Moving from EMC to LinuxCNC - Stepper Driver Issue

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10 years 11 months ago #64574 by cr750
Moving from EMC to LinuxCNC - Stepper Driver Issue was created by cr750
Hi,
I've had a BDI install running for several years without issue, until the hdd died in my Pentium III CNC machine.
I use the k-179 driver boards.
I decided to move to a newer machine, HP core 2 Duo desktop.
I've installed Wheezy/LinuxCNC 2.7.
I've installed/made ParallelPortTest and checked that the step/direction pins of the parallel port work as expected, and that the stepper motors work as expected (they do!).

The StepperConfWizard test procedure does not give me the results I expected.
When I "test an axis", the stepper steps (pulses) about every 5 seconds, but the jog buttons do nothing.

I'm at a loss as to know where to go from here.

Help please.
Phill.

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10 years 11 months ago #64576 by BigJohnT
Replied by BigJohnT on topic Moving from EMC to LinuxCNC - Stepper Driver Issue
If you have an enable on the drives the Stepconf Wizard will not enable your drives in the test this axis. When you run the configuration does it work?

JT

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10 years 11 months ago #64578 by cr750
Replied by cr750 on topic Moving from EMC to LinuxCNC - Stepper Driver Issue
Hi JT,

The steppers work fine from ParallelPortTest, which is not part of the LinuxCNC distribution. The driver boards are set for "external" control, ie driven from the parallel port.
When I run the default gcode (or gcode I have run in my previous system) I do not get any steps from the steppers.

Regards,
Phill

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10 years 11 months ago #64579 by BigJohnT
Replied by BigJohnT on topic Moving from EMC to LinuxCNC - Stepper Driver Issue
That sounds like you have configured something wrong in the Stepconf Wizard.

JT

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10 years 11 months ago #64580 by cncbasher
Replied by cncbasher on topic Moving from EMC to LinuxCNC - Stepper Driver Issue
post your config files as an archive to your post ,

coming from an old version to the latest , their are few differences ,
but overall it should be easy to sort out

what breakout board are you using ?
when setting up your steps did you take into consideration the number of microstepping your drives are set to

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10 years 11 months ago #64606 by cr750
Replied by cr750 on topic Moving from EMC to LinuxCNC - Stepper Driver Issue

cncbasher wrote: post your config files as an archive to your post ,
what breakout board are you using ?
when setting up your steps did you take into consideration the number of microstepping your drives are set to


No breakout board. The parallel port is connected directly to the K-179 stepper driver boards.
I've set the microstep to "1". I was hoping that would eliminate micro steps and just use the full steps.
My old drive is not quite as bad as I expected. I've recovers my old config files.
I've uploaded my EMC config files for reference and my LinuxCNC config files as well.

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10 years 11 months ago #64607 by cr750
Replied by cr750 on topic Moving from EMC to LinuxCNC - Stepper Driver Issue

BigJohnT wrote: That sounds like you have configured something wrong in the Stepconf Wizard.

Yes, I'm pretty sure my problem is in the stepper config.

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10 years 11 months ago #64612 by andypugh
Replied by andypugh on topic Moving from EMC to LinuxCNC - Stepper Driver Issue
This is a bit of a surprise in the HAL file: "source sim_hardware.hal"

What appears in that file?
It isn't usual to call a HAL file from a HAL file any more, typically you add a second HAL file to the INI instead.

Do the driver boards require any sort of enable signal? I don't see any listed.

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10 years 11 months ago #64644 by cr750
Replied by cr750 on topic Moving from EMC to LinuxCNC - Stepper Driver Issue

andypugh wrote: This is a bit of a surprise in the HAL file: "source sim_hardware.hal"

What appears in that file?
It isn't usual to call a HAL file from a HAL file any more, typically you add a second HAL file to the INI instead.

Do the driver boards require any sort of enable signal? I don't see any listed.


The driver boards only require Step and Dir inputs.
The content of the sim_hardware.hal is included below. I have commented the line in phill_mill.hal to see if that helps. I'll test later today.

