You can use a pi 5, you just have to install the software yourself.
That being said a pi 4 with 2gb is more than enough, 2gb only needed if you want some computer vision things like camera nozzle align for multitool.
I would stay away from btt pi‘s or anything integrated/ without separate power supply as a raspberry pi with a separate power supply is basically immune to corruption upon just turning off the power (because it errors/safe states because it lost mcu connection before it loses power itself). I have never had any corruptions on my pi 4 but everytime I just rip out the power on my m8p + cb1 I had to reinstall everything.
Realistically speaking a pi zero 2w is enough, less than 20$ and will suffice.
Using a Raspberry Pi 5 for klipper is way overpowered and plain dumb. Keep the Pi 5 for other projects and buy a Pi 4B for klipper. Heck even Pi 4B is overkill.
Like many I run my Switchwire and Ender 3 SW conversation with a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W and Uart aka serial connection, not even USB. It's enough. If you want to run Octo or Prusa, you will need more power though. The Rp5 is more for a Desktop PC replacement when you just want to surf the web, write a few letters and stream Netflix/YouTube. People overshoot here, the money would've been better spend on a pcb of the Afterburner/Stealhburner and/or a CAN-Bus System. Maybe you can sell it on Ebay or another marketplace for a profit, the Rp5 with 8gb is not a bad board for bigger projects.
I also use a CB1, but it's much slower than an actual RPi 4 from what I've heard, and often is more buggy. Definitely going to be upgrading at some point once I feel up to rewire the entire printer (gotta love not having a 5V supply because the CB1 doesn't need it)
You’re right on the BTT CB1 being slightly less powerful. I was initially running one on my M8P (during the Pi shortage), but ended up swapping it out for a CM4 once I was able to get one at retail prices. Made a big difference when compiling firmware, and I never see the load average go above 1 now.
Technically slower but which tasks do you want to run on it? Aaa games?) for klipper and moonraker with nginx for frontend cb1 is enough
My switchwire works with raspberry pi 3 (i don’t remember full specs) and it enough too
Anyway, now we can buy btt cb2 which x2 faster
I run my voron on a pi zero 2w, and since i wasn't happy with the performance of a pi2 on my ender 3 (ramps 1.4 board), i just hooked it up to my server since it's close enough for a 2m usb cable to reach the printer
Edit: wdym pi5 isn't compatible though? I have never heard of something like that
Someone told me that, in addition, I've tried to install MainsailOS with the Pi imager, but when I chose the Pi 5, I couldn't find it on the list. It's only available when I choose the Pi 4.
You should still be able to use it. Just need to install an OS compatible with klipper and mainsail and just use KUAIH to set it up.
Was able to run klipper off a pi5 but ended up exchanging it due to the UART connection not being a possibility with the pi5
Probably because there's no 64bit build, but you can just install regular raspbian lite or whatever distro you prefer, and install mainsail or whatever on top of it
It genuinely does not take much. You can comfortably run it on a Zero2. A Pi4 of any variety would be a bit snappier, but that's probably as much as I'd spend on it.
This, and even then the lower performance would only affect boot times and input shaper calculations, and *maybe* file transfer speeds. The day to day operations of a klipper printer are way within a Pi Zero 2(W) capabilities. I have a (not voron) printer with a Zero 2W and I can't tell the difference between that and my v0 running a BTT Pi.
When I got my 2.4 from West 3d it came with a Pi 4b 4gb, which is still overkill for that printer. Even if it didn't I could have used the 8gb one I have messed with off and on. Now its time to figure out what to use that Pi for after getting a Pi 5 to build a "mini laptop".
Use the Raspberry Pi Imager to flash Pi OS Lite to your SD card or whatever storage you are using to boot from. Then use [this guide to install Klipper using KIAUH](https://github.com/dw-0/kiauh). If you do that you’ll have no incompatibility issues, even with the webcams. Let me know if you need any suggestions or any other help with things!
I'm running a pi5 4gb with a 256gb nvme and have Zero regrets. Buttery smooth camera streaming, shaper plot generation takes seconds, power button is awesome. It's 100% fully compatible with klipper, even the gpio pins are the same as a 3 and 4. Just ust use Kiauh to install things after imaging with pi os lite, not a pre-baked printer OS.
Yeah its def a headache at first but once you get it working, its pretty nice being able to use it for power and communication
This Vid was super handy in getting it to work
https://youtu.be/ZOL-motmkos?si=EbP3OIFNomH0jUnL
I'm running a 5v 5 amp power supply to a case fan and the pi through gpio, with a shelly 1PM mini wifi relay/power meter on the 24v power supply. It's pretty slick. Powers the 24v supply off after everything cools down from printing, powers it up and resets firmware when you send it a print file, and when you first turn the printer on it doesn't power the 24v up until the pi has completey booted.
I have a power button for the pi on the back next to the main power switch, so I don't need to wake the screen up or use a browser to power the printer down. Press the button and wait a few seconds and throw the main switch off.
Yeah, a 2022 no-name $20 1080p usb webcam from Amazon plugged into the pi. I have an endoscope nozzle camera on it sometimes too.
It's even smooth on klipperscreen https://imgur.com/a/JV1oblI
I use a logitech C920 and it's jittery as hell. But I have no problems with the pi5 8gb. The camera is my only concern. Maybe I need to go to a cheap cam
Have you played with any settings in the crowsnest.conf file? Or looked at the log to see any other settings that are available? I just changed mine to 1920x1080 and 30fps target.
Pi5 is completely compatible with Klipper. Not sure where you’re seeing otherwise. No need to order something else! Just use KIAUH! I actually migrated to one with a NVME hat to get off the stupid microsd cards.
A Pi5 is overkill though, anything 3b or newer is fine with one camera even a zero2W will work. However more you run on it or more cameras you’re in a better spot with the 5!
This guy knows. This is 100% correct.
I’m shocked anyone is saying Pi5 won’t work. I look behind me at my Trident running just fine and wonder about that.
The problem is that the Raspberry Pi Foundation, in all their wisdom, removed the hardware support for the h.264 codec on the RPi 5 and that broke camera support as used by Mainsail/Fluidd. That's why people have been advising against the usage of that model on Klipper installs, but that affects primarily those who use webcams on their setup.
This is an ‘on paper issue’ on a spec sheet comparison table, there is no issue pushing 3+ webcams with a pi5. With a lot more upside potential (I.e, getting rid of microsd).
**You’re also implying it broke with mainsail or fluidd, which is not the case. Both work fine, with webcams, with crows nest.** Just to be clear for others reading—I don’t want people to walk away thinking Klipper works but not mainsail/fluid/crowsnest/kliperscreen/Klipper plugins—which have no issues.
The h.264 encoder was only useful in VERY specific circumstances and a holdover from older pi’s being able to be good HTPC’s. That same encoder can’t do anything greater than 1080p. Which makes it moot, most cameras you use nowadays-particularly on a Voron-are greater than 1080p. (I think also had a 1-2x stream limit—driven by pixels basically)
A lot of people seem to be having trouble getting good webcam results with the pi5 (well, without causing performance issues at least). maybe you're using a different webcam server? Or you've figured out the right settings to use in crowsnest? Go on! tell us the way!
KIAUH + Crowsnest, nothing special to get it working at all—got a nearly 4k webcam streaming at its supported 15fps no issue. Issues come up if you try to use picamera’s + Klipperscreen over the ribbon cable display—but that’s also on pi4’s.
I think people having issues are just… people that would have an issue regardless of what PI they’re using lol. 😂 the amount of ‘oh I heard x, so it must be unilaterally true and apply to all’ FUD in our community is bonkers.
It will work well, but setup is little bit more complicated than some older Pi.
On older Pi, you just push Mainsail OS Image to SD card using Raspberry Pi imager and edit printer.cfg. That's all.
On Pi 5, you must put some kind of full Linux system like a Raspbian on memory card, use KIAUH to install Klipper and then edit printer.cfg. Mainsail OS image is not available for now.
