My SV08 is supposed to be here tomorrow . I have been reading up about going to mainline klipper . I have read several post about bricking the motherboard . I have a new Octopus V1.1 with some tmc2209 Sitting in a box . Would it be worth it to try and swap it over and has anyone successfully done this mod
This might give a few hints:
Should be fairly straight forward. Boards both seem to use generic connectors. There are a few traps:
- You need a separate host (Pi). Pretty much anything with a USB plug and runs linux. I personally use a Microsoft Surface Go ($65 used on eBay) with a 10" screen for my SV07.
- Support for the “knob screen” might be sketchy. Use a host W/touchscreen and toss the knob screen in a drawer.
- Wire length - the sovol board has motor connectors on both sides, BTT are all on one side.
- If you want to retain the touch plate for Z offset you’ll need to replicate the custom Sovol code OR move to Kalico instead of Klipper.
Is it worth the upgrade ?
Depends on who you ask… Mainline klipper has improved since Sovol forked it (and has their fork hidden). Those improvements, however, are nothing earth shattering.
Support from https://klipper.discourse.group/ is very limited if your setup is flagged “dirty”.
The Kalico fork allows you play with bleeding edge features AND contribute to their development.
The fact that Sovol is in violation of GPL requirements (despite their claim to be open source) raises ethical issues for some users.
With the motherboard transplant the SV08 is essentially a Voron witch allows you to benefit from a rich ecosystem created by users.
The “all in one” motherboard locks you out from many “Host side” utilities available for stand alone hosts. For me the combined mainboard + host is a dealbreaker. My SV07 is my newest (and likely last) Sovol printer for that reason.
BUT at the end of the day do you want to print things or tinker with the hardware? Taking a functional printer offline for mods that could take several days to complete is not something to be rushed into.