Released 2.5.X

Mar 3, 2013: LinuxCNC 2.5.2 released

LinuxCNC 2.5.2 has been released.

Bugfixes and changes in this version:

• AXIS: Allow the setting of the top end of the Max Velocity slider according to [DISPLAY]MAX_LINEAR_VELOCITY as the docs say
• Components: Fix mux16's debounce function
• Components: LCD character display driver
• Components: New multiclick component detects single, double, triple clicks
• Docs: Many improvements
• Gremlin: Better error reporting for gcode errors
• Gremlin: Fix rotated axes display
• Halui: Include tool length offsets in relative position outputs
• Hostmot2: Fixes to sserial
• Kins: Fix teleop jogging of ABC axes in the negative direction
• Modbus: Fix TCP communication time out error
• New config: Gecko G540
• New config: Smithy 1240combined_mm
• PID: Optional new error-previous-target mode to reduce ferrors detected by motion. This is especially useful for torque-mode loops and those tunings that use large I gains
• pncconf: Many fixes
• PPMC: Better error checking for hardware problems causing miscommunication
• Tool Table: Many fixes to tool table handling, making tool tables on nonrandom setups using mismatched tool and pocket numbers work correctly
• Translations: German for tooledit
• Translations: Many improvements to French
• Utilities: new latencyhistogram program that shows details about latency
• Utilities: sim_pin, a script that simulates writing to hal pins

July 30, 2012: LinuxCNC 2.5.1 released

LinuxCNC 2.5.1 has been released.

Bugfixes and changes in this version:

• Motion: fix incorrect spindle direction after G43 in CSS+M4 mode
• Interpreter: allow G10 L1 to set front/back angles when not also changing offsets
• Interpreter: correctly report G96/G97 mode to the UI
• Interpreter: explicitly set the default spindle mode at startup
• task: fix incorrect spindle speed display when switching mode (Manual/MDI)
• PPMC: fix a bug that would cause missing encoder velocity pins on some versions
• Hostmot2: Fix a couple of bugs affecting sserial (crash on shutdown, memory leak)
• Hostmot2: Add support for 6i25
• AXIS: fix a surprise jog when the jog increment combobox was open
• AXIS: show S word in active gcode pane
• AXIS: rebranding
• Touchy: rebranding, change program path to ~/linuxcnc/nc_files
• Docs: improvements/clarifications to the halui.1 manpage
• Docs: improvements/clarifications to the gladevcp docs
• Docs: improvements/clarifications to the halcmd docs
• Docs: improvements/clarifications to the gcode docs
• Docs: fix misc typos, misspellings, grammar, and markup bugs
• Docs: updates to French translations
• GladeVCP: fix EMC_Action_Open
• GladeVCP: new default-value example
• tooledit: save/restore geometry, allow sorting on specific columns
• tooledit: bugfixes and i18n
• ngcgui: minor fixes and additions
• pncconf: lots of bug fixes and incremental improvements
• portability fix for Ubuntu Precise 12.04 LTS
• portability fix for Fedora 16
• Calibration: fix missing entries in tuning/calibration screens
• emcrsh: fix incorrect relative position report for some offset settings
• time.comp: fix hours wrapping at 60

April 1, 2012: LinuxCNC 2.5.0 released

LinuxCNC 2.5.0 has been released. Debian packages are available from the regular servers, for Ubuntu Hardy (32-bit and 64-bit, sim and realtime), Lucid (32-bit sim and realtime, 64-bit sim only), and Precise (32-bit and 64-bit, sim only). The source code is available via git, from the regular server.

The following changes and bugfixes have been made since the 2.4 release series:

