another big no goes towards all those with a REAL requirement for privacy and network integrity.
NO OFFENCE Bambu but we all know how things in China work.
Nothing goes without the party knowing all about it and being involved.
China being a country that is totally void of any copyright protections that western world established does not fill the confidence bucket either.
You did great on the hardware, despite the known shortcomings considering the Bambu brand was basically just a start up.
Now it is time to do even better on those who made this great success happen - your customers and users.
Give up the nonsense of close source firmwares and programs…
There is nothing outside China able to pop up printers in large enough volumes to create a real threat, so you only competition is within China 
Would the current, average user steer away just because your printers turn open source for what makes them tick ? Certainly not…
Would it mean we get flooded with custom firmwares that cause more trouble than what they fix?
Maybe but then again Bambu could actually support this in the form of official and (trusted) user firmware/software branches as so common on Github already for other things.
Both sides would benefit here, so it would be well worth considering.
Same for a solution that is both acceptable and secure for those who need it, like companies printing things for prototyping, or in an environment where security is paramount.
Go and ask whoever you like who is responsible for the network of some larger company or organisation and they all agree when it comes to connecting devices coming from Chinese companies.
Imagine, just for the fun of it Bambu would go fully overboard and manage to get accepted as a trustworthy company in terms of online, network and data security - it could open a lot of markets that currently the X1E series fails to satisfy die to being totally overpriced for the added Ethernet port…
Just think about it when you get closer to releasing your new printer into the world…
How many users in this forum reported the same kind of connection and binding issues now without Bambu being able to fix it for good ?
Imagine you could just do what what works fine for so many other printers out there and literally any other device with connectivity - hook them up to Ethernet or Wifi and just used them - well, we can still dream about future improvements, can’t we 