Are you running a Touch Screen Monitor? Questions

Zahnrad wrote:

It is very rare that I MDI anything.

OK. You might omit the keyboard for now, but make it possible to add it later when desired. Or just bring an USB connection to the outside so you can plug it in.
Regular machine operations such a sloading programs, touching off, etc. works perfectly fine with only the touchscreen.

Good CAM along with good knowledge of it is surprisingly fast. Of course, it also costs good money....

Indeed, I am limited to the low end of CAM software due to price.

Oh..., man...
Okay, so I installed Wheezy... Short of the three letter exclamation of frustrated curiosity, all I can ask is what gives?
Can it really be so hard to install a serial touch screen in Wheezy? ( or Debian for that matter )
Makes me want to go back to Ubuntu...

I cannot help you there since I run Ubuntu 12.04 with a lightweight desktop (LXDE) instead of Wheezy.
But I don't see why the same 'inputattach' that works on Ubuntu shouldn't work on Wheezy.

Is it better/easier with a USB connection? If so, I'll go buy a USB cable TOMORROW MORNING!

No, quite the contrary. RS232 via USB can be a major pain in the ass, especially when you have more than one converter in the PC.

Help?

A more detailed description of what exactly goes wrong would be helpful

DaBit wrote:

OK. You might omit the keyboard for now, but make it possible to add it later when desired. Or just bring an USB connection to the outside so you can plug it in. Regular machine operations such as loading programs, touching off, etc. works perfectly fine with only the touchscreen.

That's the plan for now. I already have a bulkhead USB port. I use them for file transfer to machines. So, adding another port for a keyboard isn't a problem.

Indeed, I am limited to the low end of CAM software due to price.

There are some VERY good packages available for little to zero cost these days. Not like it used to be. Heck, one can get SolidWorks for $20 if one's a Vet or a student. And with that, HSMWorks 2.5D CAM is FREE. Together, both are VERY powerful. And there are other options, too.

I cannot help you there since I run Ubuntu 12.04 with a lightweight desktop (LXDE) instead of Wheezy.
But I don't see why the same 'inputattach' that works on Ubuntu shouldn't work on Wheezy.

It didn't recognize inputattach as a valid command.

No, quite the contrary. RS232 via USB can be a major pain in the ass, especially when you have more than one converter in the PC.

Good to know. I'll try and sort this, then....

A more detailed description of what exactly goes wrong would be helpful

Sorry. That was a bit cryptic. Wasn't it?

I'll take more detailed notes this afternoon and try again. For starters, I used the graphical install of the Wheezy hybrid install and chose the first option installation RTAI kernel.

It knows it's an ELO screen, but I have no touch. Likewise, it found the RealTek wifi NIC, but for whatever reason it can't connect to my router, while the onboard cabled connection will.... More later.

ok
try this from synaptic package manager
search for touch screen and you should find these packages listed

inputattach
xserver-xorg-input-elographics

cncbasher wrote:

ok
try this from synaptic package manager
search for touch screen and you should find these packages listed

inputattach
xserver-xorg-input-elographics

Odd you should you say that... Last night I did exactly that and it returned nothing. I even searched for just "touch" and "screen", and "monitor" separately.

Later, I did apt-get the xserver-xorg-input-elographics and then the machine locked up upon log out and reboots.

Zahnrad wrote:

Heck, one can get SolidWorks for $20 if one's a Vet or a student. And with that, HSMWorks 2.5D CAM is FREE. Together, both are VERY powerful. And there are other options, too.

I literally contacted every solid-CAD manufacturer (Dassault, Siemens, Spaceclaim, etc.) and asked them if they had a license for noncommercial use or could provide me a student license for a hobbyist-friendly amount of money. Long story short: that is not possible. Then there is plenty of crippleware around for acceptable amounts of money: DesignSpark Mechanical, Cubify Design, Viacad, etc. Most of them cannot import a step file, modify it and export it. And I consider that a requirement if I have to spend money on it. Then there is FreeCAD & co, but somehow I cannot get used to that.

In the end I am using a somewhat grey version of an older Solidworks. And indeed, HSMExpress (and CamBam+ which, although far less sophisticated than it's more expensive cousins, is worth every single cent it costs. Nothing is automatic, but one can do almost anything in that package. Import G-code, extract contours, modify them, and re-generate code: no problem. For example).

