Can not get stepper motors to move with Gecko g250x drivers

I am totally new to LinuxCNC, so forget any naivete.  I have read of several people's successful setups and skimmed through the HAL and LinuxCNC documentation, but when it comes to STEPGEN values, I am just not getting something.

Several people have successfully used the Gecko g540p, which uses four g250x drivers connected via a parallel port.  I have yet to find anyone who has used the g250x directly.  Further, in my case, I am wired to the step and direction lines on TB1&2 on a Mesa 7i96s.  I am using the default firmware "7i96s_d.bin."

I have tried pncconf and mesact and created a hal config from scratch.  I can get limit switches, proximity sensors, and the Z-height gauge working, but I can not get the stepper motors to move.

I have an NUC PC that drives a Mesa 7i96 with 5 Gecko g250x stepper drivers.  Given that I can't get them to drive the stepper motors, they may not be the best choice of drivers, but they were inherited from another project.  The drivers and stepper motors work fine when driven by a GRBL board; the only change is I moved the ground, step, and direction wires to the 7i96s.  GRBL has worked okay for me, but it lacks many capabilities I am beginning to need, including more accessible support of a rotary axis.

I am happy to upload any of the failed hal files, but given that they were mostly generated from pncconf or mesact, I am not sure of the value of those files, but I have included one of my test configs.  After dozens of attempts, I am at a loss as to what I am doing wrong.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Brian

How is the 7I96S wired to the G250X?

I would expect:

7I96S DIR+ --> G250 PIN 27 = DIR
7I96S STEP+ --> G250 PIN 28 = STEP
7I96S GND --> G250X PIN 30 = SIGNAL GND
 
7I96S DIR- and STEP- unconnected
 

Yes, for example, the X stepper driver is wired:

TB-1 -> G250x-30
TB1-3 -> G250x-28
TB1-5 -> G250x-27

I wire them all using IDC-30-Pin Terminal Blocks with ribbon cables to the G250x.  https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1DXsoOkvoK1RjSZPfq6xPKFXaE/IDC30Pin-2-45mm-IDC-30-Pin-Male-Connector-to-30-Pin-Terminal-Block-Breakout-Board-Adapter.jpg_80x80.jpg_.webp

I have verified continuity on every pin and, as I stated, tested with a GRBL board.

I have a 2.8K ohm resistor between PIN 25 and PIN 30 to limit the output current.  I power them with a 48v Meanwell PSU and a separate 5v/12v Meanwell PS for electronics.

I appreciate any help you can provide.

Are there any errors in LinuxCNC?

Can you verify that the direction pin changes state when you jog in either direction?

Let me try to look at the direction signal in halscope, I didn't see any single change with a meter.

I am not sure why, but I don't see stepgen.N.dir in halscope or halshow, I am pretty sure the stepgens created are type 0 but the pin is not listed.

With volt meter I do not see any signal on step or dir connections

If the direction signal does not change when you jog in either direction
I would expect a wiring error or you have had a watchdog bite due to
real time issues.

Do you have a red LED illuminated on the 7I96S when
LinuxCNC is running?

You can monitor stepgens 0's direction signal at GPIO pin 18
(7i96s.0.gpio.018.in)

You can get this information from a mesaflash --readhmid command or the 7i96s_d.pin
pinout file:


IO Connections for TB1/TB2 -> 7I96_1
Pin#                  I/O   Pri. func    Sec. func        Chan     Sec. Pin func   Sec. Pin Dir

TB1-2,3                17   IOPort       StepGen          0        Step/Table1     (Out)
TB1-4,5                18   IOPort       StepGen          0        Dir/Table2      (Out)
TB1-8,9                19   IOPort       StepGen          1        Step/Table1     (Out)
TB1-10,11              20   IOPort       StepGen          1        Dir/Table2      (Out)
TB1-14,15              21   IOPort       StepGen          2        Step/Table1     (Out)
TB1-16,17              22   IOPort       StepGen          2        Dir/Table2      (Out)
TB1-20,21              23   IOPort       StepGen          3        Step/Table1     (Out)
TB1-22,23              24   IOPort       StepGen          3        Dir/Table2      (Out)
TB2-2,3                25   IOPort       StepGen          4        Step/Table1     (Out)
TB2-4,5                26   IOPort       StepGen          4        Dir/Table2      (Out)
TB2-7,8                27   IOPort       QCount           0        Quad-A          (In)
TB2-10,11              28   IOPort       QCount           0        Quad-B          (In)
TB2-13,14              29   IOPort       Period           0        Input           (In)
TB2-16,17              30   IOPort       SSerial          0        RXData0         (In)
TB2-18,19              31   IOPort       SSerial          0        TXData0         (Out)
Internal-TXEn          32   IOPort       SSerial          0        TXEn0           (Out)
Internal               33   IOPort       SSR              0        AC Ref          (Out)



 

Thank you for the information. In halshow the dir signal flashes during a jog attempt. Not sure which  led you are referring to but all leds on 7i96s are either green or yellow.  There are res leds on each of the g250x, which I believe is just a power indicator.  

If the actual direction pin (TB1 pin 5 for example) does not change state when
you jog in opposite directions, There would appear to be a hardware issue of some
kind. I would try this with the stepgen 0 plug removed.

 

When attempting to jog in positive direction TB1-5 is low, ~0v, when attempting to jog in negative direction TB1-5 is high 4.79v