printrun with slic3r on ubuntu

I'm new to this forum and new to the whole reprap scene. I've got parts on their way for a MendelMax and have been experimenting with different hosts and slicing software while I'm waiting. I've been using my Ubuntu laptop for the most part and decided to see how much faster my Win7 machine would slice. To say the least it's a lot faster but not really a true comparison, since the Win7 box is dual core with lots of RAM.

My real question is that the Ubuntu version of printrun uses Skeinforge in the background while the Windows version uses Slic3r. I like the infinite tweaking ability in Skeinforge but I also like the simple interface that comes with Slic3r. Is there a version for Ubuntu that uses Slic3r as the backend? I dowloaded the latest version of Slic3r for Ubuntu from dl.slic3r.org/linux/ but can't seem to get it to install. I may just be doing something wrong. Is there a way to tell Prontrface which backend to handle the slicing?

Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,
tstrandberg57

I'm using Fedora, and I originally thought that Slic3r wasn't installing either.

The reason I 'Thought' it wasn't working is I coulden't get a GUI.

However, after reading how to use the commandline interface, I tried that and foune it was working fine. Just from command line not GUI.

So, the first thing I did was have it dump its default config(init?) to a file. Called it Default.conf

Loaded that into Gedit and saved out my changes as different files.

I really should move it into a /usr/bin/ directory, but currently it's just outside my RepRapParts directory. So, I use it like so:

../../Slic3r/bin/slic3r -load 35_fill_2P.conf ThingToBeSliced.stl

Then I just point Pronterface at the .gcode file it made.

As my Printer Computer is an Old netbook, I usually slice on my desktop anyway then transfer with usb stick or network.

If there IS a GUI in Linux, I'd love to know how to get it.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll keep looking.

try repetier host. i believe it's available for linux (i know it's on windows), uses slic3r, and has a boat load of features printrun is missing out of the box (gcode/realtime visualization, eeprom settings, etc).

Sorry, Mono is a non starter for me.

I run 11.10 and can successfully run slic3r, printrun, or repetier...

There should be no reason why your printrun shouldn't be able to use slic3r.

go to:
Slic3r Readme
and scroll down to "How can I integrate Slic3r with Pronterface?"

I'm not sure what / if any dependencies are needed, but it works good for me.

---

Thanks,

I"ll give that a try. I"m building a new 11.10 machine right now.

You don't need to integrate slic3r with pronterface. You can run it directly and it has a nice gui. It saves gcode to the same directory as the stl file and you can open that file directly in pronterface. Pronterface has a program called plater.py that you can use to put multiple stl files onto a plate, then export them as a single file (make sure you snap all files to z=0 and add .stl to the end of the filename) for slicing. I slice on my powerful desktop pc and connect my printer to a mini-itx box running pronterface. I use x forwarding to show pronterface on my desktop using xming but you could use vnc or a real monitor instead. It means I don't have to worry about my main pc crashing mid print or slowing down which is handy as well.
Pete

There's a UI for Slic3r for Ubuntu? How do I access it?

pete-theobald Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You don't need to integrate slic3r with
> pronterface. You can run it directly and it has a
> nice gui. It saves gcode to the same directory as
> the stl file and you can open that file directly
> in pronterface. Pronterface has a program called
> plater.py that you can use to put multiple stl
> files onto a plate, then export them as a single
> file (make sure you snap all files to z=0 and add
> .stl to the end of the filename) for slicing. I
> slice on my powerful desktop pc and connect my
> printer to a mini-itx box running pronterface. I
> use x forwarding to show pronterface on my desktop
> using xming but you could use vnc or a real
> monitor instead. It means I don't have to worry
> about my main pc crashing mid print or slowing
> down which is handy as well.
> Pete

tstrandberg57 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There's a UI for Slic3r for Ubuntu? How do I
> access it?
>
> pete-theobald Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > You don't need to integrate slic3r with
> > pronterface. You can run it directly and it has
> a
> > nice gui. It saves gcode to the same directory
> as
> > the stl file and you can open that file
> directly
> > in pronterface. Pronterface has a program
> called
> > plater.py that you can use to put multiple stl
> > files onto a plate, then export them as a
> single
> > file (make sure you snap all files to z=0 and
> add
> > .stl to the end of the filename) for slicing. I
> > slice on my powerful desktop pc and connect my
> > printer to a mini-itx box running pronterface.
> I
> > use x forwarding to show pronterface on my
> desktop
> > using xming but you could use vnc or a real
> > monitor instead. It means I don't have to worry
> > about my main pc crashing mid print or slowing
> > down which is handy as well.
> > Pete


You can download the standalone Linux version from [dl.slic3r.org], unpack the tarball, and just run the executable. Works like a champ for me on Linux Mint 12, which is Ubuntu-based.