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We need to join forces and solve this problem once and for all, otherwise there's no point in switching to Debian 12 or Trixie. Keep in mind that Debian 10 works on both older dual cores and i9s. I've tried Trixie on Advantech e8500 cards, and it doesn't work. If we don't solve these existential problems, there's no point in updating the string writing style, or doing many other things that have always worked, but now we want to update the writing style. I've been building LinuxCNC machines for 17 years, and they're still working flawlessly and do everything we do today. Now we need to solve this problem, and I'm available to run any tests. It would be nice to be able to compile LinuxCNC 2.10 on Debian 10, but I understand the dependency issue. We need to figure out if the problem is on the Kernel or EtherCAT side. I could contact anyone who can help us with this, so they can move forward with the fix. Grandixximo's work is to be commended, but he is optimizing a problem, which is not the main problem.

I tried to compile 1.5.2 on trixie but easier said than done. While I could get around several configuration issues,
there were in the end too severe compilation problems (for me) that I gave up.
At least 1.5.2 doesn't compile out-of-the-box on trixie.

In theory the DC sync should be pretty insensitive to jitter and latency. It should tolerate perhaps 1/2 servo cycle time,
depending on the phase when data is sent to the slaves. It's enough that data arrives a bit before Sync0,
Sync0 then does the precision timing.

I also think the initial synchrony check delay is different from the DC sync issue.
I checked on my system and I do have a several-second delay still. Bad news.
Good news is that I can try to see what the problem is.

So far I have come to understand that it has to do with the initial value
of the "System time difference" in register 0x92c.
Here is a way to observe, don't need to wade through tons of lines of syslog entries:-pn n is any of the DC slaves except the first one with the reference clock.

Before starting linuxcnc it has a low value from previous linuxcnc session.
Start linuxcnc it jumps to aorund 1000000 (1 ms) and slowly works its way to do single digits.
This is on a 2 kHz servo loop system. It takes some 3-4 seconds to work its way down 
below the synchrony limit, and that's where the startup delay comes from.
Obvious question is "Where does the initial 1 ms System time difference come from?"
And it's always around 1 ms, if I wait a minute between linuxcnc starts or over night.

 

Starting to set up spindle status displays in Flex and ran in to a snag.

The documentation isn't explicit about how to reference multiple spindles, but I'm guessing the "0" in dynamic property like spindle_speed_0_lb is for [SPINDLE_0].

Problem 1 - spindle_actual_speed_lb doesn't reference a particular spindle.  Oversight in documentation, or was this not set up for multiple spindle encoders?  Document also has this note:

So I'm not sure if I should use the spindle_actual_speed_lb, or just set up a HAL float label.

Problem 2 - document indicates Flex looks for [SPINDLE_0]:
What about other spindles?  I've got three spindles on my lathe (main, sub, live-tool), and (theoretically) all three could be running at the same time.

I can probably muddle through using HAL labels and so forth, but was wondering if there's a built-in set of spindle connections I'm just not seeing.

Thx

That info is pure gold rodw, thanks a bunch!
- Dual homing switches were the plan yeah, just checking if it's fine to have a single limit switch or if i need one i both sides?
- I'm currently using a PWM output + an RC circuit to get 0-5v for my spindle RPM but had already got the suggestion of using serial to talk with the VFD, glad to confirm that is a good approach.
- IO modules, if i can get what i need from used beckoff listings on ebay i might go that way. The servo inputs should take care of all the homing/limits, and if the VFD is handled separately, one of the most common ones with 16 IO might just do for e-stops, probes.. And i can always just add another module if that changes.

The concept of the break is also new to me, is this something you need to config or it's something that's handled automatically between the servo and its driver?

I don't think you will have any problems getting the drive going. I'ver noted many attempts with this drive have been flawed from the very beginning. The fact is they are cia402  drives and this means the core Ethercat registers are standardized and there are components to follow the cia402 state machine to start the drive. 

I would use Linuxcnc homing and forget about internal homing for now because of your 2 joint main axis (We would say XYYZ). Internal homing of a joint axis by Ethercat is a bit unknown/unsupported. Note having homing switches on both sides is mandatory on gantry machines. The gantry is auto squared on homing.

