Run In Place Installations

I'm almost afraid to ask this, but here goes anyways.

In the Plasmac documentation, it suggests using a Wheezy ISO with Linuxcnc 2.7, and then either doing Buildbot or run in place to get to 2.8 or 2.8. Having done a run in place (2.9) on my newly flashed PC, I have learned that I then had two versions on my PC. The one that came with the .iso, and the Run in Place.

So, in my not-every-day-linux-user mind, I could uninstall the one that came with it (because every time I ran pncconf, and it made a new icon, it wasnt running from the -dev folder, and hence not the latest version. Well, uninstalling broke everything. Further confused because the Plasmac guide tells you to point the linuxcnc-dev to the regular linuxcnc/configs folder.

It also means, that every time you run pncconf, you are running it from the older version. 2.7 in some cases, if you stared with a .iso that had that installed. Because from what I can tell, there is no pncconf in the run in place install.

Lastly, is there an easy way to point all of those old links in the linuxcnc/configs folder that are now broken to the linuxcnc-dev folders? OR, how do I run pncconf from the -dev run in place version to create a new config that points to the right places?

I think one problem with most everything I read in any of the manuals and readme files is it assumes a certain level of Linux knowledge. Maybe everyone makes these mistakes and I'm the only one who runs into this many road blocks. I am certainly learning a lot of what NOT to do.

Any guidance is really appreciated, as always. Seriously, no idea what I would do without all of the help here.

-Greg

snowgoer540 wrote: I'm almost afraid to ask this, but here goes anyways.

In the Plasmac documentation, it suggests using a Wheezy ISO with Linuxcnc 2.7, and then either doing Buildbot or run in place to get to 2.8 or 2.8. Having done a run in place (2.9) on my newly flashed PC, I have learned that I then had two versions on my PC. The one that came with the .iso, and the Run in Place.

So, in my not-every-day-linux-user mind, I could uninstall the one that came with it (because every time I ran pncconf, and it made a new icon, it wasnt running from the -dev folder, and hence not the latest version. Well, uninstalling broke everything. Further confused because the Plasmac guide tells you to point the linuxcnc-dev to the regular linuxcnc/configs folder.

It also means, that every time you run pncconf, you are running it from the older version. 2.7 in some cases, if you stared with a .iso that had that installed. Because from what I can tell, there is no pncconf in the run in place install.

Lastly, is there an easy way to point all of those old links in the linuxcnc/configs folder that are now broken to the linuxcnc-dev folders? OR, how do I run pncconf from the -dev run in place version to create a new config that points to the right places?

I think one problem with most everything I read in any of the manuals and readme files is it assumes a certain level of Linux knowledge. Maybe everyone makes these mistakes and I'm the only one who runs into this many road blocks. I am certainly learning a lot of what NOT to do.

Any guidance is really appreciated, as always. Seriously, no idea what I would do without all of the help here.

-Greg

It recommends the Stretch ISO for Mesa hardware but points to Wheezy is you are only using a parallel port, but distributions don't matter so much. I think Buildbot would have been better for you as you would only have the one version. And now that reverse-run is in 2.8 that would probably be the way to go.
So if you want to keep your machine the way it is, you need to run: before trying to run any executable in the linixcnc-dev directory.

It may be worth your while if you haven't gone too far down the road to redo the machine using the Stretch ISO then switching to 2.8 in the Buildbot

buildbot.linuxcnc.org/

Now that reverse run is in 2.8 and it is now the preferred branch for PlasmaC I have rewritten the install instructions.
The Docs should be updated in an hour or so an hopefully they may be a bit easier to follow.
Let me know if I need to change anything.