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Manual Raspberry Pi Installation

How to Install AutoFarm3D on a Raspberry Pi

If you want to install AutoFarm3D on a Raspberry Pi, follow these instructions!

1. What you'll need

ItemMinimum Specs
Raspberry Pi 42 GB RAM
MicroSD card16GB, Class 10 Rating. Maximum 64 GB
Raspberry Pi 5V power supply3 Amps
USB or SD to MicroSD adapternone
Ethernet cablenone

2. Load Software Onto SD Card

Caution

Formatting your card erases all data on the SD card. Make sure you have backed up any important files before proceeding.

2.1 Format SD Card

  1. Insert the micro SD card into your computer.
  2. Install and open SDCard.org SD card formatter (download here)
  3. Format your card using the "Quick Format" option.
Why we recommend using the SDcard.org formatter

Your computer likely has a built-in SD card formatter, but they can be unreliable, especially if the SD card previously contained a Linux file system. The SDcard.org SD Card Formatter produces identical results on Mac and Windows computers, and works on any SD card, regardless of what file system it contains.

2.2. Choose Software

  1. Download AutoFarm3D for Raspberry Pi (First time user) or (Existing user)
  2. Install and open Raspberry Pi Imager (download here).
  3. Click ‘Operating System’ and select ‘Use custom’.
  4. Select the AutoFarm-x.x.x.img file you downloaded from our website. If it is in a .zip file, please extract it first.
Can't unzip the file?

Mac computers sometimes have issues unzipping large files. For a fix, please follow this guide

2.3 Network Configuration

With an ethernet connection, all you need to do is plug in an ethernet cable to connect your Pi to your router or network switch. Ethernet is the most reliable way to connect your Hub to your network.

  1. Click the gear (settings) icon. A new dialogue should pop up showing "Advanced Options."
  2. Uncheck all image customization settings (see image below)

configure ethernet

:::Custom username and password

Do not set a custom username for your Pi - AutoFarm3D wont boot! Your username must be exactly pi

You may, however, set a custom password. As long as the username is pi, it'll boot up fine.

:::

2.4 Write to SD card

  1. Click ‘SD Card’ and select your SD card.
  2. Select ‘Write’ and wait until it's finished. Writing to the SD card may take up to 15 minutes.
Caution

This process will delete all data on the selected SD card. Make sure you select the correct SD card!

If you have other SD cards or USB flash drives plugged into your computer that contain important files, to prevent accidents, you may want to temporarily eject any drives you don't want to accidentally overwrite.

3. Plug Everything In

  1. Make sure the Pi is turned off and unplugged.
  2. Insert SD card.
  3. Connect a USB cable from your Pi to your 3D printer (if using a network-enabled printer e.g. Bambu Lab, skip this step)
  4. Connect an ethernet cable from your router to the Pi (unless using Wifi).
  5. Connect the power supply. Your Pi should power on and begin booting up.

4. Log in to AutoFarm3D

4.1 Finding Your IP Address

When the Pi successfully boots and connects to the internet, your Pi's IP address will show up on the printer’s LCD in the format xxx.xxx.xx.xxx:8080

find ip

‍If you are having issues finding the IP or unsure if your Pi is functioning correctly, please see our Network Troubleshooting Page.

Note for Bambu Lab users

Because Bambu Lab printers don't have a USB port, you'll need to connect them wirelessly after setting up AutoFarm3D. You'll need to find your Pi's IP address manually using Angry IP Scanner or a similar tool. Please see our Network Troubleshooting Page for more information.

4.2 Log in From Your Browser

  1. On your computer, open a browser and enter the IP address followed by “:8080”. You should now see the 3DQue login screen.
  2. Sign in to your AutoFarm3D account. If you don't have an account, please create one.

log in

5.0 Next Steps

Check out our Tutorials to learn how to use AutoFarm3D!