TinyMakerWifi

Modified and extended firmware for the open-source TinyMaker MSLA resin 3D printer. The main additions: WiFi connectivity, OTA updates, and direct model upload from PrusaSlicer — no more SD card shuffling.

🌐 tinymakerwifi.com — the project site: what the firmware does, how to get started, community links and an Open my printer shortcut.

🧪 Live demo — the real web dashboard driving a simulated printer: start a print, watch the 3D progress, poke through Settings. Nothing to install, no printer needed.

📖 Illustrated user manual — step by step from the first flash to Home Assistant, with screenshots and an FAQ. Also one tap away from the printer's dashboard (the Manual link in the header).

📝 Changelog — what each version added and who contributed it, in plain language.

💬 Feedback — what works, what doesn't, what's missing. Photos welcome, no account needed; the dashboard header links it too.

Features

• WiFi setup via captive portal — no credentials in code, configured from your phone on first boot
• Direct upload from PrusaSlicer ("Send to printer" button) — the printer emulates the Prusa SL1 network protocol
• Automatic unpacking of uploaded .sl1 / .zip files into the layer format the stock firmware expects (works with both PrusaSlicer and UVtools numbering)
• New System menu on the printer: WiFi Info (SSID, signal, IP, reset), Advanced settings, firmware Update, About
• Advanced menu on the printer — screen timeout, dry run, the resin-tracking controls (VAT refilled, low-resin pause, warn threshold, ask-refill) and WiFi / Web control on-off switches, all without a computer (contributed by @Briadark)
• WiFi status indicator (green/grey dot) on the main menu
• Model deletion from the printer — long-press OK on a model in the Print menu
• Import from SD card — copy an .sl1/.zip onto the card and it shows up in the Print menu (in blue); press OK to convert it into a printable model. Works without any network, the archive is removed after a successful import
• Lifetime print-hours & UV LED hours counters — the About screen shows total printing time and total LED-on time (the LED ages by lit time; dry runs don't count). Stored in NVS, survives firmware updates
• Settings backup & restore — one file holds every setting and the lifetime counters: download it, keep it on the SD card, and after a full USB reflash the printer offers to restore everything on first boot. The dashboard shows the SD backup's date, has a one-click Restore from SD, and can optionally auto-backup to TinyMaker Connect (contributed by @Briadark)
• Boot update check — shortly after WiFi connects at boot the printer checks for new firmware and offers Install / Later right on the screen (switchable) (contributed by @Briadark)
• Boot animations — pick the animation the printer plays at power-on (System → Advanced, or staged in the dashboard and applied with Save config), preview it with Show right on the printer's screen, install new ones one-click from the Default library or the community site, or Shuffle a random one each boot (base contributed by @Tann2019)
• Power-loss recovery — the printer checkpoints its progress to a tiny file on the SD card while printing; after a power blip or outage it offers Resume right on the next boot and picks the print back up at the interrupted layer (no re-homing — the plate is trusted where it stopped)
• Exposure calibration test — cures an 8-bar test strip straight from the printer (System → Advanced), each bar a different exposure; no slicer or SD file needed
• Clean Resin Vat (Maintenance) — full-screen UV exposure cures a thin skin over the vat so debris lifts out in one piece (stock TinyMaker feature, kept and counted into LED hours)
• Resin usage estimate — press UP on the print preview to estimate the resin a model needs — shown in ml AND in vat fills (e.g. 12.4 ml = 0.8 VAT; vat size adjustable 10–40 ml in Settings, default 15). Live ml is shown while printing
• Resin level tracking — the printer keeps an estimate of how much resin is left in the VAT, warns before starting a print with too little, and can optionally pause mid-print for a refill (see Resin level & refills)
• Model preview in the dashboard — press Preview on any SD model: the browser rebuilds the shape from the sliced layers and draws it in the Model preview card, with a compact info line (layers, height, time, resin) and a quick ~ml resin estimate — click it to run the exact scan
• Safe model uploads — uploads unpack into a temporary folder and replace the old model only after unpacking succeeds; a name conflict asks Replace / Rename / Cancel (PrusaSlicer re-uploads just replace) (contributed by @Briadark)
• 3D print progress — while printing, the dashboard shows the same 3D view filling up in real time: the printed part in color, the rest as a ghost outline. Zero load on the printer (the browser renders from prefetched layers)
• WiFi reset — from the System menu, or by holding the BACK button while powering on
• Web dashboard — open the printer's IP in a browser: SD manager (upload/delete/start), live print status with pause/resume/stop and finish-time estimate, device config and a dry-run test mode — with a light/dark theme, a dismissible Getting Started checklist, contextual ? help next to the tricky settings, an always-on Model preview card (remembers the last previewed model) and a PWA manifest so the dashboard pins to a phone's home screen with the project icon (initial version contributed by @Briadark)
• Power-loss resume — a checkpoint on the SD card lets the printer pick a print back up after an outage instead of starting over, or safely lift the plate off a stuck print (up only, never into the vat). Answer the prompt at the printer or from the dashboard on your phone — a first for a resin printer in this class (checkpoint engine contributed by @Tann2019)
• MQTT / Home Assistant — optional integration with auto-discovery: print state, layers, resin used, resin left + low-resin alert, run/remaining time as HA sensors
• Telegram, WhatsApp or Discord notifications — the printer messages you when a print finishes (with time and resin used), pauses for low resin, or is canceled. Pick one channel: a Telegram bot, WhatsApp through the free CallMeBot gateway, or a Discord channel webhook — each with inline ? setup help and a Send test button. (Telegram is tested daily; WhatsApp and Discord ship untested — they ride on your own CallMeBot key or channel webhook, so the only test that proves anything is yours. Reports welcome, working or not.)
• Anonymous usage ping (optional) — once per firmware version the printer sends a one-way hash of its MAC address, the firmware version and the lifetime print hours, so we know how many printers are out there. Nothing else is sent, ever — switch it off under Settings → Network → Anonymous usage ping
• Firmware updates over WiFi — self-update from the printer (System → Update) or from the dashboard's Update tab (install latest, pick any version from a list, or upload a file). PlatformIO OTA for developers. Flashing is blocked while printing.
• Everything is switchable: WiFi and Web control can be turned off right on the printer (System → Advanced), and build switches still let developers compile the original, network-free firmware from the same code base

