#flex-dev Logs

Jun 14 2025

04:59 AM JT-Cave: morning
06:06 AM Tom_L: morning
08:13 AM rdtsc: morning
08:53 AM Tom_L: thunderstorms
08:56 AM JT-Shop: slight chance today, got sprinkled on this morning during my ride
09:05 AM rdtsc: light rain for 24+hours here
09:05 AM rdtsc: good thing I didn't completely fill the pool heh
09:08 AM rdtsc: uggh... installing gh on rpi5... no aarch64 build of gitkraken, so anything github-related has to be done on it from the command line
09:13 AM Tom_L: hope you're taking good notes
09:41 AM JT-Shop: yes, figure out how Chris does it in QtDragon
10:06 AM JT-Cave: rdtsc, just use git gui
10:06 AM JT-Cave: much simpler that crackasnack
10:07 AM Tom_L: yep
10:32 AM lcnc-relay: <roguish> good morning
10:33 AM Tom_L: a rainy one
10:33 AM lcnc-relay: <roguish> not here. rain is out of site, probably for the summer
10:33 AM Tom_L: just fires from here on ehh?
03:59 PM Tom_L: rdtsc, do i need anything extra to enable spi on the pi5?
03:59 PM Tom_L: other than enabling in the config
04:00 PM Tom_L: i may try to test spi if i can find my cable
04:00 PM Tom_L: i assume the pinout is the same as the 4
04:01 PM Tom_L: the plan is to test that and ethernet cards
04:03 PM lcnc-relay: <ccatlett1984@> Tom_L: Nothing else special. Need specific version of mesaflash
04:03 PM lcnc-relay: <ccatlett1984@> Just build from source
04:03 PM Tom_L: i know, i keep that up to date
04:03 PM Tom_L: i probably have 20 versions :)
04:05 PM lcnc-relay: <ccatlett1984@> https://discord.com/channels/970073318357078036/970073721291292702/1332929996267851856
04:05 PM lcnc-relay: <ccatlett1984@> Ugh, that's not what I wanted...
04:06 PM xxcoder: can shift right click on "download" icon to get file url
04:07 PM xxcoder: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/970073721291292702/1332929995907268628/Build.mht?ex=684ef48b&is=684da30b&hm=b6d25aff8f2d84a655ad7e586c397b511cf48d7bf953a8e1cb27cb7339fabd91&
04:07 PM lcnc-relay: <ccatlett1984@> Not on mobile ..
04:07 PM lcnc-relay: <ccatlett1984@> Anyways, that's my doc on the pit w/ 7c80
04:07 PM lcnc-relay: <ccatlett1984@> * pi5
04:11 PM Tom_L: ok
04:12 PM Tom_L: i'll be using a 7i90 though
04:12 PM Tom_L: not alot of difference spi wise
04:13 PM Tom_L: what's a .mht file?
04:14 PM Tom_L: mmm archive
04:15 PM Tom_L: not sure what i have here to open that
04:54 PM Tom_L: ccatlett1984 thanks
05:12 PM rdtsc: Tom, 7i90HD? https://store.mesanet.com/index.php?route=product/product&search=7i90&product_id=291
05:14 PM rdtsc: if using SPI, you'll want like a 1.5in IDC cable - very short - seen where 13cm was far too long
05:15 PM rdtsc: can also tweak the SPI rate in the .ini/.hal if needed
05:16 PM rdtsc: think mine's at 25MHz using the 1.5in cable
05:21 PM rdtsc: the LinuxCNC 2.9.4 rpi5 .xz image - never do an apt dist-upgrade - it will bork it!