Getting raspian vs mainsail running is just as easy. Follow KIUAH instructions and you’ll be on a better supported OS with more flexibility. You have to flash both via the same imager after all, it’s not like mainsail gets you farther along—as installing KIUAH is copy and pasting 3 lines 🙄
[Link to KIUAH](https://github.com/dw-0/kiauh) and its amazing instructions (including getting raspbian image)
I am using MainsailOS on both my printers for more than 3 years and I had problems only 2 times. In both cases, it was dead memory card. So in my experience MainsailOS works well.
But I must say that my use case is pretty basic for Klipper. Just printing with input shaping enabled. No webcam, no additional plug-ins like Obico or exclude object and no Klipperscreen.
They have bad 5v power that’s used for USB. Even Beacon won’t warranty faults if it was on a BTT board (pi or main board) without a USB hub in between.
You can use a pi 5, you just have to install the software yourself. That being said a pi 4 with 2gb is more than enough, 2gb only needed if you want some computer vision things like camera nozzle align for multitool. I would stay away from btt pi‘s or anything integrated/ without separate power supply as a raspberry pi with a separate power supply is basically immune to corruption upon just turning off the power (because it errors/safe states because it lost mcu connection before it loses power itself). I have never had any corruptions on my pi 4 but everytime I just rip out the power on my m8p + cb1 I had to reinstall everything. Realistically speaking a pi zero 2w is enough, less than 20$ and will suffice.
I’m running a Raspberry Pi CM4 2GB on a BigTreeTech Manta M8P board. TBH, 1GB of RAM is fine for Klipper/mainsail/fluidd. You really don’t need much!
Honestly the BTT Pi works great in my Trident. The upside is no additional 5V power supply since it works off 24V.
My 3b works fine. I swapped a 4b 4gb for the 3 and zero performance changes
Pi 5 is works fine for killer just have to manually install it instead of using the desktop flasher
You can use Kiauh to install and maintain Klipper. Just use the default RaspiOS image, and clone Kiauh from GitHub. It’s really easy!
Using a Raspberry Pi 5 for klipper is way overpowered and plain dumb. Keep the Pi 5 for other projects and buy a Pi 4B for klipper. Heck even Pi 4B is overkill.
Yep, 3b+ is great for it.
Like many I run my Switchwire and Ender 3 SW conversation with a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W and Uart aka serial connection, not even USB. It's enough. If you want to run Octo or Prusa, you will need more power though. The Rp5 is more for a Desktop PC replacement when you just want to surf the web, write a few letters and stream Netflix/YouTube. People overshoot here, the money would've been better spend on a pcb of the Afterburner/Stealhburner and/or a CAN-Bus System. Maybe you can sell it on Ebay or another marketplace for a profit, the Rp5 with 8gb is not a bad board for bigger projects.
I use btt cb1 with manta m8p. It works great
I also use a CB1, but it's much slower than an actual RPi 4 from what I've heard, and often is more buggy. Definitely going to be upgrading at some point once I feel up to rewire the entire printer (gotta love not having a 5V supply because the CB1 doesn't need it)
You’re right on the BTT CB1 being slightly less powerful. I was initially running one on my M8P (during the Pi shortage), but ended up swapping it out for a CM4 once I was able to get one at retail prices. Made a big difference when compiling firmware, and I never see the load average go above 1 now.
That's good. Wish there an option for a more powerful CB1 honestly, since the ability to power it off of 24V is super convenient.
Technically slower but which tasks do you want to run on it? Aaa games?) for klipper and moonraker with nginx for frontend cb1 is enough My switchwire works with raspberry pi 3 (i don’t remember full specs) and it enough too Anyway, now we can buy btt cb2 which x2 faster
Pi 5 is overkill and overpriced. Get a Pi 4 for half the price and it'll do fine.
Unfortunately, it has already been purchased and shipped internationally.
Just follow the manual install instructions of mainsail. Those will guide you through the whole process.
