Re: Re: Replacing Anilam Controller with EMC? / Another Choice

Well Jim, forgive me for putting my reply at the front and also mixed in
but that seemed the most appropriate for the nature of your post. An
opening like you just gave us EMC'ers, could easily lead to at least a 1
Meg answer which would surely &*$$# off a number of "true believers" in
other systems.

The stuff at linuxcnc.org is just a bit dated for reasons beyond the scope
of this topic. We should have this fixed soon after server migrtion and
the new year. You should have a look at the user handbook at

www.sherline.com/emc/

where you will find most of the info directed toward a stepper system.

> From: "jim_clamp_it" <jim_clamp_it@...>

<s>

> I'd love to try BDI and would like to know when you have the "How TO"
> ready to read. To be honest, I didn't have a clue what the BDI was. I
> think BDI stands for Brainless Download Install. If so, I'm 100%
> qualified. I found "http://www.linuxcnc.org/bdi/" and I'm still
> checking it out.

For the list, I'll trim the usual reply.

-----usual reply
There have been a bunch of recent developments surrounding the BDI
disks. Let me describe them to you and then you can choose which BDI
is right for your application.

* BDI 2.20b is stable and works well. This is the version that I use
for my mills and lathe here. It is also the version that Sherline chose
for their initial release. The single CD is still $10.00 and
that includes shipping and handling.
* It is based on RedHat 6.0-6.2 so the linux and graphical stuff is
a bit dated
* Installs and runs on older pentium class machines with 64 Meg RAM
and 1.2 Gig HD for the developer install.

* BDI TNG (The Next Generation) is no longer being updated. Yesterday I
created a new EMC and RCSLIB which will be available for download
soon at sourceforge.net. The 2 CD set has been reduced to $20.00 and
includes shipping and handling.
* TNG is based on RedHat 7.2 and is a reasonably complete set.
* Requires at least a 400 MHz pentium class computer although an
800+ works much better. Runs faster with 128 Meg RAM. Needs 2Gig
of HD at least.

* BDI Live is the newest distribution. It is at the release candidate
stage which means that it is under heavy testing. The rc23 CD is
currently available. The cost is $10.

* Live is based on the Knoppix/Morphix distributions of the Debian
distribution. This is a big departure from previous BDI's. There
are two reasons for the switch.
* Live is a small distribution (about 130 Meg compressed) and uses a
very light window manager named IceWM.
* Live will boot directly from the CD if your computer has the CD
first in it's boot sequence. It does not use any hard drive unless
you tell it to. It does not mess with your resident operating system.

Thank you for your patience while we make major changes to the BDI.

Ray Henry
358 Swante Aho Road
Crystal Falls, MI 49920

906-875-6692
-----end

> About the "servo to go" cards. What kind of performance and other
> advantages are there over the "LPT/Rutex" setup?

The advantages have been argued here before. With a step-and-direction
system the PC is a one way thing. It sends pulses which must be obeyed
perfectly by whatever is out there or the computer is out of sync with
the hardware. With an STG or PPMC system, the PC will know at all times
what the "real" state of external hardware is.

Hope this helps.

Ray