Mori MVJR Build Log

I see 3 options for you:

1: direct solder wires to each pin and heat shrink the connections - will work well but a pain
2: depending on the pitch of the pins, you may be able to find female SIP headers 1 for each row - May fall off at some point
3: make a PCB to solder the connector to with whatever terminal blocks you like to connect the wires - my favorite

Option 3 will give you the best results IMHO. If you have never done this before, try out express PCB. they have free software to design the board and specials like 3 boards for $75 (size restrictions apply) If you want to do this but have no clue, just ask and I can help.

If you don't want to do 3, I would go for option 1

Progress Report:

The computer is assembled and running, had some problem with a solid-state drive but now it is working fine thanks to diagnosis help from BigJohnT.

Since some of the Mesa cards require 2.5 I installed that just now. The only problem I had with the instructions on the buildbot page was even after changing my account to administrator privileges, I wasn't able to create the following file:

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/emc2-buildbot.list

but I was able to create and run it in my home directory which seems to have run OK.

I decided to go the soldering route, 8 connectors done, 12 to go. I'll post a picture when the connectors are on. At least my soldering skills are improving.

Next steps to get going on:

1. Trying to understand what I need to do about Hostmot, if I understand correctly these are some files that I need to get and install to be able to use the Mesa hardware. Looking for a page that explains that, if anyone knows where to look for that please post a link.

2. Working on a wiring diagram and spreadsheet, I found a wiring diagram of the control so that is helping a lot.

3. Trying to figure out what to do about HAL files, I guess I will start with one of the examples and modify that. My machine is the same as the MVJR Bill and Chris did.

geektrap.com/bill/01248711886

Any guidance about how which HAL files to start with would be appreciated.

Thanks

Jon Schmidt

BigJohnT wrote:

schmidtmotorworks wrote:

Any guidance about how which HAL files to start with would be appreciated.

Joe,

What Mesa card did you end up using?

Start with the sample config for that card.

John

John, These are the Mesa cards that I bought.

1 x 5i23
1x 7i48
2x 7i64
1x 7i44 RJ45


Thanks for the link, it is a good page, I'm reading it now.

If I understand correctly I should do the following:

1. From section 11. Figure out which firmware is right for the cards and hardware.
The machine has:
1 spindle
5 axis (servo type)

2. Follow the instructions in section 3 to install the firmware.

3. Follow the instructions in section 4 to load the firmware

4. Start in on the detailed configuration in sections 5-10 (this looks like a lot of interesting stuff to learn)

Best Regards

Jon Schmidt

The appropriate configuration for this is a 5I23 version of SVSS6_8.

Not sure if there are going to be some sync errors that require you to use
master (2.6 pre) or not.

In any case I will build the latest 5I23 SVSS_8 bitfile and put it somewhere accessable

PCW wrote:

The appropriate configuration for this is a 5I23 version of SVSS6_8.

Not sure if there are going to be some sync errors that require you to use
master (2.6 pre) or not.

In any case I will build the latest 5I23 SVSS_8 bitfile and put it somewhere accessable

Thanks so much for the help!

So if I understand correctly the Firmware for the 5i23 SVSS_8 means that the

Encoder is 8
PWM is 8
StepGen is 8
GPIO is 0

I don't see any listings for the 7i48, 7i64 and 7i44 cards, do I also need other firmware for those?

andypugh wrote:

schmidtmotorworks wrote:

1. From section 11. Figure out which firmware is right for the cards and hardware.
2. Follow the instructions in section 3 to install the firmware.

Yes.
However, the easiest next step is to then fire up pncconf (which is in the CNC menu in v2.5) and let that do the configuration for you.

OK, I will try that, if I understand correctly, if the hardware is connected some part of the installation and loading will be done.

Then I need to start planning all the pins.

This is looking like Mt Everest at the moment, I hope in a week or so I am saying "is that all there is to it?"

Thanks for the help.

Best Regards

Jon Schmidt