The Bambu Lab vs OrcaSlicer situation — the legal threats, the AGPLv3 investigation, the GamersNexus post, the SFC involvement — has pushed a conversation that was previously a niche technical interest into the mainstream of Bambu user discussion. That conversation is: can you take back control of your Bambu printer from Bambu’s firmware, and if so, how? The answer is yes, with important caveats depending on which machine you have. This post covers what jailbreaking or custom firmware actually means in a Bambu context, what each option looks like in practice, what you gain, what you risk, and why I am not doing it myself — but entirely understand why others are.
Why this conversation is happening now
The custom firmware conversation for Bambu printers did not begin with the OrcaSlicer controversy. The X1 Carbon was jailbroken by community developers within a year of its release, and the X1Plus project has been active since late 2023. But the controversy has significantly broadened the audience for the conversation — people who had never thought about their printer’s firmware are now asking whether Bambu’s firmware gives Bambu control over hardware they paid for.
The specific trigger was the Authorization Control System rolled out by Bambu in January 2025. The authorization system requires users to update Bambu Studio to version 01.10.02.64 or higher, update Bambu Handy to version 2.17.0 or higher, and install the new Bambu Connect application for using third-party slicers. These software updates are mandatory for users who update their firmware. The practical effect was that OrcaSlicer’s direct cloud printing path was severed. Users who stayed on old firmware kept their third-party slicer access but lost all future firmware updates. Users who updated gained firmware improvements but lost direct third-party slicer control.
The SFC investigation — covered in the AGPLv3 investigation post — confirmed two licence violations in Bambu’s conduct and launched the baltobu project specifically to reverse-engineer the networking library at the centre of the dispute. That escalation is what has pushed the “can I run my own firmware” question from a niche interest to a mainstream community discussion.
The vocabulary: jailbreaking vs custom firmware vs LAN-only mode
These terms get used interchangeably in community discussions and they mean different things. It is worth being precise.
LAN-only mode is not a jailbreak. It is a built-in Bambu feature that disconnects the printer from Bambu’s cloud services and restricts operation to the local network. In LAN-only mode, you can still use Bambu Studio and OrcaSlicer to send print jobs and control the printer without any cloud involvement. This is the simplest way to reduce Bambu’s cloud dependency without modifying any firmware. No warranty impact. No technical complexity. Enabled in the printer’s Settings menu.
Firmware downgrade means reverting to an older version of Bambu’s official firmware — specifically, a version before the Authorization Control System was introduced. Users who stay on older firmware retain OrcaSlicer direct cloud printing access but cannot receive future Bambu firmware updates, features, or bug fixes. This is the “frozen in time” approach: keep the old behaviour at the cost of no forward development on the machine. No custom code. No warranty void from the firmware itself, though Bambu may use firmware version as a support ticket factor.
Custom firmware is the actual jailbreak — replacing or overlaying Bambu’s firmware with community-developed software that changes what the printer can do and how it communicates. This is where X1Plus sits. Genuine custom firmware, warranty voiding, real capability changes, and real technical risk.
X1Plus: the mature custom firmware option
X1Plus is the most developed custom firmware project for any Bambu machine, and the one with the most community documentation behind it. The core concept of X1Plus is that it builds an overlay on top of the Bambu Lab firmware and replaces only the parts needed to launch X1Plus. The developers are very careful not to redistribute any of Bambu Lab’s IP directly; when it’s necessary to use or patch Bambu Lab binaries, they download them directly from Bambu Lab servers and then patch them onboard the printer.
X1Plus currently supports the X1 Carbon and X1 (not the X1E, P1S, P2S, A1, or A1 Mini). The project is at version 3.1 as of late 2025, with over-the-air updates available from 2.0 onwards. The most recent version added experimental Polar Cloud integration — allowing remote print management without using Bambu Cloud at all — alongside AMS firmware update support and expanded sensor data access.
What X1Plus adds over stock firmware
- Fluidd web interface access — control the printer from a browser on the local network without Bambu Studio or Bambu Handy
- Polar Cloud integration — remote monitoring and print management without Bambu’s cloud
- Input shaping calibration graphs — visualise the resonance compensation data rather than treating it as a black box
- X1Plus Expander support — a community hardware board for adding GPIO pins, sensors, and custom integrations
- X1Plus Actions system — trigger custom actions from printer events, GPIO inputs, or G-code commands
- Chamber light toggle via hardware buttons
- More granular access to printer state and sensor data than the official firmware exposes
The installation process
The X1Plus installation process is more structured than a conventional jailbreak, and that is partly because Bambu Lab made a specific decision to support it. Bambu Lab announced that it would offer customers the option to install X1Plus, a third-party open-source firmware for its X1 series of 3D printers. A switch to X1Plus involves permanently revoking the official warranty, and there is no guarantee of being able to use the cloud service or revert to official firmware.
