EMC2 Archives?

Greetings,

What version of EMC2 would have been available in March of 2008?

Where would I find the ISO file?

I would like to try and put my machine back to the original software when it actually ran properly.

It would apply to a CNC mill with XYZA axes and stepper motors.

With kind regards,

Dave

wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?OldReleases

shows what was released when.

but that is pretty old stuff... what's the problem with something newer?

Chris M

What version of EMC2 would have been available in March of 2008?

Where would I find the ISO file?

Those are really 2 different questions.

If yours is an old machine, it probably ran better on a Ubuntu 8.04 based distro, because it was the last of the UP rtai kernels.

You can upgrade Linuxcnc all the way to 2.5.x on that system without any special knowledge.

I take it you are not saying that EMC2 v2.3.x was better than say Linuxcnc v2.6.x, just that your latency etc was better with the old distro?

regards

Greetings All,

More background.

I bought the machine used. It came home in two trips. The first retrieved the computer box, cables, stand, rotary table, and splash guards.

When I plugged in the computer and connected the A-axis to "see if it worked" it did not work saying there was no machine connected which was true.

I was able to play with the Axis program in the meantime. I demonstrated the software to my friend several times so the machine booted at each session.

After renting a trailer and bringing the machine itself back to the garage, I went about cleaning old chips away and repairing obvious mechanical defects for the next few weeks. All clean, I connected the control box and cables for the initial run.

Sadly, the motherboard decided to quit. Contacting the vendor, they suggested sending only the motherboard and hard drive to them for analysis. It was determined the mother board did need replacing. They, the vendor, also offered to upgrade the hard drive to the latest LinuxCNC V2.5.4 from the older EMC2.

Things could not have gotten worse...

The machine would not HOME correctly and no JOG available. So, the vendor says "send me the entire control box". I did as requested at great shipping expense, the box weighs 60 lbs.

Box was returned and HOME and JOG work fine. However, more gremlins have appeared.

The spindle runs opposite of the commands M03 ran backwards and the compliment with M04. Also the turning on the spindle shut down the machine with an axis 0 limit switch error.

With Mr. Pugh's assistance, the limit switch error is gone by commenting out the line that watches for the error.

I managed to sort out the spindle M03 and M04 issue myself.

Remaining issues are the Inhibit switch no longer works. This is the switch that toggles between SAFE and RUN.

The coolant switch is backwards. Coolant ON works with M08 and Coolant AUTO runs continually.

Frustrated, I tried to use StepConf to create a new profile from scratch. Axis boots up; but, I cannot turn on the machine via the F2 switch!!!

Looking into the *.INI and *.HAL files, I see a lot of programming from the vendor which I am not clever enough to decipher.


I did copy the home directory of the original drive prior to shipping. I was not smart enough to "clone" the drive for safe keeping. I now have only half the parts.


My plan is to locate the original software and start from the beginning upgrading a piece at a time watching for errors. After all, the previous owner was machining parts with the old software.

My only other clue is on the back of a shipping/inspection tag that was attached to the computer box. It says "EZ-TROL Rev1 installed".

The positive attribute to all of this, is I have become much more knowledgeable about LinuxCNC and have received help from fellow forum members whose knowledge and help I truly appreciate.

So, the journey continues.

Where can I download original ancient versions to load onto a blank hard drive?

Cheers,

Dave