7i96S card arrived what setup is recomended

PNP for mixed voltages...

But I don't think you really need mixed input voltages, as the Enable is an output
and the ALM signal is just an OPTO output

For 24V NPN proximity switches:

+24V --> 7I96S input common

NPN proximity switch 0utputs --> 7I96S isolated inputs

ALM+  --> 7i96S isolated input

COM- 24V COMMOM

Note that you could parallel the ALM outputs to save inputs

the ALM signal is just an OPTO output

The ALM is an OPTO output from the CL57T right? According to the manual section 6, it shows that I need to supply 5-24v DC to that circuit. Can I just use my 24v field power for this? Doesn't it matter that I have the driver setting S3 set to 5v (due to STEP/DIR 5v signals)? I don't want to fry this thing before I get going.

Note that you could parallel the ALM outputs to save inputs

This was the plan.Also, how do I use a spare STEP/DIR for ENA? Is that in my HAL settings? The manual mentions:

ENA must be ahead of DIR by at least 200ms

According to the manual section 6, it shows that I need to supply 5-24v DC to that circuit. Can I just use my 24v field power for this?

No, the output can switch 5V to 24V signals but should not be directly connected to a power source for sinking (NPN) operation

The ALM output would wire directly to a 7I96S input as shown in my table.

The drives 5V/24V switch only affects inputs (PUL,DIR,ENA)

Note that the ENA input is actually a  DISABLE input so not really of much use unless you change it's polarity.
(because the drive would be enabled if there is no controller power which is a bit crazy)
This likely requires the use of the (windows) software setup utility for the drive. Similarly, the ALM outputs cannot be
paralled unless re-programmed to be ON for alarm rather than the default OFF for alarm, They could possible be connected
in series instead using the default (OFF for alarm) setting

To use a step/dir pin for ENA, you set the number of stepgens to < 5, freeing up the GPIO pins that connect to say stepgen3 or 4
you then use the GPIO pins in hal to control the output state of these pins.

 

Ok, so I think I understand what I should do. Using the StepperOnline Motion Studio software, I change the ENA polarity from high to low so no input is disabled and 5V input enables the motors. Additionally, I can switch the ALM polarity from low (default) to high and take that input in as inverse. Basically like a NC estop. For the wiring on the ENA, can I daisy chain them together? Also for the ALM, can I run those in series with the GND coming into the first driver and the last driver returning the GND back to the controller, with 24V as the input common?

I think I would choose the alarm polarity so its "ON" for alarm, then the can be wired in parallel

To wire the enables in parallel, a single 5V step/dir pin may not have enough current
so a better scheme would be to use an isolated output for this, say:

+5V --> OUT0+
OUT0- --> ENAX+,ENAY+,ENAZ+
5VGND --> ENAX-,ENAY-,ENAZ-
 

Was able to successfully run the Motion Studio software to reprogram the ENA input so the drives are disabled by default.

To wire the enables in parallel, a single 5V step/dir pin may not have enough current

Are you suggesting an separate/external 5V power supply for the ENA isolated output? I'm using a HDR-15-5 to power the 7i96s right now. Can I piggyback off that?

Yes, just use whatever powers the 7I96S +5V

I got the ENA setup and working properly. Enabling the machine turns on the drives as expected. Now I just have to work on handling the ALM signal when there is a problem reported. What is the current way of handling this? I think I need to tie in fault-in from the motion module.

Typically you would wire it (in hal) to joint.0.amp-fault-in
(a true on any joint.x.amp-fault-in  will cause LinuxCNC to halt motion)

I did this but now run into a different issue. The driver alarm is setup to signal high for ALM. When I have put the following in my custom.hal to use the alarm signal to disable the drives. This works fine for disabling but I can seem to reset.

To clear the alarm, I have two options:

1. Power off the drives
2. Set the drives to disable and then back to enable. This is a "soft" reset and works when I comment out the line above.

I'd prefer option 2. The first part of the reset is actually completed by the ALM signal in (disabling the drives). However, when I try to turn the machine back on via the axis gui, it won't let me since the amp-fault-in pin is set high.