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X1Plus is an open source custom firmware distribution for the Bambu Lab X1 series of printers, offering enhancements like:
- Custom splash screen graphics
- Visualizers for bed mesh calibration and input shaper calibration
- A screen lock, including an optional passcode
- Custom actions for the hardware buttons
- An on-screen G-code and shell console
- Extensive statistics for printer and filament usage
- SSH access to the underlying Linux system
- Improvements to system performance
X1Plus is not affiliated with Bambu Lab, and none of the X1Plus team works for or represents Bambu Lab.
An excellent question! What are the benefits and risks of installing X1Plus on your printer?
X1Plus is to your printer what jailbreaking is to a smartphone. It allows end users to modify the firmware as they desire, and to add or improve features and functionality over what the original manufacturer has implemented. It provides enhanced access and control over what your printer does, and extra visibility into its internal operations.
Currently, X1Plus offers quality of life enhancements that give you better control over tuning the performance of your printer, including those listed above. In the future, we would like to add more features, including wired ethernet support, views from the toolhead camera, and web interfaces. With an open firmware, printer features can be more directly driven by the needs and desires of the community, and you yourself can also write the features you wish to see.
If you're still unsure, we like Michael from Teaching Tech's explanation of how custom firmware fits into the X1 ecosystem!
We have tried to make X1Plus as safe as possible for your printer, but any time you install custom firmware on any device, you take on some risks. With a mechatronic device with a heated nozzle that can reach 300°C and an XY gantry that can accelerate at 20,000 mm/s^2, it is especially worth thinking about the trustworthiness of programs that you will run! Obviously, we think that we are trustworthy, but X1Plus gives you new opportunities to change the inner workings of your printer, and to install other software -- including in ways that can affects its fundamental safety. When you install X1Plus, you take on these risks entirely; X1Plus comes with NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, and NO GUARANTEE OF FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR USE.
As with installing custom firmware on any other device you own, it can also be fundamentally possible to "brick" your printer, where it ends up in a difficult to recover state. Almost all failure states are technically possible to recover from, but some are considerably more difficult than others. In the event of your AP board ending up in a state that you are not capable of recovering from, it may not be possible to purchase a replacement AP board from Bambu Lab. The X1Plus team will endeavor to assist with recovery in such a situation, but success cannot be guaranteed. So far, no printers in testing have ended up in an unrecoverable or "bricked" state, but the risk still exists.
Finally, printers running custom firmware may also not be eligible for support from the manufacturer or retailer. If you encounter a problem with your printer and need support, the manufacturer or retailer may decline to provide it if you are running X1Plus.
X1Plus is based on Bambu Lab's stock firmware and runs on the AP (application processor) board. None of the work done on X1Plus so far directly changes how the motion system is controlled, as this is handled by a separate processor on the MC (motion controller) board. (If you're familiar with other open source FDM projects, X1Plus is more closely analogous to Octoprint, rather than Klipper or Marlin.) In the future X1Plus may also make modifications to the printer's motion control programming, but at present this is out-of-scope of the project.
X1Plus modifies the internal firmware to install a bootloader stub, which checks for the presence of custom firmware on an installed MicroSD card. If a bootable MicroSD card is present, X1Plus restarts the printer from the firmware on that card. You can always return to the OEM firmware through the X1Plus boot menu. Because X1Plus is running from the MicroSD card, you should never remove the card while the printer is powered on; you can still use the card for file storage, but these files either need to managed via the printer/FTP, or externally while the printer is switched off. If you normally use your printer by removing the MicroSD card to transfer files, you will need to change your workflow while using X1Plus.
Hopefully this helps you decide if you want to install X1Plus. If you'd like to continue, follow the links below!
Ready to get started? Check out the installation guide or user manual!
You can also join us on the official X1Plus Discord Server