The current installation pathway, as documented on the X1Plus GitHub wiki, works as follows:
- Visit Bambu Lab’s Third Party Firmware Plan page and enrol your printer. This opts you into what Bambu calls the “rootable” firmware path
- Accept the terms — which include acknowledgement that this voids your warranty and that Bambu will not support the modified printer
- Use Bambu Handy to downgrade to the Bambu rootable firmware (a specific firmware version that Bambu provides specifically to enable this pathway)
- Prepare a FAT32-formatted MicroSD card (16GB minimum) with the X1Plus installer
- Run the X1Plus Installer application on your computer (Windows, Mac, Linux supported)
- Enter your printer’s LAN access code — found in Settings → General, temporarily switching to LAN Only mode to reveal it
- Click Install and follow the on-printer instructions
The full installation guide is at github.com/X1Plus/X1Plus/wiki/Installation-Guide. Teaching Tech (Michael Laws) has also produced a step-by-step video guide linked from the X1Plus wiki. Removal is possible: boot into the OEM firmware option from the startup menu, then initiate an OEM update. If you can successfully return to OEM firmware, X1Plus is removed.
The critical caveat: future official Bambu Lab firmware releases after Firmware R will have new security measures applied to prevent rooting, and Bambu will no longer provide solutions for rooting the new versions of the firmware. The rootable firmware pathway Bambu created is frozen at a specific version. Installing X1Plus means staying on that firmware base indefinitely — any Bambu firmware features introduced after the rootable version will not be available unless X1Plus develops its own implementations of them.
What about the A1 and P1S?
This is where the honest answer is less satisfying. X1Plus is X1 Carbon only. The A1 — my daily machine — and the P1S and P2S do not have an equivalent mature custom firmware project at the time of writing. The technical architecture differences between the X1 Carbon and the A and P series machines mean the X1Plus work does not directly port.
The baltobu project launched by the SFC has a mandate that potentially covers A and P series hardware — its goal of reverse-engineering the networking library and developing a replacement Bambu Studio fork is relevant to all Bambu machines, not just the X1 Carbon. But baltobu is focused on the software layer (the slicer and networking) rather than the printer firmware itself. It is not, at this stage, a custom firmware project for A or P series printers.
The practical options for A1 and P1S owners who want more control are currently:
- LAN-only mode — the simplest and safest option. Disconnects from Bambu cloud while keeping all local printing capability intact
- Firmware freeze — stay on a pre-Authorization Control System firmware version. Retains OrcaSlicer direct cloud access at the cost of no future updates
- OrcaSlicer via Bambu Connect — use OrcaSlicer with Bambu Connect as middleware. Reduced functionality compared to direct access but works within the current Bambu framework
- OrcaSlicer 2.4.0 Alpha Kobra X / Bambu Community profiles — use OrcaSlicer directly in LAN mode, which does not require Bambu Connect for local network printing on some firmware configurations
A-series specific custom firmware is a community development that does not yet exist at X1Plus’s maturity level. Whether it arrives depends on community developer interest and the technical challenges of each machine’s architecture. The baltobu project may develop in this direction as the SFC’s work progresses.
The risk vs reward assessment
The honest risk and reward calculation depends significantly on which machine you own and what specifically is bothering you about Bambu’s firmware decisions.
| Approach | Machine | Risk level | What you gain | What you lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAN-only mode | All Bambu machines | None | No cloud dependency, OrcaSlicer works in LAN mode on some configurations | Remote monitoring via Bambu Handy, MakerWorld one-tap printing |
| Firmware freeze (old version) | All Bambu machines | Low — no warranty impact from old firmware itself | OrcaSlicer direct cloud access retained | All future firmware updates, bug fixes, new features |
| X1Plus custom firmware | X1 Carbon only | Medium-High — warranty void, no official support, firmware locked at rootable version | Fluidd access, Polar Cloud, expanded sensor data, GPIO, Actions system | Warranty, official support, future Bambu firmware features |
| Wait for baltobu / community | All machines | None now — future options developing | May deliver open-source alternative to Bambu’s networking layer | Time — no current solution |
The warranty concern is real but context-dependent. In the EU, consumer warranty rights cannot be fully waived by manufacturer terms — the two-year statutory warranty from the seller applies regardless of what the manufacturer’s terms say about third-party firmware. This has been noted in the Bambu forum thread on X1Plus: citizens of the European Union cannot waive their warranty rights; therefore, the form and declaration that Bambu Labs wants users to fill out are void in this regard. UK consumers have similar protections under the Consumer Rights Act. The practical implication is that Bambu’s warranty void claim may be legally enforceable in the US but contestable in the UK and EU.
