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[00:03:10] <roel01> hi all
[00:03:53] <paul_c> Hi roel01
[00:08:43] <roel01> hi Paul still hanging out here !
[00:09:27] <paul_c> yup - Doing a bit of work in N. Alabama at the mo.
[00:09:41] <Jymmm> sick paul, sick.
[00:11:05] <paul_c> It could be worse...
[00:11:13] <roel01> sick !
[00:11:15] <Jymmm> paul_c: Georgia?
[00:11:58] <paul_c> I could actually be in Alabama
[00:12:13] <roel01> as i can remember he's from england - but now im not sure of that !
[00:12:58] <paul_c> Still just across the North Sea from you.
[00:13:23] <roel01> yeah hehe
[00:13:44] <Jymmm> paul_c: wait a sec... N. Alabama is still IN Alabama. Now, if you are North *OF* Alabama that would make you in TN or KY, which is just as bad =)
[00:14:05] <paul_c> with ssh, I can work just about anywhere in the world.
[00:14:28] <Jymmm> ...and still be out of this world! =)
[00:15:49] <paul_c> wahoo... axis just bombed on me.
[00:17:39] <Jymmm> $150 for a bearing?!
http://bearingsdirect.com/products/index.php?action=category&id=4
[00:21:11] <roel01> must be realy good one
[00:21:35] <Jymmm> I think the $400 one must give a BJ or something.
[00:50:52] <Jymmm> Hmmm.... everyone got quiet on that comment... must be ordering it I guess =)
[00:54:23] <Jymmm> wth?! ---> Maximum Resolution: 0.000025"
[01:11:07] <roel01> im off cu all next time
[01:11:19] <Jymmm> bye bye
[01:11:23] <roel01> :)
[01:50:14] <_AchiestDragon> _AchiestDragon is now known as AchiestDragon
[02:31:09] <_AchiestDragon> _AchiestDragon is now known as AchiestDragon
[03:25:29] <dan_falck> Jymmm: just got my mill back together. cleaned up ballscrews etc...
[03:25:42] <dan_falck> 250 inches a minute rapids so far
[03:25:58] <dan_falck> scary for my little garage shop
[03:31:25] <Jymmm> you dawg!
[03:40:51] <_AchiestDragon> _AchiestDragon is now known as AchiestDragon
[03:45:39] <Jymmm> dan_falck: I'm trying to get the machine setup, but I can't get consistant movement and I'm not sure what/where the problem is (yet) =)
[03:45:53] <dan_falck> ...ok
[03:46:44] <Jymmm> .1" isnt always .1" of movement
[03:47:04] <dan_falck> does a faster or slower feed rate have any effect?
[03:47:14] <Jymmm> I'm goin really slow atm
[03:47:23] <Jymmm> .1" in about 1s
[03:48:19] <dan_falck> can you take pics and post them somewhere?
[03:48:27] <Jymmm> pics of?
[03:48:31] <dan_falck> I'd like to see the setup
[03:48:40] <dan_falck> couplers etc...
[03:48:54] <dan_falck> xylotex?
[03:49:35] <Jymmm> yeah
[03:49:49] <dan_falck> ball screws?
[03:50:38] <Jymmm> yep... 5/8" .2" pitch
[03:51:02] <Jymmm> 5 turn
[03:51:28] <Jymmm> 2:1 belt
[03:51:49] <dan_falck> does everything turn/move easy by hand?
[03:52:00] <Jymmm> mostly
[03:52:44] <dan_falck> which control programs have you used- ie EMC, TurboCNC, Mach etc....
[03:53:44] <Jymmm> atm I'm trying Mach2 demo. I do have TurboCNC I could try. I haven't tried EMC yet, still need to learn the configuration.
[03:54:27] <dan_falck> maybe try TurboCNC to try and eliminate the control program from the equation
[03:54:39] <Jymmm> ok, gimme a few...
[03:55:05] <dan_falck> listening to Lonnie Mack...cool stuff...
[04:09:13] <Jymmm> bah... Now I have to figure out how to config TurboCNC! lol
[04:11:25] <dan_falck> so many programs, so little time....
[04:11:44] <Jymmm> yep, rtfm to found out what they mean by 'micro steps'
[04:12:12] <dan_falck> I'm going back to my shop. Got to find that way lube fitting that's rolling around on the floor somewhere.
[04:12:22] <Jymmm> lol
[04:12:28] <Jymmm> big magnet
[04:12:36] <Jymmm> or 4yo
[04:12:37] <dan_falck> it's brass
[04:12:41] <Jymmm> whichever comes first
[04:12:49] <Jymmm> ok, 4yo it is
[04:12:53] <dan_falck> if it was bacon flavored- dog
[04:13:12] <dan_falck> see ya later
[04:13:17] <Jymmm> see uou screwed up and used brass instead of (pig) ass
[07:40:27] <Jymmm> anyone awake yet?
[07:46:07] <Jymmm> All I can say is.... Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamnnnnn --->
http://www.folkenindustries.com/Products.html
[07:59:37] <Phydbleep> Ummm... $25K for a 'Taig on a table"? That's just "Folken' ridiculous.. :)
[07:59:56] <Jymmm> did you look at the precision?
[08:00:35] <Phydbleep> It better be micro-angstroms for that kind of money..
[08:01:11] <Jymmm> lol
[08:01:30] <Jymmm> Phydbleep you ever used thomson ballscrews?
[08:01:32] <Phydbleep> Repeatabily of it is 0.0001..
[08:01:50] <Phydbleep> Repeatability
[08:02:24] <Phydbleep> Jymmm: Nope.. Never have the money to buy fancy, new, name brand parts. :)
[08:05:45] <Jymmm> oh stop it! lol
[08:07:11] <Phydbleep> Seriously.. I'm using Acetron & Teflon bushings bushings in stuff right now because I found the stock in the plastics supply houses dumpster.
[08:07:38] <Jymmm> that works. I just needed some info about them
[08:07:54] <Phydbleep> WTF key combo did that?
[08:08:13] <Jymmm> ?
[08:08:46] <Phydbleep> Hmm.. Looks like Kanjji in the scrollback.. I only typed 'bushings' once and ended up with it twice.
[08:09:04] <Jymmm> lol
[08:09:40] <Phydbleep> Hehehe... I ended up with a nice stash of Acetron out of the deal.
[08:13:10] <Jymmm> cool
[08:15:23] <Phydbleep> http://www.portplastics.com/download/pdf/plastics/BearingAndWear/BearingAndWear2.pdf
[08:24:06] <Jymmm> I'm reading this -->
http://www.danahermotion.com/PDFs/Catalogs_and_Brochures/BallScrews_and_BallSplines.pdf
[10:15:51] <xet7> What means error: ide:failed opcode was:unknown hda: no DRQ after issuing MULTWRITE_EXT, ide0: reset: success. - I started to get these errors when I tried to apt-get upgrade
[10:16:36] <xet7> But now I've re-installed BDI after that
[10:39:50] <xet7> I'm going through
http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/emcinfo.pl?BDI-4_Install , and when I run ./configure, I get: configure: error: cannot find sources (src/emc/motion/emcmot.h) in . or ..