• AXIS: dynamic tabs can embed other applications, including virtual control panels
• AXIS: make the gcode readout resizable
• AXIS: many speedups in preview generation
• AXIS: new OpenGL preview with antialiased fonts
• AXIS: optional blending in the program preview can make very complex programs easier to see
• AXIS: prompt when homing a joint that's already homed
• AXIS: Selectable tool touch off to workpiece or fixture
• AXIS: show all offsets and rotation separately in the BIG DRO
• AXIS: show G5x and G92 offsets graphically in the preview
• AXIS: user-configurable MDI history file
• AXIS: A comment (AXIS,notify,message) will print "message" when the preview is generated, instead of just at run-time.
• Configs: many configuration updates for Smithy machines
• Configs: update motenc sample configs for encoder index
• Configs: add filtering (image-to-gcode etc) to hostmot2 samples
• Configs: univpwm sample uses new encoder velocity for pid
• GladeVCP: a new framework for making virtual control panels with the Glade screen designer
• Gremlin: AXIS's program preview is now separated out as gremlin, for use with GladeVCP/Touchy/etc.
• HAL: fix rare problem with freqgen output getting stuck "on"
• HAL: gearchange component: support up to 32 gears
• HAL: make commanded (unaffected by spindle override) spindle speed available on a pin, for gear selection etc.
• HAL: make limit3 parameters into pins
• HAL: new axis.N.motor-offset pins can be used to detect position loss between homings
• HAL: new component bldc_sine: commutation for BLDC with encoder feedback
• HAL: new mux16 component
• HAL: new time comp, which converts seconds to hr/min/sec
• HAL: new watchdog component
• HAL: remove deprecated hal_m5i20 driver
• HAL: new component for ShuttleXpress USB jog dongle
• HAL: support names= options for encoder_ratio, sim_encoder, at_pid, siggen
• HAL: a new component, message, to display user messages from HAL
• HAL: a new component, multiswitch, to toggle through bits with one button
• Halshow: add menu with load/save/exit
• Halshow: fix the tree to not cut off after a certain depth
• HAL: standardize on maximum hal name length
• HALUI: allow direct-value input to spindle and feed overrides and max velocity
• HALUI: handle the situation better when many command inputs change simultaneously
• Hostmot2: fix a rare problem in stepgen mode setting
• Hostmot2: fix stepgen moving VERY slowly when it should have been stopped
• Hostmot2: handle failed card registration better
• Hostmot2: support for multiplexed encoders like on the 7i48
• Hostmot2: support for onboard diagnostic LEDs
• Hostmot2: support for three phase PWM
• Hostmot2: improve watchdog reliability and defaults
• Interpreter: fixes to always use . for a decimal, no matter the locale
• Interpreter: fix G83 peck retract to match fanuc
• Interpreter: fix G98/G99 to match fanuc retract planes behavior
• Interpreter: fix "run from line" when the start line is between a sub definition and its call
• Interpreter: give correct errors when rotary axes are commanded to move in canned cycles
• Interpreter: improve arc endpoint radius-mismatch error checking
• Interpreter: maintain G5x and G92 offsets separately
• Interpreter: make current position including all offsets and in the current program units available in parameters 5420-5428
• Interpreter: make EMC version available in named parameters _vminor, _vmajor
• Interpreter: make G92 offset rotated coordinate systems correctly
• Interpreter: make more errors translatable
• Interpreter: many fixes to allow O-call of subroutines from MDI mode
• Interpreter: many new tests in the test suite, including the ability to verify errors
• Interpreter: new G10 L11 code for tool touch off to fixture instead of active work coordinate system
• Interpreter: new unary function EXISTS tells whether a certain parameter exists
• Interpreter: search path for subroutines: [RS274NGC]SUBROUTINE_PATH
• Interpreter: search path for user M codes: [RS274NGC]USER_M_PATH
• Interpreter: detect and error on malformed O-if[] statements
• IOcontrol: make aborting tool changes work
• Kinematics: several improvements to the general serial kinematics module
• Motenc, VTI, Opto_ac5: PCI-related update for new kernel versions
• Motion: allow translations of more error messages
• Motion: fix stuttering motion in NURBS
• Motion: support for indexing/locking rotary axes
• ngcgui: many new features and bugfixes
• PID: accept external command-deriv and feedback-deriv connections to use a high quality velocity signal when it is available
• pncconf: many new features and bugfixes
• PPMC: improve error messages when cards are not found
• PPMC: Encoder velocity estimation for Universal PWM Controller board
• Probing: correctly abort motion when the probe trips during a non-probe MDI command
• Rebranding: rename EMC to LinuxCNC
• TkEMC: display and allow entry of all tool offsets
• TkEMC: in Set Coordinates, display the correct axes
• TkEMC: only display active axes
• TkEMC: show coordinate system