Code:
# This file sets up simulated limits/home/spindle encoder hardware. # This is a generated file do not edit. loadrt sim_axis_hardware names=sim-hardware net Xjoint-pos-fb axis.0.joint-pos-fb sim-hardware.Xcurrent-pos net Yjoint-pos-fb axis.1.joint-pos-fb sim-hardware.Ycurrent-pos net Zjoint-pos-fb axis.2.joint-pos-fb sim-hardware.Zcurrent-pos setp sim-hardware.Xmaxsw-upper 1000 setp sim-hardware.Xmaxsw-lower [AXIS_0]MAX_LIMIT setp sim-hardware.Xminsw-upper [AXIS_0]MIN_LIMIT setp sim-hardware.Xminsw-lower -1000 setp sim-hardware.Xhomesw-pos [AXIS_0]HOME_OFFSET setp sim-hardware.Ymaxsw-upper 1000 setp sim-hardware.Ymaxsw-lower [AXIS_1]MAX_LIMIT setp sim-hardware.Yminsw-upper [AXIS_1]MIN_LIMIT setp sim-hardware.Yminsw-lower -1000 setp sim-hardware.Yhomesw-pos [AXIS_1]HOME_OFFSET setp sim-hardware.Zmaxsw-upper 1000 setp sim-hardware.Zmaxsw-lower [AXIS_2]MAX_LIMIT setp sim-hardware.Zminsw-upper [AXIS_2]MIN_LIMIT setp sim-hardware.Zminsw-lower -1000 setp sim-hardware.Zhomesw-pos [AXIS_2]HOME_OFFSET net fake-xstep => parport.0.pin-02-out-fake net fake-xdir => parport.0.pin-03-out-fake net fake-ystep => parport.0.pin-04-out-fake net fake-ydir => parport.0.pin-05-out-fake net fake-zstep => parport.0.pin-06-out-fake net fake-zdir => parport.0.pin-07-out-fake net fake-all-home sim-hardware.homesw-all net fake-all-limit sim-hardware.limitsw-all net fake-all-limit-home sim-hardware.limitsw-homesw-all net fake-both-x sim-hardware.Xbothsw-out net fake-max-x sim-hardware.Xmaxsw-out net fake-min-x sim-hardware.Xminsw-out net fake-both-y sim-hardware.Ybothsw-out net fake-max-y sim-hardware.Ymaxsw-out net fake-min-y sim-hardware.Yminsw-out net fake-both-z sim-hardware.Zbothsw-out net fake-max-z sim-hardware.Zmaxsw-out net fake-min-z sim-hardware.Zminsw-out net fake-both-a sim-hardware.Abothsw-out net fake-max-a sim-hardware.Amaxsw-out net fake-min-a sim-hardware.Aminsw-out net fake-home-x sim-hardware.Xhomesw-out net fake-home-y sim-hardware.Yhomesw-out net fake-home-z sim-hardware.Zhomesw-out net fake-home-a sim-hardware.Ahomesw-out net fake-both-home-x sim-hardware.Xbothsw-homesw-out net fake-max-home-x sim-hardware.Xmaxsw-homesw-out net fake-min-home-x sim-hardware.Xminsw-homesw-out net fake-both-home-y sim-hardware.Ybothsw-homesw-out net fake-max-home-y sim-hardware.Ymaxsw-homesw-out net fake-min-home-y sim-hardware.Yminsw-homesw-out net fake-both-home-z sim-hardware.Zbothsw-homesw-out net fake-max-home-z sim-hardware.Zmaxsw-homesw-out net fake-min-home-z sim-hardware.Zminsw-homesw-out net fake-both-home-a sim-hardware.Abothsw-homesw-out net fake-max-home-a sim-hardware.Amaxsw-homesw-out net fake-min-home-a sim-hardware.Aminsw-homesw-out

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10 years 11 months ago #64665 by cr750
Replied by cr750 on topic Moving from EMC to LinuxCNC - Stepper Driver Issue
Still no joy.

As I indicated in my first post, when I run the wizard and "test" the axis, I get an uncommanded step every 5 seconds. Every 5 seconds while the axis test is running.
Does the "axis test" reverse direction automatically? (could I have the step and dir pins reversed?)

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