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Hi all (and hopefully PCW),

I am retrofitting a large gantry mill (dual X drives, Y, Z, with A/B planned later) from an old PMC DCX-AT200 controller to LinuxCNC. The analog AMC servo drives will be kept and driven by a 7i97T.

For absolute position feedback I have six RLS LA11 ( readheads (BiSS-C variant A, up to 2.2 MHz, 26-bit position + E/W + 6-bit CRC) that will read AS10 magnetic scales mounted on the axes.

My plan:
- 7i97T: 6x +/-10V analog out + incremental motor encoders
- 7i74 on the DB25 expansion port: 8x BiSS-C channels (6 used, 2 spare)
- 7i84 on the onboard SSerial port for tool changer I/O (so SSerial should stay active)

Is there an existing bitfile for the 7i97T with the 7i74 configured as 8x BiSS, or could one be generated? And is there anything I should watch out for regarding BiSS clock rates with cable runs of 5-10 m on a large gantry?

I found the working BiSS channel config for a 26-bit encoder ( at 2 MHz) in the 6i25+7i85 thread, so I mainly need the matching bitfile for the 7i97T+7i74 combination.

Thanks a lot in advance!

Great, thank you. So I will not burn the card nor do I have to follow the traces to figure it out myself. <3
Time to go shopping in the Mesa store.

May I ask you another question?
Did I understand it correctly that the 6 outputs on the 7i97t share one 24V+ (for example) which comes from the other connector?

PIN+ must always be the most positive pin.

PIN+ is the NMOS drain connection and PIN-  the NMOS source connection.

So yes:

Sourcing connection:

+24V --> PIN+  --> PIN- --> load --> 24V Common

Sinking connection:

+24V --> load --> PIN+ --> PIN- --> 24V Common.

Hey folks, I'm a german guy who lives in Paraguay. At first I want to say thank you for LinuxCNC and all the projects around
it. Wow, my head is exploding because of learning all the stuff. 

I am currently retrofitting an Edel Micromat 205HS CNC nibbler.

I want to buy a 7i97t because of the analog Perma Drive drivers and servos (A,A/,B,B/,0,0/, +-10V).

For all the sensors, switches and contactors I'd like to buy a 7iA0.

My question to you would be:

The machine has originally I/O cards from Labod and the 24V power supply for the output mosfets can be switched off with E-
Stop.

I want to do the same with the 7iA0 but I do not understand the outputs in the manual.

There it says

PIN 1 OUT -00-
PIN 2 OUT -00+
PIN 3 OUT -01-
PIN 4 OUT -01+
and so on.
Can I connect 24V+ to PIN 2, 4,... and so on so the card connects this PINs to PIN 1, 3,... and so on? Or is it the
other way round? As to speak, does the card connect the -PIN with the +PIN next to it when an output is switched on? If that's
the case, do I connect 24V+ to 2, 4,... or to 1, 3,...?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Greetings
Dennis

Step config files, where xyz jog does not work.
Thanks

I just noticed that in the PNC config wizard "test this axis" that I can jog xyz. However in the Step config wizard "test this axis" I can not jog xyz. 

Hello All,

  I'm attempting to retrofit a 90's vintage Intelitek Prolight 3000 lathe.  This is a small slant bed CNC lathe marketed to high school and technical college programs, and originally controlled by proprietary electronics and a desktop PC.

The plan is to use LinuxCNC on a Raspberry Pi 4, mated with a Mesa 7i76EU board, along with TB6600 stepper drivers to control and X- and Z-axes as well as a stepper driven 8 position tool changer.  The spindle motor speed is analog controlled 0 - 10 volt signal input.

I have zero experience with most of this and would appreciate any coaching on:

- which Linux distro to load on the Pi 4.
- any resources for configurations, etc.
- any other stuff I don't even know that I don't know.

Thanks in advance!
 

I see you have withdrawn 2.9.9.
I tried an "apt-get clean; apt-get update; apt-get upgrade", but still get:
E: Failed to fetch www.linuxcnc.org/dists/bookworm/2.9-uspa...pace_2.9.9_amd64.deb 404 Not Found [IP: 69.163.143.134 443]
E: Unable to fetch some archives, maybe run apt-get update or try with --fix-missing?

Is this related or an issue on my side?

see linuxcnc.org/2026/07/03/2.9.9-Withdrawn/

hello all

i installed 2.9.8 iso on virtualbox without any issue, but with same machine i got errors mirror failed... when i click ignore and contionue grub boot also failed . what couse the issue?

There is now partial support for creating a LinuxCNC configuration. At a jobsite recently I jump-started my hand editing of a heavily customized LinuxCNC config by creating small parts of it with halflow and stitching things together in a text editor.

There is some initial support for modbus networks point-and-click setup. More on that later. After my earlier complaints against modbus, recently I'm finding it useful.

It seems there is only so much ai can do with vibe-coding. Till recently I was treating halflow as a black box and commanding the chatgpt robot make it do this, do that... Things were getting to the point it seemed to be taking more and more effort for less results, in spite of starting fresh with new chats, etc. Now I opened the pandora's box and am digging through the code, switched to claude, and am telling it how I want things done under the hood.

FabLabRacing wrote:

I originally planned to use a small MeLe mini PC that I already had. It booted fine, LinuxCNC installed, QtPlasmaC launched, Mesa connected, and the machine homed and jogged. At first glance it seemed usable.

The problem was intermittent realtime/Mesa communication errors. I saw errors such as:

- Unexpected realtime delay
- hm2 error finishing read
- Watchdog has bit
- Smart Serial communication error / timeout
- Smart Serial Port 0 stopped


 

Adding to the list, I have a really cheap Uxx and MinisForum mini-pc here with the same shortcomings. I suspect most NUC type mini-pc's are built with laptop type of hardware.

On the other hand, I have used at least 4 different "fanless industrial mini-pc" from Aliexpress, several of them are running 24-7. None of these have disappointed me yet, but I am still somewhat cautious of them. I like their compact size, multiple network ports, and fanless means I'm not plugging them with dust in dusty environments (hopefully).

Projects where I want solid performance, I sometimes use servers or workstations with ECC RAM. Probably overkill in every dimension. They seem to run LinuxCNC just fine.

MaxEkb77 wrote:

Anybody need ?
 

Thanks, that looks like a screenshot of some kind of Lichuan servo drive configuration software. Can you give more details?

Would you help me with the ISO image files? My email is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . The system is Dell Optiplex 7050 with Intel i219 LAN. Core i5 with 4 cores, 8gb ddr4 ram, UEFI and Secure boot with option for disabling. 256GB ssd nVme. I will be controlling 5 axis CNC mill Gantry type. The spindle head will rotate and have 2 axis.
Kind regards

Hi everyone,
I'm working on a KEGEMA-branded CNC router (1300x2500mm working area) that currently runs on a RichAuto DSP A11 handheld controller. I'd like to bypass the handle and control the machine directly from a PC (jog, home, run G-code, start/pause) — similar to what was done in this thread:
forum.linuxcnc.org/30-cnc-machines/35371...troller-richauto-a11
I've read that thread carefully and it's been very helpful, but my setup differs in one important way: my machine uses AC servo motors, not steppers.
Machine specs
Working size: 1300x2500x200mm
Spindle: 6kw HQD air-cooled
Spindle inverter/VFD: 7.5kw Fuling (brand: Folinn on the unit itself)
Axis motors: Leadshine 750W AC servo motors + matching Leadshine AC servo drivers (model marking "L7", 750W, one per axis: X, Y1, Y2, Z — Y1/Y2 appear to be a dual-motor gantry setup)
Reducer: Shimpo (Japan)
Control: RichAuto DSP A11 handheld controller
What I've already confirmed
Inside the control cabinet, the A11's interface board has clearly labeled screw terminals (not just a blind 50-pin harness like in the thread above):
INPUT SIGNAL row: X1 (XH/X-home), X2 (YH/Y-home), X3 (ZH/Z-home), X4 (TS/tool setter), X5-X8 spare, 24V/GND/SHIELD
OUTPUT row: Y5-Y8 + GND (relay outputs — dust collector, water pump, etc.)
Separate 4-pin terminal blocks per axis labeled X_AXIS, Y_AXIS, Z_AXIS, C_AXIS, each with 5V / PULSE / DIR / SHIELD
Each axis terminal block has its own cable running directly to its Leadshine servo driver's CN1 connector
Since these are screw terminals (not a sealed connector), my plan is to add a second wire in parallel at each terminal (tap-off) rather than disturb the existing A11 wiring, so the A11 handle stays functional as a fallback.
What I'm unsure about / looking for help on
Pulse/Dir signal type from Leadshine 750W AC servo drivers (L7 series) — are these standard 5V single-ended step/dir inputs, or differential (like the RS422 signals in the referenced thread)? Trying to confirm from the datasheet before wiring anything.
Recommended motion controller for a 4-axis (X, Y1, Y2 as dual Y, Z) AC servo setup — Mesa 7i96 vs 7i76e vs something else? Do I need differential drivers (like the AM26L31CN used in the referenced thread) between the A11 board and the controller card?
Dual Y-axis (gantry) handling — should Y1 and Y2 be wired as one LinuxCNC axis with a single driver output, or does anyone have experience keeping them as two synced axes?
Spindle speed control — my board also has S0-S3 speed-select terminals (7-speed selection, not analog 0-10V). Anyone dealt with converting this to continuous VFD speed control from LinuxCNC/Mach, or is it easier to just leave spindle speed control on the VFD's own panel?
Any gotchas specific to RichAuto A11 + AC servo (vs. stepper) retrofits that I should know before starting?
Happy to share more photos of the interface board and servo drivers if useful. Any pointers, schematics, or "here's what worked/didn't work for me" experiences would be hugely appreciated.
Thanks in advance!