Ares 3D printer uses OctoPrint on OctoPi. It is quite adequate for my needs. Then some users mentioned AstroPrint and Repetier-Server. After dabbing them on the same Raspberry Pi in Ares, my appreciation for OctoPrint/OctoPi has grown. It has a very disciplined design, and well implemented.
In comparison, AstroBox was forked off OctoPrint/OctoPi, but it took away the ability to install headlessly. (In fact, you cannot even install AstroPrint alone without also taking its own distribution of Raspbian.)
Repetier-Server has much richer features, but then the many design flaws and bugs make you wonder if the bells and whistles are worth it.
In the end, print server is just convenience software. But in an age when everything is expected to be “mobile”, a print server is nearly a necessity. I am glad that Easy Arts decides to use “cloud” in Ares instead of sticking to flash card.
My vote is octoprint. Gina is fantastic! We are doing a print server (bot farm capability eventually) but it is really really simple… that camera option is tough to do and enviable.
I forgot to mention that I tested Repetier-Server and AstroBox on the same Pi inside Ares. Repetier-Server I can easily install via Debian package, all within OctoPi. But AstroBox I had to run it out of USB stick as I don’t want to unnecessarily open the chassis. (Mount method cannot be the reason why it couldn’t talk to Marlin, so I am still at a loss.)
Repetier can control multiple printers at once on a single interface. I run it off of a cheap windows 10 tablet that doesn’t cost that much more than a raspberry pi
@Evan_Nguyen Yes, that is when I question whether AstroBox is worth its mantel. It is designed to work with multiple printers, but one printer per Pi. This in my mind is just a way to push commercial boxes. (For those who haven’t looked, AstroBox by default generates a randomised hostname at first boot. I gasped at this as I inspected its scripts.)
BTW, one particularly nasty situation I ran into with Repetier-Server was when I opened a browser on my laptop then opened a browser on my phone. It behaved as if the server was single-threaded: The phone browser couldn’t connect until I killed laptop browser. (Didn’t try the other way around.) Never see this problem in OctoPrint.
@whackyhack I’ve never had that problem… I’ve tested 10 devices connected to it at once with my friends/family. What computer were you using? My Linux version works just fine. Cpu isn’t much of a problem. All the computer does is basically send lines of text to the printer. The printer sends lines of text back for temp
@Abc_Def I use Safari on OSX and same on iOS. It was pretty frustrating as the other screen had no obvious dynamic content so I had already forgotten. I kept thinking that something was wrong with my phone, until I remembered that the computer in the other room had an open browser.
I have experienced what you are talking about but it doesn’t happen to me due to connection. It happens when the server is running at near full capacity when rendering a preview, rendering a time lapse, or uploading a file. This problem may also be your router only allowing one device to connect to one said ip. I have my server port forwarded so I can access it from anywhere and I don’t have that problem
