Newbie needs startup help!!!

I am a complete newbie to linux. I was running my homebuilt 48 x 48 cnc router on windoze but had problems with it dropping steps. I spoke to a programmer friend and he suggested Linuxcnc. I formatted the machine and loaded linux 2.5.1 and linuxcnc. Immediately on startup the machine froze as it tried to open axis. I could not find a reason for this but was able to change to the mini gui and it works like a champ. I have configured the machine and it runs fine using the mini gui. I have read that axis has a tool touchoff utility but I see no mention of it with other gui packages. Is it possible to use the touchoff with other guis or should I be able to fix axis. I am running a Dell GX240 it has 512 meg of memory. it says it has an agp video setup and has a P4 processor running at 1.8 ghz. As earlier stated I an a Linux newbie and dont understand a lot of this. Any help would be appreciated. Please keep it as simple as possible

Thanks
K Norman

Have you tried both 8.04 and 10.04 from the live cds?

Rick G

I got the problem with the axis GUI fixed. It was a video driver. Now I am still trying to figure out the tool touch off. I cant seem to figure out the tool touchoff setup. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

K Norman

Have you looked here...

gnipsel.com/linuxcnc/g-code/gen01.html
and
wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?CoordinateSystems

Rick G