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I don't have much experience with Ethercat.
I simply had a milling machine frame without drives and I was curious if I could handle it.
I ordered integrated Lichuan drives and managed to configure the machine.
It wasn't easy, but the first time never is...
Since it worked really nicely, I decided to convert a second milling machine, basically identical, only slightly larger, so apart from a few numbers in the ini file, it should work with the same configuration.
I bought identical drives, connected them identically, ran LinuxCNC with the configuration from the first one and basically everything worked, except the motors did not rotate...
I wasted a lot of time before it turned out that I had to write the same thing in the xml file, only in a different order.
The manufacturer probably improved something, and that's how it ended.
Since then, I have been very cautious about recommending Ethercat to someone who has never used it before.
I really like Ethercat, but for now there are too many problems with it.
It will probably get better with time.

Ignore what I said about the input, I got confused, I'm sorry.

tuxcnc wrote:

"Ethercat is faster" is not a valid argument,...

He did not say "faster", he said more efficient, and even that does not seem correct to me from what i read around here, no experience with ethercat yet except rare services of machines using them.
I am intentionally refusing to use ethercat until something is done to have proper feedback, so far it does not work or it does work with big delays.
But, i would really like to have the redundancy it may offer, for now only in showrooms.

The blue written below 15-20 in the second picture says 1 2 3 4. If they're outputs, I would assume they go on the TB5 terminal on the Mesa, but I'm not sure of the order? Looking at the Mesa guide shows a common for every 2 inputs.

Wenn du dir die Videos von Talla angesehen hast, denke ich du kommst aus den deutschen Raum.

Zunächst, der Screenshot sagt nicht viel aus.
Schreib mal zusammen, welche Schritte du bisher unternommen hast.
Blinken eigentlich die grünen LED am Netzwerkkabel wenn du es angesteckt hast?

LinuxCNC updates never change the kernel.

Your absolutely correct, "use distilled water" not deionized water. As I dig into this I am also finding quaternary ammonium compounds seem to be very effective compounds with no corrosive effects. Many people like myself live in warmer climates (Sout west Florida) who don't need antifreeze qualities and would like a relatively inexpensive way to keep the cooling system from becoming an algae garden. Short of manufacturing one myself I suspect RV atifreeze is probably the simplest way to handle this.

Thanks for your input.

Afternoon internet.
I have just bought this and now have the fun task of retrofitting. I'm wondering what hardware you guys would use. obviously due to the 3 phase steppers ill be using most of the original gear.
Main issue is I'm in UK and don't want to wait for a mesa card from America nor pay £300 quid for one. unless its worth it.
I see a few control board options

Option 1 EC500 remora about £100pros 24V card logic I/O easy. Cons pure china lottery
option 2 MESA 7I76EU about £300 Pro; proven card, known to work, can copy what people have done before. cons price / waiting time.
option 3 Parallel port Pro, cheap crappy board will get going quickest, cons bulky tower pc, will never be happy.

Control computer
Pi 5, from what I've read with ethernet connections theses are good. Pro small, Con dunno if still buggy
any core i5 pc Pro already have, can slice on fusion on same machine, could even set laptop up if it worked (power management fun). con bulky 

 Just wondering if I have missed anything or forgot, I did have a look for a guide to begin with but most just say MESA card

Saw a new one today - takshakcam.com/product

Lots of tall promises - but an incredible price if they are telling the truth

"3-axis & 4-axis rotary - Full 3-axis milling plus a single rotary A-axis: indexed 3+1 and simultaneous 4-axis, including a collision-certified geodesic finish." From their website

Removed your last post. You cannot just past images into the post like that you need to use the Attachment box.

I'm not sure what you mean but I'm also not a 5axis expert so somebody else might be able to say more.

Hello, dear forum,My name is Christoph, and I’m thinking about building a small CNC milling machine. I already have a CNC lathe with an Acorn from Centroid that works. Now I’d like to try out LinuxCNC. LinuxCNC is completely new territory for me, and I’m counting on your support. I’d like to implement the control system using EtherCAT. I have a Beckhoff EK1101 and a few input and output terminals. I’ve set up a virtual environment on my computer and followed all the steps in the YouTube video by talla83. Unfortunately, no slaves are being detected. Now I’m not sure how to proceed. Can you help me? Thank you very much in advance for your help. 

@becksvill

We expect to release a Five Axis product in Jan 2027. It will be a separate product and we expect to price it at a similar 199 USD on launch and 399 USD after.

We are also aiming to release TakshakTurn by the same timeline and once again it will be a separate product with similar pricing.

Overall, we will never have a subscription model, it will always be a one time purchase.

btw .. our 4 axis strategies beat what Fusion offers and we have an equally good 3 axis suite. If you are willing to try it, there is a 30 day money back guarantee.

rodw wrote:

We don't talk about what is used in industry and why. We are talking about using Ethercat in a machine controlled by LinuxCNC. And here we have factors such as the availability and quality of documentation, sample configurations, or tools, and here Ethercat loses to Mesa. Therefore, I believe that unless there are compelling arguments for Ethercat, it is better to use Mesa. 
"Ethercat is faster" is not a valid argument, because anything that is faster than the required minimum will be sufficient.

hey this looks pretty cool.  i just spend some time going through your videos and website

have been using cam for several years.  started with fusion 360 but got sick of autodesk so went to bobcam with solidworks which is pretty good.

not as easy to use as fusion but more powerfull finishing tool paths.  though i prefer the fusion adaptive tool paths.   Obvously i prefer open source as most linuxcnc people will do so looking at freecad as its getting better.

I find with my normal cam workflow i use adaptive clearing roughing for most stuff and facing cycles etc.  and then some sort of steep shallow type tool paths.  so a combination of parallel and 3d contour

do you think it would be possible to offer anything for 5 axis positional stuff.  i have a large 5axis that i want to try out soon.  and currently no options for cam.  my stuff only does 4 axis.

cheers

Good Morning together!

the switch to r8168 did the trick for me! Communication is running, i can not say how solid, but now i can start LinuxCNC without error, and the green LED keeps flashing. Thanks for your help!

Do you think i should stay on 2.9.10 as i am now , to keep my system running?
Or how often does LinuxCNC change the Kernel during updates?
I'm not keen on holding my breath after every update if the communication is broken..

Greets, Tom