But OK, I am drifting offtopic. Sorry for that.

It didn't recognize inputattach as a valid command.

What about typing 'sudo apt-get install inputattach'? That should work...

I have compiled a version of inputattach myself for my touchscreen to add the rather obscure touchscreen controller it uses. I suggest you try the official methods of getting your TS to work first, but if it doesn't I can zip it up and send it.

It knows it's an ELO screen, but I have no touch. Likewise, it found the RealTek wifi NIC, but for whatever reason it can't connect to my router, while the onboard cabled connection will.... More later.

Not that I am the expert, but I have many bad experiences with Realtek and Linux. Either it doesn' t work, needs a lot of fiddling to get it working, or it works but it needs 10 times as much CPU power for a given task than a comparable decent solution.

If the mainboard has an onboard Realtek ethernet or Wifi, I plug in a comparable Intel part (Pro/1000, Pro/Wireless). Cost is some 10's of euros, amount of headache saved is huge.

DaBit wrote:

I literally contacted every solid-CAD manufacturer (Dassault, Siemens, Spaceclaim, etc.) and asked them if they had a license for noncommercial use or could provide me a student license for a hobbyist-friendly amount of money. Long story short: that is not possible. Then there is plenty of crippleware around for acceptable amounts of money: DesignSpark Mechanical, Cubify Design, Viacad, etc. Most of them cannot import a step file, modify it and export it. And I consider that a requirement if I have to spend money on it. Then there is FreeCAD & co, but somehow I cannot get used to that.

In the end I am using a somewhat grey version of an older Solidworks. And indeed, HSMExpress (and CamBam+ which, although far less sophisticated than it's more expensive cousins, is worth every single cent it costs. Nothing is automatic, but one can do almost anything in that package. Import G-code, extract contours, modify them, and re-generate code: no problem. For example).

You need to look into getting ( cough or getting access to cough ) a legitimate student email address that ends with ".edu". That's what you need for the student discount. I already had my seat when I heard about the Vet program, so that's of little use to me now.

What about typing 'sudo apt-get install inputattach'? That should work...

I thought I tried that, but don't recall now so will try again to make sure. Thanks.

Not that I am the expert, but I have many bad experiences with Realtek and Linux. Either it doesn' t work, needs a lot of fiddling to get it working, or it works but it needs 10 times as much CPU power for a given task than a comparable decent solution. If the mainboard has an onboard Realtek ethernet or Wifi, I plug in a comparable Intel part (Pro/1000, Pro/Wireless). Cost is some 10's of euros, amount of headache saved is huge.

I'd heard the same years ago, but Google had left me thinking things had been ironed out of late. It's not a deal breaker for me. Just something I had laying about. I can easily order something else, as you point out. Thanks.

might help
rivendell.tryphon.org/wiki/ELO_touchscreen_setup_(debian/KDE)

my answer now to realtek = throw it out or never put linux and realtec in the same box

cncbasher wrote:

might help
rivendell.tryphon.org/wiki/ELO_touchscreen_setup_(debian/KDE)

Thanks. I saw that one but skipped over it as it was listed as "KDE" and this has Xfce... ( ? ) I'll use that in a few hours, here. Thanks.

cncbasher wrote:

my answer now to realtek = throw it out or never put linux and realtec in the same box

Realtek? What Realtek? Never heard of it. Ahem. Nuff sed.

Zahnrad wrote:

DaBit wrote:

You need to look into getting ( cough or getting access to cough ) a legitimate student email address that ends with ".edu". That's what you need for the student discount.

That's just as illegal as using the 'crack.exe' type of installs, and I try to avoid that.

I'd heard the same years ago, but Google had left me thinking things had been ironed out of late.

It's better than it used to be, but one still has to be careful when picking hardware for a Linux box. Many things do work, but not as well as they should.
And double that carefulness for a CNC controller.

DaBit wrote:

That's just as illegal as using the 'crack.exe' type of installs, and I try to avoid that.

I'm not sure about that, as that was told to me by two separate resellers, but I've got no dog in that fight and certainly am not advocating doing something that would be, so will drop it.

I'd heard the same years ago, but Google had left me thinking things had been ironed out of late.

It's better than it used to be, but one still has to be careful when picking hardware for a Linux box. Many things do work, but not as well as they should.
And double that carefulness for a CNC controller.[/quote]

I hear ya. Thanks!