Advanced Search

Ah, thanks. I found my problem. Not sure where this line came from but when I removed it my jog dial started worked. Just needed the right hint.

This is the line I removed. Not sure if shows this way on the screen, but this is one line...
net pdnt.mode.is-manual halui.mode.is-manual whb.halui.mode.is-manual whb.halui.mode.is-teleop

You should find it and the other components in 
src/hal/components.

Glad my video helped.

Are you in the right mode to enable Jogging? (Teleop)

Hi All

I am preparing my pc in order to attempt modifying the XHC WHB04b-6 driver to better suit the 4 axis version. 
I am a newbie regards linux so just wanting to explain "my limited" understanding of the process and welcome anyone to comment on my approach or offer any relevant advice.1. Download Debian 12.2 and set up dual boot with my current linuxcnc Test machine. - completed2.
2. Install linuxCNC 2.9 from source - I will be using the help file  linuxcnc.org/docs/master/html/code/building-linuxcnc.html   and Rod W's guide on you tube

as a reference - i feel OK about this, I just need to get into to it and see what errors I hit.
3. Hopefully I'll have achieved a basic working linuxcnc environment and get the XHC pendant working on the sim

Now here's where i get a bit uncertain ....

4. I understand at this point i can begin to edit the source files (for the pendant) and use make to compile the changes ....

First I need to figure out where the XHC WHB04b-6 source files are stored, does anyone know ?

Can I edit those source files and recompile just the XHC XHC WHB04b-6  driver or do I need to recompile Linuxcnc?

Looking forward  I will want to distribute the updated XHC driver (to my other machine and anyone who wants it) - I believe  I will need to create dpkg package to do this.

At this first stage should I choose a Run in place build and get the pendant working as I need or start out with a Debian build mode?

Or have I got this all wrong and there's a better way at this .... can I somehow update the XHC WHB04b-6  driver and install it to linuxcnc outside of a build from source environment.

Any advice to help me prepare is greatly appreciated.

Bally
 

 Getting closer, there must be something in my config as the events from spinning the jog wheel are getting through as the "jog counts" counter is incrementing.

I bought a new XHC-WHB04B-6 pendant and have the buttons working and display reporting the correct positions,  but I cannot get the dial to work.

When I run the xhc-whb04b-6 in event mode (xhc-whb04b-6 -eu)  I see events getting generated when I turn the dial.

When I run the  xhc-whb04b-6 in hal mode (xhc-whb04b-6 -p), I see events for the other buttons and when I switch the setting to select the various axis, but I do not see any events when I turn the dial.   I assume I should...

Attached are my hal files and outputs from the above two commands.

Anyone else have this working and be willing to see if they get hal events?    That would at least give me somewhere to start digging.

 

Sure, this file should go in the /usr/bin driectory

hopefully it works for you,

I think you should be able to run it from a terminal window

xhc-whb04b-6 -ue

and it will print out events when you press buttons on the pendant. 
 

Hi 

That would be appreciated and my working machine is on 2.8. 

But ultimately I'd really like to be developing the source code to suit my needs going forward. In addition to the lead switch I want to change other things. 

I created a topic earlier regarding all my issues and thoughts, then found this topic later on.

forum.linuxcnc.org/24-hal-components/506...ues-and-improvements

My SIM machine is on 2.9 and it's only a matter of time before I move to that so being able to compile my changes is really the ideal situation.

But in meantime yes I would glady appreciate your file.

Thanks Bally

I just found the file 'custom.hal' which is automatically included in the .ini that pncconf creates. So adding the necessary commands for my pendant there makes it 'pncconfig safe'.

Hi All

I got my XHC-WH04B-4 working recently. I can control all axis and homing, got the MDI macros to set zero and spindle start.
I have a few things that I really need to improve and functions to get working. Hopefully this topic will provide useful development for others going forward.

I see 2 approaches to resolve the issues -
1. modifying HAL configurations
2. modifying the source code behind xhc-whb04b-6

Issues so far:
FEED OVERRIDE - MPG
On start up the pendant is not in Continuous or Step Mode - I note that feed override is changed when using the handwheel
Once homing is complete or Continuous or Step is selected then feed override cannot be affected by the hand wheel
I presume because unlike the 6 axis pendant this 4 axis  version does not have a button to select MPG mode, so we cannot return to MPG mode - which i have read is combined with MPG mode for the the feed and spindle override.