Screens

The small status display drives the whole UI — first-boot WiFi setup, wireless upload, resin estimate and guarding, device toggles, and self-update:

Hardware

Stock TinyMaker electronics — ESP32-WROOM-32E-N4 (4 MB flash, no PSRAM). No hardware modifications required; WiFi is already on the module.

Installing the firmware

Three ways to get the firmware onto the printer — the first is by far the easiest.

Method 1: Web flasher (recommended)

connect.tinymakerwifi.com/flash.php flashes the latest release straight from your browser — nothing to download or install (contributed by @Briadark):

1. Connect the printer to your computer via USB.
2. Open the web flasher in Chrome or Edge (they support Web Serial; Firefox/Safari don't).
3. Click Connect and select the printer's serial port (unsure which? unplug/replug the USB cable and watch which entry appears).
4. Flash — the tool fetches the latest release itself. Power cycle the printer when it finishes.

If your computer does not recognize the printer over USB, install the CH340 driver from the Driver folder of this repository (CH341SER.EXE), then try again.

Method 2: Already running TinyMakerWifi? Update over WiFi

No USB needed — use System → Update on the printer or the dashboard's Update tab. See Wireless Firmware Updates.

Method 3: Manual flashing (fallback & developers)

Download the latest firmware-full.bin from the Releases section of this repository.

⚠️ Which file do I need? Releases contain two files and they are NOT interchangeable:

File	Used for	How
firmware-full.bin	First-time USB flashing (this section)	USB flash tool, address 0x0
firmware.bin	Wireless updates only, after this firmware is already installed	Browser, http://tinymaker.local/update

Flashing firmware.bin over USB will not work correctly: it lacks the bootloader and partition table, so the printer either won't boot (if flashed at 0x0) or OTA updates will be broken (if flashed at 0x10000 over the stock firmware).

