Install

Install Kiln OS

Install Kiln OS on an AD5X with stock firmware, or go back to stock.

This page shows how to install Kiln OS on a Flashforge Adventurer 5X that runs its stock firmware. It also shows how to go back to stock.

Warning: back up first. Kiln OS does not use your old settings. It does not use your printer.cfg, your macros, your saved bed mesh, your PID or input shaper results, your Fluidd or Mainsail settings, or your print history. Before you install, download the config folder in Fluidd or Mainsail and keep it somewhere safe.

What does come across: the Z offset, the cutter and purge-box positions, the Wi-Fi networks saved on the stock screen, and which zMod plugins were on. Nothing is deleted. Your old files stay on the printer, and the stock system is saved so you can go back.

Warning: the boards get new firmware. At its first start, Kiln OS writes new firmware to the printer's two boards. This takes about a minute, and the screen says "Updating the boards". If the screen then says "Switch off and on", switch the printer off and on again. Do not switch the printer off while it says "Installing".

What you need

• An AD5X running its stock firmware. Running zMod is fine too.
• The install file for the release you want: kiln-os-<version>-install.zip.
• For the USB method: a USB stick formatted as FAT32. 256 MB is enough. With 2 GB or more, the installer also saves a copy of the printer's storage to the stick first. This copy takes about 1.3 GB.
• About 250 MB of free space on the printer. The installer checks this for you.
• A network cable or Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi starts with the networks you saved on the stock screen. You can add or change networks on the touch screen.

Method 1: USB stick (recommended)

1. Unzip kiln-os-<version>-install.zip into the top folder of the USB stick. The stick should now hold flashforge_init.sh, README.txt and a folder called ad5x-install.
2. Do not put any file named AD5X-*.tgz on the stick. The stock firmware would install it as a Flashforge update.
3. Switch the printer off. Put the stick in. Switch the printer on.
4. The stock system finds the install and starts it. The screen shows "Installing, step n of 6". This takes a few minutes, or longer if the storage copy is being made. Do not switch the printer off.
5. When the screen says "Done, restarting", the printer restarts by itself into Kiln OS. The first start takes a few minutes more.
6. You can leave the stick in or take it out. The install log is saved on the stick as ad5x-install.log.

If the screen says "Not installed" or "Installation failed", remove the stick and switch the printer off and on. It starts its old firmware again. Read ad5x-install.log on the stick to find the reason. Nothing is changed until every check has passed.

Method 2: SSH (for users who know SSH)

Use this only if you are comfortable with a command line. You need the root login of the stock system. If zMod is installed, use the root password that zMod set. Log in to the stock system, not to a shell inside zMod.

Copy the ad5x-install folder from the zip to the printer, then run these commands on the computer. Replace <printer-address> with your printer's address on your network.

scp -r ad5x-install root@<printer-address>:/usr/data/ad5x-install
ssh root@<printer-address>
sh /usr/data/ad5x-install/ad5x-install.sh --check     # checks only, changes nothing
sh /usr/data/ad5x-install/ad5x-install.sh --reboot    # asks you to type YES, then installs and restarts

The --check command shows what the installer would do before it changes anything. The log is saved at /usr/data/ad5x/install/install.log.

After the install

• The first start takes a few minutes.
• Run the setup wizard on the touch screen. It sets up the PID, the bed mesh, the input shaper and the Z offset. Its Wi-Fi step lets you join a network if you do not use a network cable.
• Check that your Wi-Fi and cable connections work, and that the cameras show up in Fluidd.

Going back to stock

Kiln OS keeps a copy of the stock system. To go back from Kiln OS, use the touch screen option "Restore stock", or run these commands over SSH:

ad5x-restore-stock --dry-run     # checks the saved stock copy
ad5x-restore-stock --reboot      # puts stock back and restarts

Stock then starts and stays on. Kiln OS stays on the printer, but stock does not use it.

Warning: never install a Flashforge firmware update (a file named AD5X-*.tgz) while Kiln OS is installed. The stock updater can write over the wrong part of the printer.

If something goes wrong

See Troubleshooting. If the new system does not start, the printer usually goes back to stock after the next power cycle.