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Success! finally got it working! The kernel is in sync with the RT patch!
I did not that sudo does not ask for a password

I have updated the linuxcnc branch of my repo
github.com/rodw-au/rpi-img-builder-lcnc/tree/linuxcnc

I also added an instructions.txt file explaining the steps required. Repeated in the spoiler


I can't find where to add isolcpus. Where did you put it? The files I was expecting to find don't exist!

I'm hoping upstream might be able to modify something to set the commit
 number somewhere

To set the PREEMPT_RT kernel, when th eblue  menu is displayed, Open General settings and look for premption model. Open it. Select Fully Preemptible kernel. If this option is not displayed, go back to general settings and kepe looking for a noption that says expert in th emenu. Select it. Then go back to the Preemption model and ensure Fully Preemptible kernel is set. 

I am uploading the image. I will let you knoe when I have  a link.

Oh, and I saved the linuxcnc debs here. If you have a working system, these are current as of today!
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DLb1ImM1...Sn3Lovyu?usp=sharing
Sorry did not built mesaflash.

Stii plenty to do to tidy this up.

I HAVE ARRIVED !  Ive been goofing with linuxcnc since it was EMC2 in about 2000.  This is my first post

So quite some time ago I had the Schoeneck-Nisley version of the Logitech Pendant working on a PC in ver 2.4 and ported it 2.7 with no problems.
Recently I decided to try linuxcnc 2.9 on a raspberry pi running raspbian under some debian variant... bullseye I think.  This joint/axis thing kind of threw me but the machine homes and runs MDI commands OK and it basically works

But it doesnt run my postgui code to set up the pendant.  I know there is other pendant code but I like how this one works and I did modify it slightly to my tastes.  I did RTFM and googled quite a bit before surrendering to the forum

I postified the code below.  the commands it has trouble with are "halui.jog.0.increment halui.jog.1.increment halui.jog.2.increment" and "halui.jog.2.increment-minus"... basically anything with "halui.jog...."  I tried replacing these with something like "halui.axis.x. increment" but it gives errors and a whole bunch of "axis.L..." pins in the HAL manual aren't showing up in the hal configuration

any ideas ?

"

 

I am running into another problem :

 

I modcompile mesa_modbus_A5_Driver driver on x64 PC and copy the mesa_modbus_A5_Driver.so file to the raspberry Pi

added to .HAL file



I get error image as attached, but the file is in directory as shown.

Is there anther directory the mesa_modbus_A5_Driver.so has to be in ?

I have yet to try this but with more generous support from Cornelius upstream, we need to use I did not realise until recently that we are pulling down the Pi kernel from
github.com/raspberrypi/linux
When I started, the kernel version was 6.1.47 and now its marched forward to 6.1.50
The latest RT patch (which I use) is for kernel 6.1.46 so they are too far apart!
ref: mirrors.edge.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/projects/rt/6.1/
Going back through the Raspberry Pi commits, 6.1.46 was committed in 17 August on commitRef: github.com/raspberrypi/linux/commit/6c44...706ca48fd016d6b3d49a

So if we use the command above, we need to paste in the commit when asked for it.
Lets see how that goes...

Awesome work! I think you know more than me so don't go away.
A user script called uscripts can be placed in ths folder
github.com/rodw-au/rpi-img-builder-lcnc/...er/files/userscripts
run_function2 can be used to build linuxcnc.
I found it failed if run_function1 was not there so I just added an echo statement there.
I have not looked at how to update boot.txt

I'm sure my script will work as I tested it on my desktop pc. 
I am not planning on  adding the docs to the pi, I think it will be just too much for a little SBC!

Did you patch the kernel for preempt_rt? My linuxcnc branch has the patch already.
github.com/rodw-au/rpi-img-builder-lcnc/...linuxcnc/userpatches

Its great to know your mesa card is working. How is the latency?
Can you review the additional settings Vector added in this doc and see if they improve performance?
linuxcnc.org/docs/2.9/html/getting-start...rm_on_a_raspberry_pi
I know nothing about this stuff...

I have a Rasberry Pi 4 model B 4 GB and a Mesa 7I96S. I am trying to install linuxCNC but having some issues. I am using the Raspberry Pi imager V1.7.5 and I have tried each of these configurations (and a couple of different ISO's I found) on both a 16 and 128-GB SD card

When I try to install LinuxCNC 2.8.4 Debian 10 Buster PREEMPT-RT I get the following screen

 

When I try to install LinuxCNC 2.8.1 Raspberry Pi OS based on Debian 10 Buster I get the following screen saying that the software is too old.

 

I can't figure out why it won't install. Sorry if this issue has been answered somewhere else, I didn't find any threads with the same issue, Any help would be much appreciated.
 

You seem all worried about not using the device tree. I don't believe the device tree is the only way to solve the problem.
The problem that is my immediate concern load_rt hm2_rpspi is working with spi on Bookworm. I now have a RaspberryPi OS 11 (Bullseye) disk that I can load when I need to run mesaflash.
My lower priority concern is trying to get mesaflash to run on Bookworm without device trees. I found the driver source for spi.c and spidev.c in the Bookworm preempt rt kernel that I am running.

