LitexCNC: firmware and driver for 5A-75B and 5A-75E

I have now removed all encoders from the JSON and reinserted the PWM generators and can confirm that all 5 axes are now working.
I can perform error-free homing and move the axes manually in both directions.

Here is the output from my test:

cnc@raspberrypi:~$ linuxcnc
LINUXCNC - 2.9.2
Machine configuration directory is '/home/cnc/linuxcnc/configs/test1'
Machine configuration file is 'test1.ini'
Starting LinuxCNC...
linuxcnc TPMOD=tpmod HOMEMOD=homemod EMCMOT=motmod
Note: Using POSIX realtime
Found file(REL): ./test1.hal

identityKinematicsSetup: coordinates:XYYZA
Joint 0 ==> Axis X
Joint 1 ==> Axis Y
Joint 2 ==> Axis Y
Joint 3 ==> Axis Z
Joint 4 ==> Axis A

litexcnc: Loading Litex CNC driver version 1.1.0
litexcnc: Loading and registering default modules:
litexcnc: Registered module gpio
litexcnc: Registered module pwm
litexcnc: Registered module encoder
litexcnc: Registered module step
litexcnc: Setting up board drivers:
litexcnc: Registered driver eth
LitexCNC-eth: connected to board on '10.0.0.10:1234'
litexcnc: Setting up modules...
litexcnc: Reading 28 bytes
litexcnc: - Watchdog
litexcnc: - Wallclock
litexcnc: - gpio ... done!
litexcnc: - pwm ... done!
litexcnc: - step ... done!
litexcnc: Creating read and write buffers...
litexcnc: Base addresses: init: 00000000, reset: 0000003C, config: 00000040, write: 00000044, read: 000000B8
litexcnc: - Write buffer: 116 bytes
litexcnc: - Read buffer: 88 bytes
litexcnc: Exporting functions...
Found file(REL): ./custom.hal
litexcnc/5A-75B:V8.0: Watchdog timeout (3000000 ns) is dangerously short compared to litexcnc_write() period (2400000 ns)
note: MAXV max: 25.000 units/sec 1500.000 units/min
note: LJOG max: 25.000 units/sec 1500.000 units/min
note: LJOG default: 2.500 units/sec 150.000 units/min
note: AJOG max: 25.000 units/sec 1500.000 units/min
note: AJOG default: 25.000 units/sec 1500.000 units/min
Warning: Forward kinematics must handle duplicate coordinate letters:yy
note: jog_order='XYZA'
note: jog_invert=set()
task: main loop took 0.158369 seconds
task: main loop took 0.234904 seconds
task: main loop took 0.142043 seconds
Shutting down and cleaning up LinuxCNC...
task: 4833 cycles, min=0.000033, max=0.234904, avg=0.010225, 3 latency excursions (> 10x expected cycle time of 0.010000s)
litexcnc: LitexCNC driver unloaded
Note: Using POSIX realtime


Ps: I don't know if this is important. I almost always have to start Linuxcnc twice because the watchdog triggers immediately the first time. This little bug has been there since the beginning of my tests.

The watchdog is a known issue. It annoyed me yesterday during preparation of a demo. It has been resolved yesterday night and will be published in the next version. The next version will be released as soon as the problem with the encoder is solved.

Small update on the progress:

• no encoders: all stepgen work;
• with 4 encoders (or less): the last stepgen does not work;
• with 5 encoders (or more): the last two stepgen do not work anymore.

Was thinking it was due to some error in writing to the FPGA, but it turned out that the reading was too short! The error has been resolved and going to merge the changes now (getting late though). Release is planned for tomorrow.

Just released version 1.2.1 of LitexCNC! This is the bugfix version for stepgen module, which was affected by an error in the encoder module.

Due to an upgrade in the detection / comparison of the version of the firmware this version will show a warning message if older firmware is used (NOTE: the communication has not changed, thus re-compilation is not required). In the next minor release (i.e. version 1.3) this change will correctly enforce recompilation of the firmware. A change in minor version (i.e. the upcoming 1.2 -> 1.3) indicates a modification in communication protocol and thus requires an update of the firmware.

Other changes:

• driver:
  •  encoder: counts and position of encoder can be reset (#74)
  •  encoder: incorrect required read buffer reported has been corrected. This affected the module ``stepgen`` (#79)
  •  watchdog: the watchdog is reset when the card is reset. Prevents the ``has_bitten`` message when LinuxCNC is restarted without power-cycling the card. (#80)
  • Fixed showing the correct version of LitexCNC in HAL.
  • Temporary fixed comparison between version of FPGA and driver. When the minor version changes in an upcoming release, the driver will now correctly enforce a recompilation of the firmware.
• cli:
  • install_toolchain: Fixed issue with detection of OS on desktop. Also git and openocd are installed on x64-architecture systems (#78).

I have already tested it. Runs flawlessly for me. Unfortunately, I don't have any encoders on the stepper motors, so I can't test it now. But I still have a handwheel somewhere in the workshop. If I find it, I'll also test one of the encoder inputs.
Until then, many thanks and respect for your work.

Incredibly grateful for the work and effort you put into this, Peter. Whatever the reason(s) for this, the last bug fixes made LiteXcnc so much more stable and performant (tmaxes, ping, everything is high perf!). Obviously only yourself would know the reason... just thought I'd let you know. 

Ehsan_R reported a small bug in the command-line interface, preventing the installation of the toolchain. Fixed the error and released version 1.2.3 on PyPi.

Version 1.2.2. has been yanked (no longer available). However if you have this version, you can keep using it. The error does not affect driver, nor firmware. If you get errors with using the CLI, please upgrade.

Heads up! LitexCNC version 1.3.0 will be released on 1st March 2024. This version will have following improvements:

• stepgen: timings are now per individual stepgen. This makes mixing different drivers with different timing constraints possible. Also solved some issues with roll-overs at high frequencies.
• pwm: possible to invert the output
• new modules:
  • shift_out: expand outputs using 74HC595.Up to 32 shift registers can be daisy-chained together, using 4 datalines.
  • shift_in: expand inputs using 74HC165. Up to 32 shift registers can be daisy-chained together, using 4 datalines. NOTE: these inputs are not real-time. Great for user panels, pendants, etc. Not to be used for homing inputs and ESTOP for obvious reasons.
• cli: upgraded the toolchain to include Yosys v0.38.

what openocd command needed to flash firmware with ft232rl adapter ?

Does it support JTAG ?
This may help
jacobncalvert.com/blog-archive/2020/02/0...ith-the-ftdi-ft232r/