Installing MINI404 simulator

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MK/MINI404 are simulators of the RAMBO/Einsy Rambo/Buddy platforms. It is developed on and runs natively under Linux. It is possible to build it under Windows using Cygwin, but here we will go the Linux way.

We at Prusa Research use his tool for testing firmware in development and beautiful crisp screenshots for Github changelogs and our Knowledgebase. There is a range of options for automation through scripts, and is a great way to test your own custom builds of the firmware or how community translations format, act and read on our various printer's displays. Or perhaps you simply want to see the printer in action and explore the menu layout and solution we have come up with, should you be considering an Original Prusa printer.

This is a project that is still work-in-progress. Some of the bugs or less streamlined procedures mentioned here may have been fixed by this time and new functionality may have been added. This guide has a goal to be a layman's approach to install and get started playing with this wonderful tool, as well as a shoutout to the creator and excellent volunteer community contributor known as VintagePC.

Prerequisites:

A distribution of Linux must be installed. Can be installed on a VM, but we will not cover the installation and setup of that here. Note that big graphics issues have been experienced under VirtualBox on Windows 10.

Here, we are running it on Linux Mint (lightweight Xfce version), simply because the writer prefers it. It is actually developed under OpenSUSE. Dependencies and commands outlined here are based and tested on Linux Mint, but this guide should cover most Debian/Ubuntu-based distros. Any distro will probably do, but necessary dependencies may differ between distros. If you are unfamiliar with Linux we recommend getting a Debian-based distro as Debian is well documented and is what this guide will cover dependencies for.

One negative of this distro is the rather large install size, so be sure the VM has:

• At least 15-20GB of HDD.
• Access to at least 2 CPU cores
• Enabled Graphics acceleration
• Shared clipboard
• Has a shared folder with the host machine (optional)

We will install one simulator after the other, and cover basic use in a linked article. You should start with MK404, as this is a little easier and can generate some files used in MINI404, which MINI404 can not generate on its own (or at least not as easily).

Updating and installing dependencies

Be ready to become a super hacker as we enter... The TERMINAL! We will assume you have a fresh install of Linux here, but the procedure shouldn’t matter if you run Linux already. You may just have some of the needed packages already.

sudo apt-get update -y

sudo apt-get upgrade -y

sudo apt-get install git libglib2.0-dev libfdt-dev libpixman-1-dev zlib1g-dev cmake libsasl2-dev libsdl1.2-dev libseccomp-dev libsnappy-dev libssh2-1-dev libelf-dev gcc-avr libglew-dev freeglut3-dev libsdl-sound1.2-dev libpng-dev libsdl2-dev libgtk-3-dev libstdc++6 g++-7 python2-dev python3-dev libjpeg-dev libwebp-dev libtiff5-dev libsdl2-image-dev libsdl2-image-2.0-0 libusb-1.0-0-dev ninja-build -y

sudo apt-get install build-essential -y

sudo reboot

git clone https://github.com/vintagepc/MINI404.git

cd MINI404

git submodule init

git submodule update

./configure --target-list=buddy-softmmu --enable-opengl

make -j2

cd

cd MINI404/build/

wget https://prusa-buddy-firmware-dependencies.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/bootloader-mini-1.0.0.zip

unzip bootloader-mini-1.0.0.zip

wget https://cdn.prusa3d.com/downloads/firmware/prusa3d_fw_4_3_3_MINI.zip

unzip prusa3d_fw_4_3_3_MINI.zip

./qemu-system-buddy -machine prusa-mini -kernel prusa3d_fw_4_3_3_MINI.bbf -chardev vc,id=p404-scriptcon,cols=80,rows=24

cd MINI404/build/ ; ./qemu-system-buddy -machine prusa-mini -kernel prusa3d_4.3.3_MINI.bbf -chardev vc,id=p404-scriptcon,cols=80,rows=24

truncate -s 8M SPIflash.bin

truncate -s 64K st25block1.bin

truncate -s 64K st25block2.bin

./qemu-system-buddy -machine prusa-mini -kernel prusa3d_fw_4_3_3_MINI.bbf -chardev vc,id=p404-scriptcon,cols=80,rows=24 -mtdblock SPIflash.bin -pflash st25block1.bin -pflash st25block2.bin

wget https://help.prusa3d.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/MINIUSB.zip

unzip MINIUSB.zip

If you want to download a G-code and put it on the "USB stick", use wget [link] from a link in Prusaprinters. Commands below will download and copy the file already present!

