5i25 - 7i76 support testers wanted

Apparently that is the standard default behavior, that is when modules are not mentioned in
the config line that all such modules are enabled. So it is expected behavior, other than not working.
I suspect there may be a driver bug where if the config string is missing invalid modes get requested
or some such.

Andy Pugh has fixed this error (Thanks Andy!)

Now a missing sserial modparam (the "sserial_port_n=something")
is the equivalent of specifying "sserial_port_n=00000000"

Note these are early testing procedures, not used anymore. To use 7i76 and 7i77 with PNCconf look here:

www.linuxcnc.org/index.php/english/compo...ew&catid=39&id=20043
other then that feel free to read the thread - its just a little out of date.
Chris M

I don't know if this stuff isn't obvious to me or what, but it took a while to sort out just what was needed.

Here's what I've done to get 5i25 configured.

Install the latest beta version of EMC2. www.linuxcnc.org/index.php/english/compo...iew&catid=9&id=15385
Install glade. www.linuxcnc.org/docs/2.5/html/gui/gladevcp.html
Download the firmware for 5i25. www.linuxcnc.org/index.php/english/compo...id=39&id=14940#14940
Download the xml file to desktop. www.linuxcnc.org/index.php/english/compo...14940&start=24#15721
Create the 5i25 folder in /lib/firmware/ and copy the 7i76x2.xml to the new 5i25 folder

In terminal (ctrl-alt-t to open terminal)

sudo mkdir /lib/firmware/5i25
mv ~/Desktop/7i76x2.xml /lib/firmware/5i25/

Now pncconf allows selection of the 5i25 and 7i76 configuration.

Now the firmware is just sitting on my desktop is that all it needs? Or is the XML file I copied taking care of it?

My machine is not ready so I'm not doing much beyond this point. Lots of stuff to set up in there.

You shouldn't need to install glade unless you want to build gladeVCP panels but it won't hurt.
You don;t need to download custom_firmware onto the desktop anymore

But you do need to make the folder named 5i25 and add the XML file. (as you did)
You may delete the desktop firmware folder.

Sorry for the gauntlet to try this out. There is work on making this easier.
I hope its worth it for you !

I was getting errors on starting pncconf from terminal, so I installed glade. I'm not sure if I'll use it.

I guess I didn't realize I was an early adopter with this hardware.

Thanks for putting this stuff together. I think this setup will do what I want.

Greg

yes you can ignore the warnings that are displayed when pncconf first starts.

Yes you are an early adopter. Don't be afraid to ask questions or report problems.
We try to help.
Welcome to EMC!

I am attempting to use the new 5i25/7i76 Combo, and I am wondering what the current process to get it configured in PNCConf is at the moment. Also on some more specific questions:
1) Do I need to do something about loading a driver/custom firmware, or is that handled in hostmot2-all now?
2) Does the 7i76x2.xml file work with a single 7i76 card, or does it need to be modified somehow?

If I can get this working, I will probably try to write up how I got it to work and post it here for future use.

if your 5i25 was supplied with 7i76x2 firmware then PNCconf (beta 1 version) can configure it.
(there is actually firmware support for 7i77x2 and prob_frx2 in that folder too if you have those firmware preloaded.)

1) sserial is supported in linuxcnc 2.5 so you must be running that.
linuxcnc 2.5 had not been officially released yet but you can get it using buidbot

2) Yes the 7i76x2 works for a single card.
select 7i76x2 for firmware.
On the PNCconf configuration page set encoders to 1. step gens to 5 and num of channels to 2
press accept component changes.
This frees up the pins used for the second 7i76 board to be used as GPIO pins

here is a zipped folder to place into /lib/firmware/hm2 ( unzip it first )
You will need sudo rights to do that ( sudo nautilus typed into a terminal will fire up a graphical sudo file broswer)

If all goes well when you start pncconf you will see the 5i25 card show in the combo box on the 'basic info page'

Pncconf is not well tested ( I don't have the hardware ) I\m not sure the live tests will work
But the actual configuration should work fine.
Let me know of any questions / problems.

Greetings all,

I am currently trying to convert our CNC plasma table from Mach with CandCNC motor drivers and THC to LinuxCNC with Mesa THC and CandCNC motor drivers.

What I am trying to do is to use one port of a 5i25 to connect straight to the CandCNC driver breakout board to drive the motors and use the other port on the 5i25 to connect to a 7i76 for table I/O (limit/home switches, torch on/off, etc.) and the Mesa THCAD-300.

I have followed the direction posted by dieselpilot above.

However I am somewhat lost as to how to use pncconf to configure for my setup. (I've built 5 machines using stepconf, but I'm new to the Mesa boards and pncconf.)

The pinout I found for the CandCNC Breakout Board is thus (found on page 27 here (big .pdf warning)):

The only parts I really care about are pins 2-9 (for X,Y,Z,A axis step/dir) and pin 10 for ground (I think), none of the other pins are relevant since those functions will be handled separately by the 7i76. How would I go about setting this up (assuming its even possible).

As for the 7i76, do I just need one encoder for the THCAD-300?

Since you already have a 7I76 I would just not use the CandCNC breakout at all and use the step/dir outputs of the 7I76.

Only one pin(A) of one encoder is needed to read the THCAD

Your pinout above cannot be a parallel port pinout (especially with the pin assignment and +12V power)so dont connect anything like this to the 5I25