Summary https://www.reddit.com/r/BambuLab/comments/1i3gq1t/why_you_should_care_about_bambu_labs_removing/
Lewis Rossman video https://youtu.be/aIyaDD8onIE
tl;dr: A firmware update scheduled for January 23rd will remove the ability of third-party software such as Orca Slicer or the Panda Touch to connect directly to your printer. Users of third-party slicers will have to export sliced files and load them in a new “Bambu Connect” app in order to start prints or manage the printer.
And there it is. Isn’t bambulabs also the ones that have RFID tags on their spools that they pinky promise are just used as convenience and will never be DRM?
Yep, I’m pretty sure you can still just use spools without tags and then manually set the filament settings, but since they control the firmware and can block downgrades, they can at any time require RFID tags for it to print. And since the tags have proven to be mostly cryptographically secure, that leaves open an avenue for them to lock out third party filament. It looks like you can currently clone the tags, but in theory they could program them like printer cartridges where it will recognize when you’ve printed a full spools length from any specific RFID tag ID, and then block printing using that tag ID. That could make cloning the tags useless and force you to only buy bamboo filament just like HP and printer companies and their ink.
My XYZ was similar, but thankfully they allowed spools to be used on the outside. I also found a print to allow me to respool the cartridges but can’t use the chip to monitor spool usage. But someone did come up with a way to reset those tags but I never got around to doing it.
Hopefully the same can be done here too.
Such a shame because while I don’t like FDM printing much anymore, Bamboo printers look like awesome printers minus all this BS.