OPERATING SYSTEM
The operating system for industrial FDM printers
Protype OS runs the machine — motion, sensors, peripherals and print jobs — as one predictable system instead of a pile of firmware.
- Linux
Not firmware — the layer above it
Klipper already runs the motion. Protype OS runs everything around it: the touchscreen the operator works on, the identity and permissions that decide who may touch the machine, the camera pipeline, the link to the rest of the fleet, and the mechanism that keeps all of it current.
On a Protype machine, Klipper and Moonraker live on a BigTreeTech controller board over a dedicated wired link. Protype OS runs on the machine's own x86 computer and sits in front of that board. Nothing is reflashed and no printer firmware is replaced.
- openSUSE Tumbleweed base, built as one declarative image
- Unattended install ISO — a machine provisions itself
- Wayland kiosk that boots straight into the operator interface
- The Klipper board keeps doing what it already does well
Operator
Works on the machine's Full HD touchscreen
ProControl
The interface: jobs, filament, calibration, camera
Protype OS
Identity, permissions, camera pipeline, tunnel, updates
Klipper board
Motion, sensors and heaters, on its own wired link
What an appliance OS buys you
Authenticated access to the machine
A stock Klipper host answers on an open Moonraker port with no authentication, and the usual advice is to keep it off the internet. Protype OS puts a token-validating proxy in front of it, with viewer, operator, admin and owner roles and an audit log stored on the machine itself.
Updates that can roll themselves back
Application updates are signed. The signature is checked before the manifest is even parsed, a missing signature fails closed, and a failed health check afterwards rolls the machine back automatically.
Camera streaming that does not eat the CPU
The Intel GPU transcodes the camera feed instead of the processor — roughly 7% CPU against about 33% for software decode — with WebRTC and MSE outputs and an automatic software path on machines without an integrated GPU.
A kiosk that repairs itself
The operator shell respawns if it crashes, a rescue console takes over if the compositor fails, and the status capsule stays reachable above a fullscreen application.
Klipper extensions from the touchscreen
Curated Klipper modules install onto the controller board from the screen, with per-file rules that refuse to overwrite machine-specific calibration such as probe Z offsets or CAN bus identifiers.
Field upgrades that respect a running print
Upgrade tooling backs up before each phase, verifies after it, refuses to restart services while a print is running, and leaves the network tunnel alone. Built and validated in dry runs; not yet exercised against fielded machines.
Specifications
- Base image
- openSUSE Tumbleweed, built with KIWI NG
- Architecture
- x86-64 — UEFI, GPT, GRUB2, ext4 root
- Kernel
- Long-term support kernel
- Display stack
- Wayland with the Hyprland compositor
- Kiosk resolution
- 1920 × 1080
- Printer controller
- Separate BigTreeTech CB2 or Manta board running Klipper and Moonraker over a dedicated wired link
- On-device applications
- ProControl shell and Island, PrusaSlicer, camera server
- Install media
- Unattended OEM install ISO, plus a live ISO for diagnostics
- Remote access
- WireGuard, enrolled against the Protype hub
- Root filesystem
- Single ext4 partition, not encrypted
Questions
Does Protype OS replace Klipper?
No. Klipper and Moonraker keep running on the printer's controller board. Protype OS runs on the machine's own computer in front of them, adding the operator interface, authentication, camera streaming and fleet connectivity. No printer firmware is reflashed.
What hardware does it run on?
An x86-64 computer built into the machine, with an Intel integrated GPU for camera transcoding. The installer is an unattended ISO, so provisioning a machine is a boot rather than a build.
How do updates work?
Application updates are cryptographically signed and verified before the manifest is parsed. An operator starts them from the screen, and a failed health check afterwards rolls back automatically. The operating system image itself is replaced by reinstall today — atomic A/B updates of the OS are still in design.
Is the disk encrypted?
Not today. The shipped image uses a single unencrypted root filesystem. Disk encryption and hardware-backed keys are in development and are not part of the current release.
See Protype OS on your hardware
Tell us what you run and we will show the stack on a machine like yours.
Request a demo