How do I find out what setup I'm using (dialect, post-processor, etc)?

Hi, I'm looking for your help doing some detective work. I'm a member of a makerspace and am told that one of their woodworking CNC routers uses LinuxCNC, but am having trouble getting a definitive answer on how to set up a FOSS CAD/CAM workflow for it, or at least one that runs natively in Linux. My guess is that multiple people worked on it over the years so knowledge on it is fragmented.

Can you please offer advice and/or resources so I can find out more about this setup and how to use it? I have some experience using their more turnkey CNC routers and proficiency in using Linux, but very little as far as setting up and troubleshooting a CNC.

For example, I want to find out: what software/firmware it's running, what dialect of g-code it uses, how to choose a post-processor for it, etc.

What I know about the machine:
I'm told that we're using either a modified Gerber Sabre 408 or a modified "pre-production prototype" of it where they completely replaced the controller with one that's used by LinuxCNC. One member said that it uses "G64 Path Blending", although I'm not sure what that means.

There are some computers with VCarve Pro on them and I found that the post-processor mentions "EMC2-G64 Arcs (Inch)". It looks like it might not have come with VCarve, but I don't know where it could have come from and what if any, modifications were made prior to importing the PP. VCarve Pro exports its g-code as *.ngc files.

Thanks a lot for the help!

Part 1
Assuming you can access the Linux desktop, open a terminal and type

uname -a

The response will identify the kernel version the system is running.

Next, type

linuxcnc

This will start linuxcnc and a window will pop up which allows you to select a user interface (configuration selector).

In addition, the terminal (which is still open) will display the linuxcnc version.

Copy the results of both of the above terminal responses and paste them here.

Part 2
Open a file manager window and navigate to the linuxcnc\configs directory.

Inside that directory you should see one (or more) sub-folders. That sub-folder contains (among other things) the files which tell LCNC everything it needs to know about your machine (i.e. what user interface to use, how many axes it has, how fast it can go, etc.).

Look for a file which ends in ".ini", as well as a file which ends in ".hal".  There are likely a few HAL files in the folder.  If there is one that is larger than the rest - and it's probably named the same as the INI file - those files will help us understand exactly what you've got going on.

Attach the two files (INI and HAL) along with the terminal results and post back to this thread.

FreeCad is one solution for your CAD\CAM.
If you need to know about supported gcodes you can always look at the docs.
If you’re running a Mesa controller in place of a grbl controller, firmware version isn’t an issue. Mesa isn’t in the habit of updating (or having to update) firmware everyday that ends in a “y”.
If the machine is working and doing it’s jib without any issues don’t mess with it, it’s easy to mess things up and dig a deeper hole. Even if it’s running on a EOL version of Debian and an old version of Linuxcnc I’d leave it be. Basically if it works, don’t fix it.
The best thing you can do is back up the machine configuration.
Just don’t make changes for changes sake and mess it up for everyone else. And if you do make changes make absolutely sure that anyone using the machine is well aware. Like any tool a cnc machine is not a toy, not a tool everyone can use and can bite, bite so bad a trip in a big white van with flashing lights may not be out of the question.

There’s no real need to have a Linux solution for cad\cam.
In any case I’d be asking what the other members prefer, what they use.
Cambam isn’t a bad little program, runs on both Windows & Linux and has some basic cad features.
FreeCad can be a little frustrating due to the topological hierarchy, it can do some up expected things if you aren’t careful. The CAM portion isn’t as mature but is coming along.
Librecad is quite capable for simple 2d things, along the lines of early Turbcad.
If you’re proficient in Linux I’m guessing you have the wherewithal to do some searching and evaluating of the various packages out there.

Okay thanks a lot, and sorry for the delay!  I just got to visit the makerspace.

Part 1returns the following:
When I type in linuxcnc into the terminal, I saw this:

Part 2
There were indeed multiple INI and HAL files in the config folder.  The contents of the config folder are as follows:

I attached the largest HAL file and its associated INI file since the HAL file is ~300 lines long and the INI file is ~200 lines long.

Thanks again!

@Tommy
Can you think of any bugs or issues with 2.7 that might suggest upgrading to 2.8 or 2.9?


@vchov,
Tommy's beat me to the punch, as usual.

To expand on it a little, your router is running a slightly older version of LinuxCNC (2.7).  The current version is 2.9.  I don't think upgrading to the latest version is necessary, but @Tommylight or someone else may have a better understanding of the improvements/changes.  I'm pretty sure upgrading LCNC to 2.9 will require the Linux OS to also be upgraded to a later version.

Your next step(s) will be to decide on a CAD/CAM package to use.  Inkscape works of course.  If you want to use Vectric Vcarve, you appear to already have a post that might work.

In addition, I found this discussion:

forum.vectric.com/viewtopic.php?t=20059

It seems that you've got the G64 version of an appropriate post.  I'd suggest using vcarve and that post and do some testing.

The "G64" refers to a motion profile setting in LinuxCNC that controls path blending.  A short description is here:

linuxcnc.org/docs/devel/html/gcode/g-code.html#gcode:g64

And a longer description of path blending, and trajectory controls is linked at the above page.

Just about anything else you want to know about the control (linuxcnc) is available in the online user manual.  Quite a lot of the manual is devoted to configuring a machine and user interfaces, but the G-code section should be a good place to start.

In addition to getting to know the control, you can also experiment with different user interfaces if you'd like.  You machine is currently set up to use the "AXIS" interface.  Have a read through the manual and test out some of the simulations available.

Okay I'll take a look at the discussions you mentioned and look up what those Mesa boards are for.

Ideally, I'd be able to use FreeCAD and Inkscape. Inkscape is already popular at the makerspace for using the laser cutters, but everyone seems to use VCarve Pro and sometimes Fusion 360. We also often design things in Inkscape and import SVGs into VCarve to create the actual tool paths.

I'd prefer not to dual-boot my laptop, use a VM, or try to use Wine. I haven't had much luck installing VCarve using Crossover (Wine). I already use FreeCAD for modeling 3D prints, so it would be convenient to use it for CNC once I can get over the initial hump of getting it to generate compatible g-code.

Would it be helpful if I tried to export the post-processor from VCarve for examining to see if it's significantly different from FreeCAD's built-in LinuxCNC settings?

I got really confused at first since I saw the name was "EMC2-G64 Arcs (Inch)" instead of just something like "LinuxCNC" since I couldn't find many helpful Google results for "EMC2-G64 Arcs (Inch)". Maybe it was just named that for legacy reasons.