network sharing with LinuxCNC

I'm an experienced Linux user (Linux Mint) and I want to create a shared folder on my LinuxCNC machine. Since it is an 'old' version of Linux and uses the Xfce UI I can't see how this is done.

I'm looking for a simple way to transfer my cutting files from a Linux workstation to the LinuxCNC machine. I'm fed up moving thumb drives.

Most of the normal accessories and tools are missing on the LInuxCNC release. There isn't even a calculator! I recently saw a low-latency version of the Linux 5.10 kernel. Is this something that LinuxCNC could work on? If it could, all the benefits of a modern Kernel release, accessories and system utilities would become available.

Now being an experienced Linux user these should be easy to setup..........
Setup ssh and you can do this:
haydenjames.io/linux-securely-copy-files-using-scp/

Or run a NFS client\server: (I know this is for stretch but you should be able to work it out )
Advantages are that shares can be mounted and files can be copied using a file manager on the client, just be sure to get permissions correct.
www.howtoforge.com/tutorial/install-nfs-...nd-client-on-debian/

Using ssh again you can use Midnight commander to copy files:
MC is a curses based (ie terminal), norton type, file manager.
www.lampdocs.com/how-to-copy-files-via-s...g-midnight-commander

I'm just interested in what way would a "more modern" would add accessories & system utilities ?
NFS & ssh have been basically available since day one, mc has been available almost the same amount of time.

Of course samba is also available, but since you were talking Linux to Linux I didn't mention it.

Either way extra packages and some config will be required.

According to wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel_version_history
Kernel 4.19 series is still actively developed, EOL is slated as Dec 2024
Kernel 5.10 series is still actively developed, EOL is slated as Dec 2022

When compiling a kernel for Mint I used a 4.19 series kernel and found it to be stable and work on all the hardware I've come across. In fact it's my preferred kernel for my main Workstation and laptop, which are both Mint 19.x (yep I use a RT on my other machines as I've been too lazy to modify GRUB to boot a non RT kernel automatically). My cnc machine runs 4.19, this at one stage using a Asrock J3355B-ITX MB and now an Odroid H2 Plus.

Let me begin by saying that the absence of a calculator is a seemingly trivial but rather obvious deficiency. I find myself sitting at the CNC machine making adjustments to the scaling factors, during calibration, and discover that I have to go to another machine to do the simple arithmetic. There is no Gimp on the machine. There is no system monitor. There is no disk manager. It seems the ISO has been stripped of basic things.

Most of my machines have a 5.4 Kernel but I first noticed a low-latency Kernel when I upgraded a rather new i7-1165G7 which absolutely needed a very new Kernel.

If there are adequately low-latency Kernels available why bother with the ISO ? Perhaps I should install Mint 20 with the 5.4 Kernel then upgrade the Kernel to a low-latency version and finally install LinuxCNC -- would that work? My CNC machine would then be uniform with all my other machines and I wouldn't whine about the missing accessories

Using ssh or any terminal based tools (curses is truly antediluvian) is clearly inconvenient when I'm trying to get work done. I expect/want to be able to do a simple drag-and-drop from the output of my G-Code generator machine to a shared directory on the CNC machine. The CNC machine is very old and lacks horsepower but it does have the necessary printer port.

My preferred networking arrangement is to use Avahi (Bonjour) for Zero-configuration networking.

What do you suggest?

Thank you guys,
Leaving off a basic calculator seem, at least to me, going a bit far. A bit like cutting off a leg to lose weight

I'll get SMB going with Avahi (not that Avahi doesn't have it's troubles). See: Avahi

But that isn't a problem for here.

clive wrote:

Let me begin by saying that the absence of a calculator is a seemingly trivial but rather obvious deficiency. I find myself sitting at the CNC machine making adjustments to the scaling factors, during calibration, and discover that I have to go to another machine to do the simple arithmetic. There is no Gimp on the machine. There is no system monitor. There is no disk manager. It seems the ISO has been stripped of basic things.