Option A: generic web esptool — https://esptool.spacehuhn.com/ in Chrome/Edge: click Connect, pick the port, remove all pre-filled entries, click ADD, upload your firmware-full.bin with its address set to 0, then Program and power cycle.

Option B: Espressif Flash Download Tool (Windows) — if you prefer the official desktop tool:

1. Get flash_download_tool.zip from the Flash_Installer folder of this repo (or the official Espressif Flash Download Tool page). Extract the ZIP fully before running.
2. Run the extracted flash_download_tool_xxx.exe.
3. In the "Download Tool" window, select ESP32 and Develop mode.
4. Configure the settings exactly as follows (wrong settings are the most common cause of a non-booting printer):
   • SPI Speed: 40 MHz
   • SPI Mode: DIO
   • Flash Size: 32 Mbit (4MB)
5. Click the three dots ... next to the first row and select firmware-full.bin (not firmware.bin!).
6. In the address field next to the file, enter 0x0 (zero — not 0x10000).
7. Ensure the checkbox on the left of the file path is checked — without it the tool flashes nothing and still reports success.
8. Select the correct COM port, click START, and power cycle the printer when it says "FINISH".

Note: the first boot after flashing may take a few seconds longer than usual, and the printer will start the TinyMaker-Setup WiFi access point (see below). Printer settings (exposure, layer height, etc.) reset to factory defaults.

First WiFi setup

1. Power on the printer. On first boot it starts a TinyMaker-Setup access point.
2. Connect to it with your phone — a captive portal opens automatically (or browse to http://192.168.4.1).
3. Select your home WiFi network and enter the password.
4. The printer connects and briefly shows its IP address; credentials are stored, so next boots connect automatically (~5 s) — animated signal bars on the boot screen turn green when connected. If the saved network is unreachable, the printer simply boots in offline mode after 15 s — printing from SD works as always.

WiFi status, signal strength and IP are always visible under System → WiFi Info.

Resetting WiFi

Two ways to erase the stored credentials (e.g. when moving the printer to another network):

• From the menu: System → WiFi Info → press OK → confirm. The printer erases the credentials, reboots and starts the TinyMaker-Setup portal again.
• Emergency reset: hold the BACK button while powering the printer on. Use this if the printer keeps trying to connect to an old network and you can't reach the menu in time.

PrusaSlicer setup

1. Import the TinyMaker printer profile (TinyMaker.ini, in this repo) via File → Import → Import Config. Then save each of the three presets — click the floppy-disk icon next to Print settings, Material and Printer and accept the names. Imported presets are temporary until saved, so without this step PrusaSlicer forgets the printer every time you close it, and you start over.
2. Add a physical printer: click the cog icon next to the printer profile → Add physical printer:
   • Name: anything (e.g. TinyMaker WiFi)
   • Hostname, IP or URL: tinymaker.local (or the printer's IP shown in System → WiFi Info)
   • API Key: any text (not verified)
   • Note: The printer emulates the Prusa SL1 network protocol.
3. Click Test — it should report a successful connection (printer must be on and connected to WiFi).
4. Slice and press Send to printer. The printer shows Receiving → Unpacking → Model ready, and the model appears in the Print menu.

 

Always slice with the 0.05 mm profile. Unlike FDM, the printed layer height is set on the printer (Settings → Layer Height), not by the sliced file — the file is just a stack of 0.05 mm images, and at the 0.10 mm printer setting the firmware takes every other image. Maximum model size: 1200 layers = 60 mm. If prints come out flat or the wrong height, check that PrusaSlicer's Print settings still show 0.05 mm — an update or the wrong preset can silently reset it, and the printer can't detect it from the file.

Importing models from the SD card

No network? Copy an .sl1 or .zip (exported by PrusaSlicer/UVtools) into the root of the SD card. It appears in the Print menu in blue among the models — press OK to convert it (progress is shown). When done, the new model appears in the list and the archive is deleted from the card. Long-press OK on a blue entry deletes the archive without importing.

