MESA 5i25 + 7i85S

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<hostmot2>
<boardname>5i25</boardname>
<ioports>2</ioports>
<iowidth>34</iowidth>
<portwidth>17</portwidth>

pncconf should use portwidth for its connector N calculations

You can deduce the 7i78 pinout from the dmesg:
GPIO 17 though 24 are stepgens
GPIO 25 = PWM-OUT
GPIO 26 = PWM-ENA
GPIO 27 = PWM-DIR
GPIO 28 = SSERIAL TX
GPIO 29 = SSERIALTXEN
GPIO 30 = SSERIAL RX
GPIO 31 = QCOUNT IDX
GPIO 32 = QCOUNT B
GPIO 33 = QCOUNT A

Peter-

Which TB1 pins are GPIO17 - 24 ?

So far, it looks like:
1-Gnd
2,3 - GPIO 18
4,5 - GPIO 17
6- +5
7-Gnd
8,9 GPIO 20
10,11 GPIO 19
12- +5
ETC up to pin 24.

Does that make sense? Is it possible to get a schematic for the 7i78?

-Larry

PCW wrote:

pncconf should use portwidth for its connector N calculations

You can deduce the 7i78 pinout from the dmesg:
GPIO 17 though 24 are stepgens
GPIO 25 = PWM-OUT
GPIO 26 = PWM-ENA
GPIO 27 = PWM-DIR
GPIO 28 = SSERIAL TX
GPIO 29 = SSERIALTXEN
GPIO 30 = SSERIAL RX
GPIO 31 = QCOUNT IDX
GPIO 32 = QCOUNT B
GPIO 33 = QCOUNT A

Yes GPIOs 0..7 (P3) or 17..24 (P2) are stepgens in normal 7I78 configs

I will add the host connector pinout of the
7I78 to the manual when I get a chance.

PCW wrote:

Yes GPIOs 0..7 (P3) or 17..24 (P2) are stepgens in normal 7I78 configs

I will add the host connector pinout of the
7I78 to the manual when I get a chance.

Thanks Peter, that will help.

I have been able to use some of the GPIOs as output, but have not succeeded in making an input, yet.

I have another tactic: I will try a set of pins that I have successfully used as outputs and try to use them as inputs. That way I know I have the correct pins.

-Larry

If you are using 2 daughtercards, GPIO is basically unavailable except in a very restricted way
that is the step/dir pins are buffered so can only be outputs, with a 7I85S and a 7I78 there
are really only a few possible input pins (encoder inputs on the 7I78 are really all that are usable
the sserial input could be used but its differential and terminated so awkward

Peter-

OK, that's the problem. I thought I could use all the unused 7i78 StepGens as GPIOs either input or output.

I had succeeded in using the SSerial input on the 7i85S as a GPIO input. I will give the encoder inputs on the 7i78 a try as GPIO inputs.

I can rearrange my wiring, now that I understand what is expected.

I would like to use the PWM module of the 7i78 to run my VFD. Is the isolated potentiometer output on the 7i78 suitable for connection directly to the potentiometer inputs on a VFD?

Thanks,
Larry

Yes that is its intended use (as long as minimum and maximum voltage ratting are obeyed)

PCW wrote:

Yes that is its intended use (as long as minimum and maximum voltage ratting are obeyed)

I will find out in a few hours if the "magic smoke" comes out of any of the components when I hook up the VFD!

The only question remaining is why Pncconf starts the IO pin numbering on the P2 connector at 24 instead of 17. Like you said, Pncconf 'should' use the "portwidth" parameter of 17 in the xml file. Hopefully Chris will see this and comment.

Thank you for your help, without a lot more documentation and time I would not be able to figure this out.

-Larry

One of the problems is that you are far from the beaten path in terms of hardware options.

In this case it might have been easier to just start with a sample HAL file rather than trying to make pncconf support hardware that will still require a lot of direct hal file editing.

Peter-

I found that Pncconf helped me a lot to get the initial setup on the 5i25. A lot faster than starting from scratch. Once the functioning of Pncconf was understood it was easy enough to put in custom hal commands to do what I wished. My comment about Pncconf's GPIO pin numbering should start at GPIO 17 on the 2nd I/O connector of the 5i25 is to help others out.

I agree that my daughterboard choices may not appear to be the most appropriate. However, I intend to hook up a lathe and a mill to this combination (not to run at the same time!), so I wanted more step/gens than one would normally need. I could have used one of the daughterboards and a 7i75 with some logic to switch between machines.

I see the 7i75 has 17 pins of I/O. Can each pin be used as input or output?

Thanks for your help.

-Larry