Category: Driver Boards
First post, so be gentle - also, if this is in the wrong sub-forum, feel free to move it.
Back story: I'm building a wire EDM machine based upon Mike Bax's BX18 arc generator. He supplies modified LinuxCNC code, including initialization code for the stepper drivers. It's nearly done but I've run up against a problem with the drivers.
The problem: Mike wrote code for the ECT60 (closed loop driver) version, configuring it to run open-loop steppers. Silly me thought that since they're open loop steppers, there was no reason to spend the extra money on the ECT model, so I bought the ECR (open loop) model. Unfortunately, they're apparently different enough that the ECR gets stuck in the "Pre-Operation" phase during initialization, and neither Mike nor I can figure out why.
We both looked through the XML .ini code and we can't find anything that would cause it to fail. What's a bit concerning however, is that the online manuals are missing at least two sections regarding registers 0x60FE, and 0x6077. It makes me wonder if perhaps more information is missing that could explain why this isn't working.
Obviously the "easy button" is to replace the ECR units with ECT units. I would gladly do so if I had a use for the ECRs, but I do not. Throwing another $200 at this project is a bitter pill - plus I'm stubborn - and I would like to figure this out instead.
Anyone have any ideas?
Note: This is my first interaction with both LinuxCNC (or any form of Linux) and XML, making it much more challenging.
Thanks!
