Share USB devices (plotters, printers, scanners) over your network
_{by BangerTECH}

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What is Loki-PrintServer?

Loki-PrintServer lets you plug a USB device (cutting plotter, printer, scanner, label printer…) into a Raspberry Pi and use it from any computer on your network — as if it were plugged in locally.

Works with Illustrator + xfcut, Silhouette Studio, Inkcut, and any other software that talks to a USB device.

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Server — Raspberry Pi Setup

Requires: Raspberry Pi with Docker installed

git clone https://github.com/BangerTech/Loki-PrintServer.git
cd Loki-PrintServer/server
docker compose up -d

That's it. The server is now running.

Web Dashboard: open http://<raspberry-pi-ip>:7576 in your browser.

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Client — Download & Install

Download the latest client for your platform from GitHub Releases:

Platform	File	Installation
macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel)	Loki-Client.dmg	Open → drag to Applications
Windows	LokiClient.exe	Run installer
Linux	Loki-Client-linux	chmod +x + run

First Launch

1. Open Loki-Client — it appears in your menu bar (macOS) or system tray (Windows/Linux)
2. The server on your network is found automatically
3. Click your server → select your device → Attach
4. The device appears locally — open your software and use it normally

macOS only: On first launch right-click → Open (once, because the app is not notarized yet). If you get "App is damaged", run xattr -cr /Applications/Loki-Client.app

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How it works

┌─────────────────────────┐        ┌──────────────────────────┐
│   Raspberry Pi (Server) │        │  Your Computer (Client)  │
│                         │        │                          │
│  USB Plotter            │        │  Loki-Client             │
│    └─► usbipd  :7575   │◄──TCP──►│    └─► usbip attach      │
│        FastAPI :7576    │        │         /dev/ttyUSB0     │
│        CUPS    :631     │        │         or COM3          │
│        socat   :7580+   │        │  (device appears local!) │
└─────────────────────────┘        └──────────────────────────┘

Device type	Forwarding method	Works on
Plotter / USB-Serial (CH340, FTDI)	Serial over TCP (socat)	macOS, Windows, Linux
USB Printer	CUPS / IPP network printer	macOS, Windows, Linux
Any USB device	USB/IP kernel passthrough	Windows (usbip-win), Linux

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Supported devices

• ✂ Cutting plotters: Silhouette Cameo, Cricut, Graphtec, Roland, generic CH340
• 🖨 Printers: HP, Canon, Epson, Brother, Samsung
• 🏷 Label printers: DYMO LabelWriter, Brother QL
• 📷 Scanners: Epson Perfection, Canon CanoScan, HP ScanJet
• 🔌 Any other USB device (via USB/IP on Windows & Linux)

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Requirements

Server:

• Raspberry Pi (any model) running Raspberry Pi OS or any Debian-based Linux
• Docker

Client:

• macOS 11+, Windows 10+, or Linux
• macOS cutting plotters: AMFI must be disabled for virtual USB device support (see below)
• Windows: usbip-win2 / USBip for full USB passthrough (bundled)

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macOS — Virtual USB for Cutting Plotters

On macOS, Loki creates a real virtual USB device (/dev/cu.usbmodem*) that cutting software like FineCut, xfcut, and Inkcut recognizes natively. The virtual device mimics the original USB identity (Vendor ID, Product ID) so vendor-specific software detects it automatically.

This requires AMFI (Apple Mobile File Integrity) to be disabled:

Setup	How to disable AMFI
OpenCore / Hackintosh	Add amfi_get_out_of_my_way=1 to boot-args in your OpenCore config.plist, then reboot
OpenCore Legacy Patcher	Settings → Kernel Security → Enable "Disable AMFI" → Apply → Reboot
Stock Mac	Boot into Recovery → Terminal → nvram boot-args="amfi_get_out_of_my_way=1" → Reboot

Without AMFI disabled, Loki falls back to a PTY bridge (/tmp/tty.loki-*) which works for software that allows manual port entry, but won't be detected by IOKit-based programs like FineCut.

After first download, you may need to run:

xattr -cr /Applications/Loki-Client.app

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Build clients from source

git clone https://github.com/BangerTech/Loki-PrintServer.git
cd Loki-PrintServer

# macOS
bash client/build/build_mac.sh

# Windows (run on Windows)
client\build\build_windows.bat

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License

MIT License — © BangerTECH