An A1 + AMS (the AMS is an issue - there are not alot of alternatives) and Makerworld = the easiest nicest way anyone can get to actually printing nice stuff for fun or for practical purposes, at the price. It’s just a no-brainer. That target audience cares not at all about Bambu Connect, they won’t even know what it is.
I paid more for my setup. I am one of the folks who started with Orca and will continue to use it, and I’ll get a Klipper MC board (if that ever pans out) for it if need be to do that.
But would I recommend Bambu printers? Yes I would. If someone asks, then they don’t know anything about FDM printing, it means Bambu is the right printer for them.
Otherwise, other enthusiasts and I would be talking on a different level. I’d say: boy I hope we get a way to stay with Orca and keep it off the cloud. Because I love my AMS and the P1S never done me wrong.
And the only printers you compare it with are a fully open source diy flagship and an (expected) X1C competitor from a reputable brand.
I didn’t delve too deep into it but I would at least expect you to give a reasoning why the Kobra 3 (combo) is not on the short list as an A1 alternative. Let’s compare apples to apples
Yes, the A1 is a somewhat out of the box experience with great usability and ease of use, but there are manufacturers that are aiming to do the same and as far as I can tell even succeeding (again, didn’t delve too much into it, don’t need another printer).
Yes, MakerWorld is a big plus, but wouldn’t it be nice if not all model websites were linked to singular brands and everybody could enjoy all the models? For me the almost monopoly position of MakerWorld is more of a negative than a positive (although from a bambu user perspective I can see the upside to aligning with the biggest player on the market. As with every brand. Until they have no competition left)
Comparing a car with a 3d printer is widely absurd, not to mention if we were to compare the two and the situation we are discussing here it will be like this:
Ford wants to update your car’s MCU so only drivers vetted by them with keys vetted by them can drive the thing.
And, if you don’t update, there is a good chance you won’t be able to even start your car.
How about it?
With this problem/discussion blowing up like a hot air balloon I decided to do some more tests…
Running on the new firmware and latest Studio with my P1S.
I disabled the SSL >
“enable_ssl_for_ftp”: false,
“enable_ssl_for_mqtt”: false,
I made sure the access code is present in the BambuStudio.conf.
Everything works fine and LAN only mode.
That is with a clean installation…
The constant disconnecting in Studio when switching windows MIGHT be more intentional than I thought.
In a multi machine setup it actually makes sense to disconnect Studio from a machine - sort of…
The developer mode makes some additional print settings available so I tried them…
Communication is vital…
The AMS sync works well now.
Sending print jobs is as slow as it always was but without the SSL stuff I seem to get fewer failures to send.
None so far actually.
Using those ‘hacked’ scripts to talk to the printer seems to work as well.
So what’s the big deal ?
Still the same I guess…
Like for many cars, mobile phones and more - the manufacturer wants to stay in control.
Is that a problem?
It should not be one as there is ways to keep both sides happy but Bambu prefers the traditional approach.
Lets say lunatic Trump decides to just ban Chinese websites and such.
Not that he would do such things LOL
Suddenly Studio would be basically useless for anyone relying on cloud services.
And LAN only mode might fail as well with Studio unable to call home, so Orca is your friend I guess.
Of course something like that is fixable…
What about things like ‘the death counter’ that we find in some many Chinese Android head units for cars ?
No problem at all to set a counter in the firmware that simply stops providing access codes at some point…
Need access ? Just pay a small fee for a fresh supply of access codes…
Bambu’s security concerns and measures are bogus.
Sadly we can’t force Bambu to provide what we need as we all agree to their Terms and Conditions before we can do anything with our printers.
Thanks for taking the time to do some tests and reporting on it.
What you changed in the config is either a) totally doable (for me, for example, will have to go down that road if Softfever ever can’t keep connecting to my 1.0.7 Firmware P1S in LAN mode… if that ever happens) or b) way too complicated, and then it’s not important.
So… I do think there will be a way to keep Orca going with our printers. We shall see more as more happens.
No, this is a security update. Or perhaps you are among the select few with insider knowledge? If that’s the case, we would truly appreciate it if you could share any valuable insights you might have regarding this update—preferably after testing it yourself.
To offer a comparison, if Ford were to update their MCU to prevent an engine from exceeding a certain RPM, it would be a similar situation. If that update meant you could no longer enjoy driving your car in the same spirited way but it still functioned as a car should, the comparison would become even more relevant.
As a final note, I have merely explained the reasoning behind their actions—not that I support this change as a positive one in any way.
I think it will boil down to whether or not Bambu’s next flagship printer (supposedly to be announced in Q12025) blows our socks off or not. If it does, then I suppose Bambu can dictate its terms. If it doesn’t, I don’t think the influencers will ever stop reminding us about this. So, for sure, this raises the stakes on that product launch.
