Ethercat - newbie guidelines

Just wanted to post an update and let the group know that I was successful in turning some servo motors with EtherCAT.

Ultimately, revisiting the following thread/example lead me to success:  
forum.linuxcnc.org/ethercat/42048-notes-...aspberry-pi-4#206936

For all those that get here, and are stuck...revisit your drives RPDO and TPDO and make sure that these and the cia402 and xml configs all match exactly.

rodw, db1981 and Hakan...you all are greatly appreciated

Hi,
I would like to ask for some help.
I did use linuxcnc before to a small router with parallel port and with a TB6560 stepper driver but I am still very much a novice.
I was recently given a sanmotion RS2 ethercat AC servo amplifier and I plan to convert a small manual lathe to cnc but as I started to read about how to use linuxcnc with ethercat I have a feeling that:
- either I haven't scratched the surface what linuxcnc can do,
- or I am about to attach a quantum computer controlled ram air turbine drive to my crappy little lathe.
I think both.

I am very much willing to invest the necessary time to read, learn and maybe eventually complete a set up but I would appreciate if someone could warn me that I am about to run and crash to a concrete wall as what I would like is not possible.

So please could someone let me know if linuxcnc is able or can be made to be able to control this servo amplifier?
Can I use linuxcnc with this ethercat drive on one axis and a step/dir controlled stepper drive via parallel port on the other axis?
Maybe with spindle rpm control and encoder speed feedback also via parallel port?

Thanks!

P.S. Sorry for my English.

If its a CIA402 compatible drive ( I think it is), it will be pretty straightforward if you follow this howto.
forum.linuxcnc.org/ethercat/45336-etherc...-step-by-step#246380
I have not tried this myself for a while but I think it should still work...
The main thing is to get ethercat installed and listing your drive (which should appear as a slave)

Yes, upon further reading the manual of the drive it seems that it is indeed compatible with CIA402.

Thank you for the help!