All GPIO pins not shown by PnCConf for 7i96s

Hello,

I recently got 7i96s. I could get the x,y,z stepper motor working using pncconf. Now I need to setup one GPIO pin as output pin. If I set pin 0 to GPIO out it always gives error saying 
./my_LinuxCNC_machine.hal:25: parameter or pin 'hm2_7i96.0.gpio.000.is_output' not found

By default its showing me only 7i96 internal data for selection and firmware as 7i96d and not 7i96s. I tried performing discovery option, but it always gives me error  as follow

PNCconf encountered an error.  The following information may be useful in troubleshooting:

LinuxCNC Version:  2.8

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pncconf/pages.py", line 914, in on_mesa0_discovery_clicked
    self.a.discovery_selection_update(info,0)
  File "/usr/bin/pncconf", line 1499, in discovery_selection_update
    firmdata = self.parse_xml( driver,boardname,firmname,path,boardnum)
NameError: global name 'boardnum' is not defined


So my questions are
1) I understand that pncconf is in BETA version. Would like to know, if to have 3 stepper motors and one controller output pin, do I need to create HAL file manually?
2) Is the default selection of firmware is to be 7i96d instead of 7i96s?
3) Where should I make change so that boardnum is picked up correctly.
4) I understand from 7i96s manual that in TB3 from pin no 13 to 24 I can use as output pin, but same is not reflected in pncconf, is this expected behavior as its in Beta version?

1. GPIO 0 can not be an output pin (its connected to isolated input 0)
2. I believe phillc54 has just added 7I96S support to pncconf so if you are
building from source, and do a new pull, it should be supported.
3. You could try JTs mesact: github.com/jethornton/mesact , which supports the 7I96S
4. The isolated outputs are not controlled by GPIO on the 7I96/7I96S,
but rather by SSR or OUTM pins.

Thank you so much PCW, i will try all these and get back if stuck.

From your answers i believe i don't have to manually write hal file and should be able to use pncconf. Please correct if my understanding is not correct.

I plan to use 3 stepper motor, 1 solenoid valve controlled through IO pin and 3 limit switches.. may be home switch if need be

7i96s support in PnCconf has been pushed to 2.8 branch now. If you are using a Buildbot package then it should be available when the Builbot has completed.

Thank you so much phillc54 for merging in 2.8 branch itself.
I took the code, downloaded all dependency, could built and run all tests successfully on RPI.

However came across the same error as mentioned in
forum.linuxcnc.org/39-pncconf/46366-linu...pncconf-error#247191

I also had to disable advance options to proceed.
However now I am getting following error when running linuxcnc with created ini and hal file.
Debug file information:
Note: Using POSIX realtime
hm2/hm2_7i96s.0: config.num_encoders=3, but only 1 are available, not loading driver
hm2/hm2_7i96s.0: failed to parse Module Descriptor 6
hm2_eth: rtapi_app_main: Invalid argument (-22)
./my_LinuxCNC_machine.hal:9: waitpid failed /home/pi/LinuxCNC_2.8_source/linuxcnc/bin/rtapi_app hm2_eth
./my_LinuxCNC_machine.hal:9: /home/pi/LinuxCNC_2.8_source/linuxcnc/bin/rtapi_app exited without becoming ready
./my_LinuxCNC_machine.hal:9: insmod for hm2_eth failed, returned -1


Here are the system configuration for your reference.
system and configuration.

Date: Thu 28 Jul 2022 10:32:17 AM IST
UTC Date: Thu 28 Jul 2022 05:02:17 AM UTC
this program: /home/pi/LinuxCNC_2.8_source/linuxcnc/scripts/linuxcnc_info
uptime: 10:32:17 up 55 min, 2 users, load average: 0.39, 0.35, 0.39
lsb_release -sa: Debian Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) 10 buster
linuxcnc: /home/pi/LinuxCNC_2.8_source/linuxcnc/scripts/linuxcnc
pwd: /home/pi/linuxcnc/configs/my_LinuxCNC_machine
USER: pi
LOGNAME: pi
HOME: /home/pi
EDITOR:
VISUAL:
LANGUAGE: en_US
TERM: dumb
COLORTERM:
DISPLAY: :0.0
DESKTOP: LXDE-pi
display size: 1280x720 pixels (338x190 millimeters)
PATH: /home/pi/LinuxCNC_2.8_source/linuxcnc/bin:/home/pi/linuxcnc/configs/my_LinuxCNC_machine/bin:/home/pi/LinuxCNC_2.8_source/linuxcnc/scripts:/home/pi/LinuxCNC_2.8_source/linuxcnc/bin:/home/pi/LinuxCNC_2.8_source/linuxcnc/bin:/home/pi/LinuxCNC_2.8_source/linuxcnc/scripts:/home/pi/LinuxCNC_2.8_source/linuxcnc/tcl:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games

uname items:
nodename -n: raspberrypi
kernel-name -s: Linux
kernel-vers -v: #1 SMP PREEMPT_RT Fri Oct 22 10:15:42 PDT 2021
machine -m: aarch64
processor -p: unknown
platform -i: unknown
oper system -o: GNU/Linux

/proc items:
cmdline: coherent_pool=1M 8250.nr_uarts=0 snd_bcm2835.enable_compat_alsa=0 snd_bcm2835.enable_hdmi=1 video=HDMI-A-1:1280x720M@60 smsc95xx.macaddr=E4:5F:01:9D:24:22 vc_mem.mem_base=0x3ec00000 vc_mem.mem_size=0x40000000 console=ttyS0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=2809d831-02 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline fsck.repair=yes rootwait quiet splash plymouth.ignore-serial-consoles
model name:
cores:
cpu MHz:
parport:
serial:

Versions:
gcc: gcc (Debian 8.3.0-6) 8.3.0
python: Python 3.7.3
git: git version 2.20.1
git commit: ecdea1ae89
tcl: 8.6
tk: 8.6
glade: not_in_PATH

linuxcnc_var all:

LINUXCNCVERSION: 2.9.0~pre0
LINUXCNC_AUX_GLADEVCP: /usr/share/linuxcnc/aux_gladevcp
LINUXCNC_AUX_EXAMPLES: /usr/share/linuxcnc/aux_examples
REALTIME: /home/pi/LinuxCNC_2.8_source/linuxcnc/scripts/realtime
RTS: uspace
HALLIB_DIR: /home/pi/LinuxCNC_2.8_source/linuxcnc/lib/hallib
PYTHON: /usr/bin/python3.7

Is it possible that you selected the 7i96s_dpl firmware and your card has the 7i96s_d firmware?

Oops, I didn't read your post correctly, The 7i96s card was removed from 2.8 PnCconf because it is not fully supported by hostmot2 in 2.8