How to get UBOB working with EMC2

[wkuehn]

Newbie here...
Starting my first build. Ordered linistepper kits for drivers. Ordered some stepper motors. Looking at Breakout boards. Nicest one that I found and REALLY like is the UBOB (Ultimate Breakout Board) from candcnc dot com - almost ordered their builder kit but thought "I should really make sure it will work with EMC2 / Linuxcnc BEFORE I pay for it lol..."

Emailed Tom at candcnc
**********************************************************
On 2/22/2012 2:18 PM, William K. wrote:
Tom,
Hi my name is Will, I am considering ordering your "Ultimate BreakOut Board Builders Pak" & am really loving everything I am reading about it but would like to make sure that it will work with the setup I am planning on. I will be using 5v 1a motors, linistepper controllers and EMC2 software for a 4 axis machine. Do you think that your UBOB will work with this combination? Are all features available when used with EMC2?

Thank you,

William Kuehn



No. UBOB uses special Muxed I/O to double the inputs and outputs and needs a special driver (plug-in). Only works with MACH.

**********************************************************

BUT I REALLY like this board... so being stubborn I continued looking and found this link...

wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?ContributedComponents#CandCNC_UBOB_breakout_board_drivers_and_sample_config

which supposedly has the beginnings of a driver?

My question is really - how hard would it be to get this hardware working properly with linuxcnc & who wants to help me ?

[chester88]

Read the README for a clue of who to contact.

[PCW_MESA]

Newbie here...
Starting my first build. Ordered linistepper kits for drivers. Ordered some stepper motors. Looking at Breakout boards. Nicest one that I found and REALLY like is the UBOB (Ultimate Breakout Board) from candcnc dot com - almost ordered their builder kit but thought "I should really make sure it will work with EMC2 / Linuxcnc BEFORE I pay for it lol..."

Emailed Tom at candcnc
**********************************************************
On 2/22/2012 2:18 PM, William K. wrote:
Tom,
Hi my name is Will, I am considering ordering your "Ultimate BreakOut Board Builders Pak" & am really loving everything I am reading about it but would like to make sure that it will work with the setup I am planning on. I will be using 5v 1a motors, linistepper controllers and EMC2 software for a 4 axis machine. Do you think that your UBOB will work with this combination? Are all features available when used with EMC2?

Thank you,

William Kuehn



No. UBOB uses special Muxed I/O to double the inputs and outputs and needs a special driver (plug-in). Only works with MACH.

**********************************************************

BUT I REALLY like this board... so being stubborn I continued looking and found this link...

wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?ContributedComponents#CandCNC_UBOB_breakout_board_drivers_and_sample_config

which supposedly has the beginnings of a driver?

My question is really - how hard would it be to get this hardware working properly with linuxcnc & who wants to help me ?

It looks like the support is all there including sample hal and .ini files using the UBOBs I/O, but the "driver"* supplied as a source "comp" form
so you will need to compile the comps for your linux CNC installation:

Comp: a tool for creating HAL components

* its not really a driver but rather a couple HAL components that do the UBOBs specific I/O port/bit twizzling

[wkuehn]

Thank you for the replies!

I would read the readme... if only I could find it... (sorry if this is a silly thread or if it is in the wrong place...)

I took a look at the Comp page - this may be what I need, at the very least it is a starting place & thank you for that. It looks like it might be a bit over my head but I will give it a more thorough read on my lunch break.

My biggest concern is that this board doesn't just pass the pins from the parallel port it apparently uses "special Muxed I/O to double the inputs and outputs" - this is really neat in that it gives a lot of flexibility and adds features but will make it difficult (impossible?) to get it working properly...

I should probably just go with a simple breakout board but I am taking this build very slowly and am willing to spend a little time trying to figure this out to get the double inputs and outputs. Alternately - is there a way to add more inputs / outputs via a second port?

Thank you everyone for taking the time to school me!

[PCW_MESA]

Thank you for the replies!

