Running config without 7i92

For testing my router without being connected to it I create a specific postgui hal file where I disconnect signals from hardware pins (unlinkp) and set signals to a fixed appropriate value (sets). This methode may be adapted to your configuration.

macsddau@linuxcnc wrote:

For testing my router without being connected to it I create a specific postgui hal file where I disconnect signals from hardware pins (unlinkp) and set signals to a fixed appropriate value (sets). This methode may be adapted to your configuration.
 

Nice idea.
But this to work  I think commenting all loadrt, addf, setp (with mesa hardware) is necessary too.
For feedbacks then even simple python userspace module can be made ...
Not so bad, but every time upgrade is made the hal file need to be edited.

there was some activity in the discussion.
all options are workable and are used here or there, but these are huge crutches. The config setup for LPT works fine without LPT even in a virtual machine, even on any laptop.

It would be simpler to build a simular simulation config that doesn't use the mesa hardware drivers at all (such as a parallel port simulation config). There already ready are hal components specifically for simulating a parallel port config, and I think they also have the capability of using faux pin names that can directly replace and work in the original configuration. It might not take much to either press that simulation component into service simulating Mesa hardware, or to use it as a template for writing a new hal component that can.

Still it isn't a small or completely simple task to write a fully functional simulation. Probably an order of magnitude greater difficulty than writing the original machine config.

PS, But that doesn't necessarily help with developing software for the original machine config because differences between the simulation and and machine config files will be significant.

To simplify things, you need a simulation for your 7i92 with your config of stepgens, encoders, pwm's, etc.
So for now there is no need to simulate everything Mesa 7i92 can do as that would imply having all the posible combinations from all the existing firmwares.
As a start, emulating stepgens is should do, if there are mo other stuff in use, of course and I/O.
Diverting a bit, LinuxCNC is very flexible, so make another hal file with the pins you want to experiment with, save it in the same folder, add an entry in the ini file pointing to it, make sure it runs.
Now you have everything needed in that file so updates will not change it, and you can just copy that file together with the VCP hal and xml to the other machine.
Still, not sure how hard it is to simulate a Mesa stepgen in hal or component, but simulating the ethernet link might be much harder...
Is there any way of loading the Mesa firmware on PC, something like mounting an ISO ???