Initialize the printer

Every G1 configuration is published by Ginger for one specific serial number. Initializing is the step that tells the printer which serial it is, so it can fetch its own files instead of running whatever happened to be on the card.

Which case are you in?

Both cases end at the same place, and both use the same form. What differs is what you start from.

	You just flashed the SD card	The machine has been running, but was never initialised
Starting point	A blank G1OS — no serial, no configuration, no bed mesh	An old configuration, hand-edited or factory, sitting on the machine
What you are doing	Setting the machine up from zero	Migrating it onto the Configurator
Anything to preserve?	No — the flash already erased it	Yes — note your printer.cfg edits before you start
Bed mesh	Gone. You will re-level	Gone after the update. You will re-level

If you flashed the SD card, there is nothing to migrate

A fresh flash leaves a printer that has never been configured. Read every step below as first setup, not as an upgrade of something existing — there is no old state to carry across, and nothing on the machine worth backing up.

The full sequence for that case is in G1OS installation, which ends here.

Initializing does not flash the control boards

This procedure configures the Raspberry Pi. It does not touch the firmware on the Octopus, the extruder_board or the feeder board — those keep whatever they were flashed with, across an SD flash and across this step.

That is normally correct and you should leave them alone. See Flashing the control boards for when it is not.

What this actually unlocks

Before initialization, your printer’s configuration is whatever was on it when it left the factory or when someone last edited it by hand. Nothing connects it to Ginger.

After initialization, the machine knows its own serial number, and that changes what it can do:

• Ginger keeps a configuration for your specific machine, not a generic one. Once the printer knows its serial, it can fetch its own files
• The sidebar gains a by Ginger Additive entry. That entry is a status light: when configuration updates are waiting for your machine it turns into UPDATE G1
• The printer checks for those updates by itself, once an hour

Without the serial, none of that works — the machine has no way to ask which configuration is its own. See G1OS software stack.

Caution

Pay close attention to each reboot step — missing a reboot will prevent updates from applying correctly.

A factory reset erases your saved bed mesh

If you reach this procedure by way of a factory reset, be aware of what that removes: it deletes printer.cfg, moonraker.conf and kamp.cfg from the printer, and the fresh printer.cfg that replaces them does not carry the calibration saved on your machine — the bed mesh above all.

Re-run bed levelling afterwards, and expect to redo any tuning that had been stored with SAVE_CONFIG.

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When to do it

• After flashing the SD card — always. A fresh G1OS knows nothing about your machine
• After a major G1OS update that introduces the new Configurator, on a machine that predates it
• When the G1OS dashboard shows an INITIALIZE PRINTER button

Prerequisites

• Printer powered on and connected to the same network as your computer
• G1 serial number (printed on the top right corner of the machine, on the display side / left side)
• Access to http://g1os.local

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Steps

Step 1 — Connect to G1OS

1. Open a browser and go to http://g1os.local
2. The G1OS (Mainsail) dashboard appears

Step 2 — Update GingerConfigs

1. Go to the Machine section in the left sidebar
2. In the Update Manager tab, click the refresh arrow to check for updates
3. Find the GingerConfigs row and press the UPDATE button on that row
4. When the confirmation dialog appears, check “I understand the risks” and click START UPDATE
5. G1OS downloads and installs the latest GingerConfigs version

Update everything, then flash the Octopus

Press UPDATE ALL COMPONENTS to take every row at once. The update moves the Raspberry Pi and leaves the main board behind, so finish the job by flashing it — Flashing the control boards.

Update GingerConfigs on its own row. See Display stuck after a Moonraker update.

Note

Note: Do not worry about backing up or restoring printer configurations. A cloud-based reset and reconfiguration will be applied once the update is complete.

Step 3 — Reboot machine AND browser

1. Wait for the update to complete — the printer performs a firmware restart automatically

2. After the firmware restart, perform a manual reboot: click the power icon (top right) → Reboot, under Host Control — not Restart or Firmware Restart, which only restart Klipper

   

3. Close the browser tab completely — without closing the browser, the updates will NOT be applied

4. Open a new browser tab and go to http://g1os.local

Step 4 — Initialize the printer

1. Look in the sidebar for INITIALIZE PRINTER and click it.

   If you do not see it

   Open the form directly instead — type this into the browser’s address bar:

   http://g1os.local:5000/init

   It is the same page, and it works whether or not the sidebar entry is showing.

   The Initialize G1 Printer form appears

   

2. Fill it in:

   • Serial Number — your machine’s serial, in the form shown as the placeholder. It is printed on the top right corner of the machine, on the display side. It must match exactly: this is the name of your machine’s configuration folder at Ginger, so a typo means the printer asks for a configuration that does not exist
   • Timezone — yours. It defaults to Europe/London, so change it unless that is right for you

3. Click Save. The page returns to the dashboard

Step 5 — Download your configuration

Saving the serial does not download anything by itself. It tells the printer which configuration is its own; fetching it is the next step.

1. Look at the sidebar. UPDATE G1 has appeared

   

2. Click UPDATE G1. The printer downloads printer.cfg, moonraker.conf and kamp.cfg published for your serial

3. Wait for the page to return. The printer restarts Klipper by itself, because printer.cfg changed

4. The machine now has its configuration. by Ginger Additive stays in the sidebar throughout — it is a permanent entry, so do not use it to tell whether the step worked. Check the config files instead

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Final verification

After rebooting, the G1OS dashboard loads normally with no “INITIALIZE PRINTER” prompt. The printer is ready for printing with the latest configuration.

Notes

• The serial number is on a label on the top right corner of the machine frame, on the same side as the display (left side when facing the printer)
• If the INITIALIZE PRINTER button does not appear after rebooting, try clearing the browser cache or using a different browser
• After initialization, all slicer profiles and print settings are loaded via cloud — no manual configuration needed

Related notes

• G1OS installation — the step before this one when you have flashed the card
• Flashing the control boards — the firmware this procedure does not touch
• Klipper firmware update
• Raspberry Pi and SD card
• Mainsail dashboard basics
• First boot checklist