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

@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.

In general, there is never a good reason to update/upgrade if the machine is working properly and does what it is supposed to do without a fuss.
2.7 was the time when the trajectory planner got updated/upgraded with what i would sum as "better execution speed", so that might be the only reason to upgrade, or if you plan do upgrade the machine with more functionality.
I still have machines running 2.5 on Ubuntu 8.04 in daily use, no reason to upgrade as they work perfectly. The only reason for upgrading such old machines for me is lightning strike taking the PC out, this happens quite often here.

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.

EMC2 was the old name for LinuxCNC project, had to be changed to avoid legal action as EMC is a huge company, last week been on the news a lot, they are the owners of VMware and they got sold for a "hard to calculate" sum of money.

tommylight wrote:

In general, there is never a good reason to update/upgrade if the machine is working properly and does what it is supposed to do without a fuss.
2.7 was the time when the trajectory planner got updated/upgraded with what i would sum as "better execution speed", so that might be the only reason to upgrade, or if you plan do upgrade the machine with more functionality.
I still have machines running 2.5 on Ubuntu 8.04 in daily use, no reason to upgrade as they work perfectly. The only reason for upgrading such old machines for me is lightning strike taking the PC out, this happens quite often here.

It's great to hear "if it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy. I'd say there could be some offices running Win95 as a print server connected to some ancient dot matrix printer. I know from my experience designing frames & trusses for production that the "print server" was always the oldest.

I would also suggest, in a group situation, to keep the machine running Linuxcnc to doing just that. Have the CAD\CAM on a separate machine, less chance of things going FUBAR.

To clarify about my intentions, I'm trying to be able to use FreeCAD or other FOSS software on my personal computer to generate g-code that I can then load onto the computer that controls the CNC. This means not making any modifications to the computer running LinuxCNC.

The current situation is I have to reboot my laptop into Windows, design in VCarve, send the file to a computer at the makerspace, create the tool paths on that second computer, and then send the g-code to the computer that runs LinuxCNC. Due to licensing, I have to use that middleman computer to generate the tool paths and output g-code.

The shop manager said he wanted to add more capabilities to the CNC in the future (like automatic tool changer), but those plans have been postponed indefinitely since the original volunteers who worked on it are no longer around to help.