stuck attempting to get multi-motor axis set up on 7I96S using mesaCT

Y-axis has two stepper motors in parallel. Created working config for single motor using mesaCT on 2.8 master (keeping things simple while i work everything out). Attempted to follow steps outlined on

forum.linuxcnc.org/49-basic-configuratio...c-2-8-master?start=0

However, my Hal file is completely unrecognizable from the instruction example given, and am rather unable to gauge how best to edit in a way to satisfy the multi motor single axis requirements needed.  Now I am using a different board and a different configuration tool compared to author, however I would have assumed the Hal file (  ) would be somewhat recognizable? So maybe I am doing something incorrect?

If anyone has any pointers as to an any literature that might assist or in an ideal fairyland world a wizard that supports both multi motor single axis and 7I96S (and thus 2.8 master) that would be most appreciated.  

I'm starting with a single joint as i was following the tutorial linked in the post, which relies on duplicating and edit a joint to give you two joints, 1 for each motor on a single axis. the bit i got stuck on was adding pin assignment for duplicated joint.

mesaCT is just "mesa configuration tool" which i found on the forum as natively supporting the 7I96S as the 7I96S has a different FPGA from the 7I96 this made sense as a choice for using it. i was also under the impression at the time that firmware flashing was needed on a per config bases (as this is how previous FPGA tools i worked with functioned) unfortunately i fell into the trap of previously knowing just enough (very very little) about electronics/FPGA's that i started making assumptions on how things worked and consequently got myself very very confused more so than someone coming in blind i suspect.

gnipsel.com/mesa/mesact/ -this was the config wizard i had been using and referring to as mesaCT

now that i understand that i can make ini/hal file using stepconf (cause it dosent change the firmware) which will hopefully be more recognizable when compared to the examples provided in the tutorial i was following.

this being said id still love to know how the pin assignment was being done in the hal file created by mesaCT. as i didnt see anything that specified a different pin (specifically) for the different joints (when i did a multi joint file). to be honest i dont even know which part IS assigning the pins or maybe its not pin specific and just being done as a separate headers for each set of outputs?

i mean is this where the pin mapping is being done?:

# position command and feedback
net joint-0-pos-cmd <= joint.0.motor-pos-cmd
net joint-0-pos-cmd => pid.0.command

net joint-0-pos-fb <= hm2_7i96s.0.stepgen.00.position-fb
net joint-0-pos-fb => joint.0.motor-pos-fb
net joint-0-pos-fb => pid.0.feedback

net joint.0.output <= pid.0.output
net joint.0.output => hm2_7i96s.0.stepgen.00.velocity-cmd

i think im missing some basic knowledge here that is undermining my ability to understand something that by all accounts should be fairly basic to understand.

well using pncconfig and then changing all calls to 7i96 to 7i96s worked a treat. particularly as it had options for adding tandem axis motors.

however as i don't intend to use home/limit switches on my machines (they have all ways just been a pain for people like me who prefer to just use diligence and work piece datum's instead. i am consequently stuck by what appears to be a rather militant requirement of Linux CNC to home things before doing anything.

"cannot jog joint 1 because home_sequence is syncronised (-2)"

i understand that there is world mode and joint mode although i not sure how to switch between the two (gmoccapy) but even if i could with the error messaage seemingly ignoring the fact that "NO_FORCE_HOMING = 1" is in place i suspect id need to do something else anyway.

so is there a way to remove this "home_sequence is syncronised (-2)" requirement? i understand the risks of gantry racking but right now as i don't have any homing switches its only really getting in the way of my developing the system.

Resolved homing issue by adding the following to INI file under each joint:

HOME_SEARCH_VEL = 0
HOME_LATCH_VEL = 0
HOME_USE_INDEX = NO
HOME_SEQUENCE = 0

This essential allows me to set HOME to current location when i click any of the home buttons for said joint/axis (exactly what I wanted) a good friend of mine went through the handbook and found these settings that worked. It seemed I got tunnel vision and was exclusively looking at the online information that catered specifically to the HAL and INI files, which meant I was completely missing out of just looking through the hand book like a more reasonable creature.

So I omitted HOME equals to HOME_OFFSET and nothing caught fire?

I assume this is relevant if you are setting your HOME_OFFSET to whatever value to move your "by eye home" datum to be your "cutter" datum. i.e if you had an off centre laser pointer to show your intended datum/home.