[10:39:54] <xet7> What's wrong?
[10:44:40] <xet7> Hmm, ok, problem was that I should download emc2 instead of bdi-4 branch, when I figure out
[10:50:04] <xet7> What's the name for emc2 branch?
[10:51:52] <xet7> ok found it on wiki
[12:00:49] <Jacky^> morning
[12:28:29] <xet7> how stable is emc2?
[13:31:22] <_AchiestDragon> _AchiestDragon is now known as AchiestDragon
[13:44:41] <xet7> Hi, when I tried to run EMC2 compiled according to
http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/emcinfo.pl?BDI-4_Compile_EMC2 , my laptop rebooted, is this normal? ;)
[13:50:18] <jepler> no
[13:52:02] <xet7> well, after compiling I made cd ~/emc2 and sudo scripts/emc.run
[13:52:15] <xet7> should I have copied it elsewhere?
[13:52:37] <xet7> or does it need chages to kernel module?
[13:53:28] <xet7> I'm running bdi-4.20.iso
[13:53:36] <jepler> usually emc is run "in place" rather than installing to another directory.
[13:54:00] <xet7> ok I'll try again, just a sec if it crashes... ;)
[13:58:31] <xet7_> xet7_ is now known as xet7
[14:04:06] <xet7> is there something wrong with cvs version of emc2?
[14:04:19] <xet7> or are there better working debs?
[14:20:56] <jepler> I dunno, I run emc1 only
[14:23:08] <cradek> the head of emc2 usually works, except when it doesn't
[14:23:20] <cradek> I suspect it's working now (for simple stepper setups)
[14:23:44] <xet7> is tkEmc in emc2 newer than in emc1? What new features?
[14:24:13] <cradek> I think tkemc has been pretty feature-complete for a long time
[14:24:31] <cradek> the one in emc2 has probably been changed a bit to work with emc2.
[14:24:51] <cradek> I don't think anyone is working on adding new features or bugs to tkemc.
[14:26:17] <xet7> Are there known bugs in tkEmc and emc1?
[14:26:34] <cradek> yes
[14:26:44] <cradek> tkemc has at least one serious bug (in my opinion)
[14:26:52] <cradek> nobody else seems to care about it, though, and I don't use tkemc
[14:27:28] <cradek> (the bug I'm talking about is the one where it doesn't stop jogging when you release the jog key)
[14:27:42] <xet7> what do you use then?
[14:27:47] <cradek> AXIS
[14:28:14] <xet7> do jogging in AXIS works better?
[14:28:21] <cradek> yes, it works properly
[14:28:31] <cradek> you can jog in all three axis at once if you want, by pressing the three jog keys
[14:28:51] <xet7> what about 5 axes?
[14:29:19] <cradek> there are no key shortcuts for axes over 3
[14:29:29] <cradek> I doubt axis has ever been tested with more than 3 axes.
[14:29:57] <cradek> but I think you can jog using the jog buttons.
[14:30:34] <xet7> is axis programmed in python and tk or something else?
[14:30:38] <cradek> yes
[14:31:04] <xet7> does it use python megawidgers or something else gui toolkit?
[14:31:12] <xet7> megawidgets
[14:31:13] <cradek> looks like the A axis is jogged by [ ]
[14:31:33] <cradek> actually I think I have used it with 4 axes
[14:32:02] <cradek> it uses the tk and BLT widgets
[14:32:17] <cradek> and GL of course
[14:32:47] <cradek> I have not had 4 axes on my mill for a while, but I think back when I did, I was already using AXIS
[14:33:41] <jepler> it would not be hard to add bindings for another axis, if you can choose the keys
[14:33:56] <cradek> yeah, you can do it in one line
[14:34:07] <jepler> around line 1187 of axis.py there are a series of calls to bind_axis. Just make a ne wline for axis 4
[14:34:17] <xet7> can you pause axis and edit current line's G-Code?
[14:34:25] <jepler> pause, yes. edit, no.
[14:34:38] <cradek> emc can only reread the entire file
[14:34:41] <cradek> it's not a gui issue
[14:35:41] <xet7> so with emc is it possible to generate G-Code in axis and python and then on the fly run it with emc?
[14:35:59] <cradek> axis does not generate gcode
[14:36:10] <cradek> but of course you can generate gcode with any programming language
[14:36:25] <cradek> you will have to write it to a file, then load it in emc
[14:37:24] <cradek> wait, maybe I understand what you mean
[14:37:32] <xet7> so, if I keep count on what line I am, pause/stop it, generate new G-Code with my own Python code, and run that file, then it would work?
[14:37:59] <cradek> sure, you can stop the program at any time and load a new program
[14:39:10] <xet7> so G-code always needs to be in file, no for example socket connection to emc?
[14:39:48] <jepler> the development version of axis has a way to run a filter on any file it opens, then the filtered version is what is displayed / sent to emc
[14:40:00] <jepler> maybe this feature would be appropriate for you, it could run your program each time
[14:40:18] <jepler> the feature is buggy if you use offsets, though, as chris discovered last week
[14:40:35] <jepler> (chris == cradek)
[14:40:41] <xet7> what kind of bug?
[14:40:53] <cradek> for some things, axis does generate a line of g-code programmatically and sends it to the interpreter as an MDI command
[14:40:58] <cradek> maybe this is what you're asking about.
[14:41:08] <cradek> axis does this to change offsets, for instance
[14:41:12] <jepler> the bug is that after you hit shift-home emc can't find the file anymore
[14:41:21] <cradek> of course you can't do that wile a program is running.
[14:41:29] <jepler> I should fix that bug
[14:41:47] <cradek> jepler: that does a reload - maybe you broke reload in general
[14:42:33] <jepler> no, because as soon as I commented out the filter line in emc.ini, changing the offsets with shift-home worked again
[14:42:51] <cradek> but with a filter, does reload work?
[14:43:53] <jepler> oh, I see what you're asking
[14:43:55] <jepler> no, I assume it's broken too
[14:44:18] <xet7> when running emc, are there any things that could interfere with real time kernel code? does networking, burning CD:s, accessing floppy drive work while running G-Code?
[14:44:51] <cradek> all of linux runs while the realtime code is idle; it has absolute priority
[14:44:58] <jepler> If any of those things do interfere I'd call it a bug in the realtime kernel
[14:45:02] <cradek> that's the point of the realtime kernel
[14:45:34] <xet7> cool :)
[14:46:17] <jepler> that said, paul_c has blamed certain video chipsets and SCSI cards for problems when running real time software
[14:46:27] <xet7> which one?