Regardless of the above, the operation I really want is simple - Once homed - Select LEAD position and have the hand wheel control feed override - Then I can safely work thorough machine runs using this as a way to quickly halt the machine, or slow feed through areas of programs.  

LEAD Position
The rotary position LEAD puts out a different code to the 6 AXIS VERSION - so I cannot select LEAD mode as far as the driver is concerned. This i think requires a change to the source code. I found the offending line in pendant .cc

Line 383 : Needs changing to 0x09 for the 4 axis version (is 0x1C for 6 axis version)

Continuous vs step mode jog.speed :
Continuous operation gives a jog speed far too slow. Step mode gives a step far to large at the higher settings 60% and 100%.
I used halmeter to verify the jog speed scale in the 2 modes and found :
selector Position             Jog.scale cont  Mode          Jog.scale - Step Mode
0.001                                         0.0008                            0.001
0.01                                              0.002                             0.01
0.1                                                 0.004                             0.1
1.0                                                 0.012                           1.0
60%                                               0.024                           5.0
100%                                              0.04                            10.0
Noting also that:    continuous mode - axis.n.jog-vel-mode = 0            In Step Mode         - axis.n.jog-vel-mode = 1

In Step its Ok from position 0.001 to 1.0, but step of 5.0 and 10.0 is crazy and will result in smashing tool into something at somepoint - Note removing the option for big step - B from  loadusr -W xhc-whb04b-6 -HsfB  Does not help the large steps remain active.

As the option B is ineffective , I'd be quite happy if the 60% and 100% settings just gave no output or capped it at 1.0 - so need a way to invoke this.

I see a few possibilities here between a hal solution or a source code change.

Regards my HAL file I have implemented a lowpass filter and also to scale the jog.counts - this improves the continuous mode speeds but then, of course,  undesirably scales the step mode distance. I figure I then need develop the HAL code to change the scale applied depending on the mode (cont or step) - first though is to use axis.n.jog-vel-mode with a mux to apply a different scale - but I haven't experimented yet.

But I also wonder why the driver reduces the jog speed scale so much in continuous mode? Perhaps a change to source code giving higher jog.scale in continuous mode is more elegant than complicating the HAL file. 

PENDANT LOCKS UP

Not sure how but a couple of times i have the pendant in a state where nothing responds - the usb is fine and the pendant shows activity but no response to hand wheel or buttons. possibly after applying MDI commands in axis then returning to manual mode. - needs further investigation.

Machine: MESA 7i76  + 5i95  - stepper motor axis mill and lathe in mm mode

My gut feel is some source code modification with an extra option for the 4 axis pendant would be great - then the lead mode issue could be fixed. Possibly a change to the cont mode jog.scale values - i'm sure they could be much greater as the machine simply stops when the pulse stop so its much safer scenario than large steps in step mode.

I have some degree of confidence in investigating and modifying the source code - but I have no idea how to go about compiling and implementing changes to xhc-whb04b-6. However I have a spare machine running a sim and i'm wilting to try - any pointers on where to get started are greatly appreciated. (I have some experience with developing software in windows, but I'm a linux newbie)

Otherwise if you think HAL offers a solution please feel free to suggest things. I may have missed a simple method to resolve some of this and happy to consider other ideas.

If your still reading at this point  - well done, thanks for taking the time.

Bally

Ok new test: so I did a fresh install of 2.9.1 on Debian 12 Bookworm (previously tested on Buster with 2.8.4) but as I understand the problem is hardware related. Installed the libprotobuf-dev and protobuf-compiler plus created the rules file, but after testing lsusb in all ports, the MPG is not shown.

Vielen Dank. Werde ich mal probieren. Grad hab ich noch Corona, daher kann ich es nicht testen. Danke für die Hilfe

PncConf is usually used once to make a "as close as possible" configuration for the machine, although it is very good at it and when there are no "special features" it will make perfectly working configs.
You can use it to edit configs at any time, but it does overwrite the main hal and ini files, so if you add other features, keep those in a separate hal file and add the entry for it in the ini file. This way if you do edit with PncConf, you only need to add that line to ini file.

Hi,

to get the pendant mentioned in the subject running, I need to change my .ini file. The same file also warns me that pncconf will overwrite any changes I make to this file if I ran pncconf again.

Question: is pncconf something you only run once, and you do all the later changes in the file, or is there a better way to handle this?

Thanks.

I booted another machine on 2.9 and found both front and 2 of 4 rear ports work ok.

Not sure it helps much but at least we know 2.9 shows same behaviour.