Zenbot/Gecko/LinuxCNC?

OK, now I'm really confused. Before I get to whether zeroing is working or not, why aren't the G54 coordinates changing in the DRO window when I jog? Only the upper coordinates change, which I assume are machine coordinates. But when I'm jogging, the G54 coordinates are also changing because the (simulated) machine position is changing. So why isn't it displaying that way? To make sure I understood all this right, I re-read about gcode coordinate systems and went to UCCNC and tried the same stuff, and it all works like I expect in UCCNC. It's a different interface of course. But I can't make any sense of what Axis is trying to say. The Gmoccapy screenshot looks sensible, like Mach3 and UCCNC, but of course I can't run it.

The version of the OS that I _can_ boot from the ISO is:
Linux Debian 4.9.0-5-rt-686-pae #1 SMP PREEMPT RT Debian 4.9.65-3+deb9u2 (2018-01-04) i686 GNU/Linux

All other RT kernels won't boot.

If I'm to report that the Gmoccapy sim is broken on this version, how to I point out to the author which one it is. The string above is not the same string I see in the boot menu, and do I also report which ISO and how?

I don't see any "long dro" option. Maybe it is the way I work, but I don't see any utility in displaying offsets. I turned off offset display but only affects the preview display, not the DRO display.

I finally got the zeroing to work. I found the menu option for relative display, and then the trick was that it didn't want to zero x until I homed. This is a little bit of a problem for me because I don't home my machine. It's a big 48 inch long router and I only work on a small section of it most of the time. Having to home all the time would be a hassle, though it wouldn't stop me from using LinuxCNC. It's never been a big issue in Mach3 - wherever the machine is positioned when it is turned on is "home".

But it still doesn't display _which_ relative coordinate system is being shown. Could be anything G54 - G59. Also

I'm still curious about how to report the Gmoccapy issue, and I'm still nervous about the fact that three out of the four boot options on the ISO don't work. If all these things don't work, then should I have trust that the Mesa configurator will work? No warm and fuzzies yet. But there is still hope.

In fairness, if an ISO is not working then thats more of a linux issue rather than an issue for Linuxcnc. Would you blame UCNC if you could not install Windows?

I also had a number of problems getting ISOs to work , particularly from USB sticks which were kinda necessary when the OS has outgrown a CD and many older machines won't boot from a DVD, When I researched this problem it showed up as a known Linux issue. One solution which has proved bulletproof for me s to burn the ISO to USB using the free win32 disk imager on Windows.
sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/files/latest/download
All you need to do is to rename the file from .ISO to .IMG and it works perfectly. Every recalcitrant booter I have had to deal with succumbed to this process and I've not had a failure yet.

Norbert, the author of Gmoccappy is incredibly responsive to bugs, so just post up your problem in that section of the forum and he'll get to it.

I don't really understand the various DRO options, but in Gmocappy, if you click on the DRO's, the mode (and colour scheme) changes so have a play, it will make more sense to you.

I will say however that it seems that the ISO you got working is the one you need for Mesa ethernet card. PREEMPT_RT. I will say that the ethernet support of my Mesa card has been bulletproof. Just make sure you power it up before you run LInuxCNC so you don't get not found errors. IN fact, I was quite amazed how easy it was!

I understand your comment about the ISO. But since the OS needs to be customized with a special kernel to be usable with the Mesa, doesn't it still amount to a problem getting LinuxCNC to work? If there were a problem booting Windows on a Toshiba laptop, you can get your retirement that it would be solved in quick order, because people have a economic interest in things working. So I don't think the analogy holds.

I've posted the Gmoccapy problem on that part of the forum.

Good to know that you like the Mesa support. Did you use the configurator and did it work properly for you?

Some of this stuff is due to the newer OS versions required for newer hardware when V 2.7 is well behind and designed for Wheezy which does not have necessary hardware support and the fixes is in the development branch. Plus some dependencies available in Wheezy are not available in Stretch. Thats what is causing you pain.

I've posted a link on your gmocappy thread. I knew I had seen a report previously. Probably the best approach is to upgrade to master branch. See buildbot.linuxcnc.org
Under the master section (first section), you want this one:
Stretch (uspace: realtime with RT-Preempt, and simulation)

If you run the Synaptics package manager from the GUI menu, there is a menu option that allows you to add the required repositories then the option to install Linuxcnc master/2.8 will appear in the list of available packages. Its so long since I've done this but I think you just uncheck 2.7 and check 2.8 and apply the change. You can swap back to V 2.7 any time.

The good thing about Master is that it includes better homing features for your gantry (provided you have seperate home switches on each side of your gantry). This allows you to square the gantry just by changing offsets in the ini file.

And yes, I tested PNCCONF recently at the request of CMorley who wrote it. He has told me he's upgraded it and included better gantry support but I've not recompiled to test. Previously, setting up a gantry machine required a hack to configure a XYZA machine and then editing the hal and ini files to turn the A into the other side of the gantry (usually X again)

And don't tell me Windows is better with hardware support. It can't even install a bluetooth driver for my laptop from new. I managed to fix it by using an intel driver but then this was promptly replaced with the broken one again. So I installed a wifi keyboard and mouse which a recent upgrade also broke. Not to mention a $5k scanner being rendered obsolete by Windows10. Yesterday I wasted a few hours becasue a python module I am writing to print to a label printer broke and only printed half a label. Eventually, I proved it wasn't me, and bypassed the OS by using LPR to print direct to the printer. Of course a reboot fixed the problem. I am so over Windows, its only a matter of time before I ban it from my life totally.

Far be it from me to come off as a Windows supporter. If I were happy with Windows, I wouldn't be here.

Having said that, when one steps back, it seems to me that my original evaluation of the tradeoff between UCCNC and LinuxCNC - which was based on what I've learned here and also based on the experiences of my CNC mentor - is pretty accurate. I've tried the out of the box solution for LinuxCNC and it doesn't work. There is a fix but I have to do extra work. I'm still a little confused about what I would actually have to do to get an ISO I could test drive. Maybe you could elaborate a bit. I went to the link and reread your post and I still don't understand. I'm not saying I won't give it a try, but if were going UCCNC I'd already be up and running by now (based on my CNC mentor's experiences). I'm getting weary of trying to even get to be able to test drive a reasonable GUI in sim mode, much less get my HW to work.

Your experience and mine with hardware support differ, but there is no point in arguing about it. The only points I would make are a) I don't blame this on Linux, it's that more people write Windows drivers to sell their hardware and b) as has been pointed out to me, Linux is a family of OSes, Windows is one OS. It is a lot easier to support a product on one OS than a family of OSes.

I still hate Windows. It takes years to boot up, and unless you have an SSD it is painfully slow until everything is paged in. And I hate the Metro interface. Between the bloat and them trying to turn the laptop into a tablet, it's a mess.

But so far I'm still afraid of how much work might have to go into getting a working LinuxCNC system for my machine.