New LinuxCNC-Ethercat git tree

Thanks, Bjarne.

Okay, thanks. I'm not convinced that anything in their licensing would prevent us from shipping what we have now, but if they've expressed a preference in the past then that's fine--I'd rather keep them happy.

One more thing from this weekend...

I've spent way too much time lately reading EtherCAT device documentation and trying to figure out PDOs.  For Beckhoff, especially, trying to figure what changed between the various revisions of their devices can be painful.  It's entirely possible to write code for a newer version of a device and depend on PDOs that don't exist in earlier hardware/software.

Also, our list of supported devices is missing a lot of almost-identical hardware.  I days a few years back adding a bunch of EP* devices that were compatible with EL* devices, but no one had ever added their details to the code.

So, I digested ~789 MB of XML ESI files covering 1192 devices to produce  linuxcnc-ethercat.github.io/esi-data/devices .  This should cover almost everything of Beckhoff's, along with a handful of other devices.  Adding more ESIs is easy enough.

A couple interesting examples of device data:

• Beckhoff EL7031 : it comes in 11 revisions, and later models actually added quite a few PDOs.  The latest revision has identical PDOs to the EL7041-0052 and a couple of EJ* devices.
• Beckhoff EL2008 : the PDOs aren't exciting, but there are 21 identical devices in the ESI database.

Anyway, if anyone is interested, feel free to click around.  File bugs at github.com/linuxcnc-ethercat/esi-data/issues if you see anything off or have any suggestions.

scottlaird wrote:

Okay, thanks. I'm not convinced that anything in their licensing would prevent us from shipping what we have now, but if they've expressed a preference in the past then that's fine--I'd rather keep them happy.

Yes, I agree. There is nothing linuxcnc distributes so its in the clear. I was really excited when iGh started to host the packages because I did not have to host the linuxcnc  debs on packagecloud.io

Apologies for adding a minor off topic, but I guess it fits reasonably well:

I have a fork of the original repository by sittner in my GitHub account. In this fork I have a couple of minor changes which I'd rather not loose in the meantime.

If I now want to fork the new repo (itself a fork of sittner) I cannot do this properly, as I already forked the original. What can I do to handle this?

Cheers
Guido

EDIT:
Never Mind, further search revealed that this is not possible in a straight forward matter. I have opted to delete the old fork and fork the new repo. The changes are persistent on my hard drive and I will commit them to @scottlairds new repo.

I *think* it's possible, since the new origin is a fork of the original. Maybe just 'git remote set-url origin github.com/linuxcnc-ethercat/linuxcnc-ethercat.git', although I'm far from a Git expert, and when things go wrong in Git they tend to go *really* wrong.

FYI, it looks like  build.opensuse.org/package/show/science:...ab/linuxcnc-ethercat is now successfully building new releases from the new Git tree automatically.  There's still cleanup work to do (like adding directions to the README in Git), but we're getting a lot closer.

The current release is now 1.5.3.  Recent updates include:

• A new el3xxx driver that supports nearly all EL30xx and EL31xx analog input modules, plus most EL32xx temperature sensors and EM37xx analog pressure sensors.  This replaces 5 drivers that only supported a subset of available hardware.  Example: EL31x2 and EL31x4 devices used different drivers, just to handle 2 vs 4 ports.  The new driver should support all 1, 2, 4, or 8 port devices.
• EpoCAT driver merged and updated to support FR4000.
• Float support in 'generic' improved, should actually work now.  64-bit floats supported as well.  Also fixes around 16-bit signed int sign extension handling.
• Support for SMC EX-260 family

Also

• Updated build system, should make adding additional drivers less work.
• Automated generation of device support documentation .
• Automated build/testing support, including verifying that Github changes actually compile.
• Automated release generation, with changelogs .
• Nifty ESI/XML derived database of 1,000+ EtherCAT devices , making it easier to find device documentation and understand the similarities and differences between devices.

If you have any issues, please  file an issue on Github .  Especially let us know if you have drivers/bug fixes/features that have been lurking for years un-merged.  I'd love to get them into the tree now.

@Scott Laird
Super thanks to you for working on this and keeping this all moving forward.  I had been following you on GitHub a couple of years back when you got Sascha Ittner's blessing to fork and keep it updated.  Me and you conversed years ago about the EL7041 naming problem, which I ended up fixing with TwinCAT, but I believe you did the fix in the driver years back.  I was really worried that this would just somewhat fizzle out over time, but super glad to see you and Rod Webster working this all out and pushing forward with Bjarne at IgH.  Rod has done a lot of work to make it super simple to install, but the driver has always needed some fixes and updates. Glad to see that it is all happening.  I am overloaded with work and don't have time to get on here to post, but I have been watching when I can.

As always, super thanks to all the main guy's that have helped make this all happen.  It keeps getting better and better, I love this community!!!

Thanks,
Robert

Corbett, Yes, I agree that scottlaird is a champion but you have also been a stalwart of ethercat with linuxcnc for a lot longer than I have been involved. Bjarne at iGh has also gone above and beyond!
I wonder given we are not actually distributing any ethercat  software if  Linuxcnc can't host a page of instructions to install ethercat  in the Documents? I can't see how talking about something could infringe on any IP. eg. move my sticky thread to the docs. I might ask the question.

HI
I installed the LinuxCNC 2.9.2 ISO, everything became great and smooth.
When I start LCNC with the CNC turned off, it gives me this error,

 

with the CNC turned on, everything works
Is this normal with the new changes?
I've never had this error
Am I wrong about something?
Thanks again