7i96s Board Firmware

Maybe a stupid question but, does a 7i96s board come pre-loaded with basic firmware?  I don't recall loading firmware on my previous 7i96.

I have a basic Axis config with one rotary axis on Step-0.

I can identify the board with the Mesa CT utility, just can't drive my stepper motor, as if Pul and Dir signal are not being sent. 

Yes it does.
Use a DVM to measure the voltage at the drive inputs.
Are the stepper motors locked when powered on?
Is Enable wired to the drives? If yes, disconnect it till you get things working.
And do the tests with a finished configuration running LinuxCNC, not from wizards.

As usual, posting your hal and ini files will help to diagnose the issue.

Yes the coil is powered, rotor locked, enables are not connected at present.  With these TB6600 putting power to the enable  disabled the motor.

I'm just trying for the bare minimum at this point.

 

1. Make sure you wire the TB6600 in single ended mode:

7I96S GND --> TB6600 PUL-,DIR-
7I96S STEP+ --> TB6600 PUL+
7I96S DIR+ --> TB6600 DIR+
 
If you don't want to double any wires
(like GND in the above example) you can:

7I96S GND --> TB6600 PUL-
7I96S STEP+ --> TB6600 PUL+
7I96S +5V --> TB6600 DIR+
7I96S DIR- --> TB6600 DIR-


2. The TB6600 has very slow inputs, it will not see a 2 usec
(2000 ns) step pulse. I would try 20 usec (20000 ns).

 

Thanks I'll give all this a try, I'm not wired single ended at present.

wrote:

2. The TB6600 has very slow inputs, it will not see a 2 usec
(2000 ns) step pulse. I would try 20 usec (20000 ns).

 

Yes step pulse ended up being the issue.  I seem to recall this tripped me up once before.

Your first example, 3 wires single ended would make the wiring cleaner. 

I don't plan on using the enable so I would have only 4 wires running differential, not terrible.  What is the benefit of single ended? 

Differential is mainly useful for servo drives with line receiver inputs.
Optocoupler inputs do not really benefit from differential drive,
and the differential drive lowers the maximum output current.
(and inexpensive drives often require quite high drive currents)