PnCConf Wizard doesn't launch

Hi all,

I thought I post our question about the PnCConf Wizard here, since it looks like the PnCConf now takes care of configuring QtPlasmaC. I have a basic configuration (manually edited config files) and I am ready to set up QtPlasmaC.

I have set up a computer to control our plasma cutter through a MESA 7i76E card. I got the ethernet connection established between the computer and the card, and I get info about the card when I go "mesaflash --device 7i76e --addr 10.10.10.10 --readhmid" in a terminal. So far, so good. But the PnCConf wizard doesn't launch from the applications menu, and if I try "pncconf" in a terminal then I get the following message :
/usr/bin/pncconf:43: PyGIWarning: Gtk was imported without specifying a version first. Use gi.require_version('Gtk', '3.0') before import to ensure that the right version gets loaded.
  from gi.repository import Gtk as gtk
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/pncconf", line 45, in <module>
    import gtk.glade
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'gtk.glade'

We have a buildbot installation on buster, master-rtpreempt, 2.9, and I have installed glade with "sudo apt-get install glade" in a terminal.  How do we get the PnCConf wizard to work ?

Cheers, Peter

Unfortunately PnCconf was broken by the changeover to python3/GTK3. I have no idea when it will be fixed.

The solution at the moment is to setup another PC or a virtual machine with a version from before the changover and build the config with that.

Probably not the answer you were looking for but that is the current sad state of affairs...
 

Hi Phil,

Thanks for your reply. I have a PC currently controlling the plasma cutter with 2.8 and via parallel ports. Can the PnCConfig wizard in 2.8 be used to setup QtPlasmaC ? I could then transfer the files to the new computer ? Or will that break any symlinks ?

Cheers, Peter

Unfortunately it can't, you need the master branch PnCconf as it is the only one with the QtPlamaC option.

If you are using the same settings and wiring on your master QtPlasmaC machine as the 2.8 PlasmaC machine then you could make a copy of the 2.8 machine config and copy it to the master machine config directory and when you try to run it then it "should" get updated to QtPlasmaC.

A bit worried about the "should", but I will give it a go. Thanks Phil.

CFE wrote:

A bit worried about the "should", but I will give it a go. Thanks Phil.

Haha, that just means that there is no warranty.

Hi Phil,

We will halt implementing the new computer until the issue with the PnCConf wizard is resolved. It's taking up too much time and resources to try the workarounds and we got a working setup on the plasma cutter for now. Is there a way to get notified when the python/PnCConf issue is resolved ?

Cheers, Peter

You won't lose anything if you try the method I explained, you will still have the original and if the auto update doesn't work out then you can just delete it, it won't break anything so long as you have your original on the original 2.8 PC.

The only way to be notified would be to subscribe to the commit list and look for any commits that relate to pncconf being fixed.
sourceforge.net/projects/emc/lists/emc-commit

I will put a post on the forum when it happens.

Hi Phil,

Thanks again.

There is something that is another worry : if PlasmaC is not supported anymore (as the resources are understandably geared towards QtPlasmaC), and QtPlasmaC only runs on 2.9, what happens if a problem develops in an installation with 2.8, while we are waiting for a fix for the PnCConf Wizard in 2.9 ? Because in that case we need to spend more time and resources on trying to migrate the configuration from 1 computer to the other, and pray the thing works.

We are a bit short on time and resources in our busy workshop, and LinuxCNC can eat away quite a few hours when a problem occurs. Don't get me wrong, once LinuxCNC/PlasmaC runs, it works very well and we are happy the way it performs. Kudos to all the unpaid blokes working on it, it's an amazing bit of gear ! It's just those set up problems (like the PnCConf wizard issue) that causes us some frustration.

Cheers, Peter