Just as I had never seen so much influencer enthusiasm as when the X1C launched, I’ve never seen as much concentrated influencer negativity as I have lately. Both have been at tsunami levels, but the negative tsunami actually seems even bigger.
Indeed it says that the product may block new print jobs. But I have kept the current (P1S does not have the new firmware with the new security settings requiring the Bambu Connect app) firmware, and I have blocked access of the printer to the cloud, which means as far as I can see, it’ll keep working forever with Orca. This is the way that SoftFever has suggested everyone go for now, if they want to keep direct access to the printer from Orca.
So, are you one of those who prefer to argue rather than focus on finding solutions? On the topic of reading abilities, you are aware that you purchased a closed-source printer, correct? You did read the document that you and others are now referring to before making the purchase, right? If so, it’s strange that you decided to buy the printer in the first place.
Once again, I do not support what they are doing—I have simply explained the reasoning behind their actions.
That is a great point. Will this boil over when the next “shiny thing” hits the market, or will it be ho-hum. Will Bambu be viewed as visionary or will history say this was their “Bud Lite” moment? I guess only time will tell.
Regardless of where one stands on this issue, there is one undeniable fact that Bambu appears to be simply ignoring. That fact is:
“No matter what Bambu’s beliefs are, if enough Sh*t is thrown against the wall, eventually some of it will stick”.
Either you don’t need a solution: use Bambu Studio and Bambu Connect (your printer will print indentically as before).
Or you want to keep Orca Slicer (I am one of those) and you can do that too - right now don’t load their future firmware (have done this, it’s easy - essentially do nothing, with a minor little point of adding a firewall rule in your firewall/router). That’s all there’s to it.
Or… there were some other suggestions on how to deal with it. BTT is working on a Klipper MC board. Cool. We’ll see how that goes.
There are plenty of solutions to this; they simply chose a less optimal one. Time will reveal their next move.
As for myself, I don’t use Orca Slicer because I don’t see any advantages for my specific needs. So far, I haven’t encountered any models that I couldn’t print correctly with excellent results. I don’t see the point in having more features than I actually use, but I do understand why some people prefer to use Orca Slicer.
I just commented on your analogy between a 3D printer and a car and why it is flawed because it seems you either do not understand the situation or you don’t want to.
I said nothing about anything else.
That is why I also showed you the pertinent paragraph from their ToS.
And yet, you still chose to buy a closed-source, closed-hardware printer, fully aware of the TOS. The real question is, why did you buy it in the first place? I’m guessing you didn’t read the documentation before making your purchase—perhaps you just followed the recommendations of YouTube influencers and are now regretting your decision?
Yes, their hardware is undeniably excellent, but you were fully aware that you were purchasing a closed system, one that could change direction at any time, as outlined in the very section you referred to in your post.
Once again, I do not support their choice of solution. I’ve merely explained why they are doing what they’re doing, even though it’s far from ideal. The analogy with the car is relevant: you may own the car, but you don’t own the software inside it. If restrictions are introduced in the software to ensure the safety of the driver or to protect the hardware (e.g., the engine), the car owner often has little say—especially if they want continued updates, service, and support.
For example, I recently received a software update for my car that now prevents me from driving even 2 meters without fastening my seatbelt. This means that even something as simple as moving the car from the driveway into the garage now requires me to buckle up, which wasn’t the case before. In other words, I can no longer use the car in the way I used to for certain tasks.
Freedom, privacy, real property ownership… apparently aren’t cheap. I decided to pay for it in time and effort (explained in a wild tangent below).
…
Maybe I should thank BL for this. They’ve finally gotten me to stop procrastinating and improve my home network. I got around to figuring out where some mystery (previous homeowner) cat5 wires go, and since one wasn’t terminated, I finally learned how to crimp my own rj45 connectors*.
Next step, setup an isolated mini-wifi network. I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let this piece of technology force me to sell it (not until I’m ready anyway). Gonna nerd this thing until it works the way I want it to work.
(*Also I learned how virtually indistinguishable striped white/blue and white/green wires are… )
I strongly agree: open source (however the Prusa Core One is not open source hardware, only the slicer and software is open source…) or atleast free-access to my printer is important to me, and the next printer I buy will have that to a degree that meets my requirements (primarily the slicer is of utmost importat to me, secondarily if the MC is open or exchangable with third party boards, that’d also be really cool, as well as mechanical and motor components specs, but I just want to print, I don’t want to build my own printer, it’s about replacement of parts primarily for me.)
My problem (in the sense we’re discussing it here) is: I have the P1S – it’s paid for. So I am going to use it, and I will expend effort to make sure I can keep using it with my slicer of choice (Orca).
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