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Hi,
I'm refreshing / updating a minimill I built back in 2010.  It's been idle for probably 12 years or so, and I decided to dust it off and see if it still worked (and if I remembered anything at all about it!). This was partially prompted because I learned that maybe FreeCad could generate tool paths...?  (unconfirmed, but I think hearing that is what piqued my interest again.)

Anyway, it's an old beast - I've installed a new disk and installed the latest linuxcnc I could download, set up the RTAI kernel (I'm using a parallel port, not a Mesa board - for now at least, and my latencies were sometimes getting up above 100 nS).

Sorry, that's all just context - the point: My home / limit switch is not working for my Z-Axis.  Mind you, electrically it works - I had it operating under the old OS / EMC2 before upgrading, and I've confirmed with a voltmeter that it's getting a 5v signal, and the switch opens when I push it.  But when I push it, I see no indication in LinuxCNC that limit has been hit.  
This was discovered right after running through the StepConf wizard. I looked around a bit, and saw that StepConf had written "max-home-u" instead of the expected (by me) "max-home-z" into my .hal file.  For x & y, it had written "min-home-x" and "min-home-y".  

So, I double-checked that I'd selected the right entry in stepconf wizard (I had), and tried again.  Same.  In fact, the error even existed in the .stepconf file:
<property type="string" name="pin12" value="max-home-u"/> <!-- Jason: Should be max-home-z instead, and that's essentially what was shown in the UI. -->

So, I manually changed the entry in the hal file to say the max-home-z value that I expect is correct.  I also saw that max-home-z was already present in another part of the file (where that value is 'mapped' to the limit and the home inputs.). EDIT : When I came back to add detail and attachments, I couldn't confirm this - I swear I saw it before, but maybe I was actually looking at the info for the X or Y axis.  I can't find it for Z now.  That's my leading suspect at the moment, now!

net max-home-u      <= parport.0.pin-12-in-not
became
net max-home-z      <= parport.0.pin-12-in-not

I restarted linuxcnc, and that didn't fix it.  I restarted the whole computer, and it still didn't fix it.  I'm at a bit of a loss.  

I did a lot of searching, and my AI sidekick told me I'd found a known issue in StepConf Wizard, but I don't actually see much confirmation of that in reality.  I did find this thread (forum.linuxcnc.org/49-basic-configuratio...is-homing-and-travel) so I suspect it at least one person before has been affected by it. Unfortunately, I didn't see any indication that that issue was ever really resolved.  

I guess you'll like to see my .hal and .ini files, if you are inclined to look into this at all (helpful unknown reader!), so, I'll attach them as soon as I have them handy.  I'm walking back and forth to do everything now, because that computer is too uncomfortable to sit and type at for any stretch, and I don't have SSH working yet.

Thanks!
Jason 

 

AkkiSan wrote:

What are you using?

 

If this was for me, by now probably over 70 or 80 (i would bet more) of Mesa cards, on over 40 machines, from EMC2 to the latest LinuxCNC 2.10 still in development.
Most of them use LinuxCNC 2.8.4, and all of them use old "enterprise" computers and laptops from Dell, HP. Lenovo and Fujitsu.
But none of them use probing, so far.
-
Do the issues occur without probing involved?

Oh sorry, this was not meant as a complaint or rant.

My intention was to make clear, that basically all my completely different setups are failing to work - including
the ones which include a Mesa card. Which, at least to what I understood, is recommended or even the only option
after the golden parallel port times.

Issues started with 2.8.x on Wheezy. At that time, only the probing was affected, but I found that out
much later, after I deleted the 2.7 partitions bc I probed on a non-LinuxCNC machine.
Fixed it with a flipflop:
forum.linuxcnc.org/38-general-linuxcnc-q...move-deadlock#332412  
But there's sth wrong in the code, probably related to the RT system, as a longer latency makes things
significantly worse.

Everything with Bookworm and >=2.8.x doubled the latency and also brought the bespoken queue and
now also joint following errors. This does even happen on a Machinekit setup, after upgrading to a
tool center point capabale version on a five axis machine.
The most annoying thing is that there is no workaround. Not even increasing the following limits to absurd
values do help here. So the machine stops (without any mechanical errors) and there's nothing one can do.
On one machine this excusively happens with a rotary table. Randomly.

