Mesa 7i96S

JT wrote:

I've put together the steps to install Debian 9 - 13 (yes Sid has a number now).
Fix all the annoying things in Debian.
Install LinuxCNC.
Configure Debian for Mesa Ethernet cards.
And a few other things.

gnipsel.com/linuxcnc/index.html

The only thing I've not figured out how to do is to build the documents on Debian 11.

JT

After a bit of a false start, Seb has pushed the latest  master branch to Debian 13 tonight. This will find its way into Debian 12 in a couple of weeks.
This should include Mesa 7i96S support so the instructions to compile mesaflash will become redundant for versions > 11

I will test the Debian 13 package tomorrow to make sure the issues I found yesterday are resolved.
Ref: github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc/issues/2000

Re Bullseye docs, I have built them in a deb install many tiimes on 11, 12 and 13. I have never built them in a RIP install as its not covereed in the docs. Where are you getting stuck?

The good news is that the latest update to the Debian packages in Debian Sid (V13) now includes 
2.9.0~pre0+git20220905.b2e28a88c3-1 which should be the latest versions of linuxcnc and mesaflash as at 7 August 2022
This should find its way into Debian 12 Bookworm in a few days (2 weeks maybe?)

This means 7i96s support should be included in Debian 13

Your instructions at gnipsel.com/linuxcnc/debian-13-emc.html
should be updated becasue:
1. Debian 13 Kernel is now 5.19 (sudo apt install linux-headers-$(uname -r) will always pull the correct headers but its not required for linuxcnc
2. There is no need to install  the PREEMPT_RT as its a dependency of linuxcnc-uspace
3. There is no need to build source to obtain 7i96s support
4. There should be no need to install mesaflash from source (sudo apt install mesaflash does the trick)

It would be great if somebody with a 7i96s could test this. 
Download an iso of debian bullseye
follow John's instructions here to get Sid gnipsel.com/linuxcnc/debian-13.html
then t o install linuxcnc V2.9 all you need to do is:
Reboot into PREMPT_RT
And use Linuxcnc!
 

JT wrote:

I've updated my instructions for Debian 12
gnipsel.com/linuxcnc/debian-12-emc.html

However if you get the hm2/hm2_7i96s.0: error finishing read! with 2.9 and I seem to get that on all the PC's I've tried it on then follow my instructions for building 2.8 with 7i96S support.
gnipsel.com/linuxcnc/debian-10-emc.html

JT
 

This error finishing read is really annoying.
Often its related to poor default driver support for the Realtek RTL8111/8168 et al NIC (I think!)
If thats what you have, you could try this driver. It ha ssolved the issue for some.
packages.debian.org/bookworm/r8168-dkms
Search around, there are plenty of articles about this issue.

The mesaflash is odd becasue the comments in the mesaflash repo still refer to V 3.4.2 for 8 months yet the code has changed just 15 days ago so I got thrown here. I don't have a 7i96s....

Re Debian 12 I have never had to remove the non-rt kernel but with ethercat etc I have been caught with installing wrong versions of linux_headers so always do:
sudo apt install linux-headers-$(uname-r)
This is much safer for documentation purposes. You can't always guarantee that the kernel is the same version next week with Bookworm. At one stage it used 5.15 and its advanced a few times to 5.18 and possibly 5.19 even.

I don't think the linuxcnc-uspace packages install headers. so I would suggest wording something like
reboot into preempt_rt
if you are going to do any development type:
sudo apt install linux-headers-$(uname-r)
 

And hot press!!!
The the latest debian package just migrated from unstable (sid) to testing (bookworm)!

The package search shows both versions are on the same version now
packages.debian.org/search?keywords=linu...uite=all§ion=all

John, Please let us know how you go with the Realtek driver. I have the issue but am not worrying about it until I finish my current config.
Not many people are across this. Even PCW was surprised.

Its great to see people like you are now working with the Debian packages. I don't feel so lonely.
The packages do need testing becasue I have found two issues with them so far.
Maybe you could pursuade Seb to upgrade the mesaflash package which should not be a big job... 

JT wrote:

Mesaflash has not been updated in Debian 12 it still shows version 3.4.2! So it does not know what a 7i96S is. If you have a 7i96S and want to use Mesaflash you must clone, build and install mesaflash.

JT

I wonder with the update I mentioned previously if this has been resolved this morning?
eg the version in Sid is now in Bookworm

John, the RT8125 was the NIC that started my journey towards the later distros as it is the 2.5 Gb NIC in the now discontinued  Odroid H2+ I have used in the past. It was not supported in Linux until the non-free 5.9 kernel so I started with Bullseye when it was testing to get support. (Bullseye is 5.10 kernel)

To use the Odroid, you had to install the  Realtek driver. It seems its been rejigged recently (in July)  to support up to the 5.19 kernel. You can grab it from here
www.realtek.com/en/component/zoo/categor...pci-express-software

Give it a go and see how it goes. I think it might fix it.

The Odroid I have is being used for an ethercat machine and Its been stable in that environment.