What do I need to switch to LinuxCNC

In this price bracket my 2c is consider it against an alternative like PlanetCNC - Windows-based, fairly good support, can have fancy graphics of your machine in the visualisation (though GUI is still sort of basic). Quicker to get started, but lower ceiling on customisation. Config/options/settings accessed through GUI, though naming can be ambiguous/unclear. More expensive, support all seems to come from 1 guy (so can be a bit terse). Frequent updates but seen a few bugs. Also, although the motion controller board buffers a bit, got to hope Windows doesn't decide to interrupt/update/etc.!

I was hoping for a more modern screen set, but the Linux CNC screens I've seen look just as crappy as Mach and Mach 4 is not much better looking than Mach 3.

Hm, back in the days when I ran Mach3 there was screen designer. All my screens were custom designed. And they looked NICE.

Looked at gmoccapy or the new qtdragon? Designing your own screen in LinuxCNC is a bit more invoved than with Mach3 by the way.

The reason I chose MAch3 back then was because, like everybody, I grew up using Windows and LinuxCNC was still a fairly involved process to get installed. But since the appearance of USB bootable ISO I have not looked back once.

I for my part didn't find Windows to be super reliable but Linux is definitely rock solid. Personally I just find LinuxCNC so much more capable. I can even change the kinematics myself. But don't kid yourself there is going to be a bit of a learning curve involved since you change the OS and the machine controller.

I have a couple machines that still run mach3 in other peoples shops but I already told them that if they want any changes I will change those systems to LinuxCNC.

I can't give you the feature to feature comparison. I just feel much more comfortable running LinuxCNC.

The 7i76e will connect directly to your motor drives. Can't comment on the RPi4 because I tend to use old hardware that I have laying around.

For Windows you need an extra controller Handelsunternehmen the real-time stuff. Linuxcnc is a realtime application. And with an Ethernet mesa card easy and safe to use.
If you want to have a more modern look. Try another gui.
And if you know a little bit of bash or python there is almost no limit.
I retrofitted a complete machining center the complete Hardware (Five Mesa cards, Touch monitor and a passive coloured mini ITX pc) was beyond 1000€ I reused the old spindle and servodrive.
For Mach and fitting controllers I would have payd around 3500€

Is is easy to install? For straight forward machines? Yes! For complex tasks? No!

But if you hack a litte bit you can make Linuxcnc easy and good to use. Cause with bash and python you can do a lot of different things.

I am controlling Shelly Switches to auto start / stop / drain my air compressor. Is it necessary? No ist it fun an convenient? Yes!

I am quite happy I chose Linuxcnc over windows / mach.

But I am usually a mac user and use windows only at work, so I would have also needed fo figure out how to setup Windows.

I use Probe_Basic as a Gui

Hi Roger, i guess.

I use everything,
All versions of windows, hw and cloud. I started on DOS, later used windows in near realtime, starting from NT4, nowadays till SRV19 in cloud.. All systems work and you can have them stable, if you stay in the limits and if you know what you do.
Learning curve nowadays is much easier, i think w10/srv19 etc are nice products. If you are a company and pay for support.. Good to run your production.

I use different Linux, embedded to server on Esxi or cloud.. Once you learned how to and got it running.. Very stable. Plus normal versions free of cost. Ideal for hobbyists. Plus also for small and medium bussines if you have a skilled speciallist. Yes, steeper learning curve but so much fun if you got it. Plus there are nearly any limits to modify what you like

No Mac,..my wife has to solve that herself.

And finaly LinuxCNC. I propose to download the ready made iso of 2.8. Plus i propose to go from beginning with Mesa HW. The are well made, perform very well, and pcw gives super support. Just a professional with hobbist payable pricing. And honestly, if you compare the price of your mecanics plus tools againt price of the cards...
But yes, you can do it very cheap with old pc and parport and eventually breakout board. But you will definitively fiddle around more and the risk of getting frustratted is quite higher..