GUI doesn't matter. I only use the "blue one" and Axis. Stock settings, no plugins or mods - zero difference.


I have this Mesa Ethernet thing and the RPi variant. Both also have these issues with a bookworm setup.
What are you using?
 

You da man! An H7 and TMC5160 combination should get me up and going. For starters I'm just going to control x, y, and z-axes, but at some point I may add two more drivers for the spindle and a coolant pump.

I've been fiddling with those Chinese-made encoders that they put on everything from calipers to linear rails (which I have bolted to my mill axes for DRO). Eventually it'd be neat to close the loop entirely -- as well as get an old computer joystick wired into a few GPIO's to be able to "jog" the machine manually.

But it all starts with x, y, and z...

Thanks so much!

What versions of LinuxCNC?
What GUI is being used?
What "probing" is used?

Take some pictures of the wiring and upload them here on the forum so we can have a look.
Do you have a DVM or even better an oscilloscope? Or a simple small LED?
You can use those to check if the drives get any signal on the inputs, easy to check by changing direction of the axis being checked as that should swing from 0 to ~3.3 or 5V.

I have been using LinuxCNC/EMC1-2 for more than 20 years by now; currently, on five machines (one with Machinekit) - and every single of them now has issues with newer versions:

- probe tripped during movement  
- queue full  
- joint following errors  

It's a wild mix of interfaces and computers, two parallel ports, two Mesa cards, a RPi 5 (Mesa) and a Beaglebone Black (PocketNC).  
I have never ever experienced joint following errors before. I also made millions (guessing here, hehe ) of probe movements without any issues.  

Now, I'm not even able to finish a single milling job longer than 15 minutes without error.

I already went back to Wheezy (this also halved the latency again) and duplicated the setups without containing any probe pins,  
just to keep things going. Of course, I always forgot to switch back and rammed mills into the length probes and elsewhere.

While browsing the forum, I noticed that many others seem to have the same issues, but there have to be working setups.  

One machine was already converted to grbl. I always thought about this as a joke, and I now have to use my phone instead
of my handwheel - but it's actually not that bad. I also checked Acorn CNC and Masso, probably the way to go unless I find
time to develop sth on my own - the 87th standard. Lol.


I would like to stick with LinuxCNC, so which >>working<< setups could you propose?


Thx,
AS

Thank you guys so much for the heated debate about power supply. I have 2 power supplies each powering 3 of the drives. it worked like a charm with Pokeys57 board. I am not getting any juice out of the drives to the stepper motors, I tried the 1K pullup resistor, no luck. I to use a 10kΩ pull-up resistor from each PoStep Pin 1 to Pin 9 (+5V) to ensure drivers default to disabled state. and still nothing. I really don't want to go back to Mach4 & Pokeys board. I am just hitting a wall! 
Thank you!

While my new controller is on its way, could you tell me where I can find examples of electrical diagrams for connecting the board to peripheral devices (servo motors, encoders, sensors), especially in terms of their common ground? I don't want to make any mistakes again. Thanks!

unknown wrote:

A perfectly managed mess one would tend to think.

YES! I use the expression "organized chaos" when explaining my shop to others, but the meaning is pretty much the same.
Thank you.

A perfectly managed mess one would tend to think.

Actually I took a look at this in the past and had some example firmware source, I will take a look on Monday.
And yes, it requires grafting on a simple UART connected to the "A" encoder pin (the UART can be quite basic as its
parameters are fixed)
 

A lot has changed in time.

What was the reason for changing, if known ?

Is it a path worth checking out again ?

In other news.
It would look like the Trixie packages have been built on Bookworm for Arm, is that correct ?

Now that I have a working Trixie image, one image will work for the 4 & 5 would it be useful for package building for Trixie ?

Please attach your hal and ini files rather than including the text in the message as the forum
software mangles it so badly that it's basically unreadable.

Note that it is suggested to use pncconf or MesaCT to create hal/ini files for a current mesa card

This is likely the source of your following error issues.

 

No, it does not show an error at the beginning when the machine stops. The movement error occurs when you try to move the motors afterwards.

