5i25+7i77 PNG - only the one card, which profile?

Hi, all;

I've just gotten my new 5i25/7i77 kit and installed it in my nice, fast new low power PC board's PCI slot. So far, so good.

The latest (as of two weeks ago) linuxcnc distribution is installed. I downloaded the 5i25.zip file from mesanet.com, and moved the appropriate files to /lib/firmware/hm2/. Pncconf shows the option to select the 5i25 board and create tabs for it, which is good. However, a couple of questions:

Which pncconf card profile should I use? I see various ones for eg. 7i77x2 and 7i77+7i76, but not one for just a 7i77 card? I suspect it doesn't matter as long as I pick a profile with the 7i77 "first" except that I'll end up with extra non-existant pins showing up in pncconf's tabs.

In that case, how can I get pncconf to show only the pins that exist on the 7i77 board, by editing the .pin and .xml files in the firmware directory?

Do you recommend using pncconf for ongoing configuration (I'm getting servos/limits working first, followed by eventually an MPG, 4th axis, etc) or should I just generate a basic profile for the 5i25/7i77 and then hand edit from there on out?

Finally, I'm guessing I should leave the firmware on the 5i25 alone unless otherwise directed?

Thanks,
Erik

Some excellent info and examples. Thanks!