Skip to content

Getting Started - Menuconfig Installer / Configurator

The Happy Hare v4 Installer and Configurator is a dynamic, menuconfig based configuration management system designed to streamline both initial installation and ongoing maintenance of Happy Hare. It uses a structured, deterministic rules-based workflow that exposes only the parameters and capabilities relevant to your specific MMU hardware and enabled features.

Where appropriate, the installer applies recommended defaults and sensible settings across hardware definitions, GPIO assignments, and Happy Hare features. Options not applicable to your configuration are suppressed and omitted from the generated files in the config/mmu/base/ folder.

This rules‑driven approach simplifies setup, reduces configuration errors and frustration, and provides a clear, maintainable foundation for upgrading, managing, and enabling Happy Hare capabilities.

Design Goal

The intention is for users to manage most configuration settings through the interactive menuconfig installer (./install.sh -i), without needing to edit Happy Hare configuration files directly. The rules‑driven interface ensures that all configuration choices remain consistent with the selected MMU hardware and supported features.

Direct Modification of Configuration Files

Direct modification of Happy Hare configuration files remains possible when required, with installer options available to control merge and overwrite behavior to suit your preferred workflow. However, users are encouraged to rely primarily on the menuconfig installer, which may require unlearning older habits of editing configuration files directly.

All menuconfig selections are mastered and stored in the Happy-Hare/.mmu-config settings file with a backup maintained in printer_data/config/mmu/.mmu-config to ensure it's included in popular GitHub‑based printer configuration backup mechanisms.

Menuconfig installer and configurator

Navigation is intuitive and the same as any other menuconfig based interface.

Key Purpose
↑ move up
↓ move down
↵ or space select a menu or option
esc go back to the previous menu
R reset a setting to its default value (if available)
Q quit and selectively save changes and update printer configuration

The top-down flow guides you through the process in a logical, step by step manner. Depending on the MMU and selections you make, additional sub-menus and settings will appear, enabling you to configure relevant settings for your MMU.

Any non modifiable settings that have been enabled based on your MMU design or due to prior selection will be preselected with
-*- and will include the (FIXED) designation e.g. -*- Has LEDs? (FIXED)

Config Warnings / Errors are highlighted for you to review and correct before saving and applying updates to your configuration.

Managing Configuration Changes

When the menuconfig installer is launched after your initial setup and configuration, you will be prompted to choose how it should apply and reconcile configuration changes with locally applied settings.

The installer supports three distinct modes for applying configuration changes: Refresh, Replace, and Merge:

Menuconfig configuration update options

  1. Refresh (Option 1 — Default upgrade path)
    The Refresh mode preserves all parameter values that have been manually edited in your existing Happy Hare .cfg files. It will only add new or missing configuration sections and options required by the current Happy Hare release. However menuconfig values may appear outdated because this mode does not update or overwrite existing settings.

  2. Replace (Option 2 — Recommended)
    This is the recommended mode when all configuration changes are managed through menuconfig.
    The Replace mode OVERWRITES any local changes you have made directly to your Happy Hare .cfg files, resetting and regenerating a new configuration based solely on the selections made in menuconfig.

  3. Merge (Option 3 — Advanced)
    Applies simple parameter updates from menuconfig while preserving other manual edits made to your Happy Hare .cfg files. Useful when most settings are managed through menuconfig but want hardware‑specific settings or tuning to remain untouched.

Notes

  • menuconfig will never overwrite your existing configuration outright - it's copied to a timestamped backup directory before changes are applied. (e.g. mmu-20260807_102329)
  • menuconfig will always automatically check and update Happy Hare to the latest release from GitHub. To prevent this, launch ./install.shwith -z flag to skip the update check.
  • Following a klipper/kalico upgrade or hard reset, you may need to run ./install.sh -f to restore all klipper/moonraker symbolic links to make sure everything is where it needs to be.
  • If you need to restore your menuconfig setup after re-imaging and restoring your configuration from a backup, ssh to your Pi and copy the backup .mmu_config file to your Happy-Hare directory before running ./install.sh -i:
    cp ~/printer_data/config/mmu/.mmu_config ~/Happy-Hare/.mmu_config
  • menuconfig does not have the ability to sync and import changes made directly to your Happy Hare .cfg files. If you have made changes and want them reflected in menuconfig, you will need to manually transpose them before using menuconfig Replace to reset your configuration baseline. It's for this reason it's recommended to manage all configuration changes through menuconfig where possible.