Update from 2.8 to 2.8.1 Buster RTAI

Thank you all in advance for any help you can give me on the topic. Based on my searching through the forum, it appears that some users have done a clean install of Debian Buster running on the RTAI kernel for the newest version (2.8.1).

I am currently running Buster (I have to use RTAI to get the latency results that are acceptable for my application) on Version 2.8.0. I have been dealing with a few issues with QTDragon (tool table duplicating every tool in the library if any tool is edited as well as the jog feedrate slider being stuck at a max value of 3600).

Based on some replies to earlier posts I have made, I am led to believe these two fixes have been implemented in 2.8.1. Unfortunately, I am so computer illiterate when it comes to Linux that I can't seem to find the right repository name to let LinuxCNC update on the RTAI kernel. I was told that buildbot won't compile the RTAI build and don't know where else to look.

What exactly should I have listed as the active repository to allow my version of LinuxCNC to update to the newest version (and hopefully allow automatic updates in the future).

Thanks again!
Joe

Did you install the Buster ISO on a new system or upgrade and older working system from Wheezy?

There is a bug in RTAI currently, so there is no way at this time to have automatic updates.

It was a clean install to buster. I was using an extremely old and outdated ubuntu version for about a year and a half before i upgraded to the buster build. I gave the pre iso a shot first knowing that RTAI had some documented issued but had terrible latency results. I was getting 50-60k with the pre iso and on RTAI my latency is typically around 3k with the system heavily loaded with very occasional spikes to 5k.

For the time being while im not running any hardware stepping and require the system to generate my step pulses, i think im unfortunately stuck on the RTAI build.

For reference to anyone looking to also run the RTAI build, in my experience it has been extremely reliable. When i first completed the build (about 6 months ago) i had 2 instances where i had a complete system freeze and had to restart the computer. Both happened with the system idle and never while running a program or jogging the machine manually.

I made no changes or debugging at all since then and have had zero system reliability issues since. My machine typically runs 20-40 hours a week so i am very confident in its reliability at least in my particular case.

Is there any way to manually perform an update to 2.8.1 if automatic updates are not possible??

Joe

No you are stuck with the current version of LinuxCNC and RTAI unless you know how to build from source. It is a test release and it happens to work for you. For others there is a nasty bug that crashes the system.

You can update LinuxCNC if using preempt_rt. Just not RTAI right now since we are not building any new packages using RTAI.

To use RTAI with LinuxCNC one has to build LinuxCNC against the given version of RTAI.

Hello here is my formula..
Grab Debian buster netinst.iso.
write it to a pen drive sudo dd if=~/Downloads/debian-10.7.0-amd64-netinst.iso of=/dev/yourUsb or use balenaetcher ..
boot from usbdrive ..
follow the instructions to install Debian Buster,
when presented to you the screen of selecting features check GnomeDesktop + cinnamon uncheck printer services and check sshd service .. wait for finish the installation .

when finished do login and open terminal
type sudo nano /etc/sources.list and edit every active line adding to the end of line .. contrib non-free
do sudo apt update ..
do sudo apt install firmware-linux-nonfree
if u have a Realtek network interface do
sudo apt install firmware-realtek ..

open a browser and download the latest RTAI kernel compiled by people from LinuxCNC at linuxcnc.org/temp
download also RTAI-kernel modules and LinuxCNC compiled for the latest RTAI-kernel ..

go to a terminal and type

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keys.gnupg.net --recv-key 3cb9fd148f374fef

and

echo deb linuxcnc.org/ buster base 2.8-rt | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linuxcnc.list

do a sudo apt update
and sudo apt upgrade..

go to your Downloads folder and type

sudo dpkg -i linux-image-4.19.152-rtai-amd64.deb
wait for install finish

do sudo apt install rtai-modules-4.19.152_5.2.3-linuxcnc_amd64.deb

reboot

login again ..
and install LinuxCNC download from linuxcnc.org/temp

sudo apt install linuxcnc_2.8.1_amd64.deb

why use apt to install already downloaded files..
because it will download and install all dependecies, I have problems with gdebi
I'm using 2 parallel boards to control my machine with QtpyVCP ProbeBasic on a Gigabyte board X58 from 2010 with a simple ATI radeon board with max jitter of 5800

I guess broken packages are being built. I stand corrected

To clarify broken, the RTAI packages work without issues on some hardware and occasionally crash on others. Everyone will just have to try them and see how they work on their hardware.

Has been working flawlessly for me so I can second what Bari said. When I get to the shop I'll try to list my specific configuration. Might be of some help to others one day.