What the community is actually doing
The community response to the Authorization Control System and the OrcaSlicer controversy has split into roughly four camps. The first is doing nothing — using Bambu Studio, accepting the official ecosystem, and getting on with printing. This is the largest group and the correct choice for anyone whose workflow is not materially affected. The second is using LAN-only mode to reduce cloud dependency while keeping official firmware. The third is frozen on old firmware to retain OrcaSlicer access. The fourth — smallest in number but most technically engaged — is running X1Plus on X1 Carbon machines.
The OrcaSlicer situation has also driven a meaningful number of users toward the Kobra X, Prusa, and other alternatives — not because those machines have better firmware necessarily, but because the relationship between Bambu and their user community has become uncomfortable enough that some people do not want to deepen their investment in it. GamersNexus publicly stated they are buying Prusa hardware as a result. These are individual decisions based on how much the ecosystem trust question affects each person’s specific situation.
My own position
I am not jailbreaking my A1. Partly because the option does not really exist for the A1 at the same level of maturity as X1Plus. But mostly because my workflow is not significantly affected by the current firmware situation. I use Bambu Studio as my primary slicer. I do not rely on OrcaSlicer direct cloud printing. The things I print, the way I print them, and the tools I use to do it have not been materially constrained by Bambu’s firmware decisions so far. I have opinions about the direction — covered in the OrcaSlicer posts — but those opinions do not translate into a practical workflow problem that custom firmware would solve.
What I do understand, completely, is why other people feel differently. Someone who built their multi-printer print farm workflow around OrcaSlicer’s direct cloud printing has had that workflow broken by a firmware update to hardware they own. Someone who runs a makerspace and uses third-party management software to coordinate multiple Bambu printers has been locked out of that capability. Someone who made purchasing decisions partly on the assumption that the open-source ecosystem would remain accessible has found that assumption was wrong. For all of these people, the custom firmware question is not academic. It is a practical response to a practical problem that Bambu created and then refused to solve gracefully.
The framing of “jailbreaking” also deserves pushback. Running custom firmware on hardware you own is not inherently rebellious or risky — it is what the right-to-repair movement argues should be a normal and legally protected activity. The RepRap that started my 3D printing journey was entirely open software and hardware by design. The idea that a modern printer manufacturer should be able to restrict what software runs on the device you paid for is not a natural law. It is a business decision, and it is one that an increasing number of community members are pushing back against in the most practical way available: by replacing the software.
Key resources
- X1Plus GitHub — the custom firmware project for Bambu X1 Carbon. Source code, documentation, and issue tracker
- X1Plus Installation Guide — step-by-step wiki for installing on an X1 Carbon
- Bambu Third Party Firmware Plan — Bambu’s official enrolment page for enabling the rootable firmware on X1 series printers
- Software Freedom Conservancy — the baltobu project and AGPLv3 investigation updates
- GamersNexus baltobu mirror — hosting the OrcaSlicer-BambuLab fork and the $10,000 legal defence contribution
Summary
Custom firmware for Bambu printers exists, is technically achievable on the X1 Carbon via X1Plus, and is supported by a documented installation process that Bambu themselves created a pathway for. It adds real capability — cloud-independent remote access, expanded sensor data, community hardware integration — at the cost of warranty, future Bambu firmware features, and the technical overhead of managing a community firmware installation. For A and P series owners including A1 users, a mature equivalent does not yet exist, and the practical options are LAN-only mode, firmware freeze, or waiting for the baltobu project and community development to mature.
Whether any of this is worth doing depends entirely on whether Bambu’s firmware decisions have created a specific problem for your specific workflow. If your workflow works fine on current Bambu firmware with Bambu Studio — as mine does — the risk/reward case for custom firmware is weak. If your workflow depends on direct OrcaSlicer cloud access, third-party management software, or LAN-only operation without Bambu Handy dependency, the case is much stronger.
The fact that this conversation is happening at all — that a manufacturer with genuinely excellent hardware has created enough ecosystem friction that a meaningful portion of its community is actively researching firmware alternatives — is the most informative thing about the current state of Bambu Lab’s relationship with its users. The hardware has not changed. The community’s confidence in what Bambu will do with that hardware next has.
Are you running X1Plus? Have you frozen firmware to keep OrcaSlicer access? Or are you in the “not a problem for me” camp? Drop a comment — the range of positions in the community on this is genuinely wide and the collective experience is more useful than any single account.