My INI

[EMC] # The version string for this INI file. VERSION = 1.1 # Name of machine, for use with display, etc. MACHINE = HM2-Stepper # Debug level, 0 means no messages. See src/emc/nml_int/emcglb.h for others #DEBUG = 0x00000003 #DEBUG = 0x00000007 DEBUG = 0 [DISPLAY] # Name of display program, e.g., tklinuxcnc #DISPLAY = tklinuxcnc DISPLAY = axis update_period = 0.05 show_trail = True # Cycle time, in seconds, that display will sleep between polls CYCLE_TIME = 0.0500 # Path to help file HELP_FILE = tklinuxcnc.txt # Initial display setting for position, RELATIVE or MACHINE POSITION_OFFSET = RELATIVE # Initial display setting for position, COMMANDED or ACTUAL POSITION_FEEDBACK = ACTUAL # Highest value that will be allowed for feed override, 1.0 = 100% MAX_FEED_OVERRIDE = 1.5 # Prefix to be used PROGRAM_PREFIX = ../../nc_files/ # Introductory graphic INTRO_GRAPHIC = linuxcnc.gif INTRO_TIME = 5 [FILTER] PROGRAM_EXTENSION = .png,.gif,.jpg Grayscale Depth Image PROGRAM_EXTENSION = .py Python Script png = image-to-gcode gif = image-to-gcode jpg = image-to-gcode py = python3 [RS274NGC] # File containing interpreter variables PARAMETER_FILE = hm2-stepper.var [EMCMOT] EMCMOT = motmod # Timeout for comm to emcmot, in seconds COMM_TIMEOUT = 1.0 # Servo task period, in nanoseconds SERVO_PERIOD = 4000000 [TASK] # Name of task controller program, e.g., milltask TASK = milltask # Cycle time, in seconds, that task controller will sleep between polls CYCLE_TIME = 0.010 [HAL] # The run script first uses halcmd to execute any HALFILE # files, and then to execute any individual HALCMD commands. # list of hal config files to run through halcmd # files are executed in the order in which they appear HALFILE = hm2-stepper-eth.hal # list of halcmd commands to execute # commands are executed in the order in which they appear #HALCMD = save neta [HALUI] #No Content [TRAJ] COORDINATES = X Y Z LINEAR_UNITS = mm ANGULAR_UNITS = degree # Ajuste seguro de velocidad inicial MAX_LINEAR_VELOCITY = 20 [EMCIO] # Name of IO controller program, e.g., io EMCIO = io # cycle time, in seconds CYCLE_TIME = 0.100 # tool table file TOOL_TABLE = tool.tbl [KINS] KINEMATICS = trivkins JOINTS = 3 [AXIS_X] MIN_LIMIT = -10000.0 MAX_LIMIT = 10000.0 MAX_VELOCITY = 20 MAX_ACCELERATION = 100 [JOINT_0] # # Step timing is 40 us steplen + 40 us stepspace # That gives 80 us step period = 12.5 KHz step freq # # Bah, even software stepping can handle that, hm2 doesn't buy you much with # such slow steppers. # # Scale is 200 steps/rev * 5 revs/inch = 1000 steps/inch # # This gives a maxvel of 12.5/1 = 12.5 ips # TYPE = LINEAR MAX_VELOCITY = 20 MAX_ACCELERATION = 100 # Set Stepgen max 20% higher than the axis STEPGEN_MAX_VEL = 24 STEPGEN_MAX_ACC = 120 BACKLASH = 0.01 # scale is 200 steps/rev * 5 revs/inch SCALE = -400 MIN_LIMIT = -10000.0 MAX_LIMIT = 10000.0 FERROR = 0.050 MIN_FERROR = 0.005 #HOME = 0.000 #HOME_OFFSET = 0.10 #HOME_SEARCH_VEL = 0.10 #HOME_LATCH_VEL = -0.01 #HOME_USE_INDEX = YES #HOME_IGNORE_LIMITS = YES HOME_SEQUENCE = 0 # these are in nanoseconds DIRSETUP = 200 DIRHOLD = 200 STEPLEN = 8000 STEPSPACE = 8000 [AXIS_Y] MIN_LIMIT = -10000.0 MAX_LIMIT = 10000.0 MAX_VELOCITY = 20 MAX_ACCELERATION = 100 [JOINT_1] TYPE = LINEAR MAX_VELOCITY = 20 MAX_ACCELERATION = 100 # Set Stepgen max 20% higher than the axis STEPGEN_MAX_VEL = 24 STEPGEN_MAX_ACC = 120 BACKLASH = 0.005 SCALE = -400 MIN_LIMIT = -10000.0 MAX_LIMIT = 10000.0 FERROR = 0.050 MIN_FERROR = 0.005 #HOME = 0.000 #HOME_OFFSET = 0.10 #HOME_SEARCH_VEL = 0.10 #HOME_LATCH_VEL = -0.01 #HOME_USE_INDEX = YES #HOME_IGNORE_LIMITS = YES HOME_SEQUENCE = 0 # these are in nanoseconds DIRSETUP = 200 DIRHOLD = 200 STEPLEN = 8000 STEPSPACE = 8000 [AXIS_Z] MIN_LIMIT = -10000.0 MAX_LIMIT = 10000.0 MAX_VELOCITY = 20 MAX_ACCELERATION = 100 [JOINT_2] TYPE = LINEAR MAX_VELOCITY = 20 MAX_ACCELERATION = 100 # Set Stepgen max 20% higher than the axis STEPGEN_MAX_VEL = 24 STEPGEN_MAX_ACC = 120 BACKLASH = 0.004 SCALE = 400 MIN_LIMIT = -10000.0 MAX_LIMIT = 10000.0 FERROR = 0.050 MIN_FERROR = 0.005 #HOME = 0.000 #HOME_OFFSET = 0.10 #HOME_SEARCH_VEL = 0.10 #HOME_LATCH_VEL = -0.01 #HOME_USE_INDEX = YES #HOME_IGNORE_LIMITS = YES HOME_SEQUENCE = 0 # these are in nanoseconds DIRSETUP = 200 DIRHOLD = 200 STEPLEN = 8000 STEPSPACE = 8000 [HOSTMOT2] DRIVER=hm2_eth BOARD_IP=192.168.1.121 BOARD=7i96s CONFIG="num_encoders=1 num_pwmgens=0 num_stepgens=5 sserial_port_0=0000"