Deleting uploaded models

In the Print menu, press and hold OK for ~1.5 seconds on a model — a Delete model? confirmation appears (release the button first, then OK = Delete, Back = No). Deletion removes the whole model folder from the SD card and shows a progress bar (large models take a while — hundreds of layer files). A short OK press starts printing as usual.

Web dashboard

Open the printer's IP address in any browser for the full dashboard (initial version contributed by @Briadark): live print status and controls, SD card management with one-click start/import, device settings, backups and firmware updates — all in tabs styled to match the printer's UI.

While a print runs, the status card counts the current phase down next to its name — Curing · 9s — and a small dot says whether the printer answered just now or is mid-move. That matters on this hardware: one ESP32 drives the screen, the motor, the UV LED and the web server off a single SD card, so the dashboard is served in the gaps between layer moves. A pause of a few seconds with an amber syncing mark is the printer working, not the page hanging.

On a desktop-sized screen the dashboard spreads into two columns — here it is in real use, idle with a card full of models:

3D preview & live print progress

Every model on the SD card can be previewed in 3D — the browser rebuilds the shape from the sliced layers (the printer only streams a few dozen small files) and draws it inside the build-volume box. Start the print from the dashboard and the same view turns into a live progress render: the printed part fills in with color, the unprinted rest stays a ghost outline. Works offline, no libraries, and costs the printer nothing while printing.

There is no mesh to render — the model reaches the printer already sliced into images, so the shape is rebuilt from the layers themselves. Only the surfaces the camera can actually see are drawn, and each is shaded from a normal estimated out of its neighbourhood, which is what makes blocky voxels read as a rounded object.

A real print in progress — a plate of teeth with supports, rendered live in the build-volume box:

Advanced menu (WiFi and Web control switches)

System → Advanced on the printer (contributed by @Briadark) holds the device toggles — OK changes a value, Back returns:

Item	What it does
Screen timeout	Blank the status screen after 30 s…10 min of inactivity (Off = never)
Dry run	Test prints without UV — motion and display only
VAT refilled	Press after refilling resin — restarts the level estimate from a full VAT
Low resin pause	On = the print pauses for a refill when the estimate runs low
Low resin warn	The warning/pause threshold, 1–3 ml (OK cycles)
Ask refill	On = every print starts with a "VAT refilled?" question (Yes resets the estimate to a full VAT). Turn Off if you press VAT refilled yourself
WiFi	On/Off — the whole network (web, PrusaSlicer upload, MQTT, self-update)
Web control	On/Off — browser actions. Off = the dashboard turns view-only (watch, but no print control, SD changes, uploads, settings or firmware updates); slicer upload and MQTT/HA keep working
MQTT	On/Off (shown once MQTT is configured in the dashboard)

How the network switches behave:

• WiFi Off makes the printer fully offline, like the original firmware. Toggling WiFi asks "Reboot now?" — OK reboots and applies it immediately, Back applies it on the next power-up. Everything network-related disappears from the menus until WiFi is back on — turning it back on is done right here (System → Advanced → WiFi), no reflash or reset needed.
• Web control Off makes the dashboard view-only: anyone on the network can still open it and watch the print (status, layers, resin left, SD contents, model details), but every action — print stop/pause, SD delete/upload, resin estimate, settings, VAT refilled, firmware updates — is disabled with a clear banner. PrusaSlicer/UVtools "Send to printer" and MQTT/Home Assistant keep working. Turning it back on is done on the printer (System → Advanced), since the settings form is among the things it locks.
• If WiFi is off and you open System → Update, the printer offers to enable WiFi temporarily just for the update.
• WiFi and Web control are also in the dashboard's Settings tab (with a confirmation — unchecking Web control locks you out of settings until it is re-enabled on the printer, and turning WiFi off from the browser reboots the printer).

Both switches default to On, and stay On after upgrading from an older version — nothing changes until you change it.

Resin level & refills

The printer has no resin sensor — instead it keeps count: every printed layer's cured volume (the same white-pixel estimate used for the ml counter) is subtracted from the VAT level. The estimate survives reboots and firmware updates.