I would read the readme... if only I could find it... (sorry if this is a silly thread or if it is in the wrong place...)

I took a look at the Comp page - this may be what I need, at the very least it is a starting place & thank you for that. It looks like it might be a bit over my head but I will give it a more thorough read on my lunch break.

My biggest concern is that this board doesn't just pass the pins from the parallel port it apparently uses "special Muxed I/O to double the inputs and outputs" - this is really neat in that it gives a lot of flexibility and adds features but will make it difficult (impossible?) to get it working properly...

I should probably just go with a simple breakout board but I am taking this build very slowly and am willing to spend a little time trying to figure this out to get the double inputs and outputs. Alternately - is there a way to add more inputs / outputs via a second port?

Thank you everyone for taking the time to school me!

The README file is in the candcnc_ubob.tar.bz2 compressed archive linked to in your original post, as are the comps you need to get the UBOB running under EMC. The example LinuxCNC configuration files that use the UBOB features are there as well.

So the first step is to download that compressed file (its Bzipped) and take a look at whats there. The muxed input and output features of the UBOB look to be fully supported by the supplied comps, so I do not understand what you say about getting it to work properly, as thats already a solved problem.

That said, LinuxCNC can use multiple parallel ports for more I/O (up to 8 I think)

[wkuehn]

The README file is in the candcnc_ubob.tar.bz2 compressed archive linked to in your original post, as are the comps you need to get the UBOB running under EMC. The example LinuxCNC configuration files that use the UBOB features are there as well.

So the first step is to download that compressed file (its Bzipped) and take a look at whats there. The muxed input and output features of the UBOB look to be fully supported by the supplied comps, so I do not understand what you say about getting it to work properly, as thats already a solved problem.

That said, LinuxCNC can use multiple parallel ports for more I/O (up to 8 I think)

Thank you - I will read it as soon as possible. I had assumed that the file only had drivers.
In that post it mentions that some features aren't working - "The config is currently missing some important features such as using the external E-stop signal" & this is what inspired my post. I am on a teeny tiny budget & $150 for a breakout board is a lot if it won't work right lol and e stop is kind of important to me since I am basically a newbie and odds are good that I will make machine destroying, dangerous mistakes for a while If I can get it working with at least the limits, e stop and able to drive my linisteppers I will go for it but feel the need to be confidant of that before spending the money.
Another concern for me is that in theory my linistepper drivers will be capable of 1/18 micro-stepping and I am wondering if using this board will limit the modes of the drivers in any way?
Thank you all for your patience with me. I have very limited experience (worked in a machine shop once for a few months & worked refurbishing waferdicing saws 12 years ago) and am a pc tech by trade - mainly windows based... But after dreaming about cnc for a long time finally decided a small diy mill is within reach..

[PCW_MESA]

Thank you - I will read it as soon as possible. I had assumed that the file only had drivers.
In that post it mentions that some features aren't working - "The config is currently missing some important features such as using the external E-stop signal" & this is what inspired my post. I am on a teeny tiny budget & $150 for a breakout board is a lot if it won't work right lol and e stop is kind of important to me since I am basically a newbie and odds are good that I will make machine destroying, dangerous mistakes for a while If I can get it working with at least the limits, e stop and able to drive my linisteppers I will go for it but feel the need to be confidant of that before spending the money.
Another concern for me is that in theory my linistepper drivers will be capable of 1/18 micro-stepping and I am wondering if using this board will limit the modes of the drivers in any way?
Thank you all for your patience with me. I have very limited experience (worked in a machine shop once for a few months & worked refurbishing waferdicing saws 12 years ago) and am a pc tech by trade - mainly windows based... But after dreaming about cnc for a long time finally decided a small diy mill is within reach..

I think that all that's meant by the estop statement is that the _supplied_ configuration files (the hal and .ini files) dont have any estop support. Since the config files are always customized by the user, I dont think this in anyway indicates that estop is not supported.

On the other hand, a multiple parallel port system would probably make it easier to get help as such systems are more common