Considering Duet3, New to RPi
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I'm still spending time evaluating the pros and cons of using the Duet3 with a Pi. In my particular case, if I'm using the duet3 as standalone, I still use a Pi nearby the printer to act as a wifi bridge and for the pi camera. I also use a paneldue (so have full control over the printer even without network connectivity.) I don't have a HDMI touch screen.
Wiring - this is about the same either way. One config requires an ethernet cable, the other requires the SPI ribbon cable. The ethernet cable can be much longer than the SPI ribbon. Either way, the raspPi needs to have it's own power connection (Pi4 was undervolting when trying to pull power from the duet3.)
Speed: SBC is much faster for uploads and any network activity. The wifi on a raspPi4 is at least 10x faster than the wired ethernet on the duet3 (for my environment.) Haven't noticed any speed difference for actually printing.
Reliability: This goes in favor of standalone due to SBC being an additional point of failure. (For standalone, while a RaspPi failure cuts me off from using DWC via the wifi bridge, at least the printer will still print jobs already uploaded.)
Usability: At the current time, DSF seems to offer nothing (to me) that I don't have in standalone, but DSF is lacking in some things (such as conditional gcode functions and it has some additional bugs.) For some people, the ability to attach a touch HDMI display to the SBC might make it more useful. Personally, I prefer the 7" panelDue (which has an interface designed for a tiny screen, and only requires 4 thin wires to attach as opposed to a thick HMDI cable + a USB cable for touch+power.)
Tinkering: This goes in favor of the SBC. The additional layer has all kinds of (currently unused) possibilities. (For normal most people, "tinkering" is a low priority thing. For most people that own 3D printers, it's likely a much higher priority.)
Support: This is in favor of standalone. Issues reported in RRF are usually at least responded to within 24 hours, and bug fixes are often posted within hours of being acknowledged. With DSF, it appears to take longer for acknowledgements and fixes to be made available. There's also the additional complication that sometimes fixes for the SBC combination require changes to both RRF firmware and DSF.
(By the way, the above comments are my own notes to myself that I've been keeping while evaluating. I just did a copy/paste...)
All that being said... I'm actually using the SBC (Pi4) right now (and I can't explain why.)
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Hi Guys,
Thank you for taking the time to reply and the clear explanations.
Very helpful indeed, and very grateful.
It looks like I'll be going with a Duet3 without an SBC / RPi. After-all, I'm only a hobbyist and it's not a source of income.
@Veti said in Considering Duet3, New to RPi:
I intend to keep the Tronxy X/Y belt system and closed front frame.
but thats the bad part.
Hmm, yes admittedly it's not the best solution, but as I currently have no other control boards, therefore no printer. At-least staying with the frame to begin with, along with a Duet is a start. Sorry, I didn't and should've explain this before.
I'll have a look at the TP Link item. I do actually already use a couple of their Ethernet over Mains (Passthrough Powerline) plugs for my Fire TV Stick as I live in an old house without any such wiring.
Thank you for all your help and input.
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@Dizzwold said in Considering Duet3, New to RPi:
It looks like I'll be going with a Duet3 without an SBC / RPi. After-all, I'm only a hobbyist and it's not a source of income.
Have you considered the Duet 3 Mini? It's available in both WiFi and Ethernet versions. Both have the option to connect a RPi, in case you want to do that later.
We have another production batch of Duet 3 Mini being assembled and tested this week and next, so availability of Duet 3 Mini should be good by mid February.
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Hi dc42 & Veti,
Is that the Duet3 Mini 5+ ?
If I went with the Duet 3 Mini (I believe it has 5 stepper drivers), If I later decide to go with a triple z axis would, therefore needing an additional Stepper and Driver, what / which add-on would be the best option?
Also I can see the documentation on the Duet3 Mini 5+ and the add-on accessories, but no prices. Do you have any prices for the above items?
Can I pre-order if I decide to go with the above?
Dizzwold
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@Dizzwold There is an expansion board that will allow 2 extra drivers to be added.