[14:46:43] <jepler> I don't know about SCSI, but any video that is "on board" he seems to view as suspect
[14:46:53] <cradek> in particular, onboard video that uses system ram as video ram
[14:47:12] <xet7> like my laptop :)
[14:47:18] <cradek> at least one of my realtime systems is scsi
[14:47:26] <cradek> I think scsi problems are peculiar to BDI, not realtime
[14:47:36] <xet7> maybe that's why it crashed while trying to run emc2 ;)
[14:47:44] <cradek> xet7: I've had trouble using a laptop, but some people use them successfully
[14:49:28] <xet7> what means error: "ide: failed opcode was:unknown hda: no DRQ after issuing MULTWRITE_EXT, ide0: reset: success"
[14:49:45] <cradek> xet7: on mine, emc would be interrupted every time the processor fan turned on or off
[14:50:17] <cradek> xet7: do you have one of those ide chipsets that requires special hackery in the kernel?
[14:50:41] <xet7> it's sis chipset
[14:50:54] <cradek> * cradek shrugs
[14:50:58] <cradek> I don't know much about it
[14:51:08] <cradek> maybe you can force it to use PIO mode
[14:51:18] <xet7> how?
[14:51:51] <cradek> something on the kernel command line maybe? I don't know without researching it
[14:52:10] <xet7> well, anyway it doesn't have parallel port, I only use it for development, and test with other pc
[14:52:25] <xet7> AMD Sempron
[14:52:28] <cradek> ah, then it doesn't matter
[14:53:02] <cradek> a laptop is probably a poor choice for controlling a mill.
[14:53:18] <xet7> anyway it seems to run ok after installing BDI, if I don't try to upgrade it with apt-get
[14:54:53] <xet7> is installing axis just unarchive and run, or must I compile or apt-get something? I got python 2.3 box checked while installing BDI.
[14:55:18] <cradek> which BDI? I think there has been some AXIS that came with it since 4.20
[14:55:29] <cradek> in 4.23 (?) paul updated it to the latest version
[14:55:39] <cradek> the AXIS on 4.20 is pretty old and I think it has a few bugs.
[14:55:49] <xet7> where I can download BDI 4.23?
[14:56:10] <cradek> I think paul_c said 4.23 is coming in the next day or two
[14:56:31] <jepler> there are also update AXIS packages for 4.20.
[14:56:32] <jepler> Subject: [Emc-users] new emc and axis packages for BDI-4.20
[14:57:41] <jepler> if you don't have the message I can forward you a copy, it gives instructions on how to change apt's sources.list so you can download and install the packages.
[14:58:19] <xet7> cool :) you can /msg me with that too
[14:58:44] <xet7> or is it in archives and some url?
[14:59:08] <jepler> I am pretty sure there are archives but I don't know the URL
[14:59:18] <xet7> thanks :)
[14:59:37] <cradek> jepler: you should stick that email on the axis website
[14:59:57] <jepler> cradek: good idea
[15:00:12] <jepler> http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum=emc-users http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_id=7989777&forum_id=33140
[15:04:13] <xet7> I'll go walk outside for a while...
[15:07:35] <jepler> news posted on axis website
[15:07:40] <jepler> http://axis.unpy.net/index.cgi/01124719485
[15:07:43] <cradek> thanks
[15:09:56] <xet7> hmm, when I go with web browser to that deb address, there is time out... is there other mirrors?
[15:10:32] <cradek> xet7: you'll have to ask paul_c
[15:10:57] <xet7> ok
[15:15:31] <xet7> is there internationalization support in axis?
[15:15:46] <xet7> localization I mean
[15:15:57] <xet7> other than editing source codes
[15:16:05] <xet7> strings in one file?
[15:17:19] <xet7> ok going out to walk
[15:34:01] <AchiestDragon_> AchiestDragon_ is now known as AchiestDragon
[15:36:59] <jepler> xet7: no, there's no internationalization.
[15:37:51] <jepler> xet7: The axis.nf file is set up for internationalization, but there's a bunch of support code that's not written yet
[15:43:35] <jepler> hm, and xgettext just hangs when run on axis.nf
[15:43:37] <jepler> that's unfortunate
[15:56:59] <paul_c> dunno wth is up with axis, but it crashes and takes X down with it.
[16:05:32] <cradek> sounds like a GL or X problem
[16:05:38] <cradek> (obviously)
[16:05:58] <cradek> we had that problem in an earlier BDI too
[16:06:54] <paul_c> Well... I'm open to suggestions as to a viable fix.
[16:07:08] <cradek> try running another opengl application like glxgears
[16:07:23] <cradek> (it will probably crash X too)
[16:07:45] <cradek> unfortunately, we never figured out the problem
[16:08:28] <cradek> we tried apt-get this-and-that and GL never worked right.
[16:12:25] <paul_c> glxgears runs OK - 40-65fps
[16:14:54] <cradek> try ten of them, or a larger window, or a complicated GL screen saver
[16:14:54] <cradek> sometimes it was hard to get it to crash, but it always would after a while.
[16:14:54] <cradek> when it crashes do you get anything on stdout from axis? does it crash when you do a particular thing?
[16:16:13] <Jymmm> Mornin
[16:16:48] <paul_c> $random crash - Pan or zoom appear to be a good trigger
[16:18:04] <paul_c> No printouts from std or err - X gets taken down so fast...
[16:18:34] <paul_c> strace reveals nothing out of the ordinary...
[16:19:31] <paul_c> although attaching strace to a running axis makes it virtually unusable.
[16:21:47] <cradek> probably X is crashing and taking out AXIS, not the other way around
[16:21:51] <cradek> look for a sig 11 in your X log
[16:23:12] <cradek> when we were working on this, it would sometimes draw some wrong stuff before crashing (extra lines, lines disappearing, wrong color, etc)
[16:23:25] <cradek> ... while rotating or something
[16:23:56] <cradek> we also saw glxgears draw incorrectly (triangles missing) before a crash
[16:24:10] <cradek> and I'm pretty sure we got sig11 in the X log
[16:24:33] <websys> What graphics card is being used?
[16:24:35] <cradek> I think I tried to enable core dumps on the X server (cmd line switch) but didn't get a meaningful backtrace from the core
[16:25:12] <cradek> I think we had an nvidia; we tried the nv AND vesa drivers
[16:25:23] <cradek> they both acted the same
[16:25:42] <Jymmm> websys (Trident 8600 w/ 256K vram =)
[16:25:46] <paul_c> C&T 69000 - No 3D hardware..
[16:26:17] <websys> Bet upgrading to an ATI with better GL support would solve it
[16:26:20] <cradek> paul_c: do you have a sig11 in the X log?
