Trying to move from UCCNC to Linuxcnc and using 7i96s but having trouble

I’m reaching out to the forum to hopefully get some guidance.I’ve spent the past several days working through a LinuxCNC setup with a Mesa 7i96S for what should be a fairly straightforward retrofit on a :Bridgeport Series 2

• XYZ mill
• X & Y steppers
• Z servo (knee)
• No exotic kinematics, just a basic mill configuration

I’ve gone through many iterations and changes (largely guided by ChatGPT), and while I’ve learned a lot, I’m currently back near square one. I did manage to get one motor oscillating back and forth, so I know signals are getting through at some level.At this point:

• I do have solid communication between the PC and the Mesa card
• Network issues are resolved (static IP for Mesa, internet via USB dongle)
• Latency issues were addressed by disabling several BIOS features
• Debian installation and networking are now things I actually understand, which is a win

That said, I’m struggling with what feels like a high barrier just to get basic motion. My main question to the community is:

Is it realistic to expect a simple XYZ mill (2 steppers + 1 servo) to at least jog without days of trial-and-error, or is this learning curve typical?

For context, I’m not new to CNC:

• I previously had this machine running under UCCNC
• I had:
  • A 4th axis
  • VFD spindle control
  • Spindle brake
  • Mist, air to the knee, and lube pump
• All of that worked reliably

The only reason I switched to LinuxCNC was:

• I want true rigid tapping
• I’m interested in the QtDragon / QtPlasma ecosystem
• I also have a router and another plasma table I’d like to potentially convert

So this is not a casual experiment — I’d really like to make LinuxCNC work long-term.I’ve learned a lot in the last few days:

• Installing Debian cleanly
• BIOS tuning for real-time performance
• Static networking for Mesa Ethernet cards
• Separating “GUI motion” from real hardware motion
  …but I’m still not confident I understand the correct minimal path to first motion.

I’m hoping for reassurance that:

• This transition is doable
• There is a clean, recommended workflow for initial bring-up
• I’m not fundamentally missing something obvious

Any perspective, advice, or “yes, this is normal / no, it shouldn’t be this hard” would be greatly appreciated.Thanks in advance,
Mark

 
ChatGPT is not particularly useful with Linuxcnc. I worry when I ask AI a question and it quotes into I wrote on this forum back to me.
now you have communication to the Mesa card, I would create a new config with pncconf and see how it goes. If it fails, share your hal and ini file and somebody will help. Also some rules.
1. Stick to the default axis user interface until you get a working  machine
2. Always start linuxcnc from the command line. That way you will see any error messages. Usually messages are fairly clear and refer to the file and line number 

I think the main difference with Linuxcnc is linuxcnc is a blank canvas where other systems have specific wiring terminals for specific purposes. That means you have a bit more work to do  as you have to define a bit more of your machine here. eg for coolant, you need to select a random pin on the 7i96s and then connect it to the appropriate internal signal. Also note if you have not defined your spindle, you won't see coolant/mist controls in axis. 

Proceed something like:
Get x,y,x morion working
Set up home/limit switches. If you did not have these, take the time to wire in a shared home/limit switch an all axes. It is much easier
Get estop working.
Work on your spindle. pin spindle.0.on needs to connect to the 7i96s pin you chose for the spindle on signal (spindle relay)
Set up your 0-10 volt speed control and scale it correctly
Get your encoder working (or do it later so you have something you can use)
Then set up coolant and mist. Test these with MDI commands M7,M8,M9
OIler then follows. I have not done anything with it but the pins are here
linuxcnc.org/docs/html/man/man1/halui.1.html#Lube

Main thing is to share console output and hal and in files here as you work through this so we can help