Using a servo as a spindle and positional axis - keep getting vague errors

cofhal - I will look at your files now, I did have another idea as well - could i simply use two stepgens? one for step.dir for spindle and another one for the "C" axis? and have a mesa output pin switch a dpdr relay to simply alter where the same motor gets the input?

one more question before i forget: what issue could be encountered by having a different model of servo driver? Given that you are driving both the spindle and c-axis both with step/dir signals, you just need a driver that can output step/dir, right?

my email is cofhal.and.gmail.com , send the manual

There's no need to use the same servo motor for both, but keep in mind that for it to work, you must connect the servo motor's encoder feedback. I believe your servo motor has a 2,500-pulse encoder. I can help you configure it with the manual.

youtube.com/shorts/neoFkCpddyE?feature=share

I think it would be a bad idea, since you could use the same servo motor for both functions.

Text removed

If I received it, please delete the email address. I have another question: Do you have feedback from the servo motor encoder connected?

EDIT: I double checked and it seems you received my email. I removed your email from my post. I will type out a small part of my email here for other people in the community who might find it useful in the future.


Part of email:

Importantly, I have an external encoder that is already attached to the lathe headstock, so I DO NOT need to use the encoder on the servo driver, infact, I already have the encoder set up correctly to my mesa board. In a future project I may use the servo encoder but i suspect my drive does not actually have encoder output setup as the manual says not all versions come standard, and i have no connector (although it must be somewhere inside haha)


Using your files, here is the progress I have done:

1. I have went through and integrated my machine parameters into your hal and ini, halcompiled the caxis and gn-userkins, and added the remapped gcodes
2. The software does boot up successfully but doesnt fully work: X and Z move and work fine. The encoder works and outputs the live C value

What does not work - something that has failed me in many other attemps

1. The C or spindle do not work, the first issue from debugging is homing - it seems homing does not work. I am going to try and disable homing or try a workaround
2. I suspect after homing is fixed, I will get some additional vague command line errors. Likely from my lack of coding experience and improper linuxcnc logic, but not certain.
3. There are a few other annoying issues I suspect, but I do not want to get ahead of myself.


I will also upload my current HAL and INI which are the only files of your I have changed. Is there any chance I could get your input on the HAL and INI and if you have any obvious suggestions I may be missing?

I have a servo driver just like yours, and it does have an encoder feedback output, but some manuals don't document it. The encoder has a 2500-pulse output. To use it and make it work, the relationship between the servo and the spindle must be 1:1 for the index to work.