MicroStack evolves: HP EliteDesk and Lenovo ThinkCentre compatibility for your homelab

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 12:00:00 +0200

A MicroStack update? 😍

Yes! A few months ago, I introduced you to MicroStack, my 3D printed modular rack project for Dell Micro. The project had unexpected success on MakerWorld / Bluesky (and even a bit on Reddit) and I received several requests to extend compatibility…

And since I’m nice (and I like my 3D printing side projects), I decided to respond to community requests!

Promise kept: HP EliteDesk and Lenovo ThinkCentre!

In the original article, I mentioned that “a version compatible with Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny was planned”. Well… it’s done! And I even made a bonus with HP EliteDesk/ProDesk because… why not?

Now, the MicroStack project officially supports three ranges of mini-PCs:

Dell OptiPlex Micro (all generations) - the pioneer
Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny
HP EliteDesk/ProDesk

A growing ecosystem

The concept remains the same: stackable and modular modules to neatly organize your homelab. But now, you can mix brands in the same rack if you have a heterogeneous fleet (and we all know how it happens in homelabs… “oh look, this used machine is at a good price!”).

The complete MicroStack collection now includes:

PC Modules:

Dell Micro Module - the original
Lenovo ThinkCentre Module - the requested one (thanks to a loan from someone on LinkedIn! Thanks!)
HP EliteDesk/ProDesk Module - the bonus

Common Modules:

Storage Module - for switch, accessories, etc.
Hat - clean rack finish

All these modules are inter-compatible and use the same stacking system.

Still the same best practices

As with the original, I still recommend printing in PETG (or even ASA or ABS?) rather than PLA for better heat resistance, even though these mini-PCs remain quite cool. The honeycomb floor design ensures good ventilation while saving filament.

The feedback: multi-range modeling

Adapting the original design to new ranges was simpler than expected, thanks to the solid foundation of the initial project. Once the concept was established with the Dell module, you “just” need to:

Take (precise!) measurements of the new models (still need to find them…)
Adapt the chassis dimensions
Do one (or more) test prints and validate stacking (the stress, every time, of having burned 120g of plastic for nothing if you messed up)

Each new module took me about an hour of modeling, much less than the initial 3x2h of the original project. Prototyping (testing incomplete versions to save plastic) took quite a bit of time, which I had forgotten to count in the previous article. Easily a few more hours.

Community feedback

What makes me happiest is seeing that the project found its audience. The feedback on MakerWorld is generally enthusiastic and the evolution requests show that the concept really meets a need.

Some users have already sent me photos of their mixed installations with different brands in the same rack. This is exactly the modular spirit I wanted to bring to the project!

I also had one negative feedback, for which I can’t do much as it stands but which was interesting and allowed me to add a warning. The fact that the back is dedicated to the charger (PSU) blocks some ports, particularly for the Lenovo. The solutions:

Live with only Ethernet (for a lab, personally I think that’s fine)
Move the power supplies to the “storage” module

And now?

With these three ranges covered, my MicroStack project becomes really versatile. If you have suggestions for other mini-PCs to support, don’t hesitate! MinisForum, perhaps?

If this project interests you, feel free to comment, share, provide feedback, or even boost the three models for those who have a MakerWorld account (it’s free, but it’s appreciated :-P).

AppImages on Ubuntu, Example with Bambu Studio

Sun, 04 May 2025 12:00:00 +0200

Bambu Studio and 3D Printing on Linux

For a few months now, as you know, I’ve gotten into 3D printing. And while at the beginning, I started with Klipper (for the 3D printer) and Slic3r (or rather its fork, Artillery Slicer) for slicing, since January I’ve switched to a Bambu Labs printer that I’m very happy with (that comment should upset LinuxFR).

Of course, when I bought the printer, I checked if there was a Linux-compatible slicer, because Windows is fine for gaming (even then) but if I can skip it for 3D printing, that’s good too.

Yes, but…

So yes, it’s “supported” (note the quotes) but it’s not as straightforward as for Windows and MacOS where you just click a button.

A quick visit to the tool’s download site will reveal that we Linux users are indeed second-class nerds for BambuLab.

