problems with Verser Probe Screen 2.9

I'm trying to install probing on LinuxCNC 2.9 using the Axis GUI.  The tab appears, with icons, when I run linuxcnc.  When I click any buttons, I get errors that certain pins are not defined (ps_probe and such).  These pins, I gather, are dynamically created by probe_screen.py. 

I'm not sure where in the sequence it is executed but it appears in the [DISPLAY] section in the EMBED_TAB_COMMAND variable (with -u) and the postgui.hal file.  In that HAL file, the current problem is that "loadusr -W psng/python/probe_screen.pl" causes linuxcnc to shutdown before the main GUI screen appears.  The debug info says that probe_screen.py did not return.  If I remove -W, the GUI launches and everything is fine until I try to interact with the items on the PSNG tab.

There are so many oddities in this install.  For example, in probe_screen.py there are many calls to _("some string") which is an adaptation for other languages.  Why it is used when gettext is not imported, I have no idea.  I made a pass-through function that returns the string:  def _(message):  return message. I feel uneasy about making changes like this.

I'm an experienced linux user, programmer, and electrical engineer but this is kicking my ass.  Has anyone else had problems like this?  Should I be starting with a different version or fork?  Is there some other way to get probing macros?

 

It appears that the pins in question (probe.toolchange-change, etc) would be created by probe_screen.py.

In the INI file,

And from custom_postgui.hal

You need to remove this from your hal


You are already loading probe_screen.py with the EMBED_TAB_COMMAND in the INI.

To troubleshoot the pin problem, comment all lines with 'probe.' pins so the config starts up and use the 'Show Hal Configuration' tool to check if the pins are there.

That's a good suggestion. I comment out the offending lines and looked around "Show HAL Configuration"

Turns out, probe.* pins don't exist. HOWEVER, gladevcp.* has all the pins that have been implicated, including gladevcp.toolchange-change and gladevcp.ps_probe_max

The Z-height probing routine kicks off a message complaining that probe.ps_probe_max is not available so I thought I'd try to name it at the outset. I tried using EBMED_TAB_COMMAND to adjust the component name with -c probe but that doesn't run.
I dug around some more and found a line in probe_screen.py that was commented out. I un-commented it and it may have this particular problem. Makes me nervous because there are other lines nearby that are commented out...

Thanks for the tip, Aciera. Great handle, too.

Which version of Linux, LinuxCNC and psng are you using?

I have done some work on psng to adapt it for Gtk3 / Python3 on Debian 12+
However, on my test machines, whilst it loads without errors, there are no graphics visible in the embedded tabs.

Have you made any further progress with this?

andypugh wrote:

Which version of Linux, LinuxCNC and psng are you using?

I have done some work on psng to adapt it for Gtk3 / Python3 on Debian 12+
However, on my test machines, whilst it loads without errors, there are no graphics visible in the embedded tabs.

I'm curious, Why aren't people working on the version in linuxcnc?
github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc/tree/master...n-panels/versa-probe

Maybe we can combine them?

cmorley wrote:

I'm curious, Why aren't people working on the version in linuxcnc?
github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc/tree/master...n-panels/versa-probe

Well, until 3 days ago it was GTK2. 

I can't remember why I chose to work with a different version, except that I think I assumed that PSNG was enhanced relative to VersaProbe.