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I flashed 7i95t_5abodd.bin, it succeeded. Then I hit reload, and now the card can't be found. I rebooted the card and restarted MesaCT, still can't find the board. Jumpers still in the same location, NIC settings the same. No red leds.

What to do now?

Cheapest way:
-an older PC with parallel port
-a BOB with spindle control
-3 of cheap TB6600 drives
total under 100$
-
Medium way
-a decent PC
-Mesa 7i96S
-3 of whatever drives they can afford, i would still use the TB6600
total under 300$
-
Best way
-a decent PC
-Mesa 7i96S
-LAM Technologies drives
-Bigger power supply
total from 500$ and up
-
The old drives can probably be reused, but might not be worth the time.
The old control most probably will not work with LinuxCNC or any modern control, either way serial is really, really slow.
Check the flat cable connector that goes to the drive board, how many pins does it have? I tried to count from the picture but ended up with over 30, so probably my eyes are fuzzy...

Following is a LinuxCNC hal configuration as per your description.
 

Netlisting of the above schematic:

# Load realtime Components and their counts
loadrt and2            count= 2
loadrt message      count= 1 messages="No oil pressure"
loadrt not                count= 1
loadrt timedelay      count= 1

# Add functions to threads
addf and2.0                   servo-thread 
addf and2.1                   servo-thread 
addf message.0             servo-thread 
addf not.0                       servo-thread 
addf timedelay.0             servo-thread 

# Set parameters
setp timedelay.0.on-delay                        10.0    

# Connect pins to signals
net hm2_7i97.0.7i84.0.0.input-01                 timedelay.0.in  
net hm2_7i97.0.ssr.out-05                            and2.1.out  
net mot-spndl-on                                           and2.1.in0  and2.0.out  
net motion.enabled                                       and2.0.in0  
net no-fault                                                    not.0.out  and2.1.in1  
net spindle.enabled                                       and2.0.in1  
net trig.msg                                                   timedelay.0.out  not.0.in  message.0.trigger  

What is the correct order for ethercat to work correctly on the PI4, I have tried all the ways and I always get the error that the EtherCAT0 file does not exist in /dev/

It was not ridiculous as it functioned in the original system
I just don't quite understand how

Is it possible there is encoder or even potentiometer
feedback built into the mechanics somehow?

Maybe it is just driven into the top stop when the torch is off
and relies entirely on arc voltage feedback when cutting.

This would make it hard to do smart things like velocity holds etc

Hello,

Charity where I volunteer has been given a Pacer Cadet CNC. It's probably around 20-25 years old, but in a good condition and very sturdy.

We are unsure if it works, and it has been driven by some proprietary software from a Windows XP computer through USB to Serial to Parallel adapters.

We are wondering if anyone has any experience with this machine and any suggestions about the best way to convert it. The charity is an actual charity and not a tax efficient way for someone to get rich and it's not gonna be a money maker, so the budget is tight.

Spindle controller: Hitachi L200
Spindle: Perske 1.2kW / 23k rpm
Steppers? HY200
Motion board: Axiomatic C902
Controller board Axiomatic Cadet VMC Board (looks like an ISA board; PC connected to serial off the board; the parallel connected to motion board)

We were wondering if we could get away with sending command to the controller board from LinuxCNC or we should consider replacing controller & motion boards. Any advice and input welcome.


 

So I have all 6 axis jogging and now I'm adding the buttons to toggle between joint and world/Cartesian.

I'm getting the following error.
The same post gui code works in my sim.
My INI file is setup the same I believe,

[code[RS274NGC]
PARAMETER_FILE = parameters.var
SUBROUTINE_PATH = ./remap_subs
   HAL_PIN_VARS = 1
          REMAP = M428  modalgroup=10  ngc=428remap
          REMAP = M429  modalgroup=10  ngc=429remap
          REMAP = M430  modalgroup=10  ngc=430remap
RS274NGC_STARTUP_CODE =    G10 L2 P7 X0 Y0 Z0 A-180 B0 C0 G59.1 (debug, ini: startup offsets)
][/code]

I used the Melfa/RV-6SDL xml file and the button names match.

 

I've seen something like this before where I cut and paste into an xml file and get weird behaviors.  What might it be?

I didn’t realize this sounded so ridiculous.
Im my head, it seemed like it’d function just like any open loop stepper z axis. 
I guess how much it raises after touch off wouldn’t be too accurate.
My thoughts were more along the lines that it if hypertherm used it, it cant that bad.
But I guess if you and everyone else thinks this is dumb, I’ll just buy more appropriate hardware​​​​​​.
I don’t want to annoy you guys with stupid questions, so I apologize if i did.
​​​​​​​I appreciate your help.

ok now I understand the logic, I made a mistake, I ordered idc26female but db25 also female, so now, since there are no ready-made cables here, only connectors, I will have to use crimping pliers to make the cables myself.

Both...

Its pin 2 on a HDR26 but ends up being pin 14 of a DB25
(if you use standard IDC connectors on a 1-1 flat cable)
 

thanks. under it (black wire) is pin 14 or pin 2?   

I'm a little confused about how this is supposed to work as a Z axis
without some position feedback.

For a PWM driven motion axis, you would expect to have position
feedback fed to a PID component. This PID components output
would drive the PWMgen and force the motor to follow the commanded
position. Without feedback all you can really do is drive the motor in either
direction at a programmable speed.

I suppose you can use the plasma voltage for feedback when the torch is on
as a normal THC does, but when the torch is off you would have no idea
when the Z axis was (unless driven into the upper stop)

Yes, that looks like IDC 26 pin 1.

Its marked with a square pad on the back of the 7I96S card.
Its also the pin closest to the large white square near P1 on the top of the 7I96S card.

This is also DB25 pin 1
(the rest of the DB25 pinout will be correct if you use an IDC DB25M connector)

How would i set this pwm up for open loop?
I know this would normally not be done, but this motor doesn’t have an encoder and id like to experiment with using current sensing for probing and limits.

I originally tried mimicking the pid for a open loop stepper, but I don’t think there’s a pwmgen equivalent for stepgen.n.position-fb.
I next tried using sim_encoder, but i get mixed up pretty quick with that.

Should I spend more time trying to understand sim_encoder or is there a better approach?

I need to attach the female idc26 connector to the flat cable now, so that I don't make a mistake, is the blue wire that I put for the explanation = PIN1 on idc26male?