Last not least. The community here. Very supportive. Very fast. Lots of expirienced guys and few ladies who enjoy helping. What do you wan't more.
m5c
Mike

Buying a $200 Mesa card is no problem at all for me. At this point in my life I have more money than time. The biggest thing making me hesitate on buying Mach 4 is not the price, but the Copy protection. When a machine dies and I need to reload I need to hope windows reactivates then now I'll need to get Mach to authenticate. Again it's not the money, but if I invest my time in a solution then something happens, Brian get's hit by a bus and Mach goes under now I my machine is held hostage to this one activated PC until it dies. I really like the open source concept. I really want to like Linux, but there is always at least one key piece of software that prevents me from going Linux. Right now for me it's Fusion 360. If I go Linux CNC I loose the ability to make a quick change to the design on the CNC PC and re post. Are there any Linux CAD/CAM systems that are any good?

Anyway I'm 99% certain I'm going to at least try it. I am a tech guy and a developer, but mostly boring enterprise business systems not cool hacker stuff. I do know a bit of Python and I'm willing to learn more. What's involved in customizing the UI? Can I take one of the existing screen sets and tweak it or do I need to start from scratch?

The easies way to backup a linux machine is draw an image or clone the hard drive. It will most likely start on any other hardware you choose for your next machine.This never worked in the past with Windows.

This is something I will do in the near future.

FreeCAD has CAM haven’t had a chance to put it through its paces.
Cambam works with both Windows and Linux, unregistered version gives you 500 lines, registered version is unlimited. So costs a few dollars and I don’t think it’s as high end as fusion.
Search the forums and there’s bound to be some suggestions.
After starting with Mach3 with parallel port, moving to Machinekit on a Beaglebone Black then to Linuxcnc with Mesa, it is quite easier to see which is the more powerful. Just my opinion.
Mach was probably the easiest to setup, Linuxcnc next, then MK, but with the BBB I was using my own breakout boards so there wasn’t any real reference example to start with. Had to use a bit from here, there & everywhere.
Anyways good luck and whichever way you go have fun.

I'm not sure if i understood you right. But i see no problem to use two ssd's in the same pc. So you can have w10 and lcnc in the same pc. Changing time will be less than 1 minute. I also have a small partition for the data, usable from both os. With cost in the range from 20-50$ it might even be simpler to have a third ssd.
I did never fusion but as fare as i read there are several who use that for lcnc too.
Mike

Mike_Eitel wrote:

I'm not sure if i understood you right. But i see no problem to use two ssd's in the same pc. So you can have w10 and lcnc in the same pc. Changing time will be less than 1 minute. I also have a small partition for the data, usable from both os. With cost in the range from 20-50$ it might even be simpler to have a third ssd.
I did never fusion but as fare as i read there are several who use that for lcnc too.
Mike

If you install Linux onto a HDD that already has Windows on it, it will ask you how much space you want to allocate to Linux. Then you can set up the boot menu to default to booting Linux but you can still select to boot windows. Linux can see the Windows partition but not the other way round. I did this with Linux Mint and it worked perfectly.

The screen sets typically comprise of a XML file describing the screen which is output by the design environment and a Python screen handler that extends the methods triggered by the GUI.

In my earlier post I talked about guys using linuxcnc for retrofits. Becasue there is the hardware available, you can run non step and direction motors so in a Retrofit, you can reuse more of the existing hardware. PLus you can keep adding more card to get more IO so you can end up with a complete functioning machine. To do the same with Mach, you would throw out more of the machine components and not have the required IO to make a complete working machine. But as I said, you may not need those features on a simple mill.

Then there is the ability to write your own components in C that once complied with halcompile, they can be used as if they are part of the Linuxcnc core code...

RPI4 look really nice option, the odroid you guys talk about looks nice too.
I brought mini pc because i was feared if i go to the route with RPI4 i cant handle it...now i feel confident i can use it. In the future ill give a try for RPI4.
You guys are using RPI4 with fan inside the machine cabinet?
Any fan recommendations dont start making noise after short usage?