[16:26:57] <cradek> websys: possibly, but it's important for the software-only GL to work on BDI
[16:27:35] <Jymmm> websys : Ya, for poor bastard like me =)
[16:27:40] <websys> agreed - but the drivers need to be re-written
[16:27:58] <cradek> * cradek is not a Mesa developer and never wants to be
[16:29:06] <Jymmm> cradek nvidia is hiring BIG TIME
[16:29:24] <paul_c> caught SIG11
[16:29:31] <Jymmm> cradek: US-CA-Santa Clara Linux Graphics Software Engineer NVIDIA Corporation APPLY
[16:30:15] <cradek> paul_c: do you have symbols in your X? Can you get a core and backtrace?
[16:31:24] <cradek> -core causes the server to generate a core dump on fatal errors.
[16:32:18] <xet7> paul_c: your deb repository (
http://axis.unpy.net/index.cgi/01124719485) gives time out errors when accessing with web browser, could you fix it?
[16:37:55] <paul_c> cradek: Running standard Debian here - debug symbols are normally stripped
[16:38:11] <cradek> paul_c: darn.
[16:41:55] <paul_c> and X didn't coredump.
[16:42:10] <cradek> it won't unless you start it with -core
[16:42:15] <cradek> it's a "feature"
[16:53:48] <jepler> last time we ran into the "AXIS crashes the X server" problem on BDI, we found that running "glxgears" would show weird drawing defects and also crash the server after a little while.
[16:53:58] <jepler> like chris said, we tried nv and vesa
[16:54:20] <paul_c> startx -- -core
[17:16:05] <paul_c> OK... That's looking a little more stable....
[17:18:23] <cradek> what did you change?
[17:26:20] <paul_c> leave that to chug along for a bit.... Just to see if it does crash again.... If it doesn't, I'll hard code the mesa lib dependencies in to control.
[17:26:40] <cradek> you had mismatched mesa libraries of some sort?
[17:37:32] <paul_c> nope.
[17:45:55] <cradek> so are you saying you fixed something but won't tell me what, or you think -core fixed it?
[17:47:21] <paul_c> I hadn't mix'n'matched mesa libs
[17:47:54] <paul_c> but switching to freeglut3 appears to have cured it.
[17:48:25] <cradek> I don't think axis uses glut...
[17:48:36] <cradek> but maybe something pulls it in, who knows
[17:55:41] <xet7> How do I install axis on on bdi-4.20 ? trying to install nightly build gives errors (extensions/emcmodule.cc:1253: error: `EMC_TASK_INTERP_WAITING' undeclared etc...)
[17:57:13] <paul_c> jepler: Did you use that last diff I emailed you ?
[18:00:24] <paul_c> xet7: What commandline options are you using for axis build ?
[18:01:52] <xet7> sudo env EMCROOT=/usr/local PLAT=nonrealtime python setup.py install
[18:02:02] <xet7> does it need something else?
[18:02:12] <paul_c> drop the PLAT
[18:02:55] <xet7> then it says "setup.py failed to locate the (non-realtime) platform of your emc installation..."
[18:03:20] <paul_c> replace install with build
[18:04:11] <paul_c> and use /usr/local/emc for the EMCROOT
[18:04:57] <xet7> OSError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/usr/local/emc/emc/plat'
[18:05:26] <paul_c> 'k... That answers my question to jepler...
[18:06:28] <xet7> tracebFile "setup.py", line 132, in ? emcplat = os.getenv("PLAT", find_emc_plat(emcroot)) File "setup/emc_setup.py", line 25, in find_emc_plat for plat in ['nonrealtime'] + os.listdir(emcplatdir):
[18:06:35] <paul_c> try using apt-get to download python-axis
[18:06:53] <xet7> what apt-get line?
[18:07:24] <paul_c> deb
http:///81.100.211.99/debian/ ./
[18:08:02] <paul_c> tea time. back later
[18:09:37] <Jymmm> anyone use thomson ballscrews?
[18:09:39] <xet7> ok it's downloading. What command then starts axis?
[18:42:02] <Jacky^> is possible to calculate the current required by a stepper ?
[18:42:44] <Jymmm> I would think so.... based on the specs.
[18:42:56] <Jacky^> hi Jymmm :)
[18:43:05] <Jymmm> you read MAriss whitepaper?
[18:43:10] <Jacky^> 22 V DC power supply
[18:43:11] <Jymmm> I think it has the calculations.
[18:43:30] <Jacky^> 2 A /phase, 1,1 ohm
[18:45:40] <Jacky^> Jymmm: can't find any link about MArris ..
[18:45:52] <xet7> File "plat/nonrealtime/bin/axis", line 61, in ? import gcode ImportError: /usr/lib/python2.3/site-packages/gcode.so: undefined symbol: _ZN7InifileC1Ev
[18:46:45] <xet7> I changed to emc.ini: DISPLAY = axis and tried to sudo ./emc.run
[18:47:49] <Jacky^> probably you need some python libs..
[18:47:56] <xet7> ok
[18:48:08] <Jacky^> not sure, try ..
[18:52:56] <Jacky^> Jymmm: should the current on stepper be proportional to voltage ?
[18:53:14] <Jacky^> high voltage = minor current ?
[18:53:22] <Jymmm> Jacky^
http://www.geckodrive.com/ycom/documents/C163R21_step_motor_white_paper.pdf
[18:53:33] <Jacky^> Jymmm: thanks
[18:53:39] <Jymmm> Jacky^
http://www.geckodrive.com/support.htbml
[18:55:57] <Timbo_> Timbo_ is now known as Timbo
[18:56:16] <xet7> Ok, I tried to "apt-get install python-tk python-opengl", but it freezed and had to reboot, maybe it's problem with testing, then I'll try sarge
[19:04:22] <cradek> xet7: what emc are you using?
[19:04:27] <cradek> gah
[19:05:36] <cradek> xet7: what emc are you using?
[19:06:12] <xet7> emc1
[19:06:21] <cradek> from cvs head?
[19:06:58] <xet7> no, default in BDI
[19:07:05] <xet7> 4.20
[19:07:13] <cradek> huh
[19:07:27] <cradek> is the axis the one that came on bdi, or is it newer?
[19:07:36] <xet7> newer I think
[19:08:07] <xet7> I just installed from paul_c:s deb
[19:08:23] <cradek> someone introduced a gratuitious API incompatibility in emc1 not long ago
[19:08:31] <cradek> I think that might be the problem for you
[19:08:54] <xet7> when I tried to use emc2 (compiled from source) it freezed system
[19:09:01] <xet7> today from cvs
[19:09:10] <cradek> maybe your PERIOD was too small
[19:09:24] <xet7> I check
[19:10:44] <xet7> where is ini file in emc2 dir?
[19:10:56] <cradek> configs/ or something like that I think
[19:11:52] <xet7> BASE_PERIOD = 0.000050
[19:12:00] <xet7> what should it be?
[19:12:08] <cradek> is it the same as your emc1 that works?
[19:12:24] <xet7> I check
[19:13:21] <xet7> PERIOD = 0.000016 - works with tkEmc but crashes with axis
[19:14:42] <cradek> what happens when it crashes?