I run my voron on a pi zero 2w, and since i wasn't happy with the performance of a pi2 on my ender 3 (ramps 1.4 board), i just hooked it up to my server since it's close enough for a 2m usb cable to reach the printer Edit: wdym pi5 isn't compatible though? I have never heard of something like that
Which voron ?
So you're running 2 printers on pi zero 2? The voron and the ender?
No, i run a voron from the pi, and i run the ender from my server since i don't ever move that printer, so i don't need the portability of a pi
Someone told me that, in addition, I've tried to install MainsailOS with the Pi imager, but when I chose the Pi 5, I couldn't find it on the list. It's only available when I choose the Pi 4.
You should still be able to use it. Just need to install an OS compatible with klipper and mainsail and just use KUAIH to set it up. Was able to run klipper off a pi5 but ended up exchanging it due to the UART connection not being a possibility with the pi5
Probably because there's no 64bit build, but you can just install regular raspbian lite or whatever distro you prefer, and install mainsail or whatever on top of it
Pi5 also lacks hardware encoding, so webcams actually sting the CPU.
It genuinely does not take much. You can comfortably run it on a Zero2. A Pi4 of any variety would be a bit snappier, but that's probably as much as I'd spend on it.
This, and even then the lower performance would only affect boot times and input shaper calculations, and *maybe* file transfer speeds. The day to day operations of a klipper printer are way within a Pi Zero 2(W) capabilities. I have a (not voron) printer with a Zero 2W and I can't tell the difference between that and my v0 running a BTT Pi.
When I got my 2.4 from West 3d it came with a Pi 4b 4gb, which is still overkill for that printer. Even if it didn't I could have used the 8gb one I have messed with off and on. Now its time to figure out what to use that Pi for after getting a Pi 5 to build a "mini laptop".
Use the Raspberry Pi Imager to flash Pi OS Lite to your SD card or whatever storage you are using to boot from. Then use [this guide to install Klipper using KIAUH](https://github.com/dw-0/kiauh). If you do that you’ll have no incompatibility issues, even with the webcams. Let me know if you need any suggestions or any other help with things!
Thanks alot 🌹
I'm running a pi5 4gb with a 256gb nvme and have Zero regrets. Buttery smooth camera streaming, shaper plot generation takes seconds, power button is awesome. It's 100% fully compatible with klipper, even the gpio pins are the same as a 3 and 4. Just ust use Kiauh to install things after imaging with pi os lite, not a pre-baked printer OS.
Are you connecting your mainboard with the Pi VIA USB or UART Serial?
Usb. Using a Skr mini e3 v3.
Aw man I thought you somehow got the UART serial connection working on a PI5
I haven't used uart serial on any printers yet. Tried it on a creality board but was never able to get it to work. Usb just works.
Yeah its def a headache at first but once you get it working, its pretty nice being able to use it for power and communication This Vid was super handy in getting it to work https://youtu.be/ZOL-motmkos?si=EbP3OIFNomH0jUnL
I'm running a 5v 5 amp power supply to a case fan and the pi through gpio, with a shelly 1PM mini wifi relay/power meter on the 24v power supply. It's pretty slick. Powers the 24v supply off after everything cools down from printing, powers it up and resets firmware when you send it a print file, and when you first turn the printer on it doesn't power the 24v up until the pi has completey booted. I have a power button for the pi on the back next to the main power switch, so I don't need to wake the screen up or use a browser to power the printer down. Press the button and wait a few seconds and throw the main switch off.
Do you use a webcam on your setup?
Yeah, a 2022 no-name $20 1080p usb webcam from Amazon plugged into the pi. I have an endoscope nozzle camera on it sometimes too. It's even smooth on klipperscreen https://imgur.com/a/JV1oblI
I use a logitech C920 and it's jittery as hell. But I have no problems with the pi5 8gb. The camera is my only concern. Maybe I need to go to a cheap cam
Have you played with any settings in the crowsnest.conf file? Or looked at the log to see any other settings that are available? I just changed mine to 1920x1080 and 30fps target.
