Is a parport fast enough?

it does deserve a reply.

Ok, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

So to start with some basics:
- your 'hal.ini' is not an '.ini' format but a '.hal' format.
- your 'config' would be called a 'hal component'

Whether PP is going to be fast enough will mostly depend on what kind of use you have in mind for the DAC.

Now before you make a PCB you may want to try and get that hal component of yours compiled and installed (prepend 'sudo' if you are on a package install):
halcompile --install <path/your_component.comp>

Once that hurdle is overcome you can then create a simulation config to test your custom component and your .hal file.
You can use the 'halscope' tool to check the output of your custom component:
linuxcnc.org/docs/devel/html/hal/tutoria...ec:tutorial-halscope

To get an idea of how a custom component file is structured see the components included in the source code:
github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc/tree/master/src/hal/components

[edit]
Please keep in mind that presenting a ChatGPT spit out on a technical forum like this will most likely make you look like somebody who doesn't want to spend any time learning the basics. I know it may look like a good start to somebody who has no clue but to people who know just a little bit more it just simply looks like a serious lack of effort.

Is parport fast? nope. Is it enough? Certainly is!! Some of the parts coming out of my Lcnc parport 4ax mill are beyond words - if measured for what it is.

No comments on the ChatGPT bit. Apart from being glad I won't be here in 20~50 years to witness a chronically suffering civilization whom had their natural neural plasticity annihilated for incentives by BigTech. Geez imagine the keyboard zombies coming up!!!

As far as driving the A-D chips from that  parallel port,
That should be possible even using the normal hal_parport driver
and a simple component with a basethread driven state machine.

(ChatGPT will not help here, it's just a time sink)

The main issue would be the encoder as the encoder resolution*speed
will limit the maximum speed significantly with parallel port sampling speeds.

Hey great! Thanks for the real responses! I can appreciate the hate you guys may have for ChatGPT. I get it! I use it all the time for programming simple micrcontrollers. I knew that it wasn't quite correct. I put it there just as a thought. I didnt think there would be such an up-roar! lol I am not trying to be lazy. I just got lost in code. My brain says NO! I can build almost anything, except software!

That being said! I am a hobby CNC guy. I love these machines. I mostly build speaker boxes and I make random parts for my friends, typically for things that are obsoleted and you can't find parts. (Metal or wood) I have a Makino Lablonde FNC-106. It is a 20,000 pound absolute dream of a machine from 1988. It is as accurate as anything built currently (actually more accurate than some). It is a beauty! I also have a 1996 Morbidelli Author 502. I have replaced the NC with Mach and a Galil Motion Control. I has been good but recently, a rat chewed on some wires and fried the control card. I am playing with some ideas on replacing it on a budget. I just vbought a truck so I really dont have much to spare.

I do however have TONS of different gear around here to repurpose. I have several options. one was the parport idea. It was only a thought. Now the other thought that I have is an FPGA. I have several different FPGA boards. I am, again, just having issues with the software part of them. I have included a couple of photos of them. I think I can make the colorlight board work... With the DAC as well! I am just having difficulties. The other board that is by itself.... I think would also be a real good candidate. Anyone know much about Reverse Enginering?

TB6600 Drives will not push 10HP

The Litehm2 project is for the Spartan 6 FPGA so only the RV901T is suitable.

The Litexcnc project is for the Lattice based boards.

There's also Ollie's Linuxcnc rio project, and just maybe if you ask him nicely he may be able to work his magic for your DAC. Don't know if he supports analogue servos, but might be worth hittng him up.

JamesHoward wrote:

Hey great! Thanks for the real responses! I can appreciate the hate you guys may have for ChatGPT. I get it! I use it all the time for programming simple micrcontrollers. I knew that it wasn't quite correct. I put it there just as a thought. I didnt think there would be such an up-roar! lol I am not trying to be lazy. I just got lost in code. My brain says NO! I can build almost anything, except software!

That being said! I am a hobby CNC guy. I love these machines. I mostly build speaker boxes and I make random parts for my friends, typically for things that are obsoleted and you can't find parts. (Metal or wood) I have a Makino Lablonde FNC-106. It is a 20,000 pound absolute dream of a machine from 1988. It is as accurate as anything built currently (actually more accurate than some). It is a beauty! I also have a 1996 Morbidelli Author 502. I have replaced the NC with Mach and a Galil Motion Control. I has been good but recently, a rat chewed on some wires and fried the control card. I am playing with some ideas on replacing it on a budget. I just vbought a truck so I really dont have much to spare.

I do however have TONS of different gear around here to repurpose. I have several options. one was the parport idea. It was only a thought. Now the other thought that I have is an FPGA. I have several different FPGA boards. I am, again, just having issues with the software part of them. I have included a couple of photos of them. I think I can make the colorlight board work... With the DAC as well! I am just having difficulties. The other board that is by itself.... I think would also be a real good candidate. Anyone know much about Reverse Enginering?
 

Mate I gave you an honest and real response. Just because it doesn't make you feel warm and fuzzy doesn't make it any less real. You really need to harden up and accept criticism. It wasn't my fault chatgpt spat out garbage.
Yeah reverse engineering requires time, a good eye, an idea of what you are working with, tech level training in electronics is going to help (being able to program an arduino doesn't cut it). With FPGAs you are going to need software & tools that can do a boundary scan, including bdsl files. The very first thing you will need to do is identify the JTAG interface. You'll also need a pile of data sheets for the components you can identify, which sometimes can be a PITA. Then it is a whole lot of time, checking double checking and triple checking, getting frustrated, getting sore eyes.
But the very first thing is to find as much information as you can regarding what you are trying to reverse engineer. And honestly it's hard enough attempting repairs on multi layer boards, cos tracks in between layers can go open circuit, or go open circuit only when the board is screwed into it's housing, now imagine that issue arising when reverse engineering ?
With some of the colorlight boards they were part reverse enginered by removing all the components off the board, taking an image of the tracks, then carefully sand the first layer off to reveal one of the mid layers.
I spent the best part of 2 days reverse engineering a a mini901, think of a colorlight board, the bulk of the the board without RJ45 connectors and buffers being on a board the same format as a laptop ram module. It would have been easier if I had a carrier board for it, but alas that was not the case. There's a lot of trial and error involved.

It also could be a generational thing, cos when I was doing my apprenticeship if the work you did was crap you got told that. Tho a good tradesman would let you know how he wanted things done in the beginning and any knowledge he had, so it was wise to pay attention and not spit the dummy. Call me an old cranky bastard.
It's the same with what guys in the US call trucks, we call them utes.

This is a thing you'll see outside of the major cities (they can get much bigger and drive through some real snotty terrain), they'll break them down in country depos for their journey to the cities. B Doubles are common in the cities and major urban areas. And we wont mention the lunatics that drive the truck & dogs used in civvy construction.
 

          and what exactly does a road train have to do with this? My very first job at 16 years old was to move houses.... Them I was a marine mech for 20 years. Now I own CNC machines and make money doing my hobby.... I dont expect to be babied thru this process, but a little mutual respect would be nice!