[19:15:19] <xet7> screen freezes, I can't move mouse, must reboot
[19:15:24] <xet7> with power button
[19:15:32] <xet7> with power button
[19:15:40] <cradek> does axis come up before it locks?
[19:15:59] <xet7> It shows welcome screen and then freezes
[19:16:50] <xet7> the startup image I mean
[19:17:02] <xet7> haven't seen actual interface yet
[19:17:45] <cradek> huh
[19:17:51] <cradek> can you run glxgears without lockup?
[19:18:06] <xet7> where I install it from?
[19:18:18] <cradek> you should have it
[19:18:26] <xet7> ok I'll try
[19:19:13] <xet7> yes it works 815 frames in 5.0 seconds = 163.000 FPS
[19:19:59] <cradek> I don't know what's wrong then...
[19:20:30] <xet7> maybe I should try emc2 with PERIOD = 0.000016
[19:24:24] <jepler> axis has bugs but it never hard-locks my machine
[19:25:59] <xet7> wierd
[19:27:12] <xet7> I'll try to remove axis and install it again, if some older version conflicts
[19:28:24] <jepler> are you installing from source? Try using "python setup.py install --force".
[19:28:36] <xet7> ok
[19:29:05] <jepler> sometimes setup.py decides that it doesn't need to install a new copy of files based on timestamps, but IMO that's error-prone
[19:29:30] <jepler> using --force tells it to copy all files
[19:30:55] <xet7> OSError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/usr/local/emc/emc/plat'
[19:31:47] <xet7> sudo env EMCROOT=/usr/local/emc python setup.py install --force - how should I modify it
[19:32:16] <xet7> paul said previously but I'd had to dig it from irc logs
[19:35:17] <jepler> I don't know, I've never built AXIS on BDI4
[19:36:56] <xet7> I'm installing (apt-get install python-dev xlibmesa-dev) and then trying to build
[19:37:09] <xet7> what have you used to build axis?
[19:38:46] <jepler> I don't actually have a CNC machine of my own, I build axis on redhat 9 and fedora core 2 machines, emc1, with no realtime setup ("simulator" only)
[19:47:52] <Jymmm> * Jymmm hands jepler two copiers, 14 dot matorx printers and 20 feet of 1/4"-20 allthread... have fun!
[19:48:03] <Jymmm> matrix
[19:48:16] <xet7> well, I could try install axis on ubuntu linux
[19:52:59] <jepler> Jymmm: well I did convert a machine to CNC but I never got it to work well with emc.
http://axis.unpy.net/index.cgi/etchcnc
[19:53:28] <Jymmm> jepler: what was the problem in respect to emc?
[19:54:08] <Jymmm> jepler: btw.... I like it. For soem reason I thought Chris built the pcb and etchasketch thingy
[19:54:17] <jepler> no, that's my creation
[19:54:39] <jepler> emc seems to have some kind of issue with small scales, and this thing is only 68 steps per inch
[19:54:41] <Jymmm> very cool... I want to build one one of these days.
[19:54:48] <paul_c> jepler: Did you receive my diff on Thursday ?
[19:55:07] <Jymmm> jepler: Instead of EMC for it, what did you use?
[19:55:28] <jepler> paul_c: oh yeah, I did see it .. I forgot about it though
[19:56:38] <paul_c> fixes the install target - I'd just been testing the build...
[19:56:46] <jepler> Jymmm: like the page says, I wrote my own non-realtime program to control the parallel port. Since I could accelerate instantly from stopped to 2ipm I don't need to have perfect pulse-trains
[19:57:06] <jepler> er, 2ips
[19:57:28] <jepler> and 140 steps per second average is well within reach of a simple userspace program on linux
[19:58:02] <jepler> paul_c: I'm looking at the patch now
[19:58:22] <paul_c> 'k
[19:58:28] <jepler> paul_c: this is the one that says something about "a minor change to the emc2 fingerprint"?
[19:58:38] <paul_c> Yes.
[19:58:58] <xet7> paul_c: I can run glxgears fine, but only default included emc1 with tkEnc works, emc1 & axis freezes pc, emc2 & axis freezes pc, emc2 & tkEmc freezes pc
[19:59:10] <paul_c> and quietly fixes BDI-4 install
[20:00:26] <paul_c> xet7: What do you have PERIOD set to ?
[20:01:16] <xet7> 16 with working emc1 & tkEnc
[20:01:39] <paul_c> and the MHz of your computer ?
[20:02:02] <xet7> AMD Sempron, how I check MHz?
[20:02:08] <jepler> paul_c: OK, your patch of Thursday is committed
[20:02:24] <xet7> I bought it 1/2 years ago
[20:02:27] <jepler> xet7: grep MHz /proc/cpuinfo
[20:02:50] <xet7> cpu MHz : 798.300
[20:03:35] <jepler> so, 800MHz give or take
[20:03:39] <xet7> 512 MB RAM
[20:03:44] <paul_c> 800MHz... Set PERIOD to 0.00002
[20:03:48] <Jymmm> jepler: you have some neat stuff up there =)
[20:04:23] <jepler> Jymmm: thanks. My newer projects are on
http://emergent.unpy.net/ but I didn't have that site yet when I wanted to talk about the etch-a-sketch cnc.
[20:09:41] <Jymmm> jepler: Heh... my shake led flashlight uses a 1F cap
[20:10:16] <xet7_> xet7_ is now known as xet7
[20:11:38] <xet7> I changed to emc2 dir and then ./scripts/emc.run , and before it modified emc2/config/emc.ini
[20:11:48] <xet7> still it freezed
[20:12:27] <xet7> or should I specify ini file on command line?
[20:12:56] <paul_c> if you edited emc.ini, no need to.
[20:13:31] <xet7> I got emc2 today from cvs and compiled it
[20:14:30] <xet7> Sometimes I see welcome screen of emc2 but haven't yet seen axis interface
[20:14:48] <xet7> I installed axis from your deb source
[20:15:09] <xet7> because installing from nightly snapshot didn't work
[20:16:00] <xet7> does your patch fix these errors?
[20:16:11] <paul_c> one sec - Uploading axis from last nights snapshot - You can be the first to test
[20:16:21] <xet7> great :)
[20:18:30] <paul_c> apt-get update && apt-get install python2.3-axis
[20:19:43] <xet7> should I try it with emc1 or emc2?
[20:20:10] <paul_c> It will only work with emc-1.0 for BDI-4
[20:20:37] <xet7> I get some locale errors, does it matter? /usr/share/i18n/locales/fi_FI:2166: LC_TIME: unknown character in field `abmon'
[20:21:18] <paul_c> A reboot might be wise - libc6 will have been updated.
[20:22:09] <xet7> ok
[20:27:39] <xet7> when I started emc1 from desktop shortcut, it freezed again, I changed ini file to axis and period 2
[20:28:08] <paul_c> Hrmm... python2.3-axis didn't pull in the updated emc-1.0 package...
