RUG/Pennsylvania/State College/Linux

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Overview

This guide will instruct you on installing 3D printing software in Linux. It is written based on the necessary steps to install ReplicatorG, Slic3r, and Pronterface in a clean install of Debian 7. Other recommended software is also included. These instructions should be fairly universal for Debian based distros and rpm users will also have no problem adapting the instructions for their use.

Slic3r

Notes

There are precompiled versions of Slic3r for Linux available here. These builds might work, and might not depending on your system. It is worth giving a recent build a try. If you are getting unsatisfiable dependency errors or want the latest version of Slic3r on your computer, follow the below instructions.

Prepare your build environment

You will need a place to put the source code. It is recommended you create a folder in your home directory called "Programs". The choice in name and location does not matter. When you are ready, open a terminal in that directory. In most DEs, you can right click in the file browser and select "open location in terminal".

Ensure all dependencies are resolved:

 # apt-get update && apt-get install git perl-base build-essential libgtk2.0-dev libwxgtk2.8-dev libwx-perl libmodule-build-perl 

Download the Slic3r source:

 $ git clone git://github.com/alexrj/Slic3r

And enter the directory:

 $ cd Slic3r

You are now ready to build Slic3r!

Build the program

Build the program.

 # perl Build.PL
 # perl Build.PL --gui

You *must* run both of those commands to be able to use Slic3r.

Pronterface

Prepare build environment

Install all dependencies.

 # apt-get install python-serial python-wxgtk2.8 python-pyglet

Download

Pronterface does not have to be compiled to be used. Simply download the latest version from GitHub and run pronterface.py.

 $ wget http://github.com/kliment/Printrun/archive/master.zip
 $ unzip master.zip
 $ cd Printrun-master
 $ python pronterface.py

ReplicatorG

Resolve dependencies

 # apt-get install python python-tk python-psyco

You will also need Java. You can install OpenJDK 6 with the package openjdk-7-jdk. However, OpenJDK will not work with the model preview window.

Model preview window

If you want to use the model preview window you must install the Oracle version of the JDK. To do this, first download the source tarballs here. You need the Linux version which matches your processor architecture. For an x64 Debian system, it will look something like jdk-8u5-linux-x64.tar.gz. Put this in a directory and open the directory in a terminal.

Unpack the program (replace 8u5 with whichever version of the JDK you downloaded):

 $ tar -xvzf jdk-8u5-linux-x64.tar.gz

Rename the resulting extracted folder and place it in the correct directory:

 $ mv jdk1.8.0_05 java-8-oracle
 # mv java-8-oracle /usr/lib/jvm/

Now install with update-alternatives:

 # update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/java "java" /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/bin/java 1
 # update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/javac "javac" /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/bin/javac 1

Select this version of java with update-alternatives:

 # update-alternatives --config java

At this point you will see something similar to this:

   There are 3 choices for the alternative java (providing /usr/bin/java).
 
   Selection    Path                                            Priority   Status
 ------------------------------------------------------------
   0            /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java   1061      auto mode
 * 1            /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java   1061      manual mode
   2            /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/bin/java          1         manual mode
 
 Press enter to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number: 

At this prompt, select the numeral corresponding to the path we just made, /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle. In this case, that means you should type a '2' and press enter. Do the same for javac.

 # update-alternatives --config javac

MakerBots

If you are using ReplicatorG for a MakerBot, there are additional instructions. Ensure you follow the instructions on the MakerBot pages as well. Just to make things easier for you in the long run, it would be useful to add yourself to the dialout group.

 # usermod -G dialout -a your_username

Download and Run

Download and extract ReplicatorG 0040:

 $ wget http://replicatorg.googlecode.com/files/replicatorg-0040-linux.tgz
 $ tar -xvf replicatorg-0040-linux.tgz

Other software

You might find Blender and OpenSCAD useful for 3D modelling and general work with 3D models. Both can be installed through apt.

 # apt-get install blender openscad