7i95T spindle control via Modbus RS485 and SPINX1A

Direction pins left as GPIO what does actually mean. Does it mean that I need to use the outputs ssr for the dir and enable?
I am quite at the limit with just 6 outputs so consuming them on stuff like this is quite an issue for me.
It seems I have very limited understanding of mesa and that my configurations so far were pretty basic

It means that you use the GPIO pin in hal  to control the direction

Something like:

setp hm2_7i95.0.gpio.009.is_output true
net spindir spindle.0.forward hm2_7i96s.0.gpio.009.out

( gpio.009 is the dir pin for step4)

(you could of course also use the pin for enable)

Hi Peter,
I've made the connections on the hal side, set up the gpio009 as output and it lights up when I start the spindle forward.
I also see values on pins pwmgen.00.value and pwmgen.00.enable when I start the spindle.

I might be dumb, but for my safety, can you tell me how to wire the SPINX1A on the input side?

The pinout for mesa 7i95 is:
1: GND
2: STEP4-
3: STEP4+
4: DIR4-
5: DIR4+:
6: +5VP

The pinout for SPINX1A is:
1 GND
2 GND
3 PWM - ACTIVE HIGH
4 ENABLE - ACTIVE LOW
5 DIR - ACTIVE HIGH => CW
6 +5V

For now I connected the obvious ones: GND and +5VP
I will use the enable from the 7i95 outputs, but I am not sure there how exactly to wire that.
I have OUT+ and OUT-, but I don't know which of these should go to the enable pin and which to GND or +5v

Also on the PWM pin from SPINX board, what should I use as input, the STEP4- or STEP4+?

Also the same wiring question for the DIR pin of SPINX.

Thanks in advance

If you use an isolated output for the enable, you would wire:

OUT+ to /ENABLE
OUT- to GND

For the PWM (assuming you are using 2PWM firmware so both step/dir 4 and 5 are PWM outputs)
you would wire STEP+ to PWM

Not sure about the direction off-hand

Please let me know when you know about how should I link the dir pin to GPIO pins

I would connect the SPINX1A direction pin to DIR+

How this is connected in the hal file depends on the precise firmware used

(a mesaflash  --readhmid printout would help here)

I have connected the pins as following but I think something is off with the firmware of the board or smth.

TB4, Pin1 (GND) -> SPINX1A, Pin1 (GND)
TB4, Pin2 (STEP-) -> not connected
TB4, Pin3 (STEP+) -> SPINX1A, Pin3 (PWM)
TB4, Pin4 (DIR-) -> not connected
TB4, Pin5 (DIR+) -> SPINX1A, Pin5 (DIR)
TB4, Pin6 (+5v) -> SPINX1A, Pin6 (+5v)

TB5, Pin24 (Out5+) -> SPINX1A, Pin4 (ENA)
TB5, Pin23 (Out5-) -> SPINX1A, Pin2 (GND)

In hal I have added:
net spindir spindle.0.forward => hm2_7i95.0.gpio.009.out

Checked the pins in hal configuration, I can see the pwm being enabled, and I can see a value that changes as I change the spindle override. This value is either positive or negative depending on the spindle direction.

The problem is that the Speed LED on the SPINX board is always on. When I start the spindle in reverse it says on, when I move it forward it turns off. I think the Dir LED should behave like this not the speed pin.
The enable pin lights on when I start the spindle in any direction.

From what I read on a separate thread, the DIR led on the SPINX board should turn off in one of the directions. For me its the SPEED LED.

Also when I play with the spindle override the DIR pin dims when I increase the spindle speed and it lights up when I decrease the spindle speed. The dimming of the led proportional with the spindle I think its expected, but it should be the SPEED pin not the DIR pin.

I checked the wiring several times, so this leads me to believe that somehow the pin allocation on the mesa board is not correct.
I've used the firmware provided by you in the begining of this thread.

Please let me know your thoughts on this matter.

The speed and direction LEDS are reversed on the first REV SPINX1A cards
This is mentioned in the manual:


Note that on SPINX1A cards previous to revision A, the DIR CW and
SPEED LED labels are swapped.

Ok, that calmed me, I've missed that.
Regarding the output pins, I understood that between SP+ and SP- I should have 10volts, I don't seem to measure anything.
Previously, I was using mesa 7i97 and I was getting the 10v analog from it.

Sorry if I ask stupid questions, I am not quite into electronics

SP+ and SP- need to be supplied with 5 to 20 VDC

Typically this comes from the VFD to maintain full
isolation from the logic side and the noisy VFD side

The spinx1a analog output is basically a potentiometer
replacement, so connects to a VFD where the potentiometer 
connects.