LinuxCNC on Linux Mint 19

What's the big deal with the MATE desktop environment ?

I know it's pretty good for a desktop but xfce is somewhat lighter in resources.

InMyDarkestHour wrote:

JD1 wrote: I tried to follow the steps again but this time I download Linux Mint 19.1 MATE version. I ran into the same errors after completing step 1 and restarting the PC.

error: couldn't find suitable memory target

Then it says press any key

Then it shows several "Error communicating to the TPM chip"



I was able to use grub advanced option to boot into the exisiting kernel. But no luck booting into the rt-preempt kernel.

Is this a common error or should I just give up on linux mint and go with the stretch iso?

Probably comes down to kernel config issues.

This is because the kernel is too big for the memory alloted to it....if you look st the kernel sizes , you'll find your new kernel about 10 times bigger...you can have it stripped down with some commands...Google the error message for instructions.

Chris M

InMyDarkestHour wrote: There is already a lot of info on the forum relating to building Linuxcnc on Mint, well the particular thread is 18.1....but it's the same procedure, one issue that comes up is a missing dependency here and there that can be found by searching the net. Usually it's intl is missing (something along those lines).

No that's not normal....what size swap have you got ?

Usually the looooong boot time comes from the boot scripts trying to find a non-existent swap partition.....ie the uuid has changed or it's not there at all.

Bit of info on long boot times, relating to what I mentioned.
askubuntu.com/questions/625072/deleted-s...w-boot-takes-forever

So managed to find the solution to this, I hadn't setup a swap during install, tried a few how to's on how to add one afterwards but no luck. Could enable one but after reboot it seemed to forget it was there. For some reason my windows install went awol, they were all fresh installs with no user data so just reinstalled. This time I setup a 20gb root, 16gb swap & the rest to home.
Everything seemed fine, could reboot and was getting quick boot times. Powered the computer off and when powered it back on it went slow again...

Checked dmesg and it led me to the problem
unix.stackexchange.com/questions/461425/...-load-crng-init-done
Entered the couple commands as noted there and went from 5:30 from clicking reboot to being back in desktop to 0:45

BigJohnT wrote: Now that the Mate desktop is in Debian I just use Debian 9, much simpler.

gnipsel.com/linuxcnc/uspace/debian9-rt.html
gnipsel.com/linuxcnc/uspace/debian9-emc.html

JT

For the uneducated among us, is there a difference functionality wise between your original guide and using the debian9 guide you linked here ?

Using the original guide, apart from making the kernel taking ages it was pretty straight forward. I did maybe 1/2hr of stuff last night, told it to make the kernel and went to bed, spent another 1/2hr this morning and it was all done.

Realistically, that's basically it. You don't need to rebuild the kernel. I'm sticking with Mint because I'm used to Ubuntu, just to keep the same distro between my machines. Other than that, for someone unfamiliar with linux, kernel compilation takes time and a lot of step, so I would recommend the Debian way for people that aren't as familiar with linux.

MasterSpoon wrote:

BigJohnT wrote: Now that the Mate desktop is in Debian I just use Debian 9, much simpler.

gnipsel.com/linuxcnc/uspace/debian9-rt.html
gnipsel.com/linuxcnc/uspace/debian9-emc.html

JT

For the uneducated among us, is there a difference functionality wise between your original guide and using the debian9 guide you linked here ?

Using the original guide, apart from making the kernel taking ages it was pretty straight forward. I did maybe 1/2hr of stuff last night, told it to make the kernel and went to bed, spent another 1/2hr this morning and it was all done.

I'd have to ask which "original guide" as I've made so many. I currently use Debian 9 because:

1. I don't have to compile a kernel
2. The Mate desktop is avaliable
3. QtPyVCP runs without any issue on Debian 9

I think QtPyVCP runs fine on Linux Mint 19 but I've not tried it.

JT