Updating the printer

The G1 has two updates, and they are not the same thing. Running one does nothing for the other, which is why a machine can be fully up to date in one sense and out of date in the other.

Nothing here touches the Raspberry Pi’s SD card

Both updates run from the browser. Do not take the card out and do not reinstall G1OS — that is only for a card that is corrupted or being replaced, and it erases your configuration and calibration.

	Update Manager	UPDATE G1
Where	Machine → Update Manager	UPDATE G1 in the sidebar
Updates	The software: Klipper, Moonraker, Mainsail, the display, the Ginger layer	Your machine’s own configuration
Comes from	The public projects and Ginger’s repositories	Ginger’s configuration for your serial number
Same for every G1?	Yes	No — it is specific to your printer

Clicking by Ginger Additive in the sidebar checks for a new configuration for your machine; when one is waiting, UPDATE G1 appears, and that is where you apply it.

The Octopus only when the dashboard asks for it

The software update moves the Raspberry Pi and does not touch the main board. Flash the Octopus only if, after updating, the dashboard reports it out of date — see Part 3. Otherwise there is nothing to flash.

Before you start

• Not while printing. Both updates restart services, and one of them restarts Klipper
• The printer needs to reach the internet — it pulls from GitHub

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Part 1 — The software components

1. Open the interface at http://g1os.local and go to Machine in the left sidebar

2. Refresh the list. In the Update Manager panel, click the circular arrow at the top right. Components in orange have something available; grey ones are current

   

   The UPDATE ALL COMPONENTS button at the bottom takes every row at once. That is what you want.

3. Press UPDATE ALL COMPONENTS. There is no reason to go row by row

4. Accept the warning. A dialog appears listing what may need manual attention.

   

   START UPDATE stays greyed out until you tick “I understand the risks.” That is not a fault — tick the box, then press it. ABORT closes the dialog and changes nothing.

5. Wait. The printer performs a firmware restart on its own when it finishes

6. Reboot the host. Power icon (top right) → Reboot, under Host Control. This is not optional — some changes only take effect after it

   

   Take the one under Host Control. Restart and Firmware Restart at the top only restart Klipper, which is not the same thing

7. Close the browser completely and open it again at http://g1os.local. Not just the tab: without a fresh session the interface keeps serving what it had cached, and it will look as though nothing changed

What each component is

klipper is the motion and heating firmware, moonraker the API behind the interface, mainsail the web interface itself, KlipperScreen the printer’s display, crowsnest the camera, GingerConfigs the shared Ginger layer, and System the operating system’s own packages.

“klipper: up-to-date” means current with Ginger’s version of Klipper, which deliberately trails the upstream project. See G1OS software stack.

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Part 2 — Your machine’s configuration

This is the one behind UPDATE G1, and it is the reason the printer needs to know its serial number.

1. Click by Ginger Additive in the sidebar to check for a new configuration. If one is waiting, UPDATE G1 appears; if it does not, there is nothing to update

2. Click UPDATE G1. There is no dialog and no progress bar — the printer downloads the configuration files published for your serial number and applies them

3. Wait for the page to come back. If printer.cfg was among the updated files, the printer restarts Klipper by itself

What it does behind the button

The printer keeps a record of which version of each of its configuration files it holds. Pressing the button compares that record against what Ginger has published for your machine and downloads only what differs.

When printer.cfg is replaced, the machine rewrites the USB addresses of its two control boards into the new file before loading it — those differ from printer to printer, so a configuration published centrally cannot contain them.

Your own edits to printer.cfg are overwritten

This update replaces configuration files with Ginger’s versions. If you have hand-edited printer.cfg, note your changes down before updating and reapply them afterwards, or ask support to fold them into your machine’s published configuration.

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Part 3 — Flash the Octopus

Only if the dashboard asks for it. The two updates above both run on the Raspberry Pi and write nothing to the control boards. If the update has moved Klipper past the firmware on the main board, the dashboard says so:

MCU(s) which should be updated:
  mcu: Current version …

or Klipper will not start because the MCU version does not match the host. No message, nothing to flash.

When it does appear, flash the board so it matches the Klipper version. Usually the printer still prints in the meantime. Put the current firmware.bin on a separate microSD card — never the one in the Raspberry Pi, which stays where it is — put it in the slot on the Octopus, in the panel box, and power the printer for a few seconds; the bootloader takes it and renames the file. The full procedure, the download and what to check afterwards are in Flashing the Octopus.

Afterwards

1. Check the display — it should reach its normal screen. If it says Unauthorized, the update did not complete: run Part 1 again
2. Check the dashboard for a message that the mcu should be updated. Only then flash the Octopus
3. Refresh the Update Manager once more. Some updates reveal others underneath
4. Home the machine and run a short print. An update that broke something shows up in motion or heating, not in the interface

If something went wrong

What you see	What it means
Display shows Unauthorized, browser fine	The update did not complete — run Part 1 again
MCU(s) which should be updated: mcu	The Octopus firmware is older than Klipper on the Pi — flash it
Interface unchanged after updating	Browser not fully closed and reopened — repeat step 7
UPDATE G1 does not appear	No new configuration is waiting for your machine. Only a printer whose G1OS has just been reinstalled needs initialising first
Klipper will not start after an update	Read the error at the top of the dashboard, then the log over SSH
A component shows as invalid or detached	It is pinned to a fixed version on purpose. Leave it, unless you know why it was pinned

Related notes

• Initialize the printer — only after reinstalling G1OS
• SSH access to the printer
• G1OS software stack
• Firmware restart