[20:28:26] <xet7> ok. I'll try to install that
[20:28:39] <robin_sz> meep?
[20:28:44] <paul_c> can you "dpkg -l | grep emc"
[20:30:02] <xet7> I'm installing new emc now with deb
[20:30:33] <xet7> emc 0.0.1-20 emc-docs 4.0-2
[20:30:55] <xet7> that's while still downloading deb
[20:33:03] <xet7> ok it freezed again with new emc1 and axis and period 2
[20:33:12] <xet7> I'm irccing with other pc
[20:34:10] <paul_c> Just the GUI freezes, or the whole box ?
[20:34:20] <xet7> mouse doesn't move
[20:34:45] <xet7> so I turn power off and boot again
[20:34:55] <paul_c> what is the exact number for PERIOD ?
[20:35:11] <xet7> 0.000002
[20:35:26] <paul_c> too many zeros
[20:35:33] <paul_c> 0.00002
[20:37:25] <xet7> I changed it, and it freezed again
[20:37:51] <xet7> didn't show startup screen
[20:37:51] <paul_c> try 0.000025
[20:38:29] <xet7> ok
[20:39:25] <paul_c> make sure it is only four zeros after the decimal point
[20:41:57] <xet7> it tried loading longer and then freezed
[20:42:06] <xet7> yes I counted zeros
[20:43:07] <xet7> I can try does it still load tkEmc
[20:45:22] <paul_c> try 0.00003 - If that doesn't work....
[20:46:24] <xet7> when I tried to run tkEmc, it said: iniaxis.cc 750: bad return from emcAxisSetStepParams
[20:46:34] <xet7> tried to run from command line
[20:46:38] <xet7> and didn't start
[20:46:47] <jepler> yeah, it won't run unless some other parts of emc have already been started
[20:50:43] <xet7> X Error failed request: GLXBadRendererRequest Major opcode failed request: 144 (GLX) Minor ... 1 (X:GLXRender) ... number of failed ... 851
[20:52:02] <xet7> that was from command line. When I started it from icon, it showed startup image and then exited
[20:52:12] <xet7> and that's with axis
[20:52:18] <xet7> no freezes yet
[20:54:26] <xet7> iniFind is depreciated - showed too when started from command line
[20:54:56] <paul_c> ignore that - It's a reminder for JMK
[20:56:17] <xet7> well, some progress anyway, it doen't freeze, and shows errors... now if I could get it to progress to gui...
[20:57:44] <paul_c> one sec... Have you been editing emc.ini and then clicking on the desktop icons ?
[20:58:36] <xet7> well, both... from command line it shows errors, from desktop icons it doesn't show errors, but anyway exit after showing startup image
[20:59:20] <paul_c> the desktop icons use different ini files.
[21:01:14] <xet7> hmm, now it freezed when I did run it with ./emc.run from /usr/local/emc dir, using emc.ini
[21:01:30] <xet7> should I still increase from 0.00003?
[21:01:56] <xet7> or try again after it has booted
[21:02:24] <paul_c> if it freezes with 0.00003 on an 800MHz box, increasing it again won't help
[21:02:53] <paul_c> What might be worth trying.... Boot from the BDI-4.20 CD
[21:03:15] <paul_c> and at the first screen with the red swirl, type
[21:03:19] <paul_c> memtest86
[21:03:36] <paul_c> run that for an hour or so....
[21:04:31] <robin_sz> then get an eBay account and try and purchase some goats blood and some chicken bones
[21:05:17] <paul_c> robin_sz: stuffit.
[21:05:36] <robin_sz> hmmm, humour levels seem to be low today ...
[21:06:22] <xet7> when I tried it with 0.000025 it showed emctaskmain.cc 2638: can't initialize motion
[21:06:48] <xet7> the problem before was that I didn't use sudo :( silly me
[21:06:56] <robin_sz> ahh
[21:07:05] <xet7> but it loaded longer now than before
[21:07:15] <xet7> it didn't start still
[21:07:43] <xet7> but showed startup image, and some time after it tried to run, and then exited
[21:07:48] <xet7> longer than before
[21:08:07] <robin_sz> apologies, my reference to goats blood and chicken bones seems to have upset paul_c and hes buggered off in a bit of a hissy fit. you'll have to wait for him to stop spitting feathers .. or try the thing with goats blood, it 8sometimes* works
[21:08:28] <xet7> ok I'll try memtest
[21:08:50] <robin_sz> some machines just dont do realtime very well ...
[21:08:55] <robin_sz> mobo issues etc
[21:11:19] <xet7> that's AMD Sempron laptop, and integrated video card uses 32 mb main memory
[21:11:41] <robin_sz> ahh ...
[21:11:54] <robin_sz> did you by chance mention this before?
[21:12:48] <xet7> I think I sometime said this
[21:13:00] <robin_sz> integrated video, using main memory as video memory has been known to completely stuff realtime apps
[21:13:23] <xet7> Well, could it work with this Pentium II pc I'm using now, with 256 MB ram?
[21:13:54] <robin_sz> as a live install? or a normal HD install?
[21:14:11] <xet7> as normal HD install
[21:14:23] <xet7> I tried to run live cd but it was slow
[21:14:35] <robin_sz> right
[21:14:40] <robin_sz> 233mhz?
[21:16:20] <robin_sz> it isnt that slow ... depends on what you need it to do I guess
[21:16:38] <xet7> It doesn't matter if it's slow on this PC, just that it starts axis
[21:16:53] <robin_sz> right
[21:17:37] <robin_sz> there are some realtime tests you can do on the laptop, that work out how much latnecy and badness is going on
[21:17:44] <xet7> so isn't it possible to run BDI on vmware on that laptop? or is it same memory issues?
[21:17:54] <xet7> what realtime tests?
[21:18:19] <robin_sz> vmware? and RT linux? hmmm .. dont think that will work to be hoenst
[21:19:25] <xet7> what should be period number for this PentiumII pc?
[21:19:49] <robin_sz> vmware works in a similar way to the RT sceduler ...
[21:20:14] <robin_sz> it would interact horribly as far as I know
[21:21:16] <robin_sz> period on a 266 .. 0.00005 maybe ...
[21:21:54] <robin_sz> not too sure
[21:25:17] <robin_sz> there was a plan once to have a small task that ran, timed itself and had a guess at configuring a starting value for period ... to save some of this problems
[21:32:45] <xet7> I'm burning files to cd so I can install BDI to this pc
[21:34:08] <xet7> is there any hope to my laptop even starting axis gui, without being realtime? I'd like to develop gui with it...
[21:34:21] <cradek> yes, realtime is not needed for emc1 or axis
[21:35:10] <robin_sz> well yeah, you could run emc.sim
[21:35:51] <xet7> does emc.sim work with BDI?