Most of my machines have a 5.4 Kernel but I first noticed a low-latency Kernel when I upgraded a rather new i7-1165G7 which absolutely needed a very new Kernel.

If there are adequately low-latency Kernels available why bother with the ISO ? Perhaps I should install Mint 20 with the 5.4 Kernel then upgrade the Kernel to a low-latency version and finally install LinuxCNC -- would that work? My CNC machine would then be uniform with all my other machines and I wouldn't whine about the missing accessories

Using ssh or any terminal based tools (curses is truly antediluvian) is clearly inconvenient when I'm trying to get work done. I expect/want to be able to do a simple drag-and-drop from the output of my G-Code generator machine to a shared directory on the CNC machine. The CNC machine is very old and lacks horsepower but it does have the necessary printer port.

My preferred networking arrangement is to use Avahi (Bonjour) for Zero-configuration networking.

What do you suggest?

Wow.

First of all I would drop the "experienced" moniker. Any user worth their salt would simply install the tools needed.
ssh antediluvian ? I have no comment on this one.

I regularly used scp to upload the Mint ISO & packages to the web server that was hosting all that stuff.

If you want to drop debian, try Tommy's thread on installing Mint & Linuxcnc.

Have you tried midnight commander ? It is quick, very quick.

If you are using the printer port are you using a RTAI or RT-PREEMPT kernel ? RTAI would be 32 bit.

If you are on a RTAI kernel I would suggest checking with the Devs as to whether the 4.x RTAI kernel is 100%, they were having some issues.

If you really want some good advice the best thing is to give some info regarding your system.

clive wrote:

Thank you guys,
Leaving off a basic calculator seem, at least to me, going a bit far. A bit like cutting off a leg to lose weight

The time it took to post that, you could have actually installed one

It's like complaining that no one has picked up that bit of paper you saw on the floor 2 days ago.

To be fair, the ISO is just has enough bits & bobs to get a cnc machine up & running, remember it's not a desktop. Just enough Linux.

The arrangement I have is a ten-year-old Dual E4500 Xeon computer driving an Avid 48" x 48" gantry machine. It is used for art work, which you can see here Howe McCarthy . The G-Code is created by a software package I wrote just for our artwork (a GTK-3 GUI and C code). We previously used the, very ugly, Mach software to drive the CNC machine on XP. For work on smaller machines we use an Arduino and GRBL and something like bCNC.

So that is the context.

in addition to my LinuxCNC computer, i have several Linux servers (file, website, etc...), a Win10 computer (CAD), and my Linux laptop.

I use a combination of SSH and SMB. i have a SMB folder on my file server for CNC data, so i can just pull off the G-code file from my LinuxCNC computer. the advantage of the file server is that i can store a ton of G-code files, when needed, and be able to find older G-code for duplicate runs.
i use SSH mainly between my Linux laptop and the LinuxCNC computer to edit config files (still working on my LCNC machine) from the comfort of being anywhere my laptop is.

~Travis

Did mean a Core 2 Duo or did you mistype the Xeon number ?

I'll assume a Core 2 Duo for now. I'll also assume that you are used the Linuxcnc Wheezy install media.

Wheezy has gone EOL, so depending when you did the actual install you may have to update the apt sources prior to installing any software. No your machine wont stop working or any nonsense like that. The apt sources issue has been mentioned a few times on the forum, the search function is your best friend.

ATM the best thing is to keep with Wheezy due to the use of the Parallel Port.

No with Samba, there could be some differences in the Wheezy Samba version and the version on Mint 20. This may or may not cause some headaches. So you'll need to consult google or your preferred search engine to sort out any issues.

BTW the way unless you can identify which actual Linuxcnc media you used for your installation I'm kind of guessing here.

As for Mint on the cnc box, installing a recent version of Mint would be a performance hit if my experience with Mint on a Core 2 Duo is anything to go by.

Hey Travis your setup seems similar to my home network, with the exception of having a Win10 box for my old mother and a Win 98 machine for some old hardware, mainly Needham EPROM programmer. Found it on ebay for $50 with all the modules.