BTT Manta 8P + Orange Pi CM4 Yes or No?

[Graymattor]

Hi All, 

I am gathering component for my build and I have selected the BTT M8P board and the BTT CM1 with HDMI7, however I have heard that the CM1 is quite limiting, if you want to add camera's, etc? due to the current low/no stock of the Pi CM4 and the fact when there is stock they will cost a fortune, I have been looking at alternatives and one that keeps cropping up is the Orange Pi CM4, but I cannot seem to find any information it it will be compatible with the M8P (I assume it should be being a CM4) and if there are any difficulties.

is anyone running this setup? know of any information out there, positives, negatives, problems, etc? 

Thanks 

[cpx]

I was also looking for a CM4 alternative because I had all sorts of issues with the BTT CB1. CB1 had slow network connectivity even through ethernet. It took forever to transfer files to the printer. Not sure if it's the lack of eMMC that contributed to it. As you mentioned, also no camera/display functionality. I constantly had issues while probing for bed mesh due to some kind of lost connectivity.

I got the OrangePi CM4 this week, and it has been a pretty simple replacement for my CB1. The main issues I had was trying to flash the eMMC. For some reason, even with the OrangePi CM4 base board, I could not get into MaskROM mode to flash the eMMC with debian. I followed the official instructions step by step and could never get it to work. I used a workaround which is to first flash and boot debian off SD, then use dd command to flash the eMMC. Afterwards I could remove the SD card and boot off eMMC. Using kiauh for klipper install, I was able to get everything installed and working including klipperscreen on my BTT PITFT50. One thing to note about the PITFT50 is that for whatever reason, the ribbon cable connection seems to be upside down from what you would normally see. I struggled to get the display to work because of this. I also use the BTT SB2209 and that worked seamlessly.

Prior to the OrangePi CM4, I gave the waveshare/luckfox Core3566 a shot since it was pretty cheap. I bought two of them straight from waveshare like an idiot. Couple issues are that it is still running on buster Debian which is outdated, which means Crowsnest will not work. I also could not get the CAN connection working at all to communicate with M8P and SB2209. Definitely don't recommend this one.

 

[atrushing]

8 minutes ago, cpx said:

I was also looking for a CM4 alternative because I had all sorts of issues with the BTT CB1. CB1 had slow network connectivity even through ethernet. It took forever to transfer files to the printer. Not sure if it's the lack of eMMC that contributed to it.

I have been using a BTT CB1 on one of my printers for a while now with no hassles. I found earlier that file transfers can be slow even on a RPI 3 but the bottleneck seems to be tied to the web interface. I now use SCP through scripts to copy the most recently created .gcode file to the proper printer and the transfer time is negligible. There is also a GUI version for Windows called WinSCP but I have no experience with it.

[claudermilk]

WinSCP is awesome. I use it a lot for moving files to and from my Plex server. It works better even than mapping the drives in Windows. I hadn't thought of using it for moving gcode files to the printers, but then I drop those directly from the slicer--and if it stalls out there that usually indicates the Pi is having wifi issues.

I'm not familiar wit the CB1, but I am running my Home Assistant on a Yellow with a CM4 (frikkin unobtanium and I ultimately paid the Ali scalper price). Network speed hasn't been an issue there.

[cpx]

I usually send the files to my printer directly using the slicer, which I guess is then processed by fluidd/moonraker. In the past with CB1, this transfer would stall for a while even when connected with ethernet. Now the transfers are almost instant with the OrangePi CM4.

[Graymattor]

On 9/29/2023 at 9:25 PM, cpx said:

I was also looking for a CM4 alternative because I had all sorts of issues with the BTT CB1. CB1 had slow network connectivity even through ethernet. It took forever to transfer files to the printer. Not sure if it's the lack of eMMC that contributed to it. As you mentioned, also no camera/display functionality. I constantly had issues while probing for bed mesh due to some kind of lost connectivity.

I got the OrangePi CM4 this week, and it has been a pretty simple replacement for my CB1. The main issues I had was trying to flash the eMMC. For some reason, even with the OrangePi CM4 base board, I could not get into MaskROM mode to flash the eMMC with debian. I followed the official instructions step by step and could never get it to work. I used a workaround which is to first flash and boot debian off SD, then use dd command to flash the eMMC. Afterwards I could remove the SD card and boot off eMMC. Using kiauh for klipper install, I was able to get everything installed and working including klipperscreen on my BTT PITFT50. One thing to note about the PITFT50 is that for whatever reason, the ribbon cable connection seems to be upside down from what you would normally see. I struggled to get the display to work because of this. I also use the BTT SB2209 and that worked seamlessly.

Prior to the OrangePi CM4, I gave the waveshare/luckfox Core3566 a shot since it was pretty cheap. I bought two of them straight from waveshare like an idiot. Couple issues are that it is still running on buster Debian which is outdated, which means Crowsnest will not work. I also could not get the CAN connection working at all to communicate with M8P and SB2209. Definitely don't recommend this one.

This is a really informative reply, thank you, more info than i could hahoped for.. I will look at purchasing the Orangepi CM4 and use your post as a guide thank you (ps I may message you if (more like when) I get stuck )