<p>Unfortunately, no.</p>
<p>There are two types of USB devices: host, such as a PC, and device, such as a thumb drive. (Actually, there is a third type, on-the-go, which can act as either.)</p>
<p>The Ender 3 mainboard is a USB device which means that it can only connect to a USB host. You cannot directly connect two USB devices, such as the Ender 3 and a thumb drive) and have them work.</p>
<p>One option would be to set up <a href="https://octoprint.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">OctoPrint software</a> on a <a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Raspberry PI</a> single-board computer and connect that by USB to the printer.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-07T23:23:26.037Z
benefit of OctoPrint: you can start (and monitor) print jobs from the LAN
Trish
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-07T22:06:04.323Z
2020-12-07T22:06:04.323Z
DoxyLover
<p>Is this possible? I know that the controller board of the printer is normally controlled (when using USB) by an active computer sending data, but I was wondering if it could be reversed so that the board retrieves files from a USB flash drive? My SD card keeps failing and is overall frustrating to work with, so USB would be a nice option.</p>

<creality-ender-3><usb>
Printing files over USB drive (Ender 3 Pro)
Galaxy
# Printing files over USB drive (Ender 3 Pro)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-12-07)

Is this possible? I know that the controller board of the printer is normally controlled (when using USB) by an active computer sending data, but I was wondering if it could be reversed so that the board retrieves files from a USB flash drive? My SD card keeps failing and is overall frustrating to work with, so USB would be a nice option.

**Tags:** creality-ender-3, usb

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-12-07. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Unfortunately, no.

There are two types of USB devices: host, such as a PC, and device, such as a thumb drive. (Actually, there is a third type, on-the-go, which can act as either.)

The Ender 3 mainboard is a USB device which means that it can only connect to a USB host. You cannot directly connect two USB devices, such as the Ender 3 and a thumb drive) and have them work.

One option would be to set up [OctoPrint software](https://octoprint.org/) on a [Raspberry PI](https://www.raspberrypi.org/) single-board computer and connect that by USB to the printer.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: benefit of OctoPrint: you can start (and monitor) print jobs from the LAN  

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