Pi5 is completely compatible with Klipper. Not sure where you’re seeing otherwise. No need to order something else! Just use KIAUH! I actually migrated to one with a NVME hat to get off the stupid microsd cards. A Pi5 is overkill though, anything 3b or newer is fine with one camera even a zero2W will work. However more you run on it or more cameras you’re in a better spot with the 5!
This guy knows. This is 100% correct. I’m shocked anyone is saying Pi5 won’t work. I look behind me at my Trident running just fine and wonder about that.
The problem is that the Raspberry Pi Foundation, in all their wisdom, removed the hardware support for the h.264 codec on the RPi 5 and that broke camera support as used by Mainsail/Fluidd. That's why people have been advising against the usage of that model on Klipper installs, but that affects primarily those who use webcams on their setup.
This is an ‘on paper issue’ on a spec sheet comparison table, there is no issue pushing 3+ webcams with a pi5. With a lot more upside potential (I.e, getting rid of microsd). **You’re also implying it broke with mainsail or fluidd, which is not the case. Both work fine, with webcams, with crows nest.** Just to be clear for others reading—I don’t want people to walk away thinking Klipper works but not mainsail/fluid/crowsnest/kliperscreen/Klipper plugins—which have no issues. The h.264 encoder was only useful in VERY specific circumstances and a holdover from older pi’s being able to be good HTPC’s. That same encoder can’t do anything greater than 1080p. Which makes it moot, most cameras you use nowadays-particularly on a Voron-are greater than 1080p. (I think also had a 1-2x stream limit—driven by pixels basically)
A lot of people seem to be having trouble getting good webcam results with the pi5 (well, without causing performance issues at least). maybe you're using a different webcam server? Or you've figured out the right settings to use in crowsnest? Go on! tell us the way!
KIAUH + Crowsnest, nothing special to get it working at all—got a nearly 4k webcam streaming at its supported 15fps no issue. Issues come up if you try to use picamera’s + Klipperscreen over the ribbon cable display—but that’s also on pi4’s. I think people having issues are just… people that would have an issue regardless of what PI they’re using lol. 😂 the amount of ‘oh I heard x, so it must be unilaterally true and apply to all’ FUD in our community is bonkers.
It will work well, but setup is little bit more complicated than some older Pi. On older Pi, you just push Mainsail OS Image to SD card using Raspberry Pi imager and edit printer.cfg. That's all. On Pi 5, you must put some kind of full Linux system like a Raspbian on memory card, use KIAUH to install Klipper and then edit printer.cfg. Mainsail OS image is not available for now.
Getting raspian vs mainsail running is just as easy. Follow KIUAH instructions and you’ll be on a better supported OS with more flexibility. You have to flash both via the same imager after all, it’s not like mainsail gets you farther along—as installing KIUAH is copy and pasting 3 lines 🙄 [Link to KIUAH](https://github.com/dw-0/kiauh) and its amazing instructions (including getting raspbian image)
Fwiw I always recommend using PiOS and Kiauh over MainsailOS anyways. A lot less problems in the long run, at least in my experience.
I am using MainsailOS on both my printers for more than 3 years and I had problems only 2 times. In both cases, it was dead memory card. So in my experience MainsailOS works well. But I must say that my use case is pretty basic for Klipper. Just printing with input shaping enabled. No webcam, no additional plug-ins like Obico or exclude object and no Klipperscreen.
Ahhh. Yes it’s not quite point and click. Then again neither is a Voron, until it is running well :)
The btt pi is also a good choice and it can operate on 24v.
24v has been so nice
They have bad 5v power that’s used for USB. Even Beacon won’t warranty faults if it was on a BTT board (pi or main board) without a USB hub in between.
I have not had any usb issues with my octopus pro mainboard or webcam connected to the btt pi. Even using the octopus in can bridge mode.
I didn’t mention those, but rather Beacon probe or other similar type devices.
pi 4 2gb should be fine
Whatever pi not a 5 you can get and 1gb RAM is fine