no 7i43 on linuxcnc 2.9.1 pncconf???

hi
some day ago i've broke my pc used on a old milling cnc
i found a new pc with better performance than the old
with the old pc the max installation of linuxcnc was 2.7 (weezy)
in the new pc can be installed linucnc 2.9.1

open pncconf to set my machine and mesa 7i43 don't exist
i must install it in the system myself...
i'm not a skilled/smart user of linux and for me is big trouble
i've try to search on internet... but i don't have understand how to do it
i found
"sudo apt-get install hostmot2-firmware-7i43"
but exit with
"Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package hostmot2-firmware-7i43"

i've downloaded from mesanet.com the 7i43 firmware and the generics firmwares HOSTMOT2 FIRMWARE SOURCE

can someone explain me, like i was a 5 year old baby, step by step how to install 7i43 on my system ???

grazie
Roberto

Do you still have the old configuration (hal and ini) files?
Rather than create a new configuration, it would be easier to
update with the old ones to work with LinuxCNC 2.9

The old hal file would also be useful because it contains the name of the
firmware used on the 7I43

i've try to create the directory /lib/firmware/hm2/7i43-4
inside i've put the files downloaded from mesanet.com
i've created a new configuration with the old configuration
linuxcnc exit with an error

Debug file information:
Note: Using POSIX realtime
Could not locate firmware "//lib/firmware/hm2/7i43-4/SVST4_4.BIT". (No such file or directory)
hm2/hm2_7i43.0: firmware hm2/7i43-4/SVST4_4.BIT not found
hm2/hm2_7i43.0: install the package containing the firmware.
hm2_7i43.0: board at (ioaddr=0x0378, ioaddr_hi=0x0778, epp_wide OFF) not found!
hm2_7i43: rtapi_app_main: No such file or directory (-2)
./fresa_cnc_2.hal:9: waitpid failed /usr/bin/rtapi_app hm2_7i43
./fresa_cnc_2.hal:9: /usr/bin/rtapi_app exited without becoming ready
./fresa_cnc_2.hal:9: insmod for hm2_7i43 failed, returned -1
1872
Stopping realtime threads
Unloading hal components
Note: Using POSIX realtime


i think it's easier download linuxcnc 2.8 and reinstall all the system

ciao
Roberto

You nee to change the hal file to use:

svst4_4b.bit

As that's the one in /CONFIGS/HOSTMOT2/EPPHM2/

Changing to 2.8 will not make a difference here

If you have your old system, you could also get the SVST4_4.BIT file from it

i've format the pc and downgrade the system to the previous version

i'm a hobbyst not very skilled

i think other people in the world with old mesa card are in trouble if they must change the pc, keeping the old electronic system... we must use an old linuxcnc version

is there a reason because the old mesa card are out of the simple installation of the system linuxcnc???

ciao
Roberto

Did you change the  name of the firmware file in the hal file?
That should fix the first LinuxCNC error (assuming you do have
svst4_4b.bit in /lib/firmware/hm2/7i43-4)

there is no problem having to use an older version of linuxcnc on my cnc machine... it's very simple and doesn't need many new things... it also worked with 2.7

but what I wonder is what is the reason why in a system like linuxcnc it was decided to remove functionality and compatibility from old mesa cards??? I remember that years ago the 7i43 was one of the first, together with 3 or 4 others, to be implemented in the system...
if I look in the online documents of 2.9 in the pncconf section the 7i43 is covered
if I look in the mesa hostmot2 driver section there are the usual mesa cards that have been around for 10 or more years

I understand that to use Linux you need to have a minimum of knowledge of the system and know how to carry out certain operations on files and various settings, but it is also true that if a program was born with certain characteristics and functionality I would expect to find it in subsequent versions too
I don't think that leaving the basic installation of the system with the firmware of the old mesa cards would have taken up space from the hard disk... we're not in 1985 when every available byte was as precious as gold
and I don't think that all linuxcnc users are able to navigate the various drive and firmware installation operations... the 7i43 firmwares are not actually present in the system and even if I wanted to create the various .ini files by hand and .hal cannot operate the system

I would like to understand the reason for this "company choice"... in some time the simple parallel port will also be removed from the compatibility of the basic system??? modern computers no longer have a parallel port on the motherboard... who could possibly need it?

I think I will also make a post in another section of the forum to raise this request of mine

thanks for everything
Roberto

again:

Did you change the name of the firmware file in the hal file?
That should fix the first LinuxCNC error (assuming you do have
svst4_4b.bit in /lib/firmware/hm2/7i43-4)

Unless LinuxCNC can find the firmware (which is a matter of installing
it in the correct place and making sure the name matches), LinuxCNC
cannot access the 7I43.

excuse me
again:
I formatted the PC with the 2.9 operating system, I downloaded version 2.8 of the operating system from linuxcnc.com and reinstalled everything...
To make you understand my point of view, I'll summarize everything I've done and thought in recent days:
when I tried to understand why in 2.9 there was no support for the 7i43 by searching a bit, before asking for help on the forum, I found online that the 7i43 firmware must be present in the /lib/firmware/hm2/ folder.. Not bad... I create it, put the files in it and I'm done... I opened the folder management (I use the command line only if I'm forced) and the /lib/firmware/hm2/ folder doesn't exist and the /lib/firmware/ folder cannot be written by the common user but only by the SU... I am not very expert in Linux and I have a lot of difficulty doing certain advanced folder manipulation operations because over the years I have had to do them few times and every time I have to search the internet for the various steps and various chmods
I open the command line and am able to give read and write permissions to my user (chmod 777 /lib/firmware) then I create the folder /lib/firmware/hm2/... I download the 7i43 firmware from mesanet.com and the generic firmwares at the top of the page... I unpack them and put them in the /lib/firmware/hm2/ folder.... and nothing works... I create the /lib/firmware/hm2/7i43 folder with only the related files and nothing works... I rename the folder in /lib/firmware/hm2/7i43-4 with its files inside and nothing works...
I repeat: I took the downloaded files from mesanet.com
I understand that I'm wasting time... the old versions supported 7i43... why do I have to persist in discovering hot water???
I format the PC and install Linux with linuxcnc2.8

now I understand that many of you are programmers or expert Linux users and that all these file manipulation operations are your daily bread... but the average user like me doesn't have your agility in carrying out certain operations and various reasoning... After a while he becomes discouraged by the fragmented and almost esoteric information found online

I still wonder: was there a valid and logical reason in removing the old Mesa cards from the installation that is provided by linuxcnc.com???

ciao
Roberto

What does

ls /lib/firmware/hm2/7i43-4/

report?