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andrax wrote:

Er, no. It’s not that simple; LinuxCNC isn’t plug-and-play. If you don’t have any prior knowledge, you should put the A6 aside for now and start with simple stepper motors. You’ll first need to learn how the system works and what each component does. With EtherCAT, you’re moving beyond the hobbyist level, and even professionals sometimes find it frustrating.

I only broke 4 mice from throwing them in anger... its fiiiinnnee.

In seriousness though, I find its less about beginner vs expert in CNC stuff, and more about if you are well versed in linux usage. Most of my troubles setting up were because the instructions just assume you know everything about linux already and leave a lot of critical details out. I am working with one of my customers to trying an make a true step by step guide.

If you do know "nothing", step and direction with a mesa card is generally pretty safe cause its mostly done by a wizard. You aren't mucking in the terminal or doing much editing in HAL.

(also important to note ethercat in linuxcnc has some quirks too, its not quite "final" in my opinion)

The following is the Python interface so it forces you to use joint number before homing then use index of axis after homing.

JT

It's easier to start with a Mesa card for sure.
You have the pncconf utility that will give you a working configuration.
Once you have the Mesa config working, it's not that hard to
replace the motion part with EtherCAT. Cut and paste, though.

I should add that i have done simmilar things, and have a good bit of knwoledge near, not specifically with the ethercat stuff, but with Profinet, Profibus, industrual automation, PLCs etc.

Thanks. I will try to adopt them. As far as i have seen, the example file is for 3drives, and i right now only have one. The pid and vid i will also have to fill out.
Starting this project, I knew there will be a pretty steep learning curve. But i like challenges. I also have a Mesa Card on its way. Would that be easier to start with?

It's easy when you know it.
The problem is to come to know enough.

Anyway, it's not that hard and there is virtually no difference between
setting up stepper drives or servo drives with EtherCAT.
The cia402 layer makes them look the same.

The example I gave is a starting point.
You can copy the files to your installation, change the HALFILE=cia402.hal in the ini file
and give it a try.

But you are going to need to adopt and edit the files to your specific setup.
Number of drives, what number/name they have. And you need to add other
functions like spindle. That's in the sim file. So you need to mix them together
and take the motion part from cia402.hal and the other functions spindle, limits etc
from the sim config.
 

Don't use EtherCAT if you want to use a step/dir driver.
There are advantages to skip the intermediate step with
step/dir for steppers and analog +-10V for servos.
The right way is to have a EtherCAT drive that controls the
motor directly, skipping that middle step.

I have built an EtherCAT board that gives step/dir signals.
But it's not the right way to go.

Hi, Rodw! Glad to see you in this topic)

Jog before homing.. hmmm.. for example, edm machine , some emergency, estop pressed or power loss.. and mechanical of the machine stucked. I have to move before homing, because homing may broke everything on the work table

Yes, it will work. But only after homing.
Before homing its work as 3rd number (all axus numbers are 0-1-2-3 )

Thanks for your answer.
I will try it

An what about External power button to switch ServoOn? I need separately button to send command the same as power_pb ib flexgui

TS

See if you can disable this in BIOS, it is usually enabled by default
www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-l...ssive+power+managent
Also, if you are using any kind of PCI-E riser or cable, se the PCI-E speed/mode to GEN1

Find the culprit?

here is some info on a cheap ethercat stepper drive. But it is not as cheap as your A4988.
4 axis stepper drive

You could try  setpci and verify if the [disabled] goes away from the lspci listing

the options in my BIOS PCI Subsystem Settings are:
Above 4G Decoding (enable/disable)
SR-10V Support (enable/disable)

and in BIOS Onboard Device Configuration
PCIEX1_1 Mode (auto) <--but i think this only refers to speed. I have this selection/option for all the PCI slots on the board

I tinkered with all of these earlier today to no result. I do have an ASUS A520M motherboard...BIOS options seem pretty generic.