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Reverse Engineering Bambu Connect

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Re: Reverse Engineering Bambu Connect

#11

Post by sho_hn »

adenta wrote: post #4
ClassyJacket wrote: post #2

I'm so happy Bambu is getting what's coming to them after screwing us so badly <3

The A1 mini was my first printer and it just works. Is there another brand that is idiot proof?

If you buy a Prusa in non-kit form, it's not any harder to unbox or operate, and more reliable, while generally achieving somewhat better results. Without phoning home and while maintaining the software Bambu forked theirs from.

A recent review coming to a similar conclusion was Maker Muse' review of bedslingers.

It's a channel I respect a lot, because he has over the years relentlessly disclosed emails of companies trying to bribe or lean on him, or threaten him, and refused to play along.

Most other 3D printing content is essentially paid advertising -- including, I suspect, the carefully constructed brand narrative of Bambu as the first "fire and forget" printers, as if they somehow elevated the art form, when really the user experience is not substantially different.

You do not need to tinker or problem-solve with other modern well-reviewing printers, nor do they fail more prints. My MK4 hasn't failed a single print in a year (i.e. since I bought it), and I haven't had to do any sort of maintenance.

Re: Reverse Engineering Bambu Connect

#12

Post by rqtwteye »

adenta wrote: post #4
ClassyJacket wrote: post #2

I'm so happy Bambu is getting what's coming to them after screwing us so badly <3

The A1 mini was my first printer and it just works. Is there another brand that is idiot proof?

I bought an A1 after years of fiddling with an Ender. It made 3D printing fun again.

The whole situation reminds me of drones. DJI is (maybe) questionable but their products are without competition when you look at price and quality. Bambu products are also fantastic.

On second thought TP-Link fits too. My TP-Link mesh network just works perfectly. So do their smart plugs.

Re: Reverse Engineering Bambu Connect

#13

Post by mitthrowaway2 »

adenta wrote: post #4
ClassyJacket wrote: post #2

I'm so happy Bambu is getting what's coming to them after screwing us so badly <3

The A1 mini was my first printer and it just works. Is there another brand that is idiot proof?

I am an idiot, and my Prusa MK3S+ (bought assembled, not as a kit) has been me-proof for years, and delivered fantastic print quality all along. My wife is not a techie and she gets good use out of it too. Their newer printers seem to be even better.

Re: Reverse Engineering Bambu Connect

#14

Post by c0nsumer »

I've been following along with a lot of this, because having picked up one of their printers about a month ago, I was immediately very nonplussed with the security. It took some work to get it running isolated on an IoT VLAN, yet still usable from my main machine.

Thus, on first blush, I welcome security improvements from them, but I'm also anxious to see what they hold.

I do wonder where this is going with the keys, because I've seen a lot of "OH LOOK WE HAVE THE KEYS" but nothing about what the keys are used for or how they are useful. Or if they are even useful.

Hopefully there'll be more interesting news about this soon and some solid, technical info.

Re: Reverse Engineering Bambu Connect

#15

Post by lvturner »

c0nsumer wrote: post #14

I've been following along with a lot of this, because having picked up one of their printers about a month ago, I was immediately very nonplussed with the security. It took some work to get it running isolated on an IoT VLAN, yet still usable from my main machine. Thus, on first blush, I welcome security improvements from them, but I'm also anxious to see what they hold. I do wonder where this is going with the keys,…

My understanding is that if I want to print via LAN, I have to auth against Bambu's internet servers, which is most definitely something I don't want.

Actually for my use case this doesn't work at all -- my printers are region locked to China, but I'm not currently in China so I can't connect to those servers -- meaning (I think!) if I upgrade their firmware, I can't print via LAN on my own local network... which just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

These are great printers, but there's no need for that.

Re: Reverse Engineering Bambu Connect

#16

Post by c0nsumer »

lvturner wrote: post #15
c0nsumer wrote: post #14

I've been following along with a lot of this, because having picked up one of their printers about a month ago, I was immediately very nonplussed with the security. It took some work to get it running isolated on an IoT VLAN, yet still usable from my main machine. Thus, on first blush, I welcome security improvements from them, but I'm also anxious to see what they hold. I do wonder where this is going with the keys,…

My understanding is that if I want to print via LAN, I have to auth against Bambu's internet servers, which is most definitely something I don't want. Actually for my use case this doesn't work at all -- my printers are region locked to China, but I'm not currently in China so I can't connect to those servers -- meaning (I think!) if I upgrade their firmware, I can't print via LAN on my own local network... which jus…

Can you link to some specific detail on that, because I keep seeing that claim, but without any technical info.

