How much in the end?
BTW, I've pulled off the ini and hal files from the Tormach install. They don't appear to support an encoder or step/dir. But that's easy to fix. Just becomes a customized Linux CNC install.
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Weiss VM32 CNC Conversion
- Thread starter David
- Start date
BTW, I've pulled off the ini and hal files from the Tormach install. They don't appear to support an encoder or step/dir. But that's easy to fix. Just becomes a customized Linux CNC install.
$130. He didn't have a $109 one left and the other $99 dollar ones were in Vancouver.
Yeah, to get slots you need the regular form factor.
I'm also making progress with the Path Pilot. This is from my windows network. @gerritv provided the info on how to disable automatic running of Path Pilot so now I have a standard Linux Mint interface and with that access to SAMBA (smb.conf) to set up my windows workgroup. Which means I can now drag and drop G-Code files onto the machine.
Now to read up on accessing the MESA board so I can get a dump of how all the I/O is set up and not just for the TMC1100-3. Theoretically I should be able to rewrite the HAL file to use the same I/O I have hard wired on my mill.
Now to read up on accessing the MESA board so I can get a dump of how all the I/O is set up and not just for the TMC1100-3. Theoretically I should be able to rewrite the HAL file to use the same I/O I have hard wired on my mill.
Couldn't do it without @gerritv He's been the real brains behind all this.
Here's mine as far as configuring the MESA 7i92H:
board_ip="192.168.1.121" config=" num_encoders=2 num_pwmgens=1 num_stepgens=6"
Here's the Path Pilot version:
board_ip=10.10.10.10 config=num_encoders=0 num_pwmgens=1 num_3pwmgens=0 num_stepgens=5
Likely the BIT file for the 7i92 used by Path Pilot doesn't have encoders so a few other things have to be changed to make this all come together. For example in the ini file there is:
BITFILE0=mesa/tormach_mill3_7i92.bit
I can put the .bit file I use for my system in place of this but then I also have to make sure I name the appropriate I/O in the hal file to match. Looks like they are using the standard parallel port pin numbers as used for MACH3. This is all a lot of work but it looks possible.
Mine isn't a lot different for the first port except I'm not using Spindle Speed on #1 and instead use that stepgen for my charge pump where Tormach uses pin 17 PWM for the charge pump. But the stepgens match for the 4 axis. My BoB wants ESTOP on Pin10 where it's an X Limit on the Tormach.
These are all just assignments that are easy enough to change. For example in mine...
setp hm2_7i92.0.stepgen.00.step_type 0
setp hm2_7i92.0.stepgen.00.control-type 1
In the Tormach the macros HOSTMOT2 and BOARD are defined in the INI file
[HOSTMOT2]
BOARD=7i92
turns this into exactly the same thing as mine for the X axis.
# X axis
# step/dir
setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.00.step_type 0
# velocity control
setp hm2_[HOSTMOT2](BOARD).0.stepgen.00.control-type 1
Confusing yes. But eventually it does start to make sense.
Thanks @gerritv and @jcdammeyer!!!
BTW, from the concept of embedded CAD into CAM there's NativeCAM which allows drawing simple objects (or maybe not so simple) within the CAM environment.
I suspect it's more powerful than Path Pilot but that like MACH3 Wizards Path Pilot seems to be a tad more graphical.
Here's a video on using NativeCAM.
I suspect it's more powerful than Path Pilot but that like MACH3 Wizards Path Pilot seems to be a tad more graphical.
Here's a video on using NativeCAM.
OK that's actually pretty cool
slow-poke
Ultra Member
Yes, it's a bit daunting BUT usually there is a solution that you are in control of that lets you customize your system to do what you want it to do. That's what I like about it.
Nice. I'm becoming disappointed with Path Pilot. Had it working great. On the network. Rebooted back into the system and couldn't restart Path Pilot. Just crashed each time.
When it was working and I had Path Pilot working it showed up reduced in size because the background was full 1080P.
Finally restored from the backup. Now it's back to working but as soon as I enable SAMBA it starts going south. Can't get back to where I was before. Can't find my USB WiFi thingy to see if it's a hardwired ethernet issue although pulling out the additional card didn't fix it.
Time to quit for the night. Brain is dead.
slow-poke
Ultra Member
Qtdragon
Is that one of the standard GUIs you can select during the install?
I do like the look of it. I'm using Axis on both machines and trying the other GUIs is further down my todo list.
HAL and ini files look intimidating but there actually your best friend when you understand how they work. There are a couple of videos that do a great job of explaining how to tweak them.
In simplest terms, they are simple text based files that are read by the main program at startup. Each line is like a wire in a circuit that joins a hardware point for example a limit switch input to the software engine that controls the machine. The syntax has to be perfect. There are a lot of hooks to the main software engine (hundreds) however you only need to define the ones you need. The HAL interface is fantastic it lets you look and monitor any one of those hooks and defines the type of hook it is for example a simple digital input, a float value, an integer etc. The names for those hooks tend to be long and confusing at first glance but there is a reason for that it's because there are a lot of hooks and they all need to have a unique name. Once you get the hang of it it's fantastic for the flexibility it offers.
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@slow-poke I happened onto Qtdragon because I was looking at using a raspberry Pi on a FlexiHAL and it was the GUI they picked as the default. I quite like the look and feel and it has some rudimentary conversational programming available.
Thanks for the HAL explanation and video link. That's going on my list to watch.
Thanks for the HAL explanation and video link. That's going on my list to watch.
slow-poke
Ultra Member
When watching the video he often references ladder logic. IMO just ignore any reference to ladder logic I didn't apply to anything I did.
Two important tid bits:
1) Typically you start with one of the configurators that has selections for all the normal things like how many axis, how many limit switches etc. The configurator then generates your HAL and ini files.
2) Most of the "wired links" you create require two lines to form the link that use a shared name that you just make up, it can be anything unique, for example, davids_limit_Switch5. So on one line the name gets linked to something in Linux and the other line links it to the hardware that will likely have a somewhat cryptic name that say is a pin on your mesa board. All those mesa board pins are viewable in HAL show, you can just scroll up and down to find the one you want. The only thing to be careful about is that the thing being linked is of the same type. For example you can link a limit switch to say a digital input, but you can't link say the spindle rpm to a digital output.
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@slow-poke is dead on with respect to the HAL and INI files. What was immediately obvious too with the Path Pilot is that they only use one of the two 7i92H parallel ports. For the rest of their I/O they use a USB based 16+16 I/O module. Seems they also have the door switch on the cabinet in series with their limit switches but they also limit the spindle speed with the door open. I guess one would have to also read the Tormach 1100 user manual.
Here are the two files from that path pilot installation.
Here are the two files from that path pilot installation.
Here's a link to the 225 pg. Tormach 1100 manual: