firmware/README.md

# Reforge

Custom firmware for the FlashForge **Creator 5** and **Creator 5 Pro**.

It installs the way a normal FlashForge update does: copy one file to a USB
stick, plug it in, power the printer on. No jailbreak, no soldering, no
opening the case, no ssh needed to get started — the printer's own updater
does the work.

Packages are published on the
[Releases page](https://github.com/Klipper4FlashForge/firmware/releases) —
two files per release, one per model, marked *pre-release* while the mod is
young. Help and support: [the Discord](https://discord.gg/ggJyfgVA4v).

> **Unofficial and unaffiliated with FlashForge.** It voids your warranty and
> you are responsible for your machine. See [Status](#status) for what has
> actually been tried on hardware before you flash anything.

---

## Status

**It runs on real printers** — both a Creator 5 Pro and a Creator 5 have been
flashed and exercised; the pictured hardware is the Pro:

<img src="docs/helixscreen-print-status.webp" width="49%" alt="HelixScreen mid-print on the Creator 5 Pro: T2 mounted, layer 2 of 173"> <img src="docs/helixscreen-bed-mesh.webp" width="49%" alt="HelixScreen's bed-mesh screen showing a probed 10x10 mesh">

A checked box happened on that machine; an empty one has not, yet.

**For everyone:**

- [x] **Install and migration from stock firmware** — the printer's own
  updater does it; your unit's factory calibration imports itself on the
  first boot
- [x] **Printing** — gcode straight from the slicer, nothing edited
- [x] **Toolchanges** — a current Klipper with real toolchanger support, in
  place of the 0.12-era tree FlashForge ships
- [x] **Nozzle-offset calibration**
- [x] **Mainsail** at `http://<printer-ip>/`, with a current Moonraker behind
  it — anything that speaks the Klipper API works
- [ ] **Fluidd** at `http://<printer-ip>:81/`, beside Mainsail and using the
  same Moonraker and camera
- [x] **Camera** — mjpg-streamer, already on the printer; the mod just
  starts it
- [x] **Wifi**
- [x] **HelixScreen** on the printer's own screen
- [x] **Chamber heater** — tested on the Creator 5 Pro; the regular Creator 5
  correctly uses its heater-free chamber configuration
- [x] **Creator 5 (non-Pro)** — package installed and exercised on hardware;
  see the feature-specific validation notes in the [feature list](docs/features.md)
- [x] **Going back to stock** — tested with the matching stock packages; the
  stock package restores everything it carries. Moonraker is not in it, so
  the mod's build stays and keeps working — see [Support](docs/support.md)

**For the tinkerer:**

- [x] **ssh as root** — a random password is chosen on the **first** install
  and written to `anvil-password.txt` on your stick; updates keep it
  (`make passwd` bakes in your own)
- [ ] **Custom boot scripts** — ordered `*.sh` hooks under
  `/usr/data/anvil-data/scripts`, preserved across updates and logged

---

## What you give up

FlashForge's application is one binary, and replacing it takes everything
that lived inside it: **the network API on `:8898`**, and with it FlashPrint,
Orca's FlashForge profile and the mobile app. Moonraker's API takes over.
Flashing the stock package brings them back.

If your prints already come out the way you want and you like the printer's
own screen, this mod is not for you. It trades FlashForge's polish for
Klipper's reach, and it expects you to be comfortable with a Klipper config
and an ssh session when something breaks —
[Is this for you](docs/is-this-for-you.md) is the honest version of that
question.

---

## Get it

**Creator 5 and Creator 5 Pro are not interchangeable.** The printer refuses
a package built for the other model — the most common reason a flash "does
nothing". Yours is in Settings → About.

| Your printer | The file on the [Releases page](https://github.com/Klipper4FlashForge/firmware/releases) |
|---|---|
| Creator 5 | `Creator5-anvil-<date>.tgz` |
| Creator 5 Pro | `Creator5Pro-anvil-<date>.tgz` |

Download the stock FlashForge package for your model before you begin. It is
the undo button: flashing it back puts the printer as it was.

---

## Start here

| | |
|---|---|
| [Is this for you](docs/is-this-for-you.md) | Who should flash this, who should stay on stock, and what it asks of you |
| [Installing](docs/installing.md) | The flash, the first boot, your root password |
| [Your first print](docs/first-print.md) | The go/no-go checks, calibration, and the two verification files |
| [Support](docs/support.md) | The logs, and the way back to stock |

The full manual is at
[reforge.readthedocs.io](https://reforge.readthedocs.io/). If you want the
insides — one file, `firmwareExe`, with the stock boot scripts, updater and
recovery path left untouched — [How it works](docs/how-it-works.md) is under
*For contributors*.

For the complete beta inventory and validation boundaries, see the
[feature list](docs/features.md).

---

## Credits

Built on the work of others: [ghzserg/FF](https://github.com/ghzserg/FF)
publishes the stock packages and factory image everything here starts from;
[Mainsail](https://github.com/mainsail-crew/mainsail),
[Moonraker](https://github.com/Arksine/moonraker) and
[HelixScreen](https://github.com/Klipper4FlashForge/helixscreen) are shipped as
released; the toolchanger status API follows
[viesturz/klipper-toolchanger](https://github.com/viesturz/klipper-toolchanger)
so tool-aware UIs work unchanged.