I have a P1S which currently can print completely isolated from the internet. Unfortunately (or maybe not?) the new firmware isn't available for my printer, so I can't dig into it myself yet.

But I'd really like to see some sort of "when I try to do X it tries to connect to Y" or "I used to be able to do X, and now Y is required as demonstrated here".

Something more than the current hearsay and pitchforks echo chamber.

Re: Reverse Engineering Bambu Connect

#17

Post by Polizeiposaune »

adenta wrote: post #4
ClassyJacket wrote: post #2

I'm so happy Bambu is getting what's coming to them after screwing us so badly <3

The A1 mini was my first printer and it just works. Is there another brand that is idiot proof?

Based on recommendations here a couple years ago I built a Prusa Mk3 from a kit (right before the mk4 came out). Building it took a while but I think was a worthwhile investment of my time and I think of it as a system I can understand rather than as a black box.

I had a little bit of trouble with it maybe six months ago (repeatedly tripped offline during prints from a thermal issue) but Prusa's online support talked me through recalibrating it and it's been trouble-free since then.

Re: Reverse Engineering Bambu Connect

#18

Post by lvturner »

c0nsumer wrote: post #16
lvturner wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is that if I want to print via LAN, I have to auth against Bambu's internet servers, which is most definitely something I don't want. Actually for my use case this doesn't work at all -- my printers are region locked to China, but I'm not currently in China so I can't connect to those servers -- meaning (I think!) if I upgrade their firmware, I can't print via LAN on my own local network... which jus…

Can you link to some specific detail on that, because I keep seeing that claim, but without any technical info. I have a P1S which currently can print completely isolated from the internet. Unfortunately (or maybe not?) the new firmware isn't available for my printer, so I can't dig into it myself yet. But I'd really like to see some sort of "when I try to do X it tries to connect to Y" or "I used to be able to do X,…

From their blog post: https://blog.bambulab.com/firmware-update-introducing-new-au...

"Critical Operations That Require Authorization

The following printer operations will require authorization controls:

    Binding and unbinding the printer.
    Initiating remote video access.
    Performing firmware upgrades.
    Initiating a print job (via LAN or cloud mode).
    Controlling motion system, temperature, fans, AMS settings, calibrations, etc."
Now, PERHAPS, I can do that authentication locally... but given the plugin required for OrcaSlicer it doesn't seem likely

Re: Reverse Engineering Bambu Connect

#19

Post by c0nsumer »

lvturner wrote: post #18
c0nsumer wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you link to some specific detail on that, because I keep seeing that claim, but without any technical info. I have a P1S which currently can print completely isolated from the internet. Unfortunately (or maybe not?) the new firmware isn't available for my printer, so I can't dig into it myself yet. But I'd really like to see some sort of "when I try to do X it tries to connect to Y" or "I used to be able to do X,…

From their blog post: https://blog.bambulab.com/firmware-update-introducing-new-au... "Critical Operations That Require Authorization The following printer operations will require authorization controls: Binding and unbinding the printer. Initiating remote video access. Performing firmware upgrades. Initiating a print job (via LAN or cloud mode). Controlling motion system, temperature, fans, AMS settings, calibration…

Yep -- I read that, but that doesn't spell out auth back to BBL's servers, just auth.

And keep in mind that OrcaSlicer already used Bambu Network Plugin to communicate with their printers. (It prompted you to download this on install of OrcaSlicer if you picked one of their printers.)

The move to Connect means that OrcaSlicer needs to send the print data to Connect via a protocol handler instead of to the plugin. Connect will then send it on to the printer itself, and from what I've seen it'll do that over LAN. (But I can't test because my printer doesn't support this yet.) I see this as akin to a print driver vs. printer-specific support built into an app. Not a bad thing at all, if done right.

The plugin already did (very minimal) auth via the Access Code and can do it with the printer and Bambu Network Plugin completely isolated from the internet. (I've done this.) So I'd like to know specifics of what's changing here.

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