Installing Klipper Firmware On A Raspberry Pi, A Detailed (And Boring) Guide

4 min readJan 15, 2023

Installing Klipper on a Raspberry Pi

Overview

Installing Klipper Firmware on a Raspberry Pi can seem daunting, but with the right tools and resources, it can be a simple and straightforward process. This guide will provide a detailed plan for installing Klipper on an RPi using the Raspberry Pi Imager software and the Klipper Install and Update Helper (KIAUH) scripts.

For a “Detailed and Boreing Guide for Installing Marlin”, See here.

Preparation

Before beginning the installation process, it is important to gather the necessary tools and resources. These include:

A Raspberry Pi
An SD card for the Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi Imager software
The KIAUH scripts

Klipper Installation Steps

Download the Raspberry Pi Imager software from the official website (https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/imager/) and install it on your computer.
Insert an SD card into your computer’s SD card reader and launch the Raspberry Pi Imager software. It should be noted, that I have had imaging fail on Windows when using an external reader.
Select “Other Raspbin OS” and Select Raspbian OS Lite, either 32 or 64 bit depending on your hardware, from the list of available options.
Click on the “Gear” button, check to enable the “Hostname” option and add a hostname, check to enable the “SSH” option, and edit the “Wi-Fi” options. Fill out the WiFi configuration with your WiFi network credentials. Be sure to select the correct LAN country. The hostname can be used in place of the RPi IP address when connecting to the RPi via SSH or to access Mainsail, Fluidd, or OctoPrint.
Click on the “Write” button to begin writing the operating system image to the SD card. It should take a couple of minutes to complete.
Once the writing process is complete, remove the SD card from your computer and insert it into the Raspberry Pi.
Power on the Raspberry Pi and wait for it to boot up.
Once the Raspberry Pi is booted up, SSH into the Pi using your username and password.
– Use the command “ssh pi@[RPi IP address or hostname.local]” to initiate the SSH connection. Replace “[RPi IP address or hostname.local]” with the actual IP address of the RPi.
– If this is the first time you are connecting to the RPi from this computer, you will be prompted to confirm the authenticity of the RPi’s host key. Type “yes” to continue.
– You will then be prompted to enter the password for the “pi” user.
– Once you have entered the correct password, you will be logged in and will be able to access the RPi’s command line interface.
– From the command line, update your system by running the command “sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade” in the terminal.
– Use the command “sudo apt-get install git ffmpeg” to install both the git and ffmpeg packages on the RPi
– Reboot the RPi via “sudo reboot”
– Allow the RPi to reboot and SSH back into the RPi
Clone the Klipper Install and Update Helper (KIAUH) scripts to the RPi by running the command “git clone https://github.com/th33xitus/kiauh” in the terminal.
Execute the KIAUH script using the command “./kiauh/kiauh.sh”
The script will prompt you to select the type of installation you want to perform. For a new installation, select option 1.
The script will then guide you through the process of installing and configuring Klipper on your RPi.
Once the installation is complete, the script will provide you with instructions on how to start Klipper.
To access the Klipper Mainsail web interface, open a web browser and navigate to “http://[RPi IP address or hostname.local]”. If using Fluidd or OctoPrint, add the port that you selected during the install process to the end of the URL to access
You can then use the web interface to configure Klipper and start using it to control your 3D printer.
Test the connection between your RPi and 3D printer by sending a test command from the web interface.
If the test is successful, you can start printing your 3D models using Klipper.
Troubleshoot any issues you may encounter during the installation process by referring to the Klipper documentation and the KIAUH script documentation.

Conclusion

Installing Klipper on a Raspberry Pi can seem daunting, but with the right tools and resources, it can be a simple and straightforward process. By following this guide, you should be able to successfully install Klipper on your Raspberry Pi and start using it to control your 3D printer.

Klipper Firmware Install References