05:25 PM rdtsc: in my .ini there is a [HOSTMOT2] section containing entries like DRIVER=hm2_spix & BOARD=7c80 & CONFIG="num_encoders=0 num_pwmgens=1 num_stepgens=4" & SPICLK_RATE=25000 & SPICLK_RATE_RD=25000
05:26 PM rdtsc: so that in the .hal file I can do loadrt [HOSTMOT2](DRIVER) config=[HOSTMOT2](CONFIG) spiclk_rate=[HOSTMOT2](SPICLK_RATE)
05:32 PM Tom_L: rdtsc, i made a spi cable for the rpi and it's like 1.5"
05:32 PM Tom_L: i've dealt with spi before
05:33 PM Tom_L: the hm2_spix is new to the rpi5
05:33 PM Tom_L: that should be about all i need to fix in the config afik
05:34 PM Tom_L: i set my config up the same way
05:34 PM Tom_L: i've long since lost my rpi spi setup though
05:45 PM Tom_L: http://tom-itx.no-ip.biz:443/~webpage/cnc/rpi5/spi_cable.jpg
05:47 PM rdtsc: hm2_spix was back-ported to the rpi4 - suggest using that over rpspi altogether noew
05:47 PM Tom_L: oh?
05:47 PM Tom_L: cool
05:47 PM Tom_L: what version has that?
05:48 PM Tom_L: i'm just doing this to test the rpi5 anyway
05:48 PM rdtsc: before i got the rpi5, just tried the spix driver and it magically worked
05:48 PM Tom_L: pcw magic
05:48 PM rdtsc: think it is included in the rpi4 .xz image
05:48 PM Tom_L: ok
05:49 PM rdtsc: I know you're tempted to try another .iso or method but that honestly is likely the easiest and fastest way to get started
05:49 PM Tom_L: no, i was planning to use the file on the download page
05:49 PM Tom_L: i've already gotten it
05:50 PM rdtsc: use rpi imager only... balena etcher will not work
05:50 PM Tom_L: i might explore other options later
05:50 PM Tom_L: i've always used the standard imager
05:50 PM rdtsc: if you haven't already, suggest getting a high endurance sd card
05:51 PM rdtsc: just for a bit more peace of mind
05:51 PM Tom_L: i have a few but i dunno how 'high endurance' they are
05:51 PM Tom_L: they're all sandisk
05:52 PM Tom_L: it likely won't get used alot
05:52 PM rdtsc: got one of these https://www.pishop.us/product/sandisk-128gb-max-endurance-microsdxc-card-blank/
05:52 PM Tom_L: just wanna get up to speed with it
05:53 PM Tom_L: i'll keep that in mind
05:53 PM rdtsc: the rpi5 is nice... boots fully in like 10 seconds
05:53 PM Tom_L: once i get it up and going it will get backed up
05:53 PM Tom_L: cool
05:54 PM Tom_L: i just got the 8gb one i didn't see the need for 16
05:54 PM rdtsc: i should be around when you get questions :)
05:54 PM Tom_L: i'm sure
05:54 PM Tom_L: the spi i did was quite some time back
05:54 PM Tom_L: i'm sure it will come back
05:55 PM Tom_L: i'll probably copy the rpi4 config and edit the config line
05:56 PM Tom_L: i know at one point i had one all set up but who knows where it is
05:56 PM rdtsc: the 5 and 4 are very similar; little has changed
05:57 PM rdtsc: add-ons made for the 4 likely won't fit the 5 - slightly different layout
05:57 PM Tom_L: the header pinout the same?
05:57 PM Tom_L: power etc
05:57 PM rdtsc: yes that's the same and in the same location
05:57 PM Tom_L: i don't have any addons anyway
05:57 PM Tom_L: this is purely a test platform
05:58 PM rdtsc: mine is happy being powered from the IDC cable, although technically this is pushing the pin limits
05:58 PM Tom_L: i have a usb 5v i use
05:59 PM rdtsc: easy-peasy
06:00 PM rdtsc: raspi_config was replaced (in the .xz version) with menu_config and greatly stripped-down... will have to go into that and turn on SPI, set the hostname, network, etc
06:00 PM Tom_L: i think i saw something about that
06:01 PM Tom_L: the file is in broadcom isn't it?
