4th Axis rotation angle limit problem

SvenH wrote:

Do I set up all the pins for the spindle or can I leave some out because the stepper will not use them all?

It's probably easiest to create an XYZA config in stepconf, including a spindle.

Then make a copy of that whold config directory, to have backup.

Then edit the HAL file to convert the A stepgen to velocity mode, and to link it to the spindle speed command, cutting out the bits that are not useful.

Then start LinuxCNC from the command line, and you will see error messages that explain what is wrong if/when it fails to start. Probably missing or miss-spelled pin names, for example. Keep fiddling till it works.

SvenH wrote:

Well, gave it a start but find myself lost... searching for answers only offers up more questions...

That's OK, just ask them

Zip up the config directory and post it here as an attached file if you want.

I have fiddled the INI and HAL.

Now M3 S10 (for example) will start the A axis moving. M5 will (probably) stop it moving.

This _only_ allows A to work as a lathe spindle, but it ought to be possible to configure such that A acts as an axis when the "spindle" is stopped by switching modes on spindle.is-on. Let me know if you want me to try that.

SvenH wrote:

Gave it a try, the 4th will not move but the spindle controls in axis say the "spindle" does respond.

Ah, yes. And I know why. I forgot to connect the stepgen to the parport. You need to add:
net astep <= stepgen.3.step
net adir <= stepgen.3.dir
to the HAL.

I noticed that on line 8 of .hal you give loadrt stepgen ctrl_type=p,p,p,v step_type=0,0,0,0 where I would expect loadrt stepgen ctrl_type=p,p,p,v step_type=0,0,0,1. (expected because of reading it, not understanding of any kind..)

step_type 1 is up/down, not step and direction. Is the A-axis stepper drive of a different type?

Note that you probably need to alter the [AXIS_3] scale in the INI to get the right mapping between S and actual rpm.