Chris - will try your script and see what happens. Agree nothing replaces real world checks. Unfortunately RTAI is not an option as that will not work with ethernet mesa cards. I would expect based on my past experiences that RTAI would produce much better results than the PREMPT RT kernel.
From the reading I have done and based on comments I have come across from some of the senior board members a latency of up to 150k will be ok with ethernet hardware stepping. However a key test, which I have yet to do as I wait on a PSU to arrive, is the stability of the network connection from the PC to the ethernet mesa board.
re IDE/AHCI - yeah beats me as well. But when AHCI is active the only ISO can get to install AND boot is a Debian 10 nonfree iso with a specific window manager (e.g. MATE or XFCE). I tried the netinstall and whlie it installed it would not boot. It could be all to do with how I was doing things I guess. But at this point I want to move on to hunting down how new a kernel version I can run and still have reasonable latency.
BIOS - yup everything off. Sound, everything.
Stretch - yup is not where I want to be. Used it as a proof as Apt had proven that with some good looking latency numbers. Hence looking at newer stuff. But need to find something that works at the kernel version level. Would be nice to be on either Mint 19.3, Mint 20 or Debian 10. Just need to get a good RT kernel.
Headless/remote - I will try and expalin this better. Key context is to understand that the plasma table I am building is not permanently setup. The table top flips into the vertical on on its wheeled base, so I can store the entire assmebly out of the way.
See:
forum.linuxcnc.org/show-your-stuff/42118...mm-cut-area?start=20
Therefore I do not want (again for space reasons) to have a traditional PC/Monitor setup that I have to remove when I put the table away. My thinking had been to have the T610 along with all the control electronics inside a case on the frame. This is nice and tidy, self contained etc. BUT it does mean "where do I have a display and keyboard that is not going to get in the way". I could do some kind of rotating/actuated stand that allows me to fold these items out of the way. Heck given the size the T610 could be on the same stand. This is still an option. The OTHER idea was to use a laptop that I can put on a temporary surface. The Laptop is nice as it contains screen/keyboard/mouse in one box that I can just fold close and shove on a shelf when not in use. I would use X11 forwarding to display the linuxcnc UI on the laptop even though the actual linuxcnc software was running on the T610. This is a technique I have read of others using but just not in this particular use case. As a test I have proven running a linux UI (sim mode) via this technique on a Mac from the office through a VPN into the home network. It's not as fast as running it on the local LAN but it works!
Cheers - J.
