Which bitfile for 7i96 P1 expansion port

I've programmed a microcontroller (5v levels) as an MPG emulator and want to connect it to the P1 expansion port of my 7i96 board.
So far I've just been using the board as it came, no other bitfile programmed.
It's being used for Qtplasmac.

On the P1 connector I just need one encoder input (just A & B inputs, no index needed), and the rest of the available pins as inputs.

Can anyone suggest what bitfile I'd need for this.

You could use the 7i96_5abob_d.bit firmware (for a 7I96)
or 7i96s_5abobd.bin (for a 7I96S) These both have an encoder
on P1.

Another option for the 7I96 is 7i96_p1inmd.bit (this adds INM inputs to P1
and 4 MPG encoder inputs. This has the advantage that 1X quadrature
mode is supported which is better for physical mpg dials with detents.

Thanks Pete.

I don't have the 7i96_p1inmd files.
Would you be able to attach the .pin & .bit files in a post please.

After a bit of a read of the hostmot2 docs I've came to realise I can "convert" un-needed encoder module pins to GPIO pins by simply not enabling those modules in the modparam string in the hal file.

So would I be correct in saying that if the bitfile gave a total of 5 encoders, numbered 0-4, then in hal, if the modparam string had "num_encoders=2" that would cause encoder modules/pins 0 and 1 to be active, and all the pins assigned to encoder modules 2 to 4 would become GPIO instead ?

The 7i96_p1inmd.bit file is in the normal 7I96 distribution zip file

And yes, any special function pin (Encoder, UART, PWM, Stepgen etc)
reverts to GPIO if the special function on that pin is disabled. In addition,
special function inputs (like encoders) are still available as GPIO inputs
even if the special function on that pin is still enabled.
(they just cannot be used as GPIO outputs)

Great, downloaded the latest software files and found it.

However, there's no accompanying .pin file so I'm unable to see what modules go to what terminal blocks / pins.
The .bit file only shows "garbage" in a text editor.

You can make a pinfile by programming the 7I96 with the new bitfile and then
running mesaflash with the readhmid command:

mesaflash --device 7i96 --addr [ip_address] --write 7i96_p1inmd.bit --reload
mesaflash --device 7i96 --addr [ip_address] --readhmid > 7i96_p1inmd.pin

That's a good little nugget of info.

Thanks for all the help Pete.

PCW wrote:

You could use the 7i96_5abob_d.bit firmware (for a 7I96)
or 7i96s_5abobd.bin (for a 7I96S) These both have an encoder
on P1.

Another option for the 7I96 is 7i96_p1inmd.bit (this adds INM inputs to P1
and 4 MPG encoder inputs. This has the advantage that 1X quadrature
mode is supported which is better for physical mpg dials with detents.


 

Pete, 

I'm trying to get a solid understanding of what exactly is different with the counting of the 7i96_5abob_d.bit firmware as opposed to the 7I96 is 7i96_p1inmd.bit firmware.

So you say the 7I96 is 7i96_p1inmd.bit supports 1x quadrature mode.
What mode then, would the 7i96_5abob_d.bit firmware support. Is it only 4x mode.

From my searching it appears that 1x mode basically gives one count for the full quadrature cycle of the A & B channels, whereas 4x mode counts every rising and falling edge of a quadrature cycle, and would therefore give 4 counts for a single MPG "click" (single quadrature cycle).

So do I have that correct, and is that the reason I've seen you mentioning in various threads about selecting a bitfile that supports 1x mode.

Yes, the 1X mode is better for most MPGs as it gives 1 increment per detent
on normal 100 PPR MPG dials.

The normal high speed encoder input on the 5ABOB config only supports 4X mode
(you would never want to use the 1x or 2x modes for motion control)

"The 7i96_p1inmd.bit file is in the normal 7I96 distribution zip file"
"Great, downloaded the latest software files and found it."
Can someone please tell me where these files are?