LinuxCNC (EMC2) on Puppy

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saintless · #106 Post by **saintless** » Sun 28 Sep 2014, 12:51

Small improvement for Ubuntu8.4-test-2.iso in case of frugal install or CD boot to add save partition option and make possible remastering from frugall install.
Patched initrd.gz to use save partition (ext2 or ext3).
Download from here (also uploaded in http://www.mydrive.ch/).
Rename initrd.gz-patch to initrd.gz and replace the old with the patched one inside /casper directory. Create ext2 or ext3 partition with Label casper-rw and add persistent to the kernel boot line.
Still can't make save file to work the same way.

Toni

Revolverve · #107 Post by **Revolverve** » Thu 06 Nov 2014, 08:09

Took the time to try a frugal install of DebianDog-Jwm-3.4-9-rtai-686-pae-2.iso for real machine testing.
.
Work beautifully! on a fast "desktopless"... motherboard is sitting in an open cardboard box...with 2 cheap pci parallel port card to a small 3 axis steppers based cnc ,2nd port is for an encoders board not yet configure for linuxcnc.

Its an hotgrade from Coolcnc .
Take less than 190mb of ram .

Look stable.

Well done Saintless ,Vtpup ,Mr Kauler,Dr. Debian & all.

vtpup · #108 Post by **vtpup** » Thu 06 Nov 2014, 14:21

Good to hear Revolverve! Keep us posted on this rig, pease!

(though all thanks due to Saintless...)

vtpup · #109 Post by **vtpup** » Thu 06 Nov 2014, 14:32

Some possibly extraneous, possibly dumb ideas, but I've been running Debian on an X86 tablet under Android as an image, and RDPing to it locally (ie to localhost).

It just occurred to me that a headless board might work in the opposite direction from a tablet. In other words, RDP or VNC to the headless board from the tablet and use the tablet for running the CNC machine.

I've already seen examples of people using cheap or discarded cell phones as DRO's via bluetooth. This would take it a step further -- the phone or tablet could be both a DRO and the CNC interface to a headless board running LinuxCNC in Debian -- or ideally Puppy.

Right now, the keyboard desktop computer and monitor take up a lot of space in a hobby size CNC setup. It would be interesting to just have a tablet in hand, like a CNC pendant that gives readouts and does the typing. If you added ftp you could send the G-code files as well.

Revolverve · #110 Post by **Revolverve** » Thu 06 Nov 2014, 16:41

Yep Vtpup , you would become another tweaker in the recycling kingdom ..
or inspiration for the future saint of recyclers,no offence to anybody,pls.

You mean an Arm puppy rtai? Faithful you....ask you know who,
your trusty puppy's "Petr Mitrichev on skies"

Call it St-Bernard....mmm,no, too big of a dog for a tiny distro,....
Sorry for my avalange of lack of seriousness ,could not resist...

saintless · #111 Post by **saintless** » Thu 06 Nov 2014, 16:50

Thank you for testing this, Revolverve!

Nice to read it works.
Maybe Vtpup will edit the first post with links:
Ubuntu8.4-test-2.iso - for old hardware.
DebianDog-Jwm-3.4-9-rtai-686-pae-2.iso - for newer hardware.
Both posts include Direct download link and Mirror download link.
It will be easier to find them in case someone else needs small linuxcnc distro (till someone makes puppy-linuxcnc version).

vtpup · #112 Post by **vtpup** » Thu 06 Nov 2014, 19:01

Revolverve wrote: You mean an Arm puppy rtai?

No, revolverve, something much simpler to accomplish (well that remains to be seen!!)

What I mean is. a single board computer driving the steppers running LinuxCNC and, say rdesktop server, or tightvncserver.

It wouldn't need a keyboard or monitor.

And then a tablet or cellphone running an RDP or VNC client app.

It wouldn't need to run puppy or Debian (though that would be nice). But an Android client app would work, too. Thus no need to use an ARM puppy (for ARM tablets) or an x86 Debian on the tablet.

What you'd end up with is the CNC desktop shown on your tablet or cellphone, controlling the CNC board. If you need to load files on the CNC board you could also set things up to allow ftp.

All this seems do-able, though the devil is in the details, and I don't know if there would be a problem running an RDP server concurrently with LinuxCNC on the controller board....

But maybe it could work......!

@saintless: done -- first post in thread updated. Thanks!

vtpup · #113 Post by **vtpup** » Thu 06 Nov 2014, 19:12

I might fool around with that concept using saintless LinuxCNC distros. I'll set up a testbed that can't actually move a mill, for safety sake.

