thinking of trying my ASUS Q87M-E motherboard

Unfortunately the 5I20 is so old the pncconf support for it has been dropped
but you could make a step/dir 5I25 configuration with pncconf and just change
the card name(s) in the hal or ini file later. You would also need to fix any
GPIO references in the hal file as they would not match the 5I25

There are some 5i20 stepper sample configurations in the normal LinuxCNC distribution

Unfortunately the 5I20 is so old the pncconf support for it has been dropped...

Hmmm, ok... but how do i do what i need to do for hostmot2 so i can configure it to suit my needs? as stated, i have the hostmot2 source, and the support software for the 5i20 from Mesa. hostmot2 source is from github.com/LinuxCNC/hostmot2-firmware


~Travis

currently downloading ISE 9.2 from Xilinx...
i think i am very slowly figuring out how to do this... seems like a lot of work to get a firmware to load the card with. hopefully it will all be worth it.

~Travis

it is needed to build hostmot2...

from README.md at github.com/LinuxCNC/hostmot2-firmware

ISE Version Requirements

Refer to cards.py for information about required ISE versions for particular cards. Currently, by installing ISE 13.4 and ISE 9.2, firmware can be built for all supported cards. With ISE 13.4, firmware can be built for all cards except the venerable "5i20".

Xilinx still offers older versions of ISE free of charge. At the time of writing, the location is www.xilinx.com/support/download/index.ht...n-tools/archive.html and can also be reached from the xilinx.com front page by going to "Support", "Downloads & Licensing", "ISE", "Archive".

~Travis

I would just start with the available bitfiles. Normally you don't need to get involved with making new firmware

ok, and how do i go about that?

i didn't know there were any available bit files. i was going on the assumption i needed hostmot2, as when i tried pncconf, it said none were available in /lib/firmware/hm2 (the folder is not there).

~Travis

You need to add the hostmot2 firmware package.

Alternatively you could download the firmware files
from Mesa and create the directory tree and copy
the files to the proper place (/lib/firmware/5i20/)

I already have the hostmot2 source and the support files from Mesa. which one do i place in the created folder? i was under the assumption i had to compile the source.

~Travis

from the 5i20 support software: "5i20/CONFIGS/HOSTMOT2". this folder contains a number of BIT and PIN files. is that what i want to copy to the "/lib/firmware/5i20" folder?
if so, i looked at the PIN files, and most are for servo control. as i have steppers, i assume i want the ST12.BIT and ST12.PIN files?

~Travis