There should be some inputs on the servos themselves you could use if configured to be generic inputs in your ethercat-conf.xml. The safest/easiest IO would be to use Beckhoff EK1100 but there are several on AliExpress like Rtelligent, deiwu (I have used both, configs here github.com/rodw-au/linuxcnc-cia402) and another with an encoder input called catio-a which is mostly documented here on the forum. I have one of these and the forum config generally works (I have one of these too).

Note that the Beckhoff encoder modules are quite expensive but with a printnc style spindle, you probably don't have a spindle encoder. You could use RS485 modbus for spindle control with a USB or RS232(preferred) RS485 interface. This works pretty well with ethercat. I've been playing with the modbus control on the catio-a and  read one register once but then could never repeat it after adding all of the required registers.

Good luck

Yes, same as those. I had seen the success case from dschultz in there around the middle of the thread, which is encouraging, but I'm mostly polling on thoughts from people that might have succeeded with them and not ended up coming back to post about. Also, in general about anything that I might not be considering about my linuxCNC + ethercat in one go.

Are those the same as this:
forum.linuxcnc.org/ethercat/54965-stepperonline-a6-servo

Sorry, pasted the image, and it looked good, but apparently it ended up referencing a discord image. Here it is.

Hello folks, this is my first post!

I've currently got a mach 3 based 3 axis CNC, and i'm building another one (which for these purposes can be thought of as a printNC in terms of design, dual drive for the main axis, single for the rest) for which I plan was reuse the control box, based on open loop steppers, to get it going and then migrate to linuxCNC. I still got some months ahead of me on that build and time to change my mind and do something about the controller sooner. I've no experience configuring linuxCNC but i'm a developer doing stuff i've never done is basically what we do.

I'd like to go all the way to the other end of the spectrum with ethercat servos. Thesem plus a small ethercat IO module would allow me to skip mesa cards. Given that premise, what do you guys think of these servos? (Try to ignore the fact that i'd have to pay more in shipping and taxes for them than the hardware is worth. That is just the reality for me living in AR and would apply to all alternatives similarly)
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1332732662107869308/1494434027028091041/Screenshot_2026-04-16_at_5.24.53_PM.png?ex=69e297a5&is=69e14625&hm=fc0960a66f042b806facd98201b57cecbe5abb092fd39c1c1cd010140933690c&=&format=webp&quality=lossless
Now, i KNOW i'm not buying leadshine or get 1 click tuning. I'm not asking if it'll be easy to get it going, I know it won't be trivial. I want to know if there's enough to read that i could get them working, and when i do, will i be happy with how they perform. Now, I've looked around and there are definitely people using these servos, asking questions, and other people responding to them, but they never seem to post some nice shiny video of they machine working in the end which is what worries me.

if there's anything regarding my build that'll affect the response let me know and i'll add it. Thanks a bunch!
 

Well that was easy.

 

This is really, really nice for the computer Luddites.

Thank you JT!

@BULGARIAN,
No double posting.

I do not use GmoccaPy, but i would choose first version as it is much easier to use fast and when it becomes reflex.
Thank you.

Hi Axemas
,
Thank you very much—after making the changes, it worked
immediately. A huge thank you!
I agree with what Surmetall wrote; a feature like that would be very helpful.
However, regarding some minor tweaks—which I hope are simple for you to fix—setting the width of the NC tab—
“Master treeview minimal width” in Preferences
doesn’t work. This results in a lot of screen space for parameters and a very small project display area, but as I mentioned, this is just a cosmetic issue.
Thanks again, and I hope the community of Nativecam enthusiasts—of which I am one—will grow significantly.
Zbigi

It does make some sense to me that the commanded position would stay ahead by some bit so that it doesn't instantly get massive following error, but am not sure at this point. It comes from joint.n.motor-pos-cmd. I've attached the config files here

Furthermore, while on Debian 12 and Debian Trixie the Grub command line has been optimized, with isolcpu, c state, etc., in Debian 10 there are no optimizations. Obviously I tried to remove the optimizations on Debian 12 and Trixie, as well as on Debian 10, but the problem persists, only on Debian 12 and Trixie.