Klipper vs Marlin - eviltoast

I actually have Marlin + Octoprint but found out recently that Klipper exist. I read everywhere that Klipper is better but I don’t really get why. I understand that Klipper use raspberry as powerfull calculator instead of the STM32 of the printer, but octoprint is used to send Gcode to Marlin too… So what’s the really difference please?

Edit : I don’t understand how Klipper or Marlin can give better results when gcode and instructions are generated by Cura

  • LazaroFilm@artemis.camp
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    1 year ago

    You can but it doesn’t mean you should. The way Octoprint manages interacting with the printer is it spoon feeds g-code lines one by one. So it can stop sending them to pause a print, change the values to change Z height for instance etc… however, Klipper is usually able to print faster than Octoprint an send gcode via serial. The crutch is to use VirtualSD mode in Klipper but then Octoprint has very limited interaction with the gcode other than start stop, no gcode modification possible. Enters Moonraker. Moonraker is an API that allows to interface with Klipper in a standardized way to send complex commands to the printer. Mainsail UI is using it, so is Fluidd, KlipperScreen, Telegram bot etc…. The benefit is that Moonraker commands Klipper to do the changes natively instead of adding a layer to the chain. So yeah you can use it, but there is no real incentive to do so now that Moonraker is here. 5 years ago Octoprint was the only way to control Klipper and it was just painful, but we had no alternative.