need help 5i25/7i76 setup for plasma

Does anyone know of a comprehensive document describing the setup and configuration of a Mesa 5i25/7i76 plasma table with THC using Hypertherm Powermax 45? For three weeks I have been reading the manuals related to the above Mesa boards. I have setup a computer with the HDD my brother purchased from JT, running Mint, and I am presently in the process of doing testing with only one motor and one limit switch. My brother received a 24V power supply yesterday and we made necessary connections to perform test. I can feel only a slight vibration when energizing the motor when jogging with LinuxCNC. NO JOY!
Thus far my research has led me to many guides and suggestions for the Mesa setup we are using (none of which are complete enough for me to comprehend) some even seem to contradict one another such as whether linking is necessary or not (sudo ln -s $HOME/emc2-sandbox/src/hal/drivers/mesa-hostmot2/firmware /lib/firmware/hm2). Another example which is confusing to me is whether flashing the 5i25 is necessary as I read somewhere that the 5i25 is already flashed for the type of BOB that is shipped with the 5i25. This raises a question for me. It appears that the 5125 has been flashed with the 7i76x2, is it necessary to reflash it for use with a single 7i76? I downloaded the files (HAL, .ini, et al) from JT's website and have edited those files enough to use on my brother's system, and they properly function (with the exception of the "pet watchdog") enough to invoke and run LinuxCNC.
Progress so far: I set jumpers appropriately between the two Mesa cards to pass 5V to the 7i76. When connected to computer I get yellow LED status light. When connecting up the 24V PS, I get a second yellow LED status light. HALRUN yields the pin data as expected (and as compared to what I have read). What would help immensely I believe, would be a wiring schematic for the 5i25/7i76 system that we will be using.
Thank you in advance for any advice and direction.
kb8wmc

If you bought the cards as a set, no flashing should be needed

Step motors not moving is likely caused by:

1. Wiring errors (step/dir swapped etc)
2. Too short step pulse width (start with 5000 ns as a minimum)
3. Incorrect step polarity
4. Excessive acceleration so motor stalls

You need no links to firmware
A 7I76X2 config is fine with 1 7I76 (you just dont enable the added I/O)

The external wiring is pretty much entirely determined by what kind of hardware you are driving
That is what motor drives, what kind of limit / home switches etc etc

And 5. Velocity set too low so the movement of the motor is imperceptible.

PCW and Rodw:...Thank you for your quick response...I now have movement on the test motor, will connect limit switch and continue testing/tweaking...I haven't decided exactly how to best make the connections that provide power to the KL-4030 driver modules as yet, I am open to suggestions...I will be using four NEMA 23's...I will try to update my progress... Thanks again
kb8wmc

Looks like your drivers support up to 40 volts. I would by another 36 volt power supply with enough output for all your drives. Somewhere I read a Gecko document that said the sum of stepper current requirements could be 40% larger than the power supply output. eg. if your steppers were 3 amps each, thats 12 amps but you only need around 8.6 amps at the power supply. Thats what I always work on. MY drivers are good for 50 volts so I'm running 48 volt power supply.

Also if you are not running it yet, update to master branch so you can home and square your gantry using new features not in the 2.7 release.

Hope that helps

Rod, thank you much for your information and suggestions...I appreciated it...I am still working on the getting a limit switch working, I think my problem is in my HAL setup...
Thanks again...

kb8wmc

kb8wmc wrote:

Rod, thank you much for your information and suggestions...I appreciated it...I am still working on the getting a limit switch working, I think my problem is in my HAL setup...
Thanks again...

kb8wmc

Connect your input to limit-X in HAL, but don't forget the check the limit switch entries in the ini file. That will determine if and how they work.

My progress thus far...
I now have two motors connected and operational for testing...connected three home/limit switches in series NC configuration...I removed or commented out all parallel port references, so that I have only made reference in hal and ini files to connections and hardware to be recognized via 5i25/7i76 Mesa...Initially had problems with the actual names of the pins that were relevant to the limit/home switches...I was able to remedy the improper names and spelling by reading lots of posts in the forums...I learned quite a bit about how the actual component names work and relate to HAL...BUT, along the path of learning I found that what is called out and used generally for the naming conventions to be used by HAL, (e.g. hm2_5i25.0.7i76.0.0.input-00) does not work with my boards....Instead I have to identify by the number of the gpio pin in order not to get a complaining error about no such pin, (e.g. hm2_5i25.0.gpio.004.in)...
At present my limit switch is being provided field power and when checked with multimeter is functioning properly...One leg to field power terminal 2 and the other to TB6 pin 004...The problem is that the when I test the homing function the switch does not perform the homing function...I can see the switch in HAL show, but no change occurs when I trip the lever...
I feel there is something that I am missing like a setp something or other, but I can find no examples in my searching for answers...I am almost at my wits end...Any guidance will be appreciated...

The GPIO pins on a 5I25/7I76 interface are not of _any_ use

You must use the hm2_5i25.0.7i76.0.0.input-xx pins to use the field I/O inputs

if the hm2_5i25.0.7i76.0.0.input-xx pins are not present this is usually some kind of hardware setup issue
common problems:

1. No 5V to 7I76 ( set 5I25 to supply 5V to 7I76 and 7I76 to get 5V from --> 5I25 = 5I25 W2 up, 7I76 W2 left )
2. No field power at startup
3. 7I76 Setup/operate jumper in setup mode (must be in operate mode)
4. Wrong firmware in 5I25 (check with mesaflash)
5. 7I76 not connected to 5I25 P3 with IEEE1284 cable

PCW,
Your information solved my limit/home switch problem....The W3 jumper was set to setup mode...I switched it to operate mode and it works as it should now....Next will be the touch-off/probe for the torch and the emergency stop switch...
The commands code now looks like everyone else's examples of code...Will keep informed of my progress...
Thank you so much PCW