I fear many people have also become unaware that if you do not update to this latest firmware you’ll essentially forfeit your current printers “Support through Updates” service term. So say they implement a enhanced AI feature such as “Debris Detection” which alerts you of something being left on the build plate, well it looks like you wouldn’t be receiving that feature without updating to the latest firmware…
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I don’t really feel like anybody is unaware of this… the whole point of new firmware is to correct bugs and add new features. If there was no reason to update firmware, nobody would ever update, and this wouldn’t be any issue at all.
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There hasn’t truly been a need to update firmware on the X1 Series at all and users have been completely fine just the way it is. Up until now where it’s more so being forced OR you decide not to and loose future potential improvements or added features.
Also current users have a choice whether or not to update. By the statement made in the blog, that’s not going to be an option for newer printers and future products…
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It has never been an option when buying newer products, to get them with a firmware made before they were manufactured. This is just the normal way of making any products, you manufacture them with the latest stable firmware on them. Why would you send out new things that had bugs in them you already fixed, or missing features you already added?
There have been plenty of improvements to the firmware of the X1 since release, and the decision to not update (and lose potential improvements or new features) has always been true, because again, that’s how firmware works.
Your position here is very confusing. The breaking changes from Bambu suck - but the fact they involve firmware has pretty much nothing to do with the reasons why they suck, and pointing at things that are part of how firmware works and can’t be changed by Bambu makes it very easy for Bambu to say ‘that’s just how firmware works’ and not deal with the actual issues.
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You’re making an argument over something that’s not of concern… The statement made 1/16/25 was based on “Security Improvements”, by chance have you had any security issues since using the product? The statement is a blanket over a larger concern rather an issue.
I know and fully understand how updates work lol. This isn’t some bug fix update or any true improvement if there wasn’t anything wrong to begin with. There must be a certain user base being breached that were unaware of that drove the implementation of increasing security to the point of solely using first party software…
My position isn’t confusing and by the looks of it is widely supported so far from what I’m seeing amongst the broader community of users. But that’s nice to see there’s users that won’t be affected and I’m happy to know that.
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The things that people widely support is that the effect of the changes are bad. That’s not the issue you’re pointing at here. This IS a bugfix argument from the side of Bambu, and arguing at Bambu about that point is going to go exactly nowhere, they can just say ‘it’s needed to make things secure’ and easily ignore anybody making that complaint, same as all the people arguing against 2-factor get ignored.
People can currently remotely connect to Bambu printers without auth and tell them to execute arbitrary gCode. This isn’t good, and fixing it is a bugfix, regardless of whether I have personally had my machine controlled maliciously. The fact that this is being done by firmware is because that’s where the problem is.
The issue lies in the way they’ve chosen to handle the auth, which excludes 3rd party slicers from being able to plug in seamlessly, not the update mechanism. If people get distracted with things that are fundamental parts of how firmware updates work, Bambu will just call them stupid and ignore them.
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I have had a software bug in bambu slicer for like 3 years now ( they are aware of it and replied to my GitHub report , but I guess they don’t want to fix it , but they were the ones who broke the function) Orca Slicer works fine. So now I can’t use Orca Slicer easily and they still won’t fix the bug so I can print what I sell.
It’s a lose/lose and a wake up call to me.
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I’ll reply by quoting @Rossero who has summarized very well the whole thing…and our reasons for (serious) concerns:
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This IS a bugfix argument from the side of Bambu, and arguing at Bambu about that point is going to go exactly nowhere, they can just say ‘it’s needed to make things secure’ and easily ignore anybody making that complaint, same as all the people arguing against 2-factor get ignored.
If it were true, they wouldn’t be releasing a “connect” application that runs on your local computer. Reverse engineering isn’t that hard and once somebody’s reverse-engineered how this auth (if it’s “auth” at all, and not just an obfuscated API client) works, then there’s no practical way to tell whether it’s “Bambu Connect on my computer” or “ThirdPartyApp on my computer” doing it.
I think it’s much more likely that this is sand in the gears for OrcaSlicer because they have the temerity to not do a bunch of MakerWorld engagement-farming or otherwise move people into the Bambu upsell funnel.
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That’s still missing the point. There is no security argument for not using an auth mechanism that allows any software with the correct credentials from accessing the printer. They just need to create a way (or more realistically, use one of the many existing open source ways) to do so.
If there was an actual security reason to not allow Orca, then they would be justified in not allowing Orca. The point is there isn’t, so making the argument ‘We want Orca, not security’ is not the right argument to be making. We want both.
