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Regarding a possible ethercat addition. I have made a custom ethercat board with lan9252 and that is definitely doable. Started a year ago and it's all here github.com/MetalMusings/MyOwnEtherCATDevice

 I'm using the Mesa 7i95t, and I just need a few simple output pins. So, I wanted to disable the smart serial port to gain those pins as GPIO.

In my hal file, I have...

loadrt [HM2](DRIVER) board_ip=[HM2](ADDRESS) config="num_encoders=6 num_stepgens=6 sserial_port_0=xxxxxxxx"

However, at start up I get errors...HAL: ERROR: pin_new(hm2_7i95.0.stepgen.00.counts) called with already-initialized memory
HAL: ERROR: pin_new(hm2_7i95.0.stepgen.00.velocity-fb) called with already-initialized memory

Why does unloading the sserial module cause stepgen errors?

Also, where do I find the .pin file mentioned by members of the forum - where the gpio pin numbering lives.

Note: if I change the last "x" to "0", like this ....
loadrt [HM2](DRIVER) board_ip=[HM2](ADDRESS) config="num_encoders=6 num_stepgens=6 sserial_port_0=xxxxxxx0"
Then the errors go away.

Thanks all.p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; }

  

Thank you very much

That was for that "bypass" test i was doing as per instruction. I had it hooked up as you said.

No wonder it does not move, pulse + is not connected to anything.
pulse+ and dir+ to Mesa 5V
pulse- to Mesa step-
dir- to Mesa dir-

I did not get anything. Guess its time to try another set of drivers/motors.
The motherboard that I'm trying now has a Serial port, I'm about to run it directly and see if it works but I need to see how to set that up. Heres how i have it wired trying to do the manual test. Dont mind the yellow wire i attached to the drain wire to keep ground loops/noise from the last setup. Its just hanging now.

There is no way to get continuous motion from the motors without
a stream of step pulses

You should be able to tie the drives STEP- to GND
and get a single step each time you connect/disconnect
the drives STEP+ pin to +5V

for posterity, i made a new config. still nothing. at this point i want to drive the motors manually like im pretending to be the the mesa board. where do i send power/gnd to make the driver move the motor?

is that the motor tuning part during the setup menu?
i manually edited the 5000 lines to 10000, no change. it was called something a little different in the config file.

A much easier way to try motion settings is to invoke the calibrate menu
when running LinuxCNC, Then you can change them dynamically
by just changing the desired parameter and then hitting the "Test" button

I tend to get an error when i use the advanced tab and edit my config file. Wont let me continue. Deselected the advanced options, still got an error at the virtual control panel menu.

please assume nothing. i rather know. i have nothing but the z drive wired to the 7i96s. if you are talking about the ENA ports, no those are left alone. i only disconnected the BOB of uc100/mach3 to connect the mesa board. drives to motor wiring havent changed.

i will try the 10k step on time.

If the direction signal from the 7I96S changes, that means that communication
and the physical direction output is working so the problem is likely elsewhere
Can you try 10000 for the step-on time?

Also I assume the drive enable inputs are not wired (these disable the drive if powered)

Yes this board works 230vac rectified, so 325vdc. Going to 600vdc I think would require major modification, and I didn't had the time to speculate much on it.
I'm currently controlling an old ABB irb6400 robotic arm, it used to have an isolation transformer and a simple rectifier, so 300vdc is more than sufficient for these motors.
I can assemble, flash and ship some boards to who is interested. There's a contact link in the repo readme.
The board is opensource, so is definitely possible to change connectors ecc, but it have to be safe and practical, if you have ideas you can open a discussion on github.

voltage from ground to dir - changes in one direction and step - to dir - changes in the other; i believe im remembering that right.
goes from 4.9v to .24v