Fast Hole EDM from Hacked Parts

Hi, 

I have made some progress and have successfully connected a python script to my machine.  This script right now is just turning a LED on and off but I will use it in the future to run my PID loop on my feedrate.  

I have run into a problem though.  I am trying to get the PWM signal into my software using hal, but when I used mesaflash --read I am getting the name on pin 29 (this is the pin that is supposed to read the PWM signal according to Peter) of (unknown-gtag-200).  

It seems like this error means that the name is not set correctly, but that it might still be possible to read the pin.  However, I do not know how to find the hal name of this pin.  I was only able to find the hal name of the ssr pin because of you PCW.  I feel like there should be a list somewhere that gives the hal names and associated physical pin numbers...

I would greatly appreciate any guidance. Thank you.

Best,
-Dylan

The "unknown gtag" error means that your mesaflash is not up to date enough
to know about the periodm. This has no real significance.

To list all mesa hardware pins/parameters, with LinuxCNC running, in a terminal, type:

halcmd show all hm2

you can re-direct this to a file with:

halcmd show all hm2 > all-mesa.txt

if you just want periodm pins:

halcmd show all | grep periodm

PCW,

Thank you for the response.  Good to know that the gtag is not a concern.  I have attached a file of the output of 'halcmd show all hm2' (there is some funky text in it for some reason so there's actually two files where I copied and pasted the output into the second one). 'halcmd show all | grep periodm' did not output anything for some reason.. 

I am looking though these pins and still nothing stands out to me as obviously the pin 29 I am looking for.. Do you mind taking a look and telling me what you see? Am I missing something how to tell which pins are physical pins? 

Best,
-Dylan

Looks like you are possible running too old of a LinuxCNC version to support the periodm
though in this case, LinuxCNC should report an unknown module number.

Here's what I get for periodm pins and parameters on the 7I96S

halcmd show all | grep periodm

    35  u32   I/O            0x00000001  hm2_7i96s.0.periodm.00.averages
    35  float OUT           0                    hm2_7i96s.0.periodm.00.duty_cycle
    35  float IN               0                    hm2_7i96s.0.periodm.00.duty_cycle_offset
    35  float IN              100                 hm2_7i96s.0.periodm.00.duty_cycle_scale
    35  float IN               1                    hm2_7i96s.0.periodm.00.filtertc_us
    35  float OUT            0                    hm2_7i96s.0.periodm.00.frequency
    35  bit   OUT             FALSE             hm2_7i96s.0.periodm.00.input_status
    35  bit   I/O                FALSE            hm2_7i96s.0.periodm.00.invert
    35  float IN                1                    hm2_7i96s.0.periodm.00.minimum_frequency
    35  float OUT             0                    hm2_7i96s.0.periodm.00.period_us
    35  bit   OUT              FALSE            hm2_7i96s.0.periodm.00.valid
    35  float OUT              0                  hm2_7i96s.0.periodm.00.width_us

 

PCW,

Thank you.

Okay, as best I can tell I am running 2.9.0 (that is what is show at the top of my axis gui and what I see when I use linuxcnc -v).  You reminded me that Peter said something about needing 2.10.. Do you know if I need 2.10?

Can I update linuxCNC? Do I have to wipe the entire machine or can I just update? Will I loose any system configuration data if I do this or will that all be stored in my machine folder? 

Best,
-Dylan

It might be supported by 2.9.3 if not then you must use 2.10

You should be able to upgrade to 2.9.3 with the package manager
if you are running s normal Debian LinuxCNC release