Missing one channel step/direction

I'm running LinuxCNC/Axis 2.9.0-pre1..... on LMDE 6, using software stepping. I have a 3 axis CNC, with two motors on the X. Initial condition has the motherboard parallel port controlling the motors and a second parallel card doing some other details. One X motor works, the second does not.

I was trying to connect my g540 disable to the parallel port and one motor quit working, the 4th axis on the g540 (which is my second X motor, see image). Using an oscilloscope, I can see step/direction for the parallel port pins 2,3 (x) 4,5 (y) and 6,7 (z) when I use the arrow keys. Pins 8,9 have nothing when I use the arrow keys for x. I  figured I had blown up the parallel port, but somehow just those two pins.

Bought a PCI parallel card, changed stepconf to use that card instead of the MB parallel port. Same deal, I can move the X motor but the X2 motor doesn't do anything. I measured the new parallel port pins, same result. I can measure step/direction for pins 2-7, but pins 8 and 9 do nothing.

Somehow the signals on the 4th channel, pins 8-9, is not getting through. I think I have Stepconf set up right, it was a working machine before.

Help will be greatly appreciated!
Steve
 

Can you post your hal file?
 

Here it is. I don't *know* of any changes I made.

One more thing I notice that wasn't there before, on opening Axis I get:
Unexpected realtime delay on task 0 with period 39370
before I actually do anything, like enable the motors.

 

Looks like StepConf did not connect parallel port 0 pins 8 and 9 (probably confused by the dual definition)

If you just want to drive the X and X2 outputs in parallel (not on separate joints),
you would need to add:

net xstep => parport.0.pin-08-out
setp parport.0.pin-08-out-reset 1
net xdir => parport.0.pin-09-out


To your hal file.

Thanks PCW, that works fine.