wget https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/13787/gcodes/339252_4279d4ab-37ae-49d3-bd5e-ee70893b0eec/sheep_pmoews_200um_mini_pla_2h17m.gcode

Put the G-code file in the image file (sd card) image using mtools.

mcopy -vsi FAT32.img sheep_pmoews_200um_mini_pla_2h17m.gcode ::

To start MINI404

./qemu-system-buddy -machine prusa-mini -kernel prusa3d_fw_4_3_3_MINI.bbf -chardev vc,id=p404-scriptcon,cols=80,rows=24 -mtdblock SPIflash.bin -pflash st25block1.bin -pflash st25block2.bin -drive if=none,id=usbstick,format=raw,file=MINIUSB.img -device usb-storage,drive=usbstick

Ethernet (PrusaLink!)

Yes, you can connect to the machine remotely as well! You basically route the internet of the VM to the printer. This will give you the option to test NTP servers and remote control of the MINI404 printer.

./qemu-system-buddy -machine prusa-mini -kernel prusa3d_fw_4_3_3_MINI.bbf -chardev vc,id=p404-scriptcon,cols=80,rows=24 -mtdblock SPIflash.bin -pflash st25block1.bin -pflash st25block2.bin -drive if=none,id=usbstick,format=raw,file=MINIUSB.img -device usb-storage,drive=usbstick -netdev user,id=mini-eth,hostfwd=tcp::3333-:80

You can now find the IP under LAN setting, on the printer's menu.

Fancy graphics

To get the full experience, you can add -append gfx-full to get a dynamic 3d model of the printer. The graphics options are many, so please see the link below for a complete set of arguments.

https://github.com/vintagepc/MINI404/wiki/Advanced-Visuals

./qemu-system-buddy -machine prusa-mini -kernel prusa3d_fw_4_3_3_MINI.bbf -chardev vc,id=p404-scriptcon,cols=80,rows=24 -mtdblock SPIflash.bin -pflash st25block1.bin -pflash st25block2.bin -drive if=none,id=usbstick,format=raw,file=MINIUSB.img -device usb-storage,drive=usbstick -netdev user,id=mini-eth,hostfwd=tcp::3333-:80 -append gfx-full

Creating a script file to start it

As you can see, the line for launching is becoming pretty long. There is an online tool to generate the whole line depending on what you use, but you can also create a bash script to launch one set configuration.

Create and start editing a small text file using Nano editor. 

sudo nano startMINI404.sh

Paste the line below (or whatever you have)

./qemu-system-buddy -machine prusa-mini -kernel prusa3d_fw_4_3_3_MINI.bbf -chardev vc,id=p404-scriptcon,cols=80,rows=24 -mtdblock SPIflash.bin -pflash st25block1.bin -pflash st25block2.bin -drive if=none,id=usbstick,format=raw,file=MINIUSB.img -device usb-storage,drive=usbstick -netdev user,id=mini-eth,hostfwd=tcp::3333-:80 -append gfx-full

Close and save

Ctrl+x -> Yes to save -> enter to confirm the file-name.

Make the script executable

sudo chmod +x startMINI404.sh

From now on you can start the script from within the folder with:

./startMINI404.sh

Using MINI404

To control the simulator, like taking screenshots, manipulating the simulated hardware (shorting or disconnecting fans and heaters, etc.), you must use scripting commands (scriptcon).

https://github.com/vintagepc/MINI404/wiki/Scripting-Mini

The console for this is found in one of the tabs called p404-scriptcon (green square). Select it and detach it so it is separate (purple arrow). Each command is outlined in the link above. Copy/Paste does not work, but the Tab key will do autofill.

Now you can have a view with the display on one side (blue square), the script console on another (green square), and the terminal output confirming the generation of files (purple square). To the right in the screenshot below you see the command for making a screenshot of the display and saving it as a PNG.