Edit3: I've figured it out. Tutorial at the bottom of the post.

Edit4: Due to a lack of documentation on SSN, I've created a page for it on the SF4 wiki. I'll be expanding on it over the course of the next couple of days as I experiment with its functionality.

Like the title states. Generally when I build stuff that requires a lot of resources I test it out in a creative world I have set up for it, especially if it requires some engineering to figure out.

In my test world, I have the following setup:

Power is delivered from a LOT of solar panels (yay creative) to an Autocrafter. The autocrafter is hooked up to a small Simple Storage Network through a Processing Cable

The Auto-crafter has the recipe set for Iron Amber

[The Processing cable has the following settings] (https://imgur.com/LAQFkpl)

As soon as I dump Iron Acorns and Iron Resin in the chest to the right (in the first image) it immediatly outputs all of the Amber it could make into that same chest. Works flawlessly

HOWEVER

In my actual SF4 world I have the exact same setup, and it just will not work. Doesn't matter whether I set the autocrafter to Redstone Only or Always On, as you can see there is still Resin and Acorns that are unprocessed in my SSN

I've eliminated it being a power issue by temporary disconnecting everything else from my power grid. Power is being supplied by two Geothermal generators with an ample supply of lava continuously being generated. Power is definitely not the issue.

The only other difference is that in my test world I use chests, where I use filing cabinets in my real SF4 world.

This is absolutely maddening. I don't see what I'm doing wrong. Anyone have any thoughts?

Edit: on a sidenote. What exactly does the Packager do?

Edit2: I've done some experimenting. What happens is every time I make a change to the auto-crafter, specifically if I put a block of amber in the right side (IE the product side) of it or some resin and acorns in the left, it will suddenly start producing Amber again until my acorn and resin stores are depleted to the point that it can't make any more. Problem is, after that happens it doesn't automatically start producing again when stores are back to a level where it can produce more. It crafts for a second, then stops when it can't anymore, and then doesn't start back up when it should be able to.

In other words, every time I want to autocrafter to start working again, I have to manually reset the autocrafter. At that point there's not much of a point of having an autocrafter; it would literally be faster to just craft stuff myself when I need it.

I would really like for this problem to not exist. It wholly defeats the purpose of an autocrafter.

And before anyone suggests that: Pressing the R button on the processing cable does nothing.

Edit3:

Okay, I don't know what I did differently, but I somehow got automated crafting to work, continuously. below is a tutorial.

I'll be writing a full tutorial on how to use SSN and what each cable and upgrade does soon, which I will post on the SF4 wiki, probably.

You will need the following:

• Enough SSN storage cables to connect your stuff to your SSNetwork

• A processing cable for each of your packagers and autocrafters

• 4 acorns and 10 (separated in two stacks of 5) resin of the same type.

• an amber of that same type.

• A packager or auto-crafter from Cyclic. Either will work. I honestly don't see why anyone would use a packager over an auto-crafter but you do you.

• Power delivery to your auto-crafter or packager. I used an Energy Node and connected it to my powergrid with a GPS marker, but you can use any method as long as you make sure it gets enough power.

• A lever.

The process is as follows. Order of operations is CRUCIAL, so follow these steps exactly:

• Make your packager or auto-crafter. Eiither will work. I'll be saying packager from now on because that's easier to type and I'm lazy.

• Put it down in a place where it's easy to connect to your SSN. DON'T CONNECT THE PROCESSING CABLE YET

• Right-click on it, set it to "Redstone Only". Exit out of the meny and stick a lever on the packager. Make sure it's set to OFF.

• Connect the processing cable. In the left side menu, put the stack of 4 acorns and one of the stacks of 5 resin. On the right side, put the single block of amber.

What has now happened is that the processing cable (because you can't put 2 items in it in one operation) has already pushed the first item you put in the left-side menu into the Packager. It gave a push, now it's going to wait until it can pull the right-side item out before it'll push again. You're going to need to give it something to pull out of the Packager to put back into the SSN before it'll give another push.

• (Extra step if you're using an auto-crafter instead of a packager: go into the auto-crafter. Set the recipe for amber in the center menu)

• Go back into the packager. You'll see 4 acorns in the left-side menu, but no resin. Take the stack of 5 resin from your inventory and put it into the left side menu.

• Go back out and flip the lever.

It should now start autocrafting all the amber it can make from whatever storage you have hooked up to your SSNetwork. it should also, automatically, keep making more as soon as the depleted material gets restocked.

I don't quite understand Simple Storage Network.

In this screen, if I Blacklist the Storage Cable Link underneath, it doesn't Export anymore into this specific Filing Cabinet.

Having the Storage Cable Link Blacklist here, it works.

So, what's the difference? I didn't start to have this issue until I got to Vanilla Minecraft Items.

Every Storage Cable Link looks like this.

Every Storage Export Cable looks like this.

So I just finished setting up my bonsais with filing cabinets, and I have them connected physically using Storage Link Cables and normal Storage Cables, leading to my Storage Network Master.

Is there a way I can combine this with the Cyclic mod's wireless item transfer node to get rid of the clunky cable setup I have?

Furthermore, I don't understand the difference between the Storage Link, Import, and Export cables.

Why would I ever use import/export vs link? I don't understand the difference.

Having a real hard time getting my simple storage network up. I'm trying to go bonsai -> vanilla chest -> filing cabinets.

The first 4 bonsais I set up work great, it pulls all the items using an import cable and deposits them into my filing cabinets. The rest of my import cables just won't import anything. Sometimes if I destroy all the cables and redo it it starts importing from the chest, but once the bonsai deposits a new item into the chest it all freezes until I remove those new items. They are all added to the whitelist, my priorities are set properly, every single bonsai is set up exactly the same but only the first 4 work fine, the rest are glitchy nightmares to set up.

Kind of really missing Refined Storage and EnderIO conduits from SF3 tbh.

Question in title. I cant ceem to find a way how to use them.