There are some alternate LinuxCNC interfaces which are simpler than the main one, and might be more suitable for a touch screen on a tablet. I'll look into that.

Revolverve · #114 Post by **Revolverve** » Fri 07 Nov 2014, 01:48

Vtpup ,
For touch:http://linuxcnc.org/docs/html/gui/touchy.html
Your project sound kind of grbl?
Sorry very poor networking knowledge for me..cannot help.

Go ahead,have fun!

your right ,safety first...mine got no limit switch,can do 1200ipm ,

saintless · #115 Post by **saintless** » Fri 07 Nov 2014, 16:37

Hi, Vtpup.

I had positive experience controling desktop pc (Debian) from tablet (Android) using TeamViewer. Mostly using the tablet to start playing videos on the desktop pc.
There is android version and deb package for download and also puppy linux package (somewhere in this forum). If you decide to try it make sure the version on the tablet is newer (or the same) as TeamViewer version on the desktop pc. I remember I had troubles to connect if TeamViewer version on the tablet is older.

vtpup · #116 Post by **vtpup** » Fri 07 Nov 2014, 21:16

I was successful last night in remotely running LinuxCNC from my tablet.

LinuxCNC itself was running on Ubuntu 8.04 on the IBM Thinkad 600e. I was able to run a remote server by setting Ubuntu's Preferences to allow Remote Desktop -- the remote server is an existing feature of a full Ubuntu install.You just have to set the parameters and it becomes active.

It took quite awhile to figure out the parameters to get the tablet and server handshaking. The client software was androidVNC, running on an Acer Iconia A1-830 tablet.

I tried a number of more modern RDP clients, none of which connected, but finally realized that Ubuntu's "Remote Desktop" was not an RDP server but a VNC server, despite the R and D in the name.

Ubuntu also uses the address 192.168.1.201:0 to mean screen 0 on the IP address -- while the client understands it as port 0. Took some time to get that straightened out, but eventually I was rewarded with a connection.

How did it work? Well I'm pretty sure I could have cut parts, but the buttons on the screen are somewhat on the small side. Revolverve above suggested a different LinuxCNC interface with huge buttons that would have been ideal as a replacement.

Unfortunately it is designed to be used in conjunction with a mechanical jog wheel on a mill -- with inputs from that wheel. Thus the equipment it can be used with is very specialized, and it won't work in my situation.

I think the original interface is usable but not ideal.

saintless · #117 Post by **saintless** » Sat 10 Jan 2015, 08:09

Linux-headers-3.4-9-rtai-686-pae for DebianDog-Jwm-3.4-9-rtai-686-pae-2.iso (in case installing virtualbox or similar software) you can download here:
linux-headers-3.4-9-common-rtai_3.4.55-4linuxcnc_i386.deb
linux-headers-3.4-9-rtai-686-pae_3.4.55-4linuxcnc_i386.deb
linux-kbuild-3.4_3.4-linuxcnc2_i386.deb
Download all three deb packages in some-folder-name and install them by typing:

Code: Select all

sudo dpkg -i /path-to/some-folder-name/*.deb

Fix missing gcc dependencies by typing:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get -f install

vtpup · #118 Post by **vtpup** » Mon 12 Jan 2015, 15:09

(double post-- deleted-- corrected "invisibility" error in post)

vtpup · #119 Post by **vtpup** » Mon 12 Jan 2015, 15:14

Thanks saintless, as always!
I've been fooling around with some interesting CNC stuff lately.

It is possible to run an R3 Uno Arduino board (clones available these days for about $9) to do all of the real time work for the stepper motor drivers. it runs a program called Grbl. However, it can only handle one CNC G-code instruction at a time, which it receives over USB.

So a second computer is used for a graphic user interface, and a cache for those instructions, which it sends to the Grbl/Arduino controller as needed. It also receives status information via the USB connection, and so it can update a graphic display of where the machine is.

This frees the GUI computer of needing a real time operating system,

I have been experimenting with a $35 Raspberry Pi B+ board as a GUI control computer, running software by user "zapmaker" here:

http://zapmaker.org/raspberry-pi/runnin ... pberry-pi/

Raspberry PI runs Raspbian, a Debian fork for its Arm v6 processor.

I will say, that the LinuxCNC/Ububtu or Debdog combination is far more sophisticated and the 3D display of the running mill is great. But it does require a computer with a parallel port, and the computer must have low realtime lag -- a combination increasingly hard to find nowadays.