From the info I found, I could be wrong, the mainline kernel doesn’t support device tree overlays, or the mechanism required to get an spi device entry in /dev. It would seem this a patch that the raspbian team applies.
So I’m thinking that until the raspbian team has a kernel for bookworm, the Raspberry Pi will require Bullseye for any board that requires SPI to operate.
Bookworm should, in theory, be fine for Ethernet devices.
Now I could be totally wrong regarding this.

@Bari, This illustrates exactly my point! If you followed the forum and read the email list, you would be aware that I have been chasing network latency causing error finishing reads for over 12 months. It's covered pretty well in the 2.9 version of getting linuxcnc I wrote.
Ref: linuxcnc.org/docs/2.9/html/getting-start...etting-linuxcnc.html

I have reported it upstream to Debian and the RT kernel team. It certainly predates kernel 5.15. We think maybe from 5.9. It is an issue on the original 5.10 Bullseye kernel. With the PC properly set up, CPU latency is not an issue.  You can have 1 digit jitter and still get servo-thread overruns due to network latency. This is predominately  happening on Realtek NICs where the R8169 driver is used for most. Where appropriate, using the r8168-dkms driver makes a significant improvement. Compiling a kernel from pristine upstream sources makes a massive difference (Debian must do some funky stuff). Latency has been improving with each kernel release. PCW says the 6.4 kernel is the best he's seen, I have a 6.3 kernel you can try linked in the docs above. Many users have solved latency issues by installing the DKMS driver and the 6.3 kernel, even 2 core PCS get by  happily.

I also have a pull request pending right now for a Debian bookworm installer github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc-live-build/pull/27
and there is a sticky on this forum with an ISO built from my repo under installing linuxcnc.

And I am also working on a Debian Bookworm Live installer for the raspberry pi. github.com/rodw-au/rpi-img-builder-lcnc There were some upstream issues which were resolved last night and I am presently working on adding scripts to get Linucnc from git as there are no buildbot images for it. This is a cross compiler environment so I was hoping it might end up on a buildbot  somewhere without resorting to a pi.

So yes, I know full well keeping on top of all this takes a lot of work. If you look around you might find a lot of the work is already done for you!
 

Hi Peter,

That sounds easy enough but I don't know how to turn SPI on Debian 12. So I am having to stand on my head to create a new disk with RaspberryPi OS (currently still Bullseye) so that I can write the 7c81_7i76x2.bit file to the 7c81 board.

If it is possible to turn on the spi device on Debian Bookworm, that would be great.
Is that possible?

I am currently using Bookworm on my CNCLathe with PC/5i25/7i76 and my PCBMill with 7i76e. So life would be simpler if I could also run my X2mill with the RPi4/7c81/7i76 on Bookworm. It sounds like once I have the correct bit file on the 7c81 that then I can run linuxcnc 2.9 with the RPi4/7c81/7i76. Is that correct?

My controller with the 7i76e is for my PCB Mill. To use it with the X2MiniMill I have to unplug all the connections to the PCB Mill and plug in all the connections for the X2 minimill.

I have to write the bit file for the 7c81_7i76x2d to the 7c81. Since I just discovered that mesaflash won't run under Debian 12, I have created a Raspberry Pi OS Bullseye on another disk. I will have to compile LinuxCNC and mesaflash on it, then write the bit file to the 7c81. That should get me to the point of being able to see if I can run the 7c81 under Debian Bookworm with LinuxCNC.

I will try your idea of using the 7i76e config (edited to 7c81 card).

I have a working config for my X2MiniMill that runs on a 7i76e mesa board. I just finished a new controller that uses a 7i76 and I have a RaspberryPi4 with a 7c81 attached.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to best create a new configuration that will run the 7c81/7i76 with the same pinouts as the 7i76e?
Ideal would be converting the 7i76e config to the 7c81/7i76. However, that may not be as easy as it would seem. I have already been trying to use pncconf but it is hard to be sure that I am assigning the same pins on the 7i76 that I am using on the 7i76e.

Thanks in advance,
Alan

Some of the images out there are a single user called "root" with no password.
Which isn't ideal, but I think is a reaction to the existence of several million RPis on the net with a user of Pi and password "Raspberry". I am not clear on how passwordless root is better, though.

thomlop wrote:

I downloaded and installed the microSD image you provided a link for above. M RPi 4 booted up and asked for a password. I've tried "raspberry", "password", "linuxcnc" and several other guesses but nothing works so far. And I don't know how to change it since it boots right into the gui.

But what is the link from which you took it?

Thanks for that. I did edit it a bit too.
Anything Debian 12 will install on should be supported so there should be no restrictions.
2 Core PC's can be a bit slow but with my 6.3 kernel and a R8168-dkms driver, guys have got it going...
I would recommend 4 core and above.

One project I am thinking about is to build a Rapberry Pi image using a cross compiler on X86.
The old Linuxcnc buildbot uses a raspberry Pi to build on which is  a bit problematic in terms of reliability.