Klipper for CR-6
Klipper can be compiled and run headless on any of the CR6 motherboards. In January 2023, options are also emerging to run a compatible DWIN_SET application on the stock DWIN T5L 272x480 TFT display.
Running Klipper on the CR6 Motherboard
The master Klipper3d repository includes excellent installation instructions and sample configurations for getting Klipper onto any of the CR6 motherboards.
Resources are also posted on this repository, specifically tailored to help CR6 owners to make the switch to Klipper:
It is NOT an in-depth tutorial site - there are plenty of existing options for that - but it does offer some configuration files, pre-compiled .bin files (for flashing to the printer motherboard), tips and pointers.
DWIN/DGUS Display Options for Klipper on the CR6
Klipper does not (yet?) offer a bundled UI solution that runs natively on the T5L 272x480 DWIN TouchScreen that comes stock with the CR6 printers. Until recently, those who moved to Klipper on the CR6 were therefore limited to one or more of these options:
work "headless" and just control/monitor their printer from a web-browser application (typically either Octoprint, Mainsail or Fluidd)
add a touchscreen device to their Raspberry Pi host and install KlipperScreen
Refactor and tailor one of the 3rd-party DWIN/DGUS UI solutions posted for other models of DWIN display, to work with the CR6 T5L
As of January 2023, there are at least two DWIN_SET solutions now posted to GitHub, specifically tailored to run natively on the stock CR6 display.
Option 1: Klipper-DGUS for CR6
One of our CR6 Community members developed a Python API to enable DWIN_SET applications to interface with Klipper through the Moonraker API.
That project is posted with a DWIN_SET tailored to work with the AnyCubic Vyper, here:
Thinkersbluff has refactored that Vyper DWIN_SET to work with the same Python API on the CR6 stock T5L 272x480 display. That project is posted here:
Option 2: DGUS-Reloaded for CR6
The DGUS-Reloaded t5uid1 project has been available for landscape-mode 480x272 DWIN T5UID1 displays (stock with the Creality CR10S printer) since 2020.
That solution works with a modified version of Klipper, which is posted here:
Thinkersbluff has refactored and extended the landscape-mode DGUS-Reloaded DWIN_SET to run in portrait mode on the T5L CR6 display hardware. That project is posted here:
Trade-offs and Considerations
The above two stock display DWIN_SET options use quite different hardware and software architectures, and provide different levels of functionality. Neither (yet?) offers as complete a set of controls as does the CR6Community (Marlin) Firmware.
Choosing between the two will likely be a tradeoff between the level of difficulty involved in implementing the serial interface between DWIN_SET and Klipper, and the elegance of the UI menus most useful to the user.
Interface Hardware Differences
Option 1 requires a new serial interface between the Moonraker host and the display hardware.
Option 2 uses the standard stock display serial cable between the display and the motherboard.
2. Software Architecture Differences
Both options are coded in Python. Neither option presently provides any coding instructions or standards. Users content to use the interface "as-is" may not care, but users who want to extend the interface may find one architecture easier to work with than the other.
3. Functionality and UI Design Differences
Both options are presently very limited in functionality (e.g. neither presently supports actually viewing files or launching a print.) While both options will no-doubt continue to evolve, early adopters can not rely exclusively on either DWIN_SET option to control their printer.
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