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Stick with Mesa, loads of info, it works without issues, they've been around for ages. Support is fantastic. A 7i92T gives you 2 lpt like interfaces. So 34 io pins, can be expanded via SmartSerial cards to get even more io. Mesa drivers are part of the Linuxcnc source code, so you know they will always be supported.

Oh BTW chatgpt has given so much useless info regarding Linuxcnc it's gone past be a joke to a complete waste of time.

According to the manual section 6, it shows that I need to supply 5-24v DC to that circuit. Can I just use my 24v field power for this?

No, the output can switch 5V to 24V signals but should not be directly connected to a power source for sinking (NPN) operation

The ALM output would wire directly to a 7I96S input as shown in my table.

The drives 5V/24V switch only affects inputs (PUL,DIR,ENA)

Note that the ENA input is actually a  DISABLE input so not really of much use unless you change it's polarity.
(because the drive would be enabled if there is no controller power which is a bit crazy)
This likely requires the use of the (windows) software setup utility for the drive. Similarly, the ALM outputs cannot be
paralled unless re-programmed to be ON for alarm rather than the default OFF for alarm, They could possible be connected
in series instead using the default (OFF for alarm) setting

To use a step/dir pin for ENA, you set the number of stepgens to < 5, freeing up the GPIO pins that connect to say stepgen3 or 4
you then use the GPIO pins in hal to control the output state of these pins.

 

I note you use the qtpy abstraction layer. This is not pulled in for our linuxcnc package, so could trip some people up. I would suggest adding a descriptive warning to the terminal if the module is not found.

7i92t_benezanx2d.bin firmware will at least have the first 4 stepgen pinouts correct
so that will get you a bit further.

To get the stepcraft configuration fully working may require a  new firmware configuration,
at least to get the PWMgen on the correct pin. Do you have a list of all DB25 pin functions?

John,

Yes it is the UPWM board. It is driving your pwm servo drives. The CMOS battery did die at one point but the parallel port is set up in epp mode. I am not sure why it is doing this. If you have any troubleshooting tips I would be glad to hear them. Could the eeprom be bad?

Hello! After fiddling with uccnc on my Stepcraft M700 for a while I thought linuxcnc does look good.

Unfortunately I have lots of troubles to get things up and running.

The uccnc config does not look overly complicated:

Or so I thought. Putting all this in pncconf does leave me with a non-working config, the axes just click when trying to move them. It seems that my machine has swapped dir and step pins but the firmware does not allow that. 

After some trial and mostly error I found this:

- If DB25 Pin 2 is left disconnected ("open"), the spindle starts immediately
- The Y-axis Step signal is on Pin 6, not sure about the Dir 
- The Z-axis Step signal is on Pin 8, not sure about the Dir

But I fail to make sense of it or get anything else to work. Did search through for forum for 7i92 or stepcraft machines, no luck so far. Wrong keywords maybe? Added my config, any help is appreciated!

 

The hal_gpio driver will only work with the bookworm images and not with the recent Trixie images due to incompatibility issues with libgpiod2 supplied with bookworm and libgpiod3 supplied with Trixie.
I raised this issue on GitHub and it is on the to do list.
So what it means is that for gpios builds use the images dated around Jan 2025 or earlier.

Preop is fine, preop E is not.
General debug tool is to look at the last 10-20 or so lines from "sudo dmesg". Ethercat master always says there what is the problem. Not always easy to decode, still it gives some clues.
Many many times the eeprom and firmware have come out of sync. Like added something with eeprom_generator and didn't upload eeprom.
Also, does the counter update in Twincat?
If you get stuck and it won't work, please push the updated code to github and I can have a look.

Y1 and Y2 are not reading any index for me. I better bring my oscilloscope next time to check what, if anything, is coming in those z and /z wires from the linear scales. Latching hal logic connected to [HMOT](CARD0).encoder.04.input-index and [HMOT](CARD0).encoder.05.input-index does not catch any pulse.

Y1 and Y2 also has reference sensors near the bottom, it'll never reach that position after he installs the punch and the die. I see the book calls them Max Down Left, and Max Down Right. So they are bottom limits. Maybe to avoid overextending the cylinders when no tooling is installed.

No wonder joint 6 (R-axis) couldn't home to index: I had forgotten to wire up hal pin [HMOT](CARD0).encoder.00.input-index. Now I catch an index pulse on it, but homing still does not see it.

edit:
When all else fails, read the instructions! Here is the magic that makes home-to-index work:
net    j6-index-enable        [HMOT](CARD0).encoder.00.index-enable
net    j6-index-enable        joint.6.index-enable

No RPI3 image, for RPI4 and RPI5 see here
www.linuxcnc.org/iso/

the ALM signal is just an OPTO output

The ALM is an OPTO output from the CL57T right? According to the manual section 6, it shows that I need to supply 5-24v DC to that circuit. Can I just use my 24v field power for this? Doesn't it matter that I have the driver setting S3 set to 5v (due to STEP/DIR 5v signals)? I don't want to fry this thing before I get going.

Note that you could parallel the ALM outputs to save inputs

This was the plan.Also, how do I use a spare STEP/DIR for ENA? Is that in my HAL settings? The manual mentions:

ENA must be ahead of DIR by at least 200ms

Hello everybody,
I do have a self build portal CNC machine with LinuxCNC and LPT running. Never really disappointed me, well maybe it could be a little less noisy (more microsteps). Now a WABECO F1210 found its way into my workshop. I would like to convert the whole system to LinuxCNC since I got the whole "chain" for this running. When I started LPT was the choice of the time. Now I read about MESA and stuff. ChatGPT brought me to the PicoBOB-DLX. This thing looks quite like a smart "simple" solution. Does someone has this running? Since I got some kids since my last build the "free" time did not get more... So I am really interested in a quite simple solution.
regards Han

PNP for mixed voltages...

But I don't think you really need mixed input voltages, as the Enable is an output
and the ALM signal is just an OPTO output

For 24V NPN proximity switches:

+24V --> 7I96S input common

NPN proximity switch 0utputs --> 7I96S isolated inputs

ALM+  --> 7i96S isolated input

COM- 24V COMMOM

Note that you could parallel the ALM outputs to save inputs

PCW wrote:

You can mix  7I96/7I96S input voltages if the inputs are wired in sinking mode,
that is if the input common (TB3 pin 12)  is wired to ground and the sources 
(switches, alarm signals etc) supply a positive voltage relative to this ground,
in this case, the input will respond to positive voltages between 5V and 36V

so
Home/limit switch:

+24V  --> SWITCH COM  --> SWITCH NC --> 7I96S isolated input

 5V alarm signal:

 +5V alarm signal --> 7I96S isolated input

7I96/7i96S input common --> 24V GND and 5V GND

Note the the enable signal is a 7I96S output so can either be driven from a free step/dir output
or an isolated output
 

Yeah I realized what I said about ENA after I posted. Thanks for the clarification. So, should my prox sensors be NPN or PNP in this case? Crossing fingers for NPN.

You can mix  7I96/7I96S input voltages if the inputs are wired in sinking mode,
that is if the input common (TB3 pin 12)  is wired to ground and the sources 
(switches, alarm signals etc) supply a positive voltage relative to this ground,
in this case, the input will respond to positive voltages between 5V and 36V

so
Home/limit switch:

+24V  --> SWITCH COM  --> SWITCH NC --> 7I96S isolated input

 5V alarm signal:

 +5V alarm signal --> 7I96S isolated input

7I96/7i96S input common --> 24V GND and 5V GND

Note the the enable signal is a 7I96S output so can either be driven from a free step/dir output
or an isolated output