Recovery¶
Factory reset¶
Hold the recessed reset button on the case for ten seconds.
The appliance stops Bambuddy, wipes its user data, forgets the first-boot marker, and reboots into a fresh setup wizard — exactly as a new appliance would. This is the path of last resort, and it works when nothing else does: when the network is misconfigured, when the web interface is unreachable, when both ethernet and WiFi have failed.
| Erased | Kept |
|---|---|
| Bambuddy's database — printers, queue, history, user accounts | The operating system and Bambuddy itself |
| All uploads, archives, and timelapses | Partner branding |
| Session and encryption secrets | The appliance's warranty identity |
| Saved WiFi credentials | The appliance password |
| Hostname, timezone, locale | |
| SSH host keys (regenerated on next boot) |
It does not reset the appliance password
A factory reset recovers a forgotten Bambuddy account, because those live in the database it erases. It does not clear the appliance password — the one covering the admin panel, the console, and SSH. Clearing it would leave the panel failing closed on :8001 with no way back in, since the wizard's password step can be skipped.
To change that password, use sudo bambuddy-appliance set-admin-password over SSH.
There is no undo, and no confirmation prompt
Ten seconds of button, and your print history is gone. Take a backup while things are working, not when they aren't.
The button cannot fire accidentally. It is ignored for the first thirty seconds after boot, so a stuck button can't put the appliance in a reset loop. A press shorter than ten seconds does nothing, and releasing early aborts cleanly.
No button, no reset
The button is the only way to trigger a factory reset. There is no web page, no URL, and no menu item for it anywhere in Bambuddy.
If you flashed the image onto a bare Pi without a partner case, wire a momentary switch across GPIO21 and GND (pins 40 and 39 on the header). Without one, your only recovery options are SSH or re-flashing the card.
Lockouts¶
Over SSH, if you can still get in:
The reset button will not help. It does not clear this password. If SSH is also unreachable, the only way back is to re-flash the card.
The panel fails closed. Either the setup wizard's password step was skipped, or /etc/bambuddy/admin-auth was removed. Set one:
That's Bambuddy's own account, not the appliance's. See Authentication.
When it won't come up¶
| Symptom | Try |
|---|---|
bambuddy.local doesn't resolve | Find the IP in your router's client list and use http://<ip>:8000 |
| Wizard won't advance past Welcome | It's waiting for the clock. Give it a minute with a working uplink. |
| Setup WiFi network never appears | Wait two minutes for first boot. If ethernet is plugged in, the appliance uses it and never raises the access point. |
| Bambuddy is down, panel still works | Diagnostics → Bambuddy log. Then sudo bambuddy-appliance restart. |
| Panel is down too | SSH in and check systemctl status bambuddy-admin |
| Everything is unreachable | The reset button |
| Random slowdowns, printer disconnects | Dashboard → check the since boot undervoltage and throttling flags. A weak USB-C supply will set them. |
Reporting a problem¶
Two support bundles exist, and a good bug report usually wants both:
- The appliance bundle, from the panel's Diagnostics tab. Host-side: service logs, container state, network configuration.
- Bambuddy's own bundle, from the System page inside Bambuddy. Application-side.
Both strip credentials before they're written, so they're safe to attach to a public issue.
File it at github.com/maziggy/bambuddy/issues. Say which appliance image version you're on — the Dashboard shows it.