Add documentation / manual pages about hardware interfaces

[pippin88]

Add documentation / manual pages about hardware interfaces

Currently the documents do not contain sufficient information on actual hardware interfaces between the LinuxCNC computer and the CNC machine. So I made this summary page.

I hope that I have done this correctly to enable easy merging.

[andypugh]

Looks good to me so far, though see my comment about EPP parport.

I didn't see anything about Modbus in there (but it was a lot of commits to look through)

[petterreinholdtsen]

[andypugh]

Looks good to me so far, though see my comment about EPP parport.

I didn't see anything about Modbus in there (but it was a lot of commits to look through)

I hope the commits will be squashed before merging. Perhaps rebase and squash in your branch to get a simpler commit message? -- Happy hacking Petter Reinholdtsen

[andypugh]

I think I can squash when merging, (squash and merge is one of the options in the big green button)

[pippin88]

Changed EPP mode comment.

Apologies about the many commits. I tried to find a way to merge commits but failed. I cannot find how to squash / rebase / merge).

I am working on github website, but the options that should be there to squash / merge don't seem to be.

Maybe because I forked LinuxCNC and am working in a fork of the master branch? Instead of creating a new branch?

[andypugh]

Do you think that a mention of Modbus should be in this section? (There are several options: http://linuxcnc.org/docs/stable/html/drivers/mb2hal.html http://linuxcnc.org/docs/stable/html/drivers/mesa_modbus.html http://linuxcnc.org/docs/stable/html/ladder/classic-ladder.html#_modbus_settings And a bunch of dedicated VFD drivers that generally work through a USB to serial dongle)

[pippin88]

I mention modbus under usb-modbus.

The aim of this page is to explain hardware interfaces from linuxcnc computer to outside world. I.e. how do we get signals into and out of the computer

So Mesa card modbus functions really are an extension of Mesa ethernet / parallel / spi interfaces.

The new linuxcnc user is often unclear on what they need between computer and stepper drivers or computer and breakout board. The aim of this page is explain options for that.

I don't think enough computers have native modbus interface to have a big section on it.

[hansu]

I don't think enough computers have native modbus interface to have a big section on it.

For running Modbus with Mb2Hal you only need a serial port or a USB-to-serial converter...

[petterreinholdtsen]

[pippin88]

Apologies about the many commits. I tried to find a way to merge commits but failed. I cannot find how to squash / rebase / merge).

If you approach me (pere) on IRC (#linuxcnc or #linuxcnc-devel via irc.libera.chat, I can perhaps provide some guidance. In short, on the command line it is a question of using 'git rebase -i' to modify the commits in your branch.

I am working on github website, but the options that should be there to squash / merge don't seem to be.

I have no idea how to do this via the github web site, and no idea if it is possible.

Maybe because I forked LinuxCNC and am working in a fork of the master branch? Instead of creating a new branch?

That is not the reason. A separate branch will save you some troubles, but it is not the cause of any rebase/squash problems. You can always rename your current master to some new name and create a new master branch identical to the upstream one.

-- Happy hacking Petter Reinholdtsen

[hansu]

Andy, did you use the GitHub squash and merge option in the big green button?

[andypugh]

I did. But I didn't check if it had worked.

[hansu]

I only wondered because it appears as a single commit from pippin88 instead of a merge commit. Interesting...