Best multiprinter setup for me?

General
1

I have:

  • MP Select mini V2
  • MP Delta mini
  • Several older laptops (2 win 10,1 win 8 :scream:)

I am willing to purchase:

  • basic cheap webcams(1 or 2)
  • 1 raspberry pi (If I really need it)

I want to:

  • remotely monitor both printers
  • remotely control both printers

What is the best way to set this up?

My first thoughts are to run a single instance of Octoprint on an old laptop running windows but...
Windows can't auto up date and has other issues so...
Install linux on an old laptop? If so what version?

Questions:

  • Single instance of OP running two printers? Or two instances of OP running one printer each?
  • Windows or linux? Tell me why?

Thanks in advance for the help!!!

2

Buy a second Raspberry Pi.

3

I'm really trying to avoid the two raspberry pi setup version. Any reason why you prefer that method?

4

You can use one octoprint instance for 2 printers but then you only can print with one.

When you want to print with 2 printers at the same time you need 2 instances.

5

Thanks! Can you run two virtual instances on one laptop?

6

There's a lot less pain involved in the 1:1 ratio. You'll spend many hours with other methods. For instance, with this:

You need to leave the screen open so it stays awake, you're probably going to deal with driver issues if you are going with Linux, and so on.

If you have the time and want a hobby, go for the "old computer" route.

7

a futro is a cheap pc which you can use.
I use a baytrail based system for my 4 instances
2 for printers 2 for developing.

this is my settup
doku.pdf.zip (265,9 KB)

i have to finish my docu the it will be released in german and english, maybe swedish :smiley:

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8

The main reason I'd like to avoid the 1 pi per printer setup is as I add printers I don't want to keep having to add PIs too

9

How much money are you spending per printer?

It can certainly be done, you can run multiple Octoprint processes on one host. It's more work:

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10

As little as possible. The most I've paid for a printer was $125 so far. A pi, power supply, webcam and wifi dongle for each printer nearly increases the cost by around 50% per printer.

11

Aha! At that price, yeah, follow the multi-printer guide :slight_smile:

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12

I hated to spend the money but I went with a 1:1 ratio of pi to printer.

It still feels clunky to me. I'd love any advice on finding a better multi pi setup UI? Is there something out there that will let me see both printers in the same tab?

13

Honestly, the cost to run a big ATX power supply (typical PC) is about $120 for the year in electricity here in the states. Compare than to something like $5/year for a Raspberry Pi 3B.

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14

Maybe consider using a low end netbook or something of the sort? They are usually around $50 and use little power.