The mini 5+ also supports can boards so you could add a toolboard or a duet 3 3HC if required -
@Dizzwold said in Considering Duet3, New to RPi:
Can I pre-order if I decide to go with the above?
its already available, but has been sold out.
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Hi Veti,
Yeah just found the price on E3D, but like you say, sold out.
Thank you.
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@Phaedrux aren't most of the services run from the Pi instead of the duet, leaving the duet just handling IO? I thought that especially at high speeds having a Pi would lighten up the duet MCU.
Also updating is much faster/easier with a pi
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Hi Jay_s_uk,
Okay thank you.
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Hi matt3o,
Oh, another positive thought on the RPi.
LOL, commence the battle of RPi users vs non RPi users.
As a hobby user, so light use, would I benefit from having a RPi?
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@Dizzwold said in Considering Duet3, New to RPi:
As a hobby user, so light use, would I benefit from having a RPi?
define "hobby"
many users here including myself take the hobby very seriously 
If you connect to the duet from 1-2 PCs and you print at "human" speeds I don't think it makes any difference. Probably it makes no difference for 90% of the use-cases. Personally I use it mostly for the wifi and for the good performance ssh connection.
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Hi matt3o,
Lol, Yeah like how longs a piece of string...
I think most of us take their 3d printing seriously, as we all want the best results we can get form the equipment we have.
The other way of looking at it as a hobby is I don't use it for a living.When I purchased the printer, cost was an issue, and wrongly or rightly I have to live with the choice I made.
I was looking into the possibility of getting a duet in the future, but as I've now killed my motherboard, my arm is now forced into getting one and a Duet it will be.
I've had lots of answers to questions I've not yet asked, but these are all welcome, as I would have been asking these questions anyway, so I'm very grateful for all this input.
Basically, I have a dead printer, I'm a mac user, I wish to have a PanelDue along with a Duet, I wish to be able to not only use the PanelDue but also connect it to my mac that's 2.5mm across the room, I would like to (but not essential) Connect to another mac in another room, I don't have (is it cat6 cabling) a wired network in my house, I have wifi, but have some TP Link Pass through Powerline adaptors.
Once I have a Duet, PanelDue and my printer functioning again, the next thing maybe a Mic6 bed with 3 point levelling and possibly a 3rd Z axis. -
It sounds to me that the Duet 3 Mini WiFi will meet your needs well. For the display, you can use either a PanelDue or a Mini 12864 display (using ST7567 controller) with it, or if you use a Pi then you can connect a HDMI touch screen to that.
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Hi All,
So it looks like I'm swaying toward the Duet 3 Mini 5 as few have commented on. This way I can also upgrade ‘if and when’ needed.
It looks like I'll have to wait a few weeks before any more Duet 3 Mini 5's are ready, No Pressure David. LOL
I am most grateful for everyone's input and advice.
No doubt I'll be back again with yet more questions, but for now I think I have a bit of reading to do, to familiarise myself better with the Duet system.
Also any more comments and / or suggestions are very welcome.
Thank you,
Dizzwold.
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With the RPi,
Do you just change the ssid and password in the wpa_supplicant.conf file to your router settings, wire the 26-40way into the Duet and RPi, put the SD card in the RPi then power the Duet?Do you have to flash the RPi with anything first then do the above?
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@Dizzwold https://duet3d.dozuki.com/Wiki/SBC_Setup_for_Duet_3
Yes you've got it. There is a custom Pi image as well. Though you can also do it manually if you wish.
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Hmm,
I have no screen attached to the RPi.
I've tried opened http://duet3.local , but nothing opens, Disabled VPN and ran IP Scanner, but don't see anything?
I must be missing a step?
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You're using wifi? Something must not have worked adding it to the network. Can you add a screen and keyboard to see what's going on?
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I have a desktop mac, the Duet and RPi are on the desk in front of it, so can either connect with Ethernet of Wifi, but no dedicated screen or keyboard
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If you connect via ethernet it should pick up a DHCP address from your router, so check your router to see if it's actually getting an address. Then try to connect to that via SSH as described in the SBC setup link.
