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Sometimes I tell small lies to my mother to avoid her scolding, and I think this might be one of those times.

I run a small research lab in New York, USA, making medical devices. Because these are small machines, I’ve been able to build good systems with Mach4 and ESS, and I’ve had some success in production.

Now I have a project that needs a 6-axis machine. Mach4 can do it, but because of the natural limits with TCP, I started researching and discovered LinuxCNC with EtherCAT. I had heard of it before, but AI really opened my eyes — I could get explanations and answers right away, which gave me confidence to try this system for my business.

The challenge is, the information is scattered, and it’s hard to find a paid consulting service that fits my needs. Forums have been helpful, but I still can’t put the last pieces together. I’m not sure if offering to pay for help here would go against the spirit of the community, so I want to be respectful.

My goal is to build a commercial-quality multi-axis CNC milling machine, and to create a library of tested INI, HAL, and XML files for different motors and drives. This would help me design small, medium, and large machines with proven, stable, and affordable hardware.

If it’s okay in this community, I’d be happy to pay for the right guidance. Could You help me bring this project to completion?

Great feedback.
I think on the dist-upgrade, the EC config is not copied to the new kernel. I seem to remember they said you need to install EC for every kernel you use,

The Ethercat key has always been there. But if Secure boot  is enabled in your BIOS, you need to do the MOK key thing but it is for authorizing the DKMS driver which is a kernel module they use in the install. This has been discussed in an issue I raised on their gitlab repo and they gave very helpful guidance which I added to my sticky.. gitlab.com/etherlab.org/ethercat

If possible disable secure boot but if you have a dual boot with Windows and an encrypted drive you have to retain it or you trash the drive.

It's flattering, but you know, if you're happy with my advice, then I'm happy, really happy.

Hello, Hakan. My Mama told me that if you receive help from someone,
you shouldn't just say thank you, but express it.
I wanted to thank you for your help with a small gift and propose a personal project, so I asked for your contact information,
but I can't find it.

Please contact me. You have no idea how much my mom nags.

My email is joshualee777-at-gmail-dot-com.

@ErrickW
Here is the exact controller model/type.
Thank you.

Now they have another issue that i think it is a safety feature, not an issue:
- when the left side is a straight cut, unloading works properly
- when there is any angle on the left side, even 4 degree tested, it will not unload, the left most spindle will not move at all
That is all the info i have so far, advised them to do a test cut where the angle is on the right side with the left side left straight, i have a feeling it will unload, but waiting till tomorrow for the result.

apt update, apt upgrade, apt dist-upgrade
Ethercat works. Didn't have an issue with the Qt package, might have brought it in earlier.
Did need to reinstall linuxcnc-ethercat.
Then it ran fine on the right RT kernel.

Adding that I see the Ethercat kernel modules get signed so there's a big chance we don't need the trouble with secure boot anymore.
Can't test it but someone maybe can check?

Great feedback guys.
Did you have any issues with libqt5webengine5?
Last feedback I got, this was an issue with the Debian installer not properly handling our Deb file...

I upgrade from bookworm to trixie & ethercat work fine

TAILS is the only distro that is set out correctly out of the box to use TOR.
Other distros expect you to set up stuff and make sure the TOR network is ON and connected before opening the internet browser.
Again, the issue is internet, search youtube and you end up with millions of videos on how to stay anonymous on the net, all insisting on using Kali Linux. So far i've seen 1 insist on TAILS.
The "content creator" profession has cr@pped out, as with everything humans do, millions of dumb f@ks yapping about stuff they have no clue.
Pity, as there are some magnificent creators on youtube that i enjoy watching, some i watch despite being certain i am way more capable than, but i enjoy how they present and do stuff, some are funny, some swear and curse, some have no clue but learn by doing, some are just "watchable" .....
We need to start on that list.

Something like this? (no sure if you need inversion or not)

# Invert the DIR signal
setp   hm2_6i25.0.gpio.007.is_output true
setp   hm2_6i25.0.gpio.007.invert_output true

net spindle-ccw hm2_6i25.0.gpio.007.out

Huuu Thanks you , you save my days !!!

Hartwig wrote:

1x PC with LinuxCNC installed
1x Ethernet cable
1x 5 V DC power supply
1x MESA 7i97T

 

That is all you need.
But, it would be advisable to give us more info about the machine/drives/motors, as 7i97T will work with analog servo drives.
If you are sure they are analog, go for it.

Hi members,

I got the recommendation from a member to use t< for my retrofit project he MESA 7i97T card.

Would I need another type of MESA as a "motherboard" - or would the hardware list be as simple as listed below:

1x PC with LinuxCNC installed
1x Ethernet cable
1x 5 V DC power supply
1x MESA 7i97T

Thanks a lot and best regards

Hartwig
 

Might try disabling IPV6 and setting the netmask to /24 on the 10.10.10.5  interface.

cnc@debian:~$ ip a
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet6 ::1/128 scope host
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: enp7s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether 50:3e:aa:07:75:d0 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.178.50/24 brd 192.168.178.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute enp7s0
valid_lft 863976sec preferred_lft 863976sec
inet6 2003:d8:7748:d100:c2a3:9935:efd4:98be/64 scope global dynamic noprefixroute
valid_lft 7177sec preferred_lft 1353sec
inet6 fd73:2eef:88e8:0:5448:95f3:d261:cfb8/64 scope global dynamic noprefixroute
valid_lft 7177sec preferred_lft 3577sec
inet6 fe80::6726:6743:cea6:428e/64 scope link noprefixroute
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
3: enp8s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether 24:4b:fe:cf:eb:d8 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 10.10.10.5/8 brd 10.255.255.255 scope global noprefixroute enp8s0
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet6 fe80::3d43:4957:bbbf:6e2d/64 scope link noprefixroute
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever