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Hi everyone,

I’d like to give a short status update on LatheEasyStep, mainly to clarify what has changed recently and what my current focus is.

 What has changed

1. Interactive legend in the preview

The preview now includes an interactive legend.

The title “Legend” is always visible and acts as a permanent click area.

Clicking on it toggles the legend collapsed / expanded.

When collapsed, only the header remains visible so the legend can always be reopened.

The legend affects visualization only, not geometry calculation or toolpath logic.

2. Improved preview with safety areas

The preview now clearly distinguishes different geometry and safety elements:

Green (solid): contour / target geometry

Yellow (solid): active machining path

Grey (dashed): stock outline

Cyan (dashed): retract planes (XRA/XRI/ZRA/ZRI)

Red (dashed): machining / safety limit (e.g. ZB)

Safety limit violations are highlighted visually.

Stock and retract planes are drawn based on the actual configured parameters, not approximations.

3. Facing – chamfer or radius at the end

In the Facing tab it is now possible to define an optional chamfer or radius at the outer end of the facing operation.

Supported options:

None

Chamfer

Radius

This affects both the preview geometry and the generated toolpath.

All of these changes are documented in the README, in both German and English.

 Current focus: the preview

Right now, my main focus is the preview system.

The goal is to make sure that:

geometry is displayed correctly,

safety and retract areas are clearly understandable,

and the preview can be trusted as a visual plausibility and collision-check aid.

Once the preview side is solid and stable, I’ll move on to the fine-tuning of the actual machining / stock removal functions and further logic improvements.

 Next steps

Further testing and stabilization of the preview

Real-world test cases with complete programs

UI adjustments if needed

After that: refinement and extension of machining features

Hello,
I installed Debian 13 (Trixie) and the latest Linux CNC 2.9.8 today. Unfortunately, the Mesa Configuration tool won't install.
I get the message: mesact: Depends: phyton3-distro but it is not installable. Perhaps someone could give me an additional tip.

Hi Robert,
can you please post your json config and maybe the complete error output ?!?

OK
In your configuration folder (or the sim folder if you want to test there) there will be a set of folders qtvcp/screens/qrdragon/
in that last folder add the file i have provided. name it qtdragon_handler.py

When you run the config, there should be an entry in the status page about a customization.
The button should be clickable after that.

I would suggest you try the sim first.

Can you post your hal and ini files?

The sserial_port0=something stanza in the driver command line
in the hal or ini file will determine which sserisl channels are enabled.

Does the 7I74 have 5V power?

 

Eureka!
I think I've found the cause.
While I was testing various settings in the ini file, the errors occurred sometimes on one axis and sometimes on another.  Even with unchanged settings, the error was sometimes there and then gone again. Until I turned off my handwheel (WHB04B). 
With the handwheel turned off, there are no problems with referencing. 
For some reason, the handwheel seems to interfere with the reference run. 
 

The 7I84 should connect to 7I85 TB2 pins 10..16

There are also some difference in the VHDL source and mesaflash pin list

1. You have 2 null modules descriptors before the PKTUARTS. I don't think this will
work as the module scan normally ends at the first null

2. The source you posted has  sserial channels starting at channel 1 rather than 0
(so sserial_port_0=2xxxx" would disable the first channel (1) on the 7I85)

LinuxCNC 2.9.8 has been released.This is a minor update release, mainly of interest to those using the hal_gpio HAL driver (mainly Pi users)Changelog:

• backport #3516 to fix #3679
• Only initialize python if not yet initialized.
• hal_gpio: Adapt to use libgpiod3 or libgpiod2 according to what is installed
• Merge pull request #3671 from smoe/docs_image_handling
• core-components.adoc remove duplicate descriptions
• Merge pull request #3642 from LinuxCNC/2.9_#2460
• Update LinuxCNC RTAI Install instructions
• Merge pull request #3555 from smoe/lintian_warnings
• Merge pull request #3588 from f355/2.9
• [ci] publish releases with artifacts
• debian: Addressed lintian warnings
• axis.py: restore mdi queuing provision #2460

The main driver for the release was the change in API for the gpiod driver. This resulted in the hal_gpio driver not being built under Trixie.As of this release the default Debian version for the ISO for both PC and Pi has been updated to Trixie. The LinuxCNC repositories have been updated for Buster, Bullseye, Bookworm, Trixie and Sid.Note that released debs are also now available on the LinuxCNC GitHub under “Releases”: www.github.com/https://github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcncAs always, thanks to all the developers who make this possible, and for this release especially:Bertho Stultiens
Dewey Garrett
Konstantin Tcepliaev
Robert Schöftner
Steffen Möller

I finally put together a short YouTube video to introduce the project
(even though I’ve already been working on it for about a year ).

