MESA 5i25 + 7i85S

Chris and others-

I (hopefully) have written an XML file for the 5i25 + 7i85S combination.

It appears to create the correct i/o types in Linuxcnc and does load. Next step is to connect some hardware and see if it works.

Please check over the attached 7i85S.xml file and let me know what you think.

I also have a 7i78 card so a future step will be to combine the 7i85S with the existing XML file for the 7i78.

Pncconf certainly saves a lot of work. I had some questions understanding how Pncconf was displaying the i/o configuration but the help files put me on track. Good job!

-Larry

hmm there is only 17 pins in that XML what happened to the other 17?

Other then that it looks fine ( I haven't tried it yet )

Chris M

cmorley wrote:

hmm there is only 17 pins in that XML what happened to the other 17?

Other then that it looks fine ( I haven't tried it yet )

Chris M

Chris

There is only one 7i85S, therefore only 17 pins. The other 17 pins will be used with a 7i78 card.

I thought it would be useful to folks to show the XML for just the single 7i85S.

Larry

hmm then the other 17 pins are unusable.
If you add the other pins in the XML then one can deselect the components and use them as GPIO.

Can you post the PIN file?

Chris M

cmorley wrote:

hmm then the other 17 pins are unusable.
If you add the other pins in the XML then one can deselect the components and use them as GPIO.

Can you post the PIN file?

Chris M

Chris-

I don't have a PIN file for the 5i25 + 7i85S + 7i78 as this was pre programmed at MESA and no docs were included.

I did write a 7i85S_7i78.xml file, that is attached and gives the functions of the pins. This file shows the proper modules or pin functions in Pncconf, but Linuxcnc will not boot it. The problem seems to be on the last module on the 7i78 card, which is an Encoder. Pncconf correctly shows it on the tabbed configuration page as a Quadrature Encoder with the Phase A, Phase B and Index inputs. The Muxed Encoders for the 7i85S also show up correctly in Pncconf. However, when Linuxcnc dumps it shows the 7i78 Encoder as a Muxed Encoder, not a direct input Quadrature Encoder.

I have also attached the dump from Linuxcnc.

For those with a single 7i85S card the xml file could be rewritten as two 7i85S cards and then the 2nd set of 17 pins used as GPIO as I have seen recommened for other single cards (7i76, 7i78, etc.). Or, a better way to do that may be using the "None" secondarymodulename on the P2 connector pins. Let me know which method you would recommend.

-Larry

There is currently a limitation in the HostMot2 driver that prevents mixing normal and muxed encoders on one board, so a configuration that has muxed encoders must use them everywhere. So if you change the 7I78 encoder info in the XML file to indicate that the 7I78 has a muxed encoder (which matches the firmware) LinuxCNC should be happy with it. You will also have to add 2 encoders to the module portion of the XML file.

Yes there is a combination that PNCconf handles already, with this problem. I'm sure I added a work around in PNCconf to handle it.
I will probably have to add this one too. I can't remember what I did. I think I convert them in PNCconf to muxed encoders and hide one.

What I did for 7i77x1 (which is not a real firmware it's 7i77x2) I told PNCconf to automatically deselect the second card when that firmware name shows.
While that works it means I have to put logic into PNCconf for every firmware I want to do that with. So I just choose the firmware that would seem common.

When I get a little time I will confirm and add your XML's to the others.
Thanks for posting them!

PCW wrote:

There is currently a limitation in the HostMot2 driver that prevents mixing normal and muxed encoders on one board, so a configuration that has muxed encoders must use them everywhere. So if you change the 7I78 encoder info in the XML file to indicate that the 7I78 has a muxed encoder (which matches the firmware) LinuxCNC should be happy with it. You will also have to add 2 encoders to the module portion of the XML file.

That appears to have solved the problem for using 7i85S + 7i78. Linuxcnc will now load the configuration. Dmesg shows what I would expect for pinouts.

Time to do some wiring and see if it works!

Thank you!
Larry

cmorley wrote:

When I get a little time I will confirm and add your XML's to the others.
Thanks for posting them!

Chris-

I will report back on the 7i85S_7i78.xml configuration after I do some hardware testing.

Thank you,
Larry

Chris-

After some testing and head scratching it seems that Pncconf, when used with the 5i25 card, should start the IO Connector 2 GPIO pins with 17, not 24 (assuming using GPIO on the 2nd card, not built in modules).

Finding which TB1/TB2 pins on the 7i78 card correspond to the GPIO pins from IO Connector 2 also appears not so intuitive. I seem to have GPIO 17 - 20 located, but 21 - 24 I am not sure of.

However, I could be all wrong, it may be my XML files that are creating issues.

I am using the 5i25 + 7i85S + 7i78.

-Larry