My HAL:

# HAL file for HostMot2 with 3 steppers # # Derived from Ted Hyde's original hm2-servo config # # Based up work and discussion with Seb & Peter & Jeff # GNU license references - insert here. www.linuxcnc.org # # # ######################################## # Firmware files are in /lib/firmware/hm2/7i43/ # Must symlink the hostmot2 firmware directory of sanbox to # /lib/firmware before running EMC2... # sudo ln -s $HOME/emc2-sandbox/src/hal/drivers/mesa-hostmot2/firmware /lib/firmware/hm2 # # See also: # <www.linuxcnc.org/docs/devel/html/man/man...ml#config%20modparam> # and wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/emcinfo.pl?HostMot2 # # ##################################################################### # ################################### # Core EMC/HAL Loads # ################################### # kinematics loadrt [KINS]KINEMATICS # motion controller, get name and thread periods from ini file loadrt [EMCMOT]EMCMOT servo_period_nsec=[EMCMOT]SERVO_PERIOD num_joints=[KINS]JOINTS # hostmot2 driver loadrt hostmot2 # load low-level driver loadrt [HOSTMOT2](DRIVER) board_ip=[HOSTMOT2](BOARD_IP) config=[HOSTMOT2](CONFIG) # load estop latch component loadrt estop_latch # ################################################ # THREADS # ################################################ addf hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.read servo-thread addf motion-command-handler servo-thread addf motion-controller servo-thread # revel in the free time here from not having que run PID addf hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.write servo-thread addf estop-latch.0 servo-thread # ###################################################### # Axis-of-motion Specific Configs (not the GUI) # ###################################################### # ################ # X [0] Axis # ################ # axis enable chain newsig emcmot.00.enable bit sets emcmot.00.enable FALSE net emcmot.00.enable <= joint.0.amp-enable-out net emcmot.00.enable => hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.00.enable # position command and feedback net emcmot.00.pos-cmd <= joint.0.motor-pos-cmd net emcmot.00.pos-cmd => hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.00.position-cmd net motor.00.pos-fb <= hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.00.position-fb net motor.00.pos-fb => joint.0.motor-pos-fb # timing parameters setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.00.dirsetup [JOINT_0]DIRSETUP setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.00.dirhold [JOINT_0]DIRHOLD setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.00.steplen [JOINT_0]STEPLEN setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.00.stepspace [JOINT_0]STEPSPACE setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.00.position-scale [JOINT_0]SCALE setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.00.maxvel [JOINT_0]STEPGEN_MAX_VEL setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.00.maxaccel [JOINT_0]STEPGEN_MAX_ACC setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.00.step_type 0 # ################ # Y [1] Axis # ################ # axis enable chain newsig emcmot.01.enable bit sets emcmot.01.enable FALSE net emcmot.01.enable <= joint.1.amp-enable-out net emcmot.01.enable => hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.01.enable # position command and feedback net emcmot.01.pos-cmd <= joint.1.motor-pos-cmd net emcmot.01.pos-cmd => hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.01.position-cmd net motor.01.pos-fb <= hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.01.position-fb net motor.01.pos-fb => joint.1.motor-pos-fb # timing parameters setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.01.dirsetup [JOINT_1]DIRSETUP setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.01.dirhold [JOINT_1]DIRHOLD setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.01.steplen [JOINT_1]STEPLEN setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.01.stepspace [JOINT_1]STEPSPACE setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.01.position-scale [JOINT_1]SCALE setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.01.maxvel [JOINT_1]STEPGEN_MAX_VEL setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.01.maxaccel [JOINT_1]STEPGEN_MAX_ACC setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.01.step_type 0 # ################ # Z [2] Axis # ################ # axis enable chain newsig emcmot.02.enable bit sets emcmot.02.enable FALSE net emcmot.02.enable <= joint.2.amp-enable-out net emcmot.02.enable => hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.02.enable # position command and feedback net emcmot.02.pos-cmd <= joint.2.motor-pos-cmd net emcmot.02.pos-cmd => hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.02.position-cmd net motor.02.pos-fb <= hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.02.position-fb net motor.02.pos-fb => joint.2.motor-pos-fb # timing parameters setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.02.dirsetup [JOINT_2]DIRSETUP setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.02.dirhold [JOINT_2]DIRHOLD setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.02.steplen [JOINT_2]STEPLEN setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.02.stepspace [JOINT_2]STEPSPACE setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.02.position-scale [JOINT_2]SCALE setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.02.maxvel [JOINT_2]STEPGEN_MAX_VEL setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.02.maxaccel [JOINT_2]STEPGEN_MAX_ACC setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.02.step_type 0 # # The Mesa AnyIO output pins can be in open-drain mode (drive low, float # high) or push/pull mode (drive low, drive high). # # When a logical output is 1 in open-drain mode, the FPGA lets the pin # float and it gets pulled high to +5V via a 10K resistor. # # When a logical output is 1 in push/pull mode, the FPGA pushes the pin # high but only to +3.3V. This is problematic on some kinds of inputs. # #setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.gpio.048.is_opendrain 1 #setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.gpio.049.is_opendrain 1 #setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.gpio.054.is_opendrain 1 #setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.gpio.055.is_opendrain 1 #setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.gpio.060.is_opendrain 1 #setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.gpio.061.is_opendrain 1 # ################################################## # Standard I/O Block - EStop, Etc # ################################################## # A basic estop loop that only includes the hostmot watchdog. net user-enable iocontrol.0.user-request-enable => estop-latch.0.reset net enable-latch estop-latch.0.ok-out => iocontrol.0.emc-enable-in net watchdog hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.watchdog.has_bit => estop-latch.0.fault-in # create signals for tool loading loopback net tool-prep-loop iocontrol.0.tool-prepare => iocontrol.0.tool-prepared net tool-change-loop iocontrol.0.tool-change => iocontrol.0.tool-changed

(Use CL57T stepper drivers)

Thanks