Pathpilot to non tormach machines Tutorial Part1

PathPilot Tutorial Part 1

How to update to use Non Tormach Mesa Bitfiles.

I have shown here how to change to use the default 5i25 bit files we all use , i have shown my default , as i also use the 7i76 addon
card this uses the 5i25_7i76x2.bit file , by default PathPilot loads their own.
Pathpilot includes Mesaflash and this can be automatically triggered to reflash your card and could ruin your day !

in ~/operator is the startup script that controls the startup of
Pathpilot called Operator_login this is what checks for a 5i25 and will re-flash your
mesa 5i25 , if your not careful, so here's what to do , or at least part of it .

to enter command line mode and come out of Pathpilot
press the left Shift & Alt keys at startup of the tormach splash screen .

Also you may find useful the following login & password combinations throughout
your time using PathPilot .
as User - login: operator pw: operator
as Root- login: tormach pw: pcnc1100
also for network access to gcode folder :
Samba-network login: operator pw: pcnc

another way is to connect the drive to another pc and directly edit the files using sudo
which is how i did it .

Now to make the 5i25 default bit file to be loaded instead of tormachs version
download the 5i25 zip file from Mesanet.com
extract the premade file 5i25_7i76x2.bit which is suitable if you also use the 7i76 as i do .
Only the bit file is required to be copyd at this time.
if you are using a personally made bit file then am-mend details to suit .

# first copy the 5i25 bit file to the correct directory dependent on your version ( version shown v1.9.2)
# this needs to be done as sudo .

if doing this on another pc and editing the drive contents then use
sudo cp ~/5i25_7i76x2.bit /media/<YOUR DRIVE>/home/operator/v1.9.2/mesa/

or if directly in your root
sudo cp ~/5i25_7i76x2.bit ~/operator/v1.9.2/mesa/

you will need to set the file permissions for the bit file
group 1002 & owner 1001
so : $ chgrp 1002 <path>/5i25_7i76x2.bit
&
$ chown 1001 <path>/5i25_7i76x2.bit

in fact whenever working on Pathpilot be aware of file permissions , they may not be
what you think they are !.

# Now change the default in the ini files both in the configs folder & the python code
# use sudo gedit to edit ini files the ini file loaded at start up is shown in ~/operator/config_file.txt
# the files to edit are located at ~/operator/tmc/configs/tormach_mill/
# in either the tormach_mill or tormach_lathe depending on what you chose at startup configuration

#the main one is usually tormach_1100-3.ini located in tormach_mill directory,
if your using a lathe configuration then see the tormach_lathe directory...
# other filenames to change are :
tormach_duality_base.ini
tormach_mill_base.ini

# and for Lathe :
tcl240_lathe_5i25.ini
tormach_lathe_5i25.ini

sed should be able to be used to make this easier , someone else better than i with sed scripting may be able to
put this to some use , it would be nice to script the changes needed .
this should do a search & replace on the files listed ,
sed -i s/tormach_mill3/5i25_7i76x2/g tormach_1100-3.ini
sed -i s/tormach_mill3/5i25_7i76x2/g tormach_duality_base.ini


# i would suggest checking all the inifiles and edit approprately
# by finding this section in the ini files above :

[HOSTMOT2]
# **** This is for info only ****
# DRIVER0=hm2_pci
# BOARD0=5i25
# BITFILE0 used by scripts
BITFILE0=mesa/tormach_mill3.bit

# change the bit file to :
BITFILE0=mesa/5i25_7i76x2.bit

# after changing the bit files we now need to make sure that if pathpilot resets
that all our work is not in vain ! ..

so again go to ~operator/v1.9.2/python/config_picker/tormach_ini_file.py
and sudo gedit the lines 67 & 225

# line67
"# BITFILE0 used by scripts\n"
"BITFILE0=mesa/tormach_mill2.bit\n" ( edit this line )

& line 225
"# BITFILE0 used by scripts\n"
"BITFILE0=mesa/tormach_lathe.bit\n" ( this line )

for example i commented the origional and added my bit file
"# BITFILE0=mesa/tormach_lathe.bit\n"
"BITFILE0=mesa/5i25_7i76x2.bit\n"

if you are using a parallel port only i would suggest you
add the hash and comment the line out.

beware if you update you will need to go to the update and re-edit this section

removing the hostmot2 driver from the ini , should allow parallel port configs

also make sure your hal and ini files are ok as any errors will give you , a restart ,
with pathpilot requesting a software update ,

any changes or updates let me know,
so we can keep this updated .
this is the first of a few tutorials that will help Linuxcnc users .
hope it helps

"to enter command line mode and come out of Pathpilot
press the left Ctrl & Alt keys at startup tormach splash screen ."

Bash, I have V1.9.3 and the ctrl/alt isnt working to get out of PP.. any ideas?

thanks

Bill.

use left shift & left alt Keys
also beware if your not in the usa , your keyboard may not be mapped to the correct layout.

i have had this catch me out , when usng a wireless keyboard for example , or when as here in the UK hitting the £ sign gives you something totally different , this will affect the keys , however using a wired ps2 keyboard can overcome this enough for you to login
to the standard UI and be able to change this .
shows up on the header bar as USA , changing this to as in my case Gbr(uk) solved this .

hmm I keep getting the following error:
"
Machine control software experienced an error.

Install a software update.
"

I deleted the other 2 firmware files because I got the firmware message and clicked X instead of OK and it installed the standard firmware. It did update the firmware and I rebooted and now getting this message.

the version I am using for the PP is 1.9.2 and the firmware was from June 2017

You will get that error if you have something wrong in your configuration. If you check the log file it will tell you what pathpilot doesn't like.

hit shift/alt on startup , then open operator/gcode/logfiles/pathpilotlog.txt

The error is at the bottom of log usually right before the logged command to shut down because of error.
Brian

Thanks for the log file location. Looks like I am getting the following error.

usbio : starting
tormach_mill_5i25.hal:217: parameter or pin 'hm2_5i25.0.gpio.005.is_output' not found
Shutting down and cleaning up LinuxCNC...

Am I missing a file or permission issue maybe?

All of the hm2_5i25.0.gpio.0xx pins in Tormachs original hal file will need to be changed
as they refer to pins that are specific to the Tormach firmware and their breakout board

That is if you have a 7I76 breakout, the output pins will be named something entirely different like:
hm2_5i25.0.7i76.0.0.output-00

Where can I pull this info from? The example was for a different breakout board. I am using the 7i76.