exMach user moving to the other side, need help transforming...

Hi,

I've used Mach for some time helping friends but now I'm busy with my own machine and seriously considering LCNC.

I'm looking at the 7i76e card and a small cheap x5-z8350 PC with 2gb ram and 32gb HDD. It seems it should work but can't find anyone using a similar setup. It's a no name brand el-cheapo from China/eBay.

I'll be using AC servos all round, including the spindle. The spindle drive can switch between velocity and position mode by external input. I believe LCNC can do rigid tapping and will also be able to handle an ATC carousel.l also would like to do 4/5 axis control later. An XHC 6 axis pendant is also on the wish list.

I've been doing a lot of research and it seems that going from Mach to LCNC should not be too painful. I was hoping I could try both but don't have a LPT port PC. So now I have to choose between a Mesa or a ESS board which will prevent me from going back as I can't afford to get both.

I know(knew) DOS, but not Linux, so if I have to do anything under the hood, I'm screwed, or at least going in blind. Im hoping that there is not much of a need to poke around there.

Your advice/opinion on the PC choice would be greatly appreciated. Ethernet connectivity is a must as this broadens the scope of PCs that can be used and is somewhat future proof.

Also, any warnings as to what I want to achieve with what I know about Linux, please let me know now what I'm letting myself into!

Thanks

You won't get it done without learning a lot about the internals of LinuxCNC, or getting someone else to do so.

There is very little about it that's plug-n-play, but it is an incredibly powerful and robust package. Overall the pros outweigh the cons, but there are absolutely cons.

First off:
Whilst MACH3 is a doodle to setup for the Parallel Port taking things further can be a bit ho-hum. Linuxcnc is much more powerful due to it's HAL. The good thing with the Mesa cards is that they are produced by a solid company and not some random fly-by-night Chinese setup. Having FPGA's on board and open source code, if you feel like delving in and making changes you can......but that is for Wizzards and not Mere Mortals IMHO.

I just bought a 7I92H from here mesaus.com/

It came with an A4 info sheet explaining the Ethernet Cards require Linuxcnc Uspace and the Preempt kernel. Big Thanks to JT, much appreciated. More info here for various cards mesaus.com/info/linuxcnc.html

It has instructions on how to install debian 9 from netinstall cd (links are included) with MATE desktop, then how to install the kernel and then Linuxcnc uspace and lastly howto setup your ethernet interface to work with the card......I'd assume this would be included with a 7i76E.

Although there is a premade Stretch based iso that all that is needed is doing the configuration for your setup . www.linuxcnc.org/testing-stretch-rtpreem...uspace-amd64-r10.iso (although there are issues with glade if you want to design a glade panel but for normal use it should (is) ok)

As per this thread forum.linuxcnc.org/18-computer/34606-ple...ll-pc-mesa-5i25-7i76
I went with an ASRock J3355B-ITX Intel Dual-Core from Newegg and on the second page of the thread there was some recommendations regarding SATA Disk On Modules.

I can't give a report yet.....due to Living in Oz delivery takes ages & ages from anywhere.

Sorry if this post is a bit confusing to you ATM.

If you are old enough to remember DOS then Linux will be easy today. The hardest part was getting the preemptive kernel installed on a platform that supported my hardware. After that it was small step to compile from source. However today, there are easier options, ISO's and even some guides that have been written on how to do it. You will find the 7i76e vastly superior than an ESS and you won't regret it.

There is a plain vanilla 7i76e example gantry config in the Hal examples. It will make sense once you have some hardware to play with

The mention of that Disk on Module makes me cringe!

Had to help a friend get his production injection molding machine up and running again. The DOM was failing so I managed to make a disk image just before it died completely. Stole a CF card reader from work to get him up and running whilst I waited for the DOM to arrive, a Transcend 128MB. Went in over a weekend when they were doing maintenance to fit it and it failed, then the CF also did not want to work anymore. Had to phone my friend to tell him to change his production schedule on Monday because the machine is now DEAD.

Went back the Monday and got the CF card to work again and it ran for more than a year before I finally got another CF card reader. Took 5 minutes to swap out and it was working again.

The DOM would either stop responding or boot up as a slave instead of a master, even though the switch was set correctly. The control software was running from DOS and created a RAM drive for program execution and stored the machine config on the DOM. That stint really jogged my DOS memory!

I would look at SSD or CF based on my experience!

Back to Linux. I have played with a Beagle Bone Black and done some Linux stuff there but found it very frustrating to be on the bleeding edge and having to invent new things without having the skill set to do so. If I knew Linux better it would have been a walk in the park. Therefore I'm a bit hesitant to go the LCNC route and get stuck again. My goal is to have a running CNC, not a degree in Linux! However it seems that most of what I want to do has been done before so it still seems to be a viable option.

Regarding the PC: I'm not too keen on second hand PCs and for the price of a new X5-Z8350 it is hard to say no to it. Some vendors say it comes with android lollipop so there should be some Linux support for it.

Will have to do some more research!

Hi Rod, clearly you were also on a DOS wavelength whilst I was typing my reply!

Was that an IDE DOM (I've tried IDE DOM and wasn't impressed) or SATA ?

I had machinekit running on my Beaglebone Black control my mill (actually still is) but I'm migrating over to Linuxcnc. I wouldn't call The BeagleBone Black bleeding edge.....I've had mine for a number of years now.

Other's may chime in with their opinions or experiences running an Atom processor.

Nobody is ever born learning how to use Windows\Linux or whatever Mac's are using, but always freak out about using Linux.......often makes me wonder.
Windows is like driving a car, where as Linux is like taking the Monster out for a bloody good fang & scratch.

haha

Yes that was the IDE version. I was told that they are very popular with the banks in the ATMs.

I played around with the BBB just after it was released, so support was not that great as with the Rpi, not that I played around with the Pi. Gauging on the projects available for the Pi vs the BBB it is clear to see which was easier to get going. Not sure about now.

I'm thinking of just giving the 5X-Z8350 a try, if it fails I'll use it for something else. Problem is the one I'm looking at on eBay now seems to be a fraud. Otherwise a tear-down/review video of it seems decent. It has a big heat sink and internal USB port as a surprise.

With the 7i76e, you could look at a USFF PC running a Celeron J1900 or N3160. Try and get a dual NIC machine so you have one for a wired network and one for the 7i76e.

I'm using a Gigabyte BRIX J1900 with my 7i76e and the PC is mounted behind the touch screen.Remove the internal wifi card and use a USB dongle as the supplied internal wifi card generates super high latency. PCW told me to do this but I had to check and he was very right (as usual).