Questions about the USB-C port and the touch controller

Snapmaker 2.0
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1

I’ve been wanting to try out some stuff involving remote control through Octoprint, and I have a few questions about the Snapmaker that I’m struggling to research. Wonder if any of you can help.

The biggest question I have is, what exactly is the touchscreen? Are the GCode files actually stored on it? And can the Snapmaker be used over USB without the touchscreen?

And what exactly are the USB ports on the controller unit that everything else attaches to? I figured out how to use the USB-Mini port, sure, but I don’t own a single other thing with USB-Mini. Can the USB-A port take a cable for power and signals? Or the USB-C port?

These questions might sound oddly specific, but it makes a little more sense when I mention that I want to use an Octoprint server. Apparently I must connect over USB, but that’s tricky.

I first tried to use an old cell phone as the controller, but that drained the battery really quickly when it was connected through adapters to the USB-Mini, and I’m not sure I can even find a cheap USB-hub that will charge the phone and only the phone while relaying signals?

The other option I have is a Raspberry Pi 4. This unit doesn’t have a battery and needs a USB power supply, but it only asks for 5V/3.3A So maybe I can power it via the Snapmaker?
Hence why I need information about the controller and its connections. For the life of me I can’t find any data about the touchscreen or the controller at all.

2

You can think of the touch screen as a device similar to Octoprint, where files sent over WiFi are stored within the touch screen.

When you use Octoprint or other devices to control through a USB A port, try not to operate on the touch screen as it may affect the control of the device, which is like two people operating a machine at the same time.

3

Hm, just tried to connect from the USB-A to my laptop’s USB-C. Cable lit up, but Luban gets nothing.

4

Kinda gave up and decided to connect to the Raspberry Pi the normal way through the USB-Mini, and that’s not working right either, dang it… Been spending hours trying to debug this.
The RasPi recognizes it, but Octoprint is saying it can’t find any serial connections

5

Oh, I was wrong. It should be through the USB mini port, where USB A is. Used for connecting USB drives.

But I haven’t used Octoprint befor, sorry I can’t help you.

6

USB-C port isn’t actually USB-C. While it uses a USB-C plug it doesn’t conform to C standards. The touchscreen is running a version of android. Files are stored on there.

The USB-A is only for transferring files from usb drives (and firmware updates)

The USB mini is what you want to use to communicate with and control the SM.

Hope that helps.
-S