Will PreForm be available for Linux?

Support & Troubleshooting
1

If there are no plans to release a linux build, does it at least work under WINE?

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2

The win32 app does run in WINE, but naturally I couldn’t test the most important aspect-- interaction between PreForm and the printer-- without the printer. Will test that out when I receive the printer. Worst case scenario build a headless windows box to act as a print server.

3

4

Preform uses the standard libUSB 1.0 library package for the USB communication.

So if you can check that this is compatible with Wine, you might have more info.

Cheers

5

Feedback from lsusb -v on my FreeBSD machine. At present I have had no luck trying to get a connection to virtualbox or wine though with wine I have had black screen issues I’d be focused on before I try to worry about messing with manual usb patching.

Bus /dev/usb Device /dev/ugen4.4: ID 16d0:07eb
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass          255 Vendor Specific Class
  bDeviceSubClass         1
  bDeviceProtocol         1
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x16d0
  idProduct          0x07eb
  bcdDevice            2.00
  iManufacturer           1 Formlabs
  iProduct                2 Form1
  iSerial                 0
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           32
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0
    bmAttributes         0xc0
      Self Powered
    MaxPower              100mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass      1
      bInterfaceProtocol      1
      iInterface              0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x03  EP 3 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
can’t get device qualifier: Input/output error
can’t get debug descriptor: Input/output error
Device Status:     0x0000
  (Bus Powered)

6

PreForm v0.8.2 seems to work fine under Ubuntu with VirtualBox.  Strangely I had to install the software twice before the USB driver worked, but other than that, it seems fine.  Well, at least it started a print.  We’ll see in two hours if the print is successful.

7

Umh, correction: while the printing part works perfectly fine, there appears to be no way to select an object in the 3D-view.  This means the software isn’t really usable because you can’t autoplace or scale objects.  Rather disappointing.  I tried with VirtualBox 4.1 and 4.2 on Windows XP (32-bit) and Windows 7 (64-bit) to no avail.  The photo Jason posted looks like he was able to select the object.  I guess I should try Wine instead.

8

Seems like a good time to make yet another plug for a native Linux version of PreForm. PLEASE! I am anxiously awaiting my form2, but less anxiously awaiting the hassle of working through a VM…

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