[21:36:19] <cradek> no
[21:36:25] <robin_sz> now, I think not
[21:36:34] <cradek> well, old versions of BDI, yes
[21:36:36] <cradek> not BDI 4
[21:36:48] <robin_sz> 2.17 was the last I saw it on
[21:36:57] <cradek> probably works on bdi-live
[21:37:40] <robin_sz> ISTR it wasn't compiled by defautl on live ...
[21:37:51] <xet7> can I run newest bdi and axis with emc.sim on livecd?
[21:38:31] <robin_sz> does your live CD have emc.sim on it?
[21:38:51] <cradek> grrrrr
[21:38:52] <cradek> * cradek grumbles
[21:40:27] <robin_sz> I suspect that laptop with integrated video and shared memory for main/video will give trouble for realtime
[21:40:37] <xet7> but why on BDI 4.20 and original tkEmc and emc1 runs ok? what's so different in axis?
[21:41:25] <robin_sz> emc1 runs fine on a BDI 4.20 on that laptop?
[21:41:28] <cradek> xet7: I also suspect your hardware.
[21:41:33] <xet7> yes
[21:42:06] <xet7> when I installed BDI 4.20 and started it, it shows gui and runs G-Code
[21:42:12] <cradek> xet7: maybe axis/gl/mesa wants to use mit-shm or some other advanced X feature that causes problems
[21:42:20] <cradek> xet7: try a non-laptop machine, if you can
[21:43:03] <robin_sz> his non-laptop is a PII 266, bit slow, but should be OK
[21:43:31] <cradek> yes, that's pretty slow for GL, but a good test case
[21:43:41] <cradek> especially if it has a real video card
[21:43:47] <robin_sz> yeah
[21:44:26] <xet7> this PC has NVidia Riva TNT2 AGP video card with 32 MB RAM if I remember correctly
[21:44:35] <cradek> good
[21:44:56] <robin_sz> AGP on an old PII 266?
[21:45:04] <xet7> yes
[21:45:12] <robin_sz> suppose it must be an early AGP
[21:45:28] <cradek> I have a PII/266 with AGP + PCI + ISA in front of me
[21:45:44] <robin_sz> not a bad sort of choice I guess
[21:46:03] <robin_sz> ISA is getting hard to find on anything non ancient these days
[21:46:06] <cradek> it's easy to get 4-600 MHz machines with AGP + ISA
[21:46:12] <xet7> ok installing
[21:46:14] <robin_sz> thank $deity for eBay!
[21:46:59] <cradek> thank $microsoft_release_of_the_month for all this perfectly-good old hardware everyone has laying around
[21:47:18] <robin_sz> yep
[21:47:22] <cradek> and the spyware writers that make the computers so slow
[21:47:33] <robin_sz> nah
[21:47:39] <robin_sz> the antivirus writers ...
[21:47:52] <cradek> maybe they work together to make machines slow
[21:48:00] <robin_sz> thats why windows needs dual core opteron
[21:48:05] <robin_sz> one to run the OS
[21:48:10] <robin_sz> the other to run the antivirus
[21:49:14] <robin_sz> you know, a 486 DX266 with an early Apache was capable of fully pumping a T1 with static content
[21:49:22] <robin_sz> make you tink huh
[21:49:34] <robin_sz> DX2/66 I meant
[22:08:14] <jepler> here's one with ISA --
http://www.baber.com/baber/411/soyo_sy-p4i-845pe-isa.htm
[22:09:03] <jepler> not cheap though
[22:09:10] <cradek> I don't see a price
[22:10:54] <robin_sz> OK, so ISA not *quite* dead an buried yet
[22:11:00] <Jacky^> hello
[22:12:17] <Jacky^> I successfull burned a couple of l297-987 :\
[22:12:37] <cradek> I've done that!
[22:12:40] <robin_sz> yes
[22:12:57] <robin_sz> it happens
[22:13:26] <robin_sz> usually bad grounding or incorrect diodes
[22:14:11] <Jacky^> robin_s bad grounding
[22:15:21] <robin_sz> * robin_sz struggles with some routing
[22:16:19] <Jacky^> i'm tryng to get the best i can from these crap motors :(
[22:17:15] <Jacky^> thet only way to get a bit of speed is using full step
[22:17:50] <Jacky^> but one of the controller (Y) want work in full step mode
[22:18:41] <Jacky^> wont*
[22:19:17] <xet7_> Is it possible to turn off OpenGL from axis?
[22:19:37] <xet7_> PentiumII is still installing
[22:29:51] <cradek> no
[22:32:48] <xet7_> what is the situation currently with new desktop pc:s, do they have still parallel port?
[22:32:59] <xet7_> are there laptops where Emc works?
[22:33:08] <xet7_> axis I mean
[22:34:01] <robin_sz> most desktops still have paralell port
[22:34:10] <robin_sz> not many laptops do
[22:38:27] <xet7_> What's your opinion about TurboCNC and it compared to Emc and axis?
[22:39:28] <xet7_> I'm still thinking how much effort it would be to code distance to go and showing actual axes positions to it
[22:40:52] <xet7_> compared to adding functionality to Emc kernel module
[22:47:01] <robin_sz> TurboCNC i closed source right?
[22:47:38] <xet7_> It's cheap, I bought it $60 and got Turbo Pascal source, well commented
[22:47:51] <robin_sz> right
[22:48:09] <robin_sz> I hnestly dont know how hard it would be .. or how good it is ... never seen it
[22:48:19] <xet7_> ok
[22:48:29] <xet7_> thanks anyway
[22:56:48] <xet7_> What video cards support OpenGL and Linux best?
[22:58:12] <xet7_> _ArchiestDragon: hi :)
[23:10:11] <_AchiestDragon> hi
[23:11:00] <_AchiestDragon> just been updating my website
http://www.whipy.demon.co.uk
[23:13:59] <_AchiestDragon> wb
[23:14:12] <_AchiestDragon> _AchiestDragon is now known as AchiestDragon
[23:19:02] <robin_sz> uh oh ...
[23:19:42] <robin_sz> * robin_sz stares at AchiestDragon's website
[23:20:15] <robin_sz> please, dont do thar .. encouraging people to use the Stepperworld driver
[23:20:56] <robin_sz> it is the workds worst stepper driver, designed be a comlete idiot
[23:22:07] <robin_sz> have you tried to use it yet?
[23:22:13] <AchiestDragon> i sould get round to doing a better design, just not go the time at the moment
[23:22:23] <robin_sz> it will not work
[23:22:26] <AchiestDragon> well got it working with kcam
[23:22:41] <robin_sz> no, you wont .. not with that stepper driver
[23:22:52] <robin_sz> its a steaming pile of shite
[23:23:25] <AchiestDragon> well long term i need a usb one , but that will do for the time
[23:23:34] <robin_sz> no .. really, it wont
[23:23:50] <robin_sz> its faulty.