You can see in tiny text that for Linux, we’ll have to settle for Github releases.

Well, the idea of not bothering and using Wine emulation crossed my mind, but I figured I’d try the official method.

AppImage

There are two options. The first, via AppImages, is the one that’s highlighted but probably not the most “practical”.

Actually, I discovered a bit later that there’s a flatpak available through the flathub repository. The only “downside” is that it requires yet another package manager, but it’s not impossible that you already have it…

So, I’ll stick in this article with the method I used, namely AppImages, because it will allow us to play with Ubuntu’s .desktop files and that’s 2 tutorials in one (and that’s fun).

Download and Launch

This part is the simplest. So we simply go to BambuStudio’s github releases:

github.com/bambulab/BambuStudio/releases

We take the latest one and download it:

Note that AppImages are only available for Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04 (and Fedora). A few versions earlier, it was 20.04 and 24.04. Since the AppImage is linked to libs (gtk) present on the OS, if you launch the Ubuntu image with the wrong version, it won’t find the lib version and it’s very annoying.

You can cheat by linking the versions so it finds the lib but it’s probably quite risky as a workaround…

sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libwebkit2gtk-4.1.so.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libwebkit2gtk-4.0.so.37

Once the archive is downloaded and extracted, you’ll end up with a folder containing the AppImage directly.

If you double-click on it, it should work, Bambu Studio will launch.

Victory?

Yes OK, it works, but it’s still not very practical to go to the Downloads folder and click on the AppImage.

You can obviously move the AppImage to a folder in your PATH (/usr/local/bin) and call it via a terminal, but that’s not great either in terms of user experience (I’m not the only one doing 3D printing at home).

Enter .desktop files. This is a text file that will allow us to add the appImage to Ubuntu’s application list and that’s nice because it’s user friendly.

We’ll move the AppImage to a folder in PATH, and create a symbolic link:

cd /home/zwindler/.local/bin
mv Téléchargements/BambuStudio_ubuntu-24.04_PR-6688/Bambu_Studio_ubuntu-24.04_PR-6688.AppImage .
ln -s Bambu_Studio_ubuntu-24.04_PR-6688.AppImage bambustudio

Why am I creating a symbolic link? 2 reasons.

The first is that if I still want to launch Bambu Studio from my terminal (in case of issues at launch, I want to be able to see the logs), I can do it by simply running the command bambustudio and not Bambu_Studio_ubuntu-24.04_PR-6688.AppImage.

The second is that at the next update, I’ll “just” have to modify the symbolic link to point to the new appImage rather than having to redo all the steps that follow.

By default, all applications in the list are in your .local/share/applications/ folder:

zwindler@normandy:~$ ls .local/share/applications/
appimagekit-openshot-qt.desktop
Bambu_Studio.desktop
chrome-hmjkmjkepdijhoojdojkdfohbdgmmhki-Default.desktop
mimeapps.list
mimeinfo.cache
userapp-Firefox-V48P02.desktop

Here’s what our Bambu_Studio.desktop file should look like:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Bambu Studio
GenericName=Bambu Studio
Comment=Bambu Studio
Exec=/home/zwindler/.local/bin/bambustudio %F
Icon=/home/zwindler/.local/share/icons/bambustudio.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application

Nothing too extravagant here, we mainly give the application name, a Type, and an execution path (and some additional parameters).

The most observant among you will have noticed that you can also add an icon, it’s true that it’s much nicer to add the Bambu Lab logo than the default icon…

I got the Bambu Lab logo from their Github and placed it in the /home/zwindler/.local/share/icons/ folder:

avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/96461528?s=200&v=4

And here’s the result :)

Addendum

If you REALLY want to do AppImages, there’s a github project with 6k stars, AppImageLauncher, that helps manage AppImages

https://github.com/TheAssassin/AppImageLauncher

makes your Linux desktop AppImage ready™

Basically it’s a launcher for AppImages, which gives you the choice between installing AppImages for you or running them oneshot, deleting and updating images, and a CLI.

Thanks Fabio for the info.

Impression 3D on Zwindler's Reflection