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No I did not see the wiki page.

However, I played around a bit more and got a very basic setup that actually allows me to use the joysticks on the joypad to move the axis.
Switching the jog speed looks quite useful though, I'll try to adapt it. And also the dead-man switch is probably a good idea.

This is what I currently have:

 

The ARC OK and Torch ON are there, but there is voltage out at all, and that is a must for THC to function.
Might need to wire stuff inside the plasma, do you have anyone that can do that?

Yes.
Or any other combination, except tandem joints can not be on the same pin, so you can have XYZ on 1 pin and the Y2 on the 2 pin.
Check point 2 for you situation.

I am trying to figure out how to interface a thcad2 and mesa 7i97t with a hypertherm hsd130.
Originally, this machine was hooked up to an external hypertherm thc.
The hsd130 has an internal 37 pin connector that goes to a "phc interface" that has am external 15 pin connector that connected to the old thc.
Unfortunately, the phc interface's manual doesn't explain what the pins on the 15 pin connector are for or how they should be wired and the hsd130 manual doesn't even mention it.
The manual does have all the information for the internal 37 pin connector. 

 Should I just remove the phc 15 pin connector and use the 37 pin? That seems easier than trying to reverse engineer the "phc interface"?

I will try to attach the relevant pages from the manual.

The example circuits are above my head.
Do I need any relays for the arc ok and start i/o's or can they connected directly to the 7i97t?
Should I use 24v from my controllers power supply?
Can I use 2 or 3 1mohm resisters connected directly to the torch/work leads for the thcad2?

You should be careful what you wish for, I'm known for breaking software and finding bugs in these parts It's kind of how I got my start into the LinuxCNC project.  Phill probably still has nightmares haha but maybe I made up for it in the later years. 

Feedback:

1.  I'm not keen on the idea of uploading my dxf files to a random website (no offense intended).  Probably has to do with my line of work for my day job, but even still I can imagine there would be customers that would be upset about that if they consider their work proprietary or NDA, etc. (dead horse beat).  That said, I can see the convenience aspect as well.  Nothing to install, just internet connection.  I still prefer local software.  Don't worry I have plenty of benign dxfs to upload.  

2.  There are two types of countries:  Those who use the metric system, and those who have been to the moon (I know, I know, you guys are right, the metric system is easier, but I still prefer the dinosaur units over here).  So the attached dxf file is one that I exported in imperial units.  I am not sure what your software made of it, but it doesn't seem right since the size in the bottom says 46.59mm x 9.37mm.  I'm fairly certain it's 46.69in x 9.37in.  Seems like you have at least some plan to handle units as the lead in/out section says "units".

3.  The zoom is a bit wonky.  The movement is very small with my mouse wheel.  It "feels" like when you get zoomed too far in in CAD and the mouse wheel is less effective.

4.  In the Prepare section, the "Apply" buttons are a little confusing to me.  It seems intended to just click the top most apply, but the other ones (except detect chains) seem to do nothing, and then 3 of them are greyed out? 

5.  In Program, it wasn't immediately apparent to me where I go to add a tool.  Of course these are all in the metric system, but I accepted the defaults to have a play.  The kerf was hilariously large so I went back and made it smaller, but it still seemed ... off.  

6.  In tools, I am not sure a rapid speed is necessary.  Normally these would just be G0 which dont require a speed since it's driven by the machine's settings.  

7.  It's nice that I can add an operation by part.  But it would also be nice to have a "select all" option.

8.  I am not sure what "fit" does next to the lead in/out length?  The default was 5 units which is hilariously large, and checking or unchecking "fit" seems to have no effect.  That said, when I change it to something reasonable (.25), then fit does seem to keep the arc length within the kerf width...

 

9.  It seems to have put the leadin on the wrong side for some of the parts (the ones with an inner "circle").

 

10.  You can also see from the pictures above that it choked on the splines around the outside of the part.  When I simulated this, it moved at an incredible speed around these sections (again I attached the file so you could have a play).  

11.  I am a bit unsure between the Kerf Compensation of Outside, Inside, and Part.  This doesn't seem to be strictly necessary?  Wouldn't the kerf always be toward the scrap (or away from the part)?

12. When I clicked export it says "No paths available. Please create operations first.", but it just let me simulate it?

13. Some maybe helpful notes about cutter compensation: linuxcnc.org/docs/devel/html/plasma/qtpl...:cutter-compensation

I am not sure when you'd actually want to use cutter comp, I've always just relied on the CAM to offset the paths for me, and therefore it renders cutter comp unnecessary.

I think that's enough for one my first go at it haha. Hopefully that doesn't feel like I'm beating you up. Seems like you are working toward a good thing.

I am unsure what all of your goals are for the project, but if you need inspiration, SheetCAM is a pretty good software to try and emulate. I cant think of much I would want to do that it does not. It's nice to have free options for sure!








 

running your script gives:

enp1s0 r8168
enp1 r8168

I've also tried lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 net. For both ethernet ports this gives

kernel driver in use: r8168
kernel modules: r8168

I did specify DKMS in installing the package, but after this everything became plain "r8168" (????)

Are you sure you are using the DKMS driver?

Can you run this script to verify the driver name:

 

download

chmod +x edrivers.txt
 
./edrivers.txt
 

I've installed the r8168 driver.

The bad news is that the ping test you suggested now looks even worse. I tried it three times and in each case the maximum value was around 26ms. And the latency histogram now shows even more pronounced disconnected "peaks" above 20usec and below -20usec.

The good news is that despite the above LInuxCNC now seems to work. I tried launching it three times. On one occasion I got an initial "unexpected delay - this message will not be repeated" pop-up, but apart from this there were no error messages at all, and I successfully had the machine home all axes several times. Either I got very lucky or things have improved considerably.

I'm left very confused (and not very confident).....

tommylight wrote:

1. with only one switch, forget Y2 and tandem, it does not work.
2. you can use a single switch for both Y sides, but only as a single Y axis/joint, just choose Y step and Y dir for both stepgens (1 and 2 as far as i can se in your ini)
3. LinuxCNC can do multiple switches for a single input, must be normally closed, though
4. For tandem axis/joints with separate switches on both Y you would need 2 inputs as Y and Y2 can not be on the same input, so 2 inputs for 4 or more switches.
5. point 4 above works perfectly fine as i have some machines set up like that with parallel port, and can do gantry squaring.

Is that what you meant Tommy? use my limit switch from Z with Y and limit switch from X with Y2?

No, I have a 7i76e with lots of inputs. I used to have a machine run off a parallel port, though, which has very few inputs.

that never cross my mind, did not think that was possible and then i  can just assign limit switches on pncconfig? i can sure try that. is that how you have yours?

Have you tried combining X and Y home switches on one input, and Z and Y2 home switches on another?

1. with only one switch, forget Y2 and tandem, it does not work.
2. you can use a single switch for both Y sides, but only as a single Y axis/joint, just choose Y step and Y dir for both stepgens (1 and 2 as far as i can se in your ini)
3. LinuxCNC can do multiple switches for a single input, must be normally closed, though
4. For tandem axis/joints with separate switches on both Y you would need 2 inputs as Y and Y2 can not be on the same input, so 2 inputs for 4 or more switches.
5. point 4 above works perfectly fine as i have some machines set up like that with parallel port, and can do gantry squaring.

I have a gantry too, and the only difference I can see between my config and yours is that you don't seem to have your Y2 homing switch configured.

i forgot to mention I do not have any more input available on my g540 to add limit switch