Help please - trying to get started

I need some really low-level guidance on how to get started, and Linux is making me feel really, really dumb.

Mint 19.3 is (finally) installed, and the RT-prempt kernel is present. LinuxCNC works in sim. Latency tests seem acceptable compared to other reported results.

I have a 7i76ED and 7i73. Both powered up, and the 7i76e is set to 10.10.10.10. I can ping it and get a response.

Mesaflash is installed, but I can't figure out how to flash firmware to the 7i76e, or how to get PnCconfig or JT's configuration tool to recognize the 7i76e, or where I can change the firmware to the configuration I need.

I need 4 step generators and 1 PWM generator (for spindle). And I need the 7i73 for the I/O.

I'm so new at linux I can't seem to figure out what to do next, and pouring over dozens of forum threads is leaving my head spinning with all the jargon. I can't even figure out how to "CD" properly half the time to get to a different directory.

- Do I even need to flash the 7i76e, or is that done by PnCconfig?

- If I need to flash it, how do I do that? The various directions in forum posts all seem (to me) to assume the user has a clue on what "--readhmid" means or how to make it work.

If anyone has a surplus of patience I'd appreciate it. Please use small words.

Thanks,
Ralph

mesaflash --device 7I76e --addr 10.10.10.10 --readhmid

should read out the current configuration

Is these some reason you are using PWM and not using the
7I76es analog spindle interface?

Using PWM as the servo drive I'm using for my spindle only accepts +/-10v inputs. A while back we discussed using the drive's analog offsets & scaling, but I decided that PWM would be more noise resistant and, frankly, easier to sort out.

I wasn't sure about how the control scheme would work when 5v=0rpm, 0v=maxCCW, and 10v=maxCW.

It won't accept P&D or quad A/B in velocity mode, and I wasn't sure about running the spindle in position mode (having to sort out ramp up/down). So PWM & velocity mode it is, unless you or someone else has a good reason I should pick a different control method.

The command worked and the 7i76e responded with the pins. Is the next step to flash the board with the right firmware?

Yes, if you want one PWM/DIR channel, you would use 7i76e_7i76x1pD.bit.

mesaflash --device 7I76e --addr 10.10.10.10 --write 7i76e_7i76x1pD.bit

( This assumes you are running mesaflash in the directory that contains 7i76e_7i76x1pD.bit)

Then either power cycle the 7I76ED or run this command to re-load the FPGA
from the flash memory:

mesaflash --device 7I76e --addr 10.10.10.10 --reload

Thank you again, that worked to flash the board (as I'm sure you knew it would).

Is the next step to flash or otherwise configure the 7i73 with mesaflash, or move on to PnCconfig?

I'd like to use the 7i73 with no keypad or LCD.

7I73 support needs no firmware changes.
For basic (no LCD no KB) configurations,
you should be able to set it up with pncconf

Sweet. I'll have a go it it this evening.

So I ran PnCconfig and got an error during the board discovery:



Any idea what happened?

I don't think board discovery has ever worked
I would just setup using the stock firmware choice

Got as far as the Mesa configuration page and ran in to an issue (again).

I selected the 7i76e (internal) firmware but was unable to add a PWM generator even after dropping the stepgens down to 4.

I assume this is because I need to select the 1xpwmgen firmware I flashed earlier, but it's not available in the list of firmware files.

Should I put a copy of the .bit file I flashed earlier somewhere so PnCconfig can see it?

Or is PnCconfig not really set up for non-standard firmware, and I'll need to switch everything later in HAL?