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The NebulaOS manual

NebulaOS is replacement software for the Creality Ender-3 V3 KE 3D printer. It replaces what Creality installed with a system built around Klipper, Moonraker, Mainsail and its own touchscreen app, NebulaScreen.

This manual is for the person using the printer. It assumes no Linux, no SSH, no Klipper and not much 3D printing experience. Where a technical word is unavoidable it is explained the first time it appears, and Words you will see collects them all.

New here? Read these three, in order

1. Safety first - what can go wrong, and the one mistake that can permanently damage your printer's mainboard. Five minutes, before you install anything.
2. Installing NebulaOS - how to put NebulaOS on the printer, and how to get back to what you had before.
3. First-time setup - Wi-Fi, finding the printer on your network, and your first print.

Already running NebulaOS?

What you want	Where to go
Learn what a button on the screen does	Screen reference
Get the first layer right	Calibration guide
Start, pause or cancel a print	Printing
Load or change filament	Filament
Watch the print from your phone	Camera
Record a video of a print	Timelapse
Install a newer NebulaOS	Updating NebulaOS
See what this printer has printed	Statistics
Undo a setting, or start fresh	Resetting
Something is broken	Troubleshooting
The printer will not start	Recovery

What NebulaOS gives you

• A touchscreen app on the printer's own 480x272 display, with print control, temperatures, fans, LED, homing and jogging, a file browser that reads USB sticks, and a 3D bed mesh you can rotate and zoom.
• A Calibration menu that walks you through each calibration in the order a new printer needs them, and remembers which ones you have done.
• Live tuning while a print runs: speed, flow, Z offset and pressure advance.
• Mainsail in your web browser, for uploading files and controlling the printer from a computer or phone.
• Statistics for the printer's whole life - including what it printed before NebulaOS was installed, read from the system that was there before.
• Power-loss recovery, so a print can continue after the power goes out.
• Two system slots, so a bad update can be undone by starting the other one.
• Camera support, including the settings of Creality's own Nebula Camera, and timelapse recording that needs no slicer changes.

What NebulaOS does not do

• It only supports the Creality Ender-3 V3 KE. See Supported hardware.
• It is not Creality's software and is not supported by Creality. Installing it is your decision and your responsibility.
• This manual describes NebulaOS 1.0.0, the first full release.

How to read this manual

Every procedure page follows the same shape: what the guide is for, what you need, what to check before you start, numbered steps, what you should see, what to do if it goes wrong, and how to undo it. You should never have to guess what a step means or whether it worked.

If a page tells you to do something and you cannot find the button it names, that is a bug in this manual. Please report it: github.com/NebulaOS-KE/NebulaOS/issues.