But zapmaker's Grbl control program does get the job done, and that's the important part. I haven't yet cut anything with it though it does seem to run well.

I also hope to experiment with Puppy for the Raspberry Pi to see if that could run zapmaker's control program, an there may be other interesting possibilities.

Anyway, that's catching up with what I've been trying out.

saintless · #120 Post by **saintless** » Mon 12 Jan 2015, 16:06

Empty space (Spacebar) at the end of url (after ..raspberry-pi/ )makes your post invisible.

vtpup wrote:I don't understand what happened to my last posts -- the text isn't visible
Anyway:

Thanks saintless, as always!
I've been fooling around with some interesting CNC stuff lately.

It is possible to run an R3 Uno Arduino board (clones available these days for about $9) to do all of the real time work for the stepper motor drivers. t runs a program called Grbl. However, it can only handle one CNC G-code instruction at a time, which it receives over USB.

So a second computer is used for a graphic user interface, and a cache for those instructions, which it sends to the Grbl/Arduino controller as needed. It also receives status information via the USB connection, and so it can update a graphic display of where the machine is.

This frees the GUI computer of needing a real time operating system,

I have been experimenting with a $35 Raspberry Pi B+ board as a GUI control computer, running software by user "zapmaker" here:

http://zapmaker.org/raspberry-pi/runnin ... pberry-pi/

Raspberry PI runs Raspbian, a Debian fork for its Arm v6 processor.

I will say, that the LinuxCNC/Ububtu or Debdog combination is far more sophisticated and the 3D display of the running mill is great. But it does require a computer with a parallel port, and the computer must have low realtime lag -- a combination increasingly hard to find nowadays.

But zapmaker's Grbl control program does get the job done, and that's the important part. I haven't yet cut anything with it though it does seem to run well.

I also hope to experiment with Puppy for the Raspberry Pi to see if that could run zapmaker's control program, an there may be other interesting possibilities.

Anyway, that's catching up with what I've been trying out.

vtpup · #121 Post by **vtpup** » Mon 12 Jan 2015, 18:52

Thank you again Saintless!!

ps. Never seen that before!

Revolverve · #122 Post by **Revolverve** » Tue 02 Aug 2016, 20:07

Remastered same old DebianDog-Jwm-3.4-9-rtai-686-pae-2.iso with linuxcnc 2.7.4.77.
Rename DebianDog-Jwm-3.4-9-rtai-686-pae-2-2.iso somewhere with its md5(browse here )
Works here!
Thank Saintless

Revolverve · #123 Post by **Revolverve** » Sat 13 Aug 2016, 22:23

If in need of included example holecircle.py "gui" script,like i did,
edit holecircle.py line#2:BASE = os.environ['EMC2_HOME']
to:BASE = os.environ['LINUXCNC_HOME']

Else,I got a stable working setup here;steppers,parallel ports&5years fast pc ...no hurt no break hitherto ,but,Caution,use at your own risk...Run into weird stepconf and linuxcnc starting problems if saving in a change.dat file, but not anymore when using savefolder.

Revolverve · #124 Post by **Revolverve** » Sat 01 Oct 2016, 19:31

I wont remaster with linuxcnc 2.7.7 but DebianDog-Jwm-3.4-9-rtai-686-pae-2-2 run fine if upgrated .
here:
http://www.linuxcnc.org/dists/wheezy/2. ... nary-i386/

heywoodj · #125 Post by **heywoodj** » Thu 27 Oct 2016, 16:55

I've been lurking here a long time, as my interest in this matter of CNC was purely academic. But now, I have a tiny CNC mill and my interest is a lot more concrete.

Like vtpup, I plan on running things from an ancient Thinkpad, an A22m. This is allegedly a 1000 MHz P3 machine. Now a hitch: this machine has a dead hard drive. Worse, it seems to KILL hard drives. I can still boot from the CD, and usb via PLOP.

Do you think not having a hard drive is a real shortcoming? I'm not keen on sacrificing another drive. Possibly, I could add a usb hard drive via a SmartCard adapter. The main reason I see to have a hard drive is to give some swap space. Or is there something I'm missing?

Also, I'm not keen on CDs and prefer to use usb flash drives. I've tried various methods for making bootable usbs including isobooter and Unetbootin, which works for my everyday computers, but not for this target Thinkpad. Ubuntus/Debians are so much fussier than Puppies(been using Puppies for 8 years.) to get to boot. Any hints on making simplified usbs from Ubuntu/Debian ?

I did get the DebianDog to boot, though it took a long time. Will report as I make progress.

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