Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] EMC is installed, So now what?

Chris and Dee wrote:

>This may sound ignorant, and for that I apologize. Here goes:
>
>I got a new office computer recently, so my AMD K6/II 400Mhz office
>computer became my garage/cnc computer. Onto that I installed Mach 1
>and TurboCNC with a dual boot OS and both seem to be running quite
>well (thanks Art!).
>
>So I was left with my old P166 which I decided I would try to install
>EMC onto. I downloaded the BDI image and fired up the installation,
>and other than a screen resolution that needs to be increased (can't
>see the whole window), it seems to be running.
>
>However I have a few questions:
> 1.) I know very limited Unix and this is my first time ever on
>Linux. I can't find the screen resolution adjustment anywhere nor
>can I locate the EMC ini file to let me enter in the port outputs &
>motor tuning info.
>
>

Well, there is a graphical utility called mandrake Control Center, but
you probably don't
have that on the BDI disk. I do this "barefoot" by editing the
/etc/X11/XF86Config file,
but that is not for the novice. There should be some utility that
allows you to make a
selection. Probably, the base VGA drivers were installed, and they
don't support anything
about 640x480. So, you need to determine the graphics card type (make
sure it is on the
supported hardware list - if it is not, then 640x480 is all you will
get) and then try
xf86config. It should allow you to select your card and monitor from a
list. With
luck, they will be in there.

Oh, there's one quick thing to try, press and hold ctrl/alt/+ at the
same time, and if other
video modes are built in for that combination of card and monitor, it
will walk through
them. If it gets massively messed up, and you can't get back to a video
mode that works,
use ctrl/alt/backspace, and it will kill the Xserver, and get you to a
TTY screen, from
which you can safely reboot. (For completeness, ctrl/alt/- (oh, these
are the + and -
keys on the right keypad section) walks backwards through the list of
video modes.)
Another program, xvidtune, allows you to walk through the available
video modes, and
see the sweep rates and pixel clock for each of them.

> 2.) Why use EMC over TurboCNC or Mach1? What does it do better, if
>anything at all? Is its only advantage that its free open source?
>
>

It also supports 4 and 5 axis machining (with some limitations), hexapod
(Stewart platform)
type machines, has flexible I/O so you can configure what I/O bit does
what function,
can accept programs that add-on to the graphical interface, such as fill
in the blanks and
it creates G-code for pockets, peck drilling, boring large round holes,
etc., another one
graphically shows the toolpath and checks the cutting program for problems.
It can handle steppers, servos, and even some combinations of the two.
It can drive
steppers directly from software, or use an outboard step rate generator
for very high
step rates that might be used with microstepping drives. It can run
stepper systems
open-loop (send the pulses and the motors better move there) or
closed-loop (send
pulses, and then check by encoder count to KNOW it got to the commanded
position).
Servos can be driven by step/direction drives like Gecko and Rutex, or
by analog
servo amps with your choice of Servo-to-Go or Pico Systems PPMC servo
interfaces.

Even if you are not a programmer, the user interface is so simple that
you can rearrange
the screen layout to best suit your choice and your operating environment.

>
>

Jon