[23:23:57] <robin_sz> unuseable design
[23:24:10] <AchiestDragon> the one i got seems to work ok
[23:24:36] <robin_sz> no ... you might think it does ... but it doesnt
[23:25:04] <AchiestDragon> anyway , it only drives 3 steppers and i need one that drives 6
[23:25:33] <robin_sz> you won't get any useable torque at speed from that drive .. the guy that designed it is completely and utterly clueless
[23:26:01] <AchiestDragon> like theres no heatsinks on the fets for a start
[23:26:10] <robin_sz> no .. thats not the problem
[23:26:49] <robin_sz> the problem is that applying 5V DC to a 5V stepper motor and switchin git with fets will not work above very VERY slow speeds
[23:27:16] <AchiestDragon> there 24v steppers
[23:27:32] <robin_sz> wow ..
[23:28:01] <robin_sz> * robin_sz sighs
[23:28:14] <robin_sz> you are going to have real performance problems
[23:28:18] <AchiestDragon> only 60g ones , but thay have the touqe ,
[23:28:26] <xet7> in what directory is apt-cache?
[23:28:49] <xet7> downloaded packages
[23:28:59] <AchiestDragon> speed yes its going to be slow , but as long as it can prove the machine design thats all i need it for
[23:29:41] <robin_sz> AchiestDragon: its not an accepted method of driving step motors, everyone whose anyone knows this .. the guy is an idiot.
[23:29:59] <robin_sz> can I take a guess ...
[23:30:09] <robin_sz> someone on CNCzone suggested it, right
[23:30:11] <robin_sz> ??
[23:30:46] <AchiestDragon> no just what ended up beeing the afordable choice after a web search i did
[23:30:53] <robin_sz> ok,
[23:31:20] <robin_sz> well, good luck
[23:32:03] <AchiestDragon> np , if it causes a problem it will be replaced
[23:32:06] <robin_sz> what voltage are you driving your 24V motors with?
[23:32:18] <AchiestDragon> 24
[23:32:22] <robin_sz> sigh
[23:32:43] <robin_sz> do you know what the normal, recommended range of voltages is to drive a 24V motor?
[23:33:28] <AchiestDragon> not bothered to check , its sold as a system , controler , 3 steppers and the psu
[23:33:42] <robin_sz> most modern switching drives use 20 ot 30 times the ratred motor voltage ...
[23:33:55] <robin_sz> sigh .. someone should sue that guy.. they really should
[23:36:07] <robin_sz> basically with 1x rated motor voltage its going to have absolutley shite performance when turning
[23:36:19] <robin_sz> it will be OK when stopped, but thats about all
[23:36:35] <AchiestDragon> anyway got a base design that works to experiment with
[23:37:21] <robin_sz> shrug ... ok, just don't base any gearing on that spec,
[23:38:21] <AchiestDragon> its driving m10 threaded bar , so got about 1 turn per mm travel
[23:38:44] <robin_sz> right ...
[23:38:57] <robin_sz> so its going to need a lot of RPM to make it move
[23:39:15] <AchiestDragon> or a few hrs to do a job
[23:39:23] <robin_sz> ummm ..
[23:39:41] <robin_sz> is this wood routing?
[23:39:55] <AchiestDragon> mainly
[23:40:08] <robin_sz> ever used a router?
[23:40:20] <AchiestDragon> yes
[23:40:47] <robin_sz> seen what happens if you move one at like 1mm a second through MDF?
[23:41:03] <robin_sz> burning and charring
[23:41:03] <AchiestDragon> need it for drilling some aluminium angle , but thats easy work
[23:41:10] <AchiestDragon> yes
[23:41:16] <robin_sz> so ...
[23:41:27] <robin_sz> you need to keep em moving at a fair speed
[23:42:43] <robin_sz> thats going to need RPM and those drives will crap out well before even 120rpm
[23:43:14] <robin_sz> modern drives spin to 1000rpm no problem
[23:43:21] <AchiestDragon> k
[23:43:32] <robin_sz> anyway .. have fun
[23:43:49] <robin_sz> but don't write steppers off as useless on the basis of what you see from that drive
[23:45:40] <AchiestDragon> np , i use old printer stepers for robot drives , just not done anything this big before , i am expecting to have to get some bigger ones , but need to prove the cnc design first
[23:46:22] <AchiestDragon> the steppers that came with it will make good motors for the wheels on the robot
[23:46:24] <robin_sz> well
[23:46:41] <robin_sz> have a look at some modern Sanyo-Denki motors ...
[23:47:03] <robin_sz> from a 4A, 2.4V stepper ...
[23:47:17] <robin_sz> I get 0ver 700 oz/in (5.7nm)
[23:47:21] <AchiestDragon> thease remind me of the ones that thay used to put in the old 8" floppy drives
[23:47:38] <robin_sz> and over 1000rpm easy, with good torque at speed
[23:47:55] <AchiestDragon> kool
[23:47:58] <robin_sz> thats with 60V drive voltage
[23:48:39] <robin_sz> the guy even admits 120rpm is no load max speed ... thats NO LOAD ..
[23:48:59] <robin_sz> ah well ...
[23:49:06] <robin_sz> theres always eBay :)
[23:49:11] <AchiestDragon> :)
[23:51:21] <Jacky^> anyone has experience with L297 IC ?
[23:51:28] <robin_sz> yep
[23:51:43] <Jacky^> i've an issue switching Half-full mode
[23:51:56] <robin_sz> its just a logic pin ...
[23:52:09] <Jacky^> pin 19 should be 0 for half 1 for full
[23:52:14] <Jacky^> right ?
[23:54:00] <robin_sz> no
[23:54:07] <robin_sz> high for half,
[23:54:09] <robin_sz> low for full
[23:54:22] <robin_sz> see how FULL has a bar over it?
[23:54:29] <robin_sz> that means ACTIVE LOW
[23:55:42] <Jacky^> i've two different controllers
[23:55:56] <Jacky^> the first its a kit
[23:56:21] <robin_sz> how nice
[23:56:26] <Jacky^> measuring voltage on pin 19 i've 0 in normal state
[23:56:45] <robin_sz> then that is full step
[23:57:03] <Jacky^> the other controllers, instead
[23:57:10] <Jacky^> have 5 V
[23:57:16] <robin_sz> then they are half step
[23:57:33] <Jacky^> and i can switch in full ?
[23:57:42] <robin_sz> sure
[23:57:49] <robin_sz> but half step is better
[23:57:57] <Jacky^> i know
[23:58:10] <Jacky^> but for me its slower ..
[23:58:11] <robin_sz> more torque
[23:58:23] <robin_sz> well, send faster pulses from your controller
[23:59:09] <Jacky^> i read in some place, that full step should be better to get high speed on unipolar stepper
[23:59:20] <Jacky^> it seem to me true ..
[23:59:31] <robin_sz> seems wrong to me, but still
[23:59:44] <Jacky^> the big problem is that my machine ots very slow
[23:59:58] <robin_sz> well, yes