Mesa 7i95

Adding d8o8sqwsb.vhd should fix that

Thanks Peter. The PIN_7I95D_58 file worked. I should be able to modify this to get my PWMgen.

The PIN_7I95_7I76D_58 file was giving an error very late in the process.

ERROR:Pack:1654 - The timing-driven placement phase encountered an error.
WARNING:ProjectMgmt - File /home/ise/Downloads/hostmot2/TopEthernetHostMot2_map.ncd is missing.

Probably the second file didn't fit without some shoehorning

Hi,

I'm trying to get my 7i95 card working with a fresh setup. I'm new to LinuxCNC and Mesa, but not new to Linux.

I'm running completely fresh installation Debian Buster amd64 with the preempt rt kernel.

I've used git to get the master branch, downloaded the zip mentioned before and put it in place as instructed.
I've compiled and run-in-place LinuxCNC - the axis UI sim works.

When i try to pncconf it complains I have no hostmot2 firmware in /lib/firmware/hm2.

If i ignore the warning and continue on, I see options to choose a number of boards with the suffix "-Internal Data" (presumably because of the previous warning). 7i95 is not there.

I've spent the last 2 days searching around for information and find fragments of information here and there talking about hm2 firmware, packages, etc. Of note, this post that seems to be a discussion about documenting a 'recommended' way to get firmware on later distributions:

forum.linuxcnc.org/9-installing-linuxcnc...hostmot2-in-synaptic

In any case, I'm stuck. What have I missed?


Cheers!
Shaun

1. If you use current master, you dont need any additional zip files, LinuxCNC master now supports the 7I95.

2. There is currently no pncconf support for the 7I95 but you could use a 7I96 configuration
file set if you replace all occurrences of '7i96' with 7i95. You would also have to edit any input pin
connections to use the 7I95s different input pin names.

thanks! I'll give it a try.

Cheers!
Shaun

Hi Peter,

Thanks for your help... I've had success getting the 7i95 board working with the latest head branch from git.

I'm mapping out all my pins in HAL to make things work now.

I'm looking at spindle control. From what I'm reading, it sounds like I need to somehow re-purpose one of the stepper outputs to generate a PWM signal for spindle control. I also need a 3 more very low power (~5mA@5V) single ended outputs for CW/CCW direction and an enable signal.

I'd like to preserve the SSR outputs for switching coolant, lube, etc if thats possible. Seems a waste for SSRs to be doing such light duty.

I also intend to put an encoder on the spindle for rigid tapping, so I'm assuming the 6th encoder input can just be used as-is for this?

Whats the best way to achieve this? Does it require customised firmware or parameters when I 'loadrt hm2_eth .....'?


Sorry if these are dumb questions - I guess this is the price I pay for being new to LinuxCNC, Mesa, and picking a card to use thats not yet supported by the "stable" version of LinuxCNC.


Cheers!
Shaun

I guess I would still prefer the SSRs for this duty because of the isolation they offer
Normally you would need only 2 control lines in addition to the PWM
(FWD/REV or alternatively ENA/DIR)

Another option would be to use an inexpensive parallel port breakout board
on the 7I95s expansion port.

You can use any encoder for spindle feedback but encoder 5 (of 0..5) probably makes the
most sense as it does not alter the 0=Y 1=Y 2=Z... convention used in most configurations.

PCW wrote:

1.
2. There is currently no pncconf support for the 7I95 but you could use a 7I96 configuration
file set if you replace all occurrences of '7i96' with 7i95. You would also have to edit any input pin
connections to use the 7I95s different input pin names.

If someone can supply the HAL pin printout and the hostmot2 PIN file printout - I could work on support
Also 2.8 + pncconf has an INI substitution option that allows you to change the mesa card in the INI file which might be helpful for renaming.

Chris

I can do this sometime this evening, I have a 7I95 setup