WIP: Artillery SideWinder X4 Pro custom firmware

This document shows how the Artillery Sidewinder X4 Pro can be equipped with the latest Klipper version. In addition, problems with the wifi or the Klipper connection can be resolved.

DISCLAIMER: These instructions should only be followed if you have technical knowledge. I am not liable for any damage caused to a device as a result. There is currently no Artillery firmware available for download and it is not known how to reflash it. Every step must therefore be taken with caution!

Contents

• Requirements
• Flashing
• Configuration
• Kliauh, Klipper, Moonraker and Mainsail installation
• Klipper configuration

Requirements

• To flash a new image to the printer, the printer must be opened. This will break the warranty seal. You need an MKS EMMC adapter to flash the EMMC storage on the board. The adapter can be ordered here, for example.
• In addition, software is required to flash the image. I use Etcher (https://etcher.balena.io/) in these instructions

Flashing

The Artillery Sidewinder X4 Pro board is similar to an MKS Pi. There are images from Makerbase for the MKS Pi, but these are outdated. That's why I use a pure Armbian image (Linux distribution) and install Klipper, Moonraker and Mainsail myself. Go to https://github.com/redrathnure/armbian-mkspi and download the latest image under Releases on the right-hand side. In my case Armbian-unofficial_24.2.0-trunk_Mkspi_bookworm_current_6.6.17.img.xz

Once the image has been downloaded, it can be written to the EMMC. To do this, connect the EMMC to your computer via USB using the EMMC adapter.

1. select the file that has just been downloaded
2. select the EMMC
3. press "Flash" and wait until the process is completed -> Sometimes "Flash failed" may be displayed. However, as long as the Flash process has run through and the error only occurs during validation, you can continue

When the flash is completed, open the file explorer and select the EMMC (If it is not displayed, unplug the adapter and plug it in again). Open the file armbian_first_run.txt.template and change the following settings:

FR_net_change_defaults=1
FR_net_wifi_enabled=1
FR_net_wifi_ssid='MySSID'
FR_net_wifi_key='MyWiFiKEY'
FR_net_wifi_countrycode='MyCountyCode'

Now save the changes and rename the file to armbian_first_run.txt Go to the folder dtb\rockchip and replace the file rk3328-roc-cc.dtb with the one from this repo (Note: Be sure to use the .dtb file and not the .dts file unless you know what you are doing).

Now your printer is ready to start for the first time. Install the EMMC and start the printer. Then wait a little and check via your router which IP address the printer has.

Armbian Configuration

Open PuTTY or another SSH program and connect to the IP. Log in with root and 1234. Now go through the setup wizard. Now update all packages with apt update && apt upgrade. Some packages should be displayed as kept back here. Whenever a kernel update is made, our modified .dtb file from this repo must be inserted again, otherwise the wifi will no longer work. I have saved this in my root directory.

cd && wget https://github.com/diglos/userpatches/blob/master/overlay/armbian_first_run.txt

The kept packages can now be installed.

apt-get --with-new-pkgs upgrade <list of packages kept back>

Note: If this command does not work for you, you can also make the updates via armbian-config

After the packages have been installed, we need to copy our .dtb file back into the correct directory.

cd && cp rk3328-roc-cc.dtb /boot/dtb/rockchip/rk3328-roc-cc.dtb

Note: You can also use the .dts file and build the .dtb file by yourself dtc -I dts -O dtb -o /boot/dtb/rockchip/rk3328-roc-cc.dtb rk3328-roc-cc.dts

You can run reboot now. If the printer then no longer connects to the wifi, something probably went wrong when copying the .dtb file. To fix this, the printer must be connected to the computer via USB-C and a serial connection must be established. You can then try to copy the file again or build it yourself.

Kiauh, Klipper, Moonraker and Mainsail installation

Note: root rights are no longer required for the following steps. Make sure that you are working with the user that you created when setting up Armbian.

First, install Kiauh.

cd ~ && git clone https://github.com/dw-0/kiauh.git

Run Kiauh

./kiauh/kiauh.sh

Now select Install (1) and then enter the numbers 1 (Klipper), 2 (Moonraker) and 3 (Mainsail) one after the other.

Note: the numbers can change with updates, so check that you are installing the correct one.

Once Klipper, Moonraker, and Mainsail have been installed, we can proceed to update the firmware on the printer board. To do this, you first need to put the STM32F401 on the board into DFU mode. This is achieved by briefly pressing the H-RST button on the mainboard. Afterward, the the SSH connection will be closed and the printer restarts.

Now you can check whether DFU mode is active. To do this, enter lsusb. One of the entries should be this:

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0483:df11 STMicroelectronics STM Device in DFU Mode

Note: If the entry is listed, you have to try again. Without DFU mode we cannot flash the chip

Next we install our bootloader.

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/Arksine/katapult

Install pyserial

sudo apt install python3-serial

Create the firmware

cd katapult
make menuconfig

Exit using Q and confirm with Y Now build and flash the firmware

make clean
make
sudo dfu-util -a 0 -D ~/katapult/out/katapult.bin --dfuse-address 0x08000000:force:mass-erase:leave -d 0483:df11

Then we can build the Klipper firmware.

cd ~
./kiauh/kiauh.sh

Select 4 [Advanced] and 4 [Build + Flash]

Exit using Q and confirm with Y Now always choose number 1. Make sure that "Flashing successfull" is displayed in green at the end.

Printer Configuration

This part is still a work in progress. Use the current printer.cfg from Artillery here, but comment out the following:

#[mcu rpi]
#serial: /tmp/klipper_host_mcu

#[adxl345]
#cs_pin: rpi:None
#spi_bus: spidev0.0
#axes_map: x, z, -y

#[resonance_tester]
#accel_chip: adxl345
#probe_points:
#    100, 100, 20  # an example