06:01 PM rdtsc: yep /boot/broadcom/config.txt
06:05 PM rdtsc: note the 7i90HD may be 3.3v inputs
06:05 PM Tom_L: they worked on the rpi4
06:06 PM rdtsc: just don't accidentally connect 24V to one :)
06:06 PM Tom_L: i think those are 5v tolerant
06:06 PM Tom_L: i don't plan on that
06:06 PM rdtsc: <--- dumb $%^& usually happens here heheh
06:06 PM Tom_L: i don't have 24v where i test anyway
06:09 PM rdtsc: smart; my machine has 36v for drives, 12v for display and usb hub, and 5v/3.3v from rpi5
06:10 PM Tom_L: yeah the mill is a different story
06:10 PM Tom_L: 48, 24, 10, 5
06:20 PM JT-Shop: whew long day here
07:00 PM Tom_L: playing hard?
08:02 PM rdtsc: tried gitgui https://github.com/jjustra/gitgui/tree/main can push, but no pull request
08:03 PM Tom_L: i sync mine manually
08:03 PM Tom_L: but unless i'm pushing a deb i use git gui
08:04 PM rdtsc: well i shoud say, can try to push, but since I'm not JT, it fails
08:04 PM Tom_L: i've barely explored what it can do
08:04 PM rdtsc: looking into gh pr create command now
08:04 PM Tom_L: i have a mirror'd repo and push to him and he accepts them
08:05 PM Tom_L: keeping them in sync before any actions
08:05 PM Tom_L: i have a script for the debs
08:06 PM rdtsc: there are many, many build tools for debian... some of them cross-compiling... think the rabbit hole goes deep on that one
08:07 PM Tom_L: pulls from my repo after i've sync'd with his, builds, installs my local copy and pushes the rpi deb back to mine then i create a pull from my git repo
08:07 PM Tom_L: i used to build them on the rpi4 until i figured that out
08:07 PM Tom_L: mesact builds both a 32 & 64 bit version
08:08 PM Tom_L: flex is only 64 bit
08:08 PM Tom_L: due to some libs not present in 32bit
08:10 PM Tom_L: pushing from local is a 3 step process
08:11 PM rdtsc: ok so let me move some folders around, pull flex from my repo, make a change, push that to mine, then go from there
08:12 PM rdtsc: say, what happens if you just run flexgui from a terminal?
08:12 PM rdtsc: here, it crashes
08:12 PM rdtsc: I have a fix in the works, just curious if it's only me :)
08:13 PM Tom_L: mine runs from terminal. i test all the examples that way
08:14 PM rdtsc: does it start linuxcnc? the code seems to check if linuxcnc is running and if not, it should be giving an error
08:15 PM Tom_L: yes
08:16 PM Tom_L: : linuxcnc touch-probe3.ini
08:16 PM Tom_L: if i repeat too quick i get a still running message i just tell it to restart
08:17 PM Tom_L: if you're not sure sometimes i erase the flexgui folder and git clone to make sure things are up to date
08:17 PM Tom_L: haven't had to do that in a while
08:29 PM Tom_L: remember if you run an app it creates a var.bak file you want to delete before pushing changes
08:35 PM rdtsc: sounds like a good candidate to add to the .gitignore file
08:35 PM Tom_L: i suppose
08:38 PM rdtsc: well tried to make a PR... just a few lines of code due to 'parent' not being defined when flexgui is run from terminal directly - also prints the version :)
08:40 PM Tom_L: what is the end goal here?
08:45 PM rdtsc: trying to run flexgui spits out the version instead of a crash
08:46 PM Tom_L: is your branch up to date with jt's?
08:46 PM Tom_L: fork... branch... whatever
08:46 PM rdtsc: yes, better be
08:47 PM Tom_L: i didn't know if you'd modified yours
08:48 PM rdtsc: well the rpi5 was 'blank' so I pulled (at first, his) then when I couldn't PR from his, synced my fork, pulled that, pushed a change, and then (after all this) found a dumb "Pull Request" button lol
08:48 PM rdtsc: https://postimg.cc/9wQHXmmx
08:49 PM Tom_L: that looks way to complicated
08:56 PM rdtsc: well that green shiny button only appears when hovered over
08:57 PM rdtsc: it's all one big learning experience
08:58 PM Tom_L: git gui is much easier
09:01 PM rdtsc: probably could have pushed to my fork much easier with that, but then still had to figure out how to do a PR from there
09:01 PM Tom_L: you didn't ask