How to Install Octoprint on a Raspberry Pi and Manage Your 3D Prints from Anywhere

Learn how to use Octoprint to control your 3D printer from a Raspberry Pi 4.

Octoprint and the Raspberry Pi go very well together in 3D printing. The open-source nature, excellent community support, and compatibility with various systems make them a well-suited solution for wireless 3D printing.

That said, getting them to work together can seem a little overwhelming, especially for beginners. This guide covers the entire process, step by step. Read on to find out how you can get started with wireless 3D printing with Octoprint and a Raspberry Pi in just four simple steps.

Why 3D Print With Octoprint?

Before we start the actual procedure, let’s understand what the Octoprint software is and how it enhances your 3D printing experience.

Gina Häußge developed Octoprint in 2012 as a solution for remotely monitoring and controlling a 3D printer. Octoprint is entirely open-source and works with a Raspberry Pi that you connect with your 3D printer, and thus allows you to 3D print from anywhere over a wireless network.

Plug-ins are another great feature of the Octoprint software. There are hundreds of plugins created by various users, which allow you to extend the capabilities of Octoprint tenfold. Octoprint even lets you connect a webcam, monitor, and stop failed 3D prints and remotely 3D print from any location in the world.

Related: What's the Difference Between the Raspberry Pi 4 and Other Models?

If this wasn’t enough, there’s a great community of developers, and 3D printing enthusiasts, who actively support the development of Octoprint. And you get all of this for free. Now that you’ve understood a little about what Octoprint can do for you, it's time to install it on the Raspberry Pi 4 and configure it for your 3D printer.

What You’ll Need

To install Octoprint, here’s a list of things that you’ll need:

Step 1: Flash Octoprint on the Pi

In this step, we will flash the Octopi image from Octoprint’s official website on the SD card. The file is free to download, and you can use any zip flashing software for this. Balena Etcher is the easiest way to do this.

Here’s how to flash the Octopi image:

1. Download and install Balena Etcher on your computer.
2. Download the latest version of Octopi from Octoprint’s official website.
3. Insert the microSD card into your computer using an SD card adapter.
4. Open Etcher and select the microSD card and Octopi image.
5. Click Flash.

Related: How to Install an Operating System on a Raspberry Pi

Once everything’s done, you’ll see a notification informing you that the image was flashed successfully. Now that you have your operating system, you can configure it.

Step 2: Configure the Wi-Fi

Once you’ve installed Octoprint on the SD card, it is time to configure it for the Raspberry Pi 4. After booting, you need to configure the Wi-Fi settings in Octoprint’s system for the Pi 4 to connect automatically to your wireless network.

Here’s how to set up your Wi-Fi:

1. Reinsert the microSD card into the computer.
2. The SD card will now appear as a boot drive in the external drives section.
3. Open the drive and navigate to the octopi-wpa-supplicant.txt.
4. Open this file using Notepad++. (If using Windows, do not use Notepad or Wordpad as they tend to mess up the formatting.)
5. Go to the section that starts with ## WPA/WPA2 secured.
6. Unhash all the lines below this line.
7. Insert your Wi-Fi network name in the SSID section with the inverted commas.
8. Below that, type your Wi-Fi password in the same way.
9. Scroll down to find a section with names of different countries.
10. Unhash your country if its name is visible in the list.
11. If you don’t find your country’s name, open the highlighted Wikipedia link and add your country, with its code to the list, and unhash it.
12. Save the changes.

Step 3: Set Up a Webcam

Installing a webcam is not essential, but if you want to take the full benefits of remote 3D printing, a webcam will serve you great. There’s a detailed list of supported webcams on Octoprint’s website, and you can check whether or not your webcam of choice is compatible with Octoprint.

1. Open the “octopi.txt” file in Notepad++.
2. Navigate to line 24 and remove the # symbol for the line "camera_usb_options="-r 4096x2160 -f 15."
3. Set your webcam’s resolution and frame rate by replacing the given values -r 4096x2160 -f 15. Refer to the webcam guide on Octoprint’s website.
4. Uncomment the last lines of the file and edit them to the following configuration. It gives you more control over the webcam settings within Octoprint.
   1. camera_http_webroot=’’./www"
   2. camera_http_options=""
5. Save the changes and eject the microSD card.

Step 4: Get Started With Octoprint

All that is left is to configure Octoprint and connect the Raspberry Pi 4 to your 3D printer.

1. Insert the microSD card in the Raspberry Pi 4.
2. Connect the Pi 4 to your 3D printer using a compatible USB cable.
3. Plug in the power cable and switch on the Pi 4 and your 3D printer.
4. Once the Pi boots up, type http://octopi.local or the assigned IP of your Raspberry Pi in your browser and hit enter.
5. Octoprint's startup interface should now be visible in your browser.
6. Follow the onscreen instructions and set up the Octoprint for your 3D printer.
7. Once all is set up, open the Connection panel and connect your 3D printer to the Octoprint.

That’s it. You’ve now successfully installed Octoprint on your Pi 4 and are ready to begin your remote 3D printing experience. You can get started with 3D printing by simply uploading your gcode files to the Pi 4.

Troubleshooting Octoprint and Raspberry Pi

If you have issues with any part of the process, try the below fixes.

Raspberry Pi Won’t Connect to Wi-Fi

Check your Wi-Fi router for any power issues. Insert the card in your computer again and recheck the Wi-Fi settings. If you’ve used any other editor, the lines might be disordered, and the code might be faulty. Open the file in Notepad++ and edit the Wi-Fi settings again. Check Octoprint’s page for detailed instructions.

Power Issues

Octoprint’s UI will show an undervoltage symbol to indicate a weak power supply. Check the adapter and ensure that it delivers 5V at 3.5A at least. Don’t use a mobile charger as not all are rated to provide the power required for the Pi 4.

Raspberry Pi Won’t Boot

This might occur due to a weak power supply or a defective SD card. Check your power supply adapter. Check your SD card by inserting it into your computer if all is good. If it is damaged, replace it with a new one.

Octoprint and Wireless 3D Printing

Octoprint frees you from being tethered to your computer and opens up a whole new world of 3D printing remotely. You can even connect your smartphone to the Octoprint and print directly from it. Its ease of use, various functions, and vast repository of plug-ins truly make the Octoprint an excellent solution for wireless 3D printing.

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