I’ll add more videos in the near future.

I have checked the power and the cable, that look fine. (FieldA (24V) or FieldB (5V) power on 7I84)

This is the load line in the hal file:
Do I have to add anything if the 7i84 is connected via a daughter card?
 
 

Hello All,

things are slowly getting serious. I have reduced the size of the machine’s rear panel, repainted it, and mounted it again. I also cleaned up the wiring and repaired a few things, including the rotary window and the external fan of the spindle servo. In addition, I have started building the control cabinet and some parts are already wired.


 



Current hardware setup: a Beckhoff AX5125 for the spindle servo. I am still struggling a bit with TwinCAT and the parameterization. Beckhoff EL1100 via EtherCAT, various I O modules. some encoder modules, and the drives for X and Y are still missing. Some of the I O is already working and I am starting to like EtherCAT a lot. :)For the gearbox shifting with ratios 4:1 and 1:1 and for lubrication I have already found some very good examples and I think I can handle that.

With other topics I am still a bit unsure and would appreciate some advice. Any links to documentation or things to read and learn would be very helpful.

First, spindle and C axis. What is currently the best way to approach this? I have already found a lot of information on the topic, but the solutions are sometimes very different and often seem not fully resolved. Are there any proven approaches or experiences you can share?

Second, the machine has a Multifix tool holder at the front, meaning a standard front tool setup with manual tool changes. I plan to install a tool turret at the rear, meaning a back tool automatic tool changer, which should be relatively easy to integrate using a carousel. Is mixed operation even possible? From a purely mechanical point of view there is nothing preventing this. For example, doing some operations with tools from the turret and others with the Multifix. Can LinuxCNC handle this so that some tool changes are automatic and machining continues, while for others it moves to a manual tool change position and prompts the user to insert the correct holder? Visualization is also an issue. As far as I can tell, it is not possible to switch between front and back tools or use both at the same time in the display.
To make things more complex, I am planning to mount the turret on a kind of quick change plate so that it can be parked very quickly in the rear right area of the machine. This is necessary to machine large workpieces with a steady rest using only the Multifix. I would like to disconnect the turret using a Harting connector. Is it possible to tell the machine via an input pin that no turret is installed so that the machine operates in front tool mode and does not attempt to use the ATC ? I would find it a shame if I had to treat this as two separate machines and could only use one type of tooling at a time.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

Greetings
Tom

Hi trisa, "Turns out if you try reading an ethercat adress that the drive doesn`t have, nothing works."
Is it mandatory to change those error sdo/pdo errors:
0x1703:01, 0x1B03 ?
 

Google translation:
Over the holidays, I worked on configuring my Mesa cards and familiarized myself a bit with the Mesa CT. Since I'm not very experienced in writing things off the cuff, I wanted to help you with Mesa CT. However, I only see and recognize my main card, the 7i97t, and the bitfile I loaded is the one for the 797t and 7i74, which is what I want to use via the expansion port. Furthermore, the card combination is to be expanded with a 7i73 for the panel and a 7i84u. Now to my questions: Can I connect the two cards to my 7i74 using a Cat 6 cable, or is it better to run something else through the smart serial port on the card? I've already plugged everything in, and they're getting power; the LEDs light up. But when I use the `halcmd show pin` command, I only see the 7i97t listed. What's going on? How do I proceed, or what do I need to do differently? I've been getting so frustrated with this for days. I did have a small success, though, because I'm hoping to gain a better understanding of the whole thing. I managed to control an LED with a resistor through the 797t, which I was very happy about. But the rest is a complete mystery to me. Thanks, Tom. I look forward to your answers, and please explain the technical terms a bit more simply, as I'm a complete beginner in this area.

If you already have a RealTek card you can try with r8125-dkms or r8168-dkms driver depending on the model.
Often this is will give full network performance. "sudo apt install r8168-dkms"

If you are looking to buy a PC, buy one with an Intel card. You can also buy a PciE Intel card afterwards.

:02
You set micro-stepping in SDO 0x2001:0 which is number of steps per motor revolution.
Then you need to match that in cia402.0.pos-scale which is number of steps per mm/inch.
github.com/dbraun1981/hal-cia402/tree/main/example
 
 

Hello Experts,

Doubt:01

It is found that using onboard LAN Driver is not at all good for Ethercat Communication.
We would encounter connection drops and other inconsistencies If it is Realtek.

Should I buy a PCIe Network card or Can I use Realtek?

Doubt:02
 
     I am Planning to Replace my Pulse Driver DM556 with Ethercat Stepper Driver ECR86 from Rtelligent.
How is the micro stepping configured ? My setting was 1600 steps per revolution. (Aprox 83.5 Pulse per millimeter)