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

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!

I'm curious on not needing to flash a firmware. I would have preferred not flashing '7i76e_7i76x1pD'. But without doing so I could not change PWM generators from 0 to 1 with the default 7i76e firmware.

Having said that, with this firmware flashed, and the PWM now used for SpindlePWM, when starting I get the error:

parameter or pin 'hm2_7i76.0.pwmgen.pwm_frequency' not found

Despite having the PWM frequency set to 10,000.

 

koopa wrote:

parameter or pin 'hm2_7i76.0.pwmgen.pwm_frequency' not found
 

That is suggesting that the pin does not exist. Is it possible that the line is in the HAL too early, before the driver has loaded? 

Are yo sure that it shouldn't be hm2_7i76.0.pwmgen.00.pwm_frequency ?