• "Resin left (est.)" is shown on the dashboard; in Home Assistant it appears as a Resin left sensor plus a Resin low alert you can automate notifications on.
• After refilling, tell the printer: System → Advanced → VAT refilled on the printer, or the VAT refilled button on the dashboard. The estimate restarts from a full VAT (your VAT size setting).
• Ask refill (default On): every print begins with a "VAT refilled?" question — on the printer (OK = yes / Back = no) and in the browser — so the estimate stays honest even if you forget the button. Tidy users can turn it off (System → Advanced or dashboard Settings); the low-resin warning screen then still offers UP = Refilled as a shortcut.
• While printing the dashboard shows resin like layers: used / ~total ml (total = the fresh estimate when you ran one, otherwise a running average) plus Resin left (est.) in the VAT.
• Before a print starts, if the level is at/below the warning threshold (or a fresh ml estimate says the model needs more than what's left), the printer shows "Low resin!" with the numbers — Start anyway or Back. Starting from the browser asks the same in a dialog.
• Low resin pause (optional, default Off): mid-print, when the level drops to the threshold, the printer finishes the layer, lifts and pauses showing "Refill VAT!" — refill, press VAT refilled (dashboard) or just resume. The threshold (Low resin warn, 1–3 ml, default 2) is set on the printer (System → Advanced) or in the dashboard's Settings tab.

⚠️ It is an estimate, not a measurement — it doesn't account for resin sticking to models or drips, so treat it as a planning aid and glance at the real VAT now and then. Refills you don't confirm with "VAT refilled" won't be counted.

Wireless Firmware Updates

🔒 Firmware flashing is blocked while the printer is printing, and the web paths require Web control to be on. (Model upload from PrusaSlicer is separate — it works any time.)

Three ways to update:

• On the printer (self-update, no computer): System → Update shows the installed version and checks GitHub for the latest. If a newer one is available, the Install button lights up — press OK and the printer downloads and flashes it itself over WiFi.
• From the dashboard — the Update tab: shows installed vs latest with an Install latest button, a version picker (install any released version, downgrades ask for confirmation) and a file upload for a firmware.bin from Releases or a local build.
• For developers: PlatformIO OTA — open System → Update on the printer (this path keeps the strict screen gate), then select the env:tinymaker-ota environment and Upload goes over WiFi.

Do not power off during an update — and don't worry too much either: the dual OTA partition keeps the previous firmware if the update fails.

The self-update needs the latest firmware.bin + a version.txt hosted on GitHub Pages. See Firmware_Hosting/ for the one-time setup and per-release steps.

Building from source

Requirements: VS Code + PlatformIO.

1. Clone this repo.
2. Unpack the four vendor-verified libraries from Firmware/Libraries/*.zip of the original project into the lib/ folder: AccelStepper (1.64), Arduino_GFX (1.2.0), PNGdec (1.0.1), SdFat (1.1.2). Do not use newer versions from the registry — the APIs changed.
3. pio run — the platform (espressif32@6.5.0, Arduino core 2.x) and the network libraries (WiFiManager, unzipLIB) are fetched automatically. Do not upgrade to Arduino core 3.x.
4. First flash goes over USB (env:tinymaker, CH340 serial); after that OTA works (env:tinymaker-ota).

Build switches at the top of the main .ino — developers only. To simply turn WiFi off, use System → Advanced → WiFi on the printer instead; the compile-time switch exists for building a binary with no network code at all:

#define ENABLE_NETWORK       1   // 0 = original firmware behavior, no network code compiled in
#define ENABLE_SERIAL_DEBUG  1   // 0 = no serial output

Support this project

If you find this project useful and want to support my work, you can buy me a coffee via PayPal.

Credits & Acknowledgements

• Original project: TinyMaker-Open-Source-3D-Printer
• Original authors: TinyMaker3D Team

License

This project retains the original dual licensing of the TinyMaker3D project:

• Firmware: MIT License
• Hardware: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

See LICENSE.md for full details and copyright notices.