7i76e with PWM, 4 step gen AND TB5 and TB6

I am in need of a PWM with 4 step gen on my 7i76e. I found the 7i76e_7i76x1pD.bit file and it looked like it would fill the need, but after flashing, it seems that it doesn't have support for the TB5 and TB6 I/O connections and the 7i76 doesn't show up in the list on the I/O Connector 1 tab to enable it.
Am I out of luck or is there something I'm missing (very likely!)?
Thanks
Darryl

I would just run pncconf for standard 7I76E firmware
and add the PWM support by hand to the hal file

Thank you for your reply.
So I now need to get back to the stock 7i76e firmware. Which bit file should I flash for that? I saw that in another post somewhere, but try as I might, I can't conjure that up again.

Once I do that, I understand that I can add the "pwmgens=1" parameter to the hostmot2 load command in the HAL file, but how do I know what physical pins that uses on the 7i76e card? I seem to remember reading *somewhere* that it uses one of the stepgen outputs? But which one? Where is this actually documented?
Darryl

You don't need to flash the 7I76E again (if you have installed the firmware with one pwmgen).
I was just suggesting that you tell pncconf you are using standard firmware.

pncconf doesn't care about the cards firmware (or even if the card is installed),
if you are not using its "discover" or test options.

To determine a configuration pinout, you can look at the associated pinout
file (bitfilename.pin) or run mesaflash:

mesaflash --device 7i76e --addr xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx --readhmid

Gotcha! But when I flashed that firmware with the pwm, I lost the I/O on TB5 and TB6.

Or are they still there, but just not showing up in pncconf?

I’m sorry if I’m not getting it. I’ve read so many things over the past few days trying to figure this out, everything is now a scramble in my mind.

Was able to confirm that the I/O is still there by running

mesaflash --device 7i76e --addr 10.10.10.10 --print-pd

Now on to configuring the HAL manually.
Thanks for your help.
Darryl

pncconf runs even if the card is unconnected
(it does not communicate with the card at all)

So if pncconf does not show the I/O tabs, its not related to
the installed firmwae.

Well that clears that piece up a bit.

When I didn't see the TB5 and TB6 in the interface, it was after I had run a discovery after flashing the bit file. But selecting the 7i76e from the menu, it was all there. Makes sense if it's not talking with the board.

I have the same exact need for a PWM signal. I called in yesterday and spoke to Peter (I assume that's you, PCW) and was told to flash the firmware 7i76e_7i76x1pD.bit as well. I tried the below command but getting a "Doesn't support FPGA programming" message. Need to look into that further.

I'm confused by your mention of not needing to update the firmware. I opened up pncconf but the GUI will not permit me to change pwm generators from '0' to '1'. I even changed the step generators from 5 to 4 first and still it wouldn't take. Even if I manually edit num_pwmgens the .hal, I don't see anything pwm related show up in the HAL.

It's been less than 24 hours since I first touched LinuxCNC, so please bear with me.

As always, I always solve the problem shortly after banging my head for a while leading to the forum post. I found that I was supposed to use '--write' instead of '--program'. After that, pwmgen does show up in HAL viewer!