Killed my system trying to install a iMach3 P2S pendent

I'd hate to disagree but it was your fault.

It was your error by not seeing or reading or trying to understand this line in the error log. That's what the error log is for, to read and see where the error is. Just take a bit of time to have a read. Take a deep breath and try and work out what mistake you made.
I wouldn't say the wizzard is incompatible, it just doesn't know about that piece of hardware. So it means sometimes you have to do a bit of research and maybe read the docs over a couple of times. And with the bits you don't understand just say I read XYZ I get XZ but Y is a bit confusing. You do that and maybe one of the devs will see it and say ok we can make that change so it is a bit clearer. The devs don't know what you can & can't understand amd if they don't how can the docs be improved ?
Vista CnC supplied a pretty good set of instructions and the hal files seemed right. They weren't to know you were going to double up on pin names.

Yes there is a learning curve and it can be steeper for some than others.

rogerfries wrote: Did I screw it up? in this case, I don't think so, I certainly did not key those lines into the files. Is it poor software from Vista CNC? Or some incompatibility with Vista CNC and the pncconf wizard?

I had a same problem and solved it same way. On my first setup with parallel port and stepconf wizard everything was fine. The problem popped out when I switched to mesa.

If you take a hal file created by a third party for a parallel port and attempt to use it on other hardware which has different pin names of course it will fail.

Its up to you to take responsibility for your own configuration settings.

"./vc-p2s.hal:22: Pin 'halui.axis.x.plus' was already linked to signal 'jog-x-pos'"

Is not a clear message to a new user, no doubt it's obvious to you pros. To a newbe "./vc-p2s.hal:22: " wasn't even clear it was referring to a a file. Perhaps if read more like "File: vc-p2s.hal, Line 22 ...", but I'm sure no one is interested in suggestions from me. Even now I'm wondering if commenting out those lines will have a side effect when I test the machine later? Have I lost keyboard jogging or something like that

"They weren't to know you were going to double up on pin names." I didn't add those lines to the file, perhaps the config wizard did? Vista could have included an installer that checks for things like that, but clearly we are not in the polished world of Windows anymore.

I still want to push on as I believe once I get past the install, I will have a better end product that I can backup and restore after a system crash without having to worry about windows and mach activation issues. The one thing that is clear without all of your community support LinuxCNC is unusable product. The question is, have I already worn out my welcome? Should I just go back to the simple life if Windows and Mach? Or will you tolerate a few more stupid questions from me?

Well you know now.

I'd say there's many users of Linuxcnc that have set there systems up without having to use the forums. Do you have a suggestion about how:
"./vc-p2s.hal:22: Pin 'halui.axis.x.plus' was already linked to signal 'jog-x-pos'"
could be made easier to understand ?

This is just my way of breaking that message down.
First thing don't panic, it's not the end of the world, walk away grab a coffee, tea, glass of milk and a bickie or 2. Hopefully by now you've managed to get all of the hair you've pulled out of head of your hands. I'd try that first before having beverage.
Take a deep breath.

So the first bit is pointing to a hal file. The .hal is a good indication.
The second bit is a number, so it should be safe to assume that it's a line number in a file.
Now the next bit has Pin, so logic would dictate there's a issue with a pin.
The we have a pin name telling us it's already been linked.

If you have a read thru the HAL docs, even the tutorials, you'll get a feel for what was wrong.

I just had a look at your Shuttle post and think that there was a bit of confusion. I've made a comment to as to which file you should look at, that may just work.

Some of us will try and push you in the right direction, so that later on you'll be able to fix things your self. And with a bit of luck you'll be able to answer queries from other users.

Look at this way, you learn a lot more from mistake & errors than never getting anything wrong.

Don't worry I've asked way way more stupid questions than you think you've asked.

Hope this little bit will make you feel better.
About 6 months ago I was constantly getting realtime errors. I'd been running the machine for months without any issue and just couldn't work out why. Spent ages and ages searching the forums and the net trying to fix it. After a few hours it dawned on me I was selecting a non realtime kernel when booting. And that real far from some of the mistakes I've made.
I wont mention the time I swapped two crystals on a board when I was an electronics tech....This had me and the head tech baffled....Then at the same time we both realised what the idiot with the soldering iron did. Lessoned learnt, an oscilloscope is no help if you just look at the waveform and not the frequency.

I'll definitely drink more coffee on the next issue! Sorry for letting my frustration out. Thanks and I'll continue my LinuxCNC Journey. I think the mill is almost done, the Plasma table is next on the list.