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Modifying FileZilla to Workaround Bambu 3D Printer's FTP Issue(lantian.pub)

39 points by speckx 6 hours ago | hide | 43 comments

> I use Linux daily and don't want to switch to Windows just to connect to the printer's FTP service

I wonder if the author tried using their file manager to connect? I haven't needed any kind of external file management system since switching to Linux, Dolphin just handles everything (sftp, ftp, samba, etc) for me natively in the same window.

My favorite way to connect to FTP servers on Linux was with lftp from the command line. I say was because I don’t really use FTP anymore. I do use Linux still though.

lftp is available in every package manager I know.

Man page: https://linux.die.net/man/1/lftp

Actually lftp supports a lot of different protocols but I only ever used it for FTP, FTPS and SFTP.

Ironically, Microsoft recently (few years ago) removed the FTP client from Explorer.

That was my first thought as well, there is special client needed on all major desktops.

Or use mc (midnight commander).

I'm guessing bambu implementation returns the server socket's listen address, and they bind to 0.0.0.0. (Typography pet peeve, how do I disambiguate that dot?)

What's surprising is how this got shipped. Do the devs use some other client that has the WinSCP setting on by default, or is that feature only used by their slicer and their SDK does it by default?

One theory I have is they bound the server to the printer's address originally and it behaved properly, but then changed to 0.0.0.0 later.

> Typography pet peeve, how do I disambiguate that dot?

I have resorted to "0.0.0.0".

Reasonable.

I wish there was a common convention for logical grouping like we have in math when disambiguating operator precedence with parenthesis, but those are already taken for asides in regular prose. Maybe curly braces?

`0.0.0.0`.

Plus there's also ::/0 to bind to which will break/fix things as well.

Too bad FileZilla can’t be forced to use EPSV which might just work with this buggy server.

Instead of recompiling the source and installing it again, is there a way to monkey patch the already existing package? It seems like a few lines of code.

That would be incredibly complicated and crash-prone to do.

With nice distros like gentoo, you can just drop the .patch file into an apropriate folder and it'll be applied with every re/install/upgrade

I'd rather more like to imagine a software packaging/distribution regimen whereby dropping a patch(1)-compatible patch file into "an appropriate folder" meant that it would instantly take effect the very next time you run the program.

you can recompile and not install it anywhere, just run the binary you compiled yourself.

The A1 mini has FTP O_o that's actually great to hear

Somewhat related I am thinking of picking up a Bambu A1 as my first foray into 3d printing ... seems to be a really solid move can anyone comment?

Bambu and Prusa are the two default picks. They're both very common choices for first 3D printers, they're both about as high quality as you'll find without spending substantially more money, and they're both about as idiot-proof as 3D printers gets. I personally prefer Prusa as a bit more open and good for hacking on, but Bambus target end users a bit better and have their own advantages. You can't really go wrong either way.

I will say that the answer may change a bit depending on what you're hoping to print. If your goal is, for example, high detail miniatures for tabletop gaming, you may want to be looking into something like SLA printers. Or if you need a specific exotic material, or if you anticipate needing multiple filaments, the answer similarly changes.

The Creality line of printers is also another line of 3D printers to look at. They've got some entry models are quite good (and cheap) to start with

I upgraded from my buggy, annoying Ender 3 Pro to a Bambu A1, and it's been pretty wonderful so far. I haven't had any need to "babysit" it, and I can trust it to just start a print, and finish it when I get back. It self-levels the bed, etc.

I got the most basic model - a single feed for filament, etc. I recommend it.

People are right that you shouldn't spend too much money, but don't spend too little, either. If you think to yourself, "Well, $300 is a lot for a 3D printer, I'll just get an Ender 3 for $200, or a used Ender 3 for $100", you'll end up getting significantly more frustrated if all you want to do is 3D print things.

For $300 you can get an A1 mini and it's a pretty solidly engineered printer. We're running them until they break. But they don't break...

I second this. Occasionally the head will jam, but it is easy to clean them out. But, the A1 mini is the first device that really just works. It's so much fun.

Do not be an idiot like I was and try to print in an outdoor atrium to avoid fumes. That's really not an issue these days and humidity will kill your filament. For many reasons related to humidity control, it is useful to invest in a humidity monitoring filament holder.

I got the A1 - I knew I would want to print bigger things eventually, and spending an extra ~$100 seemed like a no-brainer.

I also always get the bigger disk on phones, etc.

Go for it, don't spend a lot of money though on the first one. If you enjoy it then figure out the next one to spend the money on.

The big issue for me right now is that a lot of the smaller bed printers can't really do some of the larger projects I want to do like wall hanging systems or drawer organization systems.

Also Bambu the company mostly is fine, but there's some worry that they'll eventually lock people into using only their filament, but doesn't seem to have happened yet. So buyer beware.

> Also Bambu the company mostly is fine, but there's some worry that they'll eventually lock people into using only their filament, but doesn't seem to have happened yet. So buyer beware.

I'm not sure how Bambu could actually do that. They use RFID tags to identify their filament type/color. I taped a tag from a used roll to some prusa filament and the printer couldn't tell the difference.

Just in case, my Bambus are LAN only and don't get updated. I use Orca Slicer instead of the Bambu slicer.

Go the HP way. May be throw annoying errors based on the expected amount of printing a filament with a particular tag is supposed to last.

If corporations can put a chip in a tooth brush head...

https://www.reddit.com/r/hacking/comments/145fsx6/just_finis...

They could write to the RFID how much filament "it has left".

Bambu can't even keep their filament in stock, plus they ship the printers with multiple preloaded profiles for other filament vendors. I don't foresee them making that change any time soon.

Good choice, keep in mind that you'll probably spend more on filament rolls if you get hooked

The new X2c just came out. Consider buying a used X1c someone is selling to upgrade.

Good old FTP. I am a bit sad that it kind of died. We should have some modern FTP with super-simple everywhere implementations.

Edit: Actually, some things should be fixed too if any future FTP-like protocol would be added. I never liked the difference between active mode and passive mode in FTP. A user really should never have to care about that. Things should "just work". It's only data transfer in both cases anyway.

IMHO, there's a better answer to any thing you like about FTP. For simple stuff, TFTP seems... fine? I've never looked under the hood, but I'm pretty sure it fixes the really bizarre choices in FTP. For everything else, either SFTP or HTTP seems to be the rule. For moving files around between machines, I've become quite fond of https://github.com/9001/copyparty over http

Isn't the what sftp is? sftp multiplexes commands and data, and is single port without all the old fashioned two port negotiation of FTP.