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I will sell my printer if it starts requiring internet access. I use my printers in a separated VLAN, LAN only mode.
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I think it’s ironic in their post too they mention how their cloud is being abused and causing issues so their solution is to LOCK EVERYTHING behind their cloud.
This means if they’re site is down or has issues YOU CAN NOT EVEN USE THE PRINTER besides using the SD slot which is tedious. How horrible is that, with LAN mode this isn’t an issue currently but will be when everything has to be go through this cloud auth service.
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You seem not to have grasped the main idea in his message; it starts with "for security reasons " and continues with new or additional restrictions. Soon enough, you won’t be allowed to do many other things… also "for security reasons "…
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I honestly do not understand why the restrictions are also enforced on the LAN. My Home Assistant connects on local network only, via MQTT. It does not cause any load in the cloud. The webcam is also connected to locally.
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I don’t think the old school, tinker with your printer all day, 3d printing community is Bambu’s target audience. Seems to me those are the ones complaining the loudest. Sure, I get it, they come from a different time, a different world. The problems start when they try and shove those ideals into Bambu and try to force Bambu to be that, when clearly for awhile, it wasn’t.
Bambu isn’t just it’s printers, it’s the whole of the system they’ve created. You can’t have one without the other, and as an end user if you want one without the other, you have to deal with the limitations of.
Just like I have an iphone, but a windows pc. I don’t get to enjoy all the fruits of that ecosystem, that my phone could provide.
These are choices I make though, choices I understand, when I purchase into products like this. I like to tinker, sure. I purchase an iphone though being fully aware that it’s not a tinkerers phone, and I don’t go and cry to apple because they don’t let me turn it into one.
The target audience is the consumers. It’s creative consumers, not hardcore in your basement with electronics equipment, been programming since you were 4, tinkerers. And that consumer group can cover a lot of people, and people that do very serious work too. Such as parts for their gyrocopter. It’s about a class of people that are focused on what they’re making, not the tool they’re using to make it.
I’ve known a number of these people too, and they stop short of getting into 3d printing because of the amount of perceived work that goes into having to just understand how to 3d print and all the BS one use to have to do when dealing with 3d printing.
Bambu’s system as a whole makes it easier for this group to engage 3d printing and get out of it what they want. This comes about in a number of ways. These are things all you tech minded people take for granted because you’ve done it so long, but you just fail to realize the realities of the world and that not everyone is you.
My best friend, he’s an artist like myself. In some ways, he tops me. He’s a painter, a sculptor. The 3d work he does blows my mind. I handle his 3d printing projects though because he’s not a tech guy, and it just overwhelms him, all of that. There is no way I could have got him using a 3d printer, pre bambu. Even as things started to change and finally get more, just works out of the box, it still felt short.
Bambu is a printer he can use. and it’s not just the printer, it’s the whole of the system and how it comes together.
There are plenty of printers that are wide open for tinkering and everything else, so why we act like the sky is falling because Bambu is leaning into their rather apparent target audiance, I don’t know.
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Bambu connect isn’t connected to the cloud. This is why it can function in LAN mode.
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They made some changes and additions to the previous version. Now it reads:
Up until now I was anxious to see launched their new flagship printer (possibly named H2D), even potentially considering acquiring one if demonstrated of being another groundbreaking machine. Now, following this bit, I wouldn’t even pay any attention to it… and definitely not going to buy another Bambu machine again.
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what hapened to the basic human rights in USA after 9/11. in the name of safety ?
I’m 2 months into my A1 Combo. First printer.
I’m not coming from the ages of 3D Printing, I do not like to tinker with my 3D printer. I need it to print the objects I need, within acceptable quality parameters. I don’t want to calibrate each and every filament roll.
I still think this decision is anti-consumer, because even if it comes from a place of genuine security concern, the implementation also serves to lock down the ways we can and want to use and access our printer.
And If they do go ahead with this, I will try to sell my A1 Combo and buy a printer from a brand which is more considerate when making dramatic changes to the user experience.
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You seem to have again missed the point. Anyone can say anything is the reason for something when it isn’t. The point isn’t to start arguing against the thing they’ve held up as the reason, it’s to identify what that reason actually motivates. Security of a 3d printer that is opened up to the internet is not a nice-to-have, it’s a necessity. But ‘we need security therefore Orca will stop working properly’ is an invalid argument. Why waste your time arguing that security isn’t needed? Instead argue that the one doesn’t lead to the other. Because the second argument is the one that is correct.
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