A BUNCH of probably stupid questions

I apologize for these foolish questions, I'm trying to get everything squared away for later next week when my VFD shows up and I'll be working on the live machine. I'm trying to retrofit PathPilot to a Hurco CNC Kneemill SM1. I'm using a 5i25/77i77. I THINK I'm building config files on PNCconf 2.7 so I can MPG on pins 16-17. Is that going to work? I believe PathPilot is built on 2.6?

What exactly is PNCConf going to give me? ini? hal? bit? I'm sorry, I'm really not up on this, and I've tried, but I'm a bit stupid due to chronic migraine and the meds that go with it. I have to start and stop a lot because of that.

I'd like to reuse many of the physical buttons from the original control, like single block, rapid jog, <PG, axis select, (increment select maybe), brake, coolant, motion hold, spindle on/off, and start. Can I use physical buttons in my config files or is PathPilot going to poop itself? I realize some of these buttons are going to be too complex to set up right away, as I am not as "tech savvy" as I once was, but today while watching videos on PathPilot it struck me that the Tormachs don't seem to have actual, physical buttons.

Is there backlash compensation that i can set? My machine is pretty darn old, I'm going to have backlash.

I'm sure I'm going to have a ton of other questions, and I really appreciate your patience and knowledge.

PncConf will give you ini file, hal file, and a few other files that are needed for a functional config (tool table...).

I have no experience with Path Pilot or its integration with a Linuxcnc config.

Using physical switches such as those are perfectly fine in Linuxcnc, but it does add another layer of complexity, to building the config and wiring the machine.

Yes Linuxcnc has provisions for adjustable backlash compensation. But many older machines have provisions for making adjustment that can minimize backlash. It is far better to reduce rather than compensate for backlash.

Take your time studying the docs and searching the forums and online (Linuxcnc questions usually google well) for answers and ideas.

pncconf will get you going with linuxcnc , however with pathpilot it's a bit different , you'll need to modify the configs to work
by hand , but nothing that cannot be done etc

pathpilot is based on Ubuntu 10_04 and 2.6.3 approx version of Lcnc
using physical switches is fine , it's interfacing that will take time , as PathPilot is essentially hard coded for the GUI , it may require changes , just depends on what buttons you need really .
Backlash ... well you should not have any , this is far better accomplished mechanically than putting your faith in software , but yes it will work ,
in some cases certian Components in Lcnc have been removed in pathpilot as they were deemed not required to be used on Tormach machines , these can be re-instated, if you have the older sources of lcnc .

to use the 5i25/7i77 you will need to change the firmware files (bit files ) used by tormach ( see my tutorials )

Thank you all, I may start in AXIS, or I may ditch the buttons to try to start in PathPilot. Eventually I definitely want to be in PathPilot because I really need/desire the conversational. I'll have the electrical/mechanical done soon, it's the programming I'm uncertain of.