Starting out with Mesa 7i76e, what do I need for "uspace"?

I've installed using "linuxcnc-2.7-wheezy.iso", the live install CD and finally figured out that the reason I don't see "hm2_eth" driver is that it isn't active in this version/configuration. So, now I've spent a bunch of time sorting through other web pages and forum posts and I'm slightly lost as to the easiest path toward success getting the 7i76e up and running.

To complicate things, the computer I'm installing on isn't currently on a network. I could connect it, but it will involve extra hassle.

I'd appreciate some help getting past this hurdle...

I think the easiest path is to install the LinuxCNC Debian Stretch test ISO instead of Wheezy
since this includes the uspace version of LinuxCNC and the required Preempt-RT kernel

It would be great if it's as simple as that!

I'll give it a shot and try to remember to report back with results.

Thanks for the jump start.

[EDIT: Make sure to read my next post before replying. It came to me right after posting this, but I'll leave it here as it may be helpful to someone else in the future]

My first step going forward was to download "linuxcnc-stretch-uspace-i386-r10.iso" and perform a test installation using Oracle VirtualBox. I have recently done this with the aforementioned wheezy and it works amazingly well. It likely helps that my computer has plenty of resources to spare.

I got stuck though. I had set it up with no network connection to mirror the actual target PC. It wants to download files from the Debian mirror archive and won't give me options to get past this step. I would have thought a 1.3GB ISO file would have had everything I need to install. The wheezy install can be done completely offline. On startup I picked the Debian Graphical Installer option.

Am I going to be forced to connect to the Internet to complete the installation or is there a way around it?

It came to me quickly after the last post. Pressing the "Go Back" button doesn't just go back to the next step. Instead it brings up a list of steps and the one following downloading from the mirror archive can be selected and the installation proceeds. I think it may work offline after all.

Another option is to swap drives and install on a a PC that is connected

Crap. Stymied again. Are we already in a world where computers are useless without the Internet? I thought that was a few years off still.

If there are no other suggestions that sound easier, I'll give it another shot from scratch later with a network connection.... <<sigh>>

Letting it run with a valid Internet connection (detected automatically, even) seems to do the trick, though it still makes me unhappy. Everything went off without a hitch with this minor change.

For anyone else trying this, my VirtualBox settings included
4GB RAM
10+ GB of disk space (first try was 4 and the automatic partitioning wouldn't work. Minimum with desktop appears to be 10)
Network connection



Good! I see what's been missing in my previous attempts. I don't think I can go much farther though because the 7i76e isn't with me right now.

As always, thanks for everyone's generous help. It's the little things like this that are frustrating if you don't have enough information to proceed or what to look for.

I'm back at the real system now, and have successfully installed Debian Stretch. I gave it a network connection to start, so it autoconfigured the link and did whatever it needed to call home for.

Setting it back to using a static IP for direct cable connection came with a slight hitch, as apparently the way the interface naming is done has changed in this (or recent) versions. Instead of just assuming "eth0" is the first (or only) adapter, you need to look up the adapter name by looking in "/sys/class/net". Mine was called "enp63s0", and this is what's needed for the name when modifying the "interfaces" file.

Now my machine is 192.168.1.101 and the 7i76e has been left at the default 192.168.1.121. I can ping it and receive a reply.

The next problem, which I suspect might be related to the different handling of network interfaces, if not my own ignorance, is that I can't get the driver loaded.

I get the following:
At first I thought it failed so I unloaded it and shut down HAL.

But when I was going through the process again to type up this message I didn't get the last iptables message - probably because there's now an entry in iptables? Or, what's going on here? I'm going to plod forward assuming it works and try to query the card.

This is where I run out of information though. I've worked with the 5i25/7i77 combination, and the next lines would be as follows:
So what's the equivalent for 7i76e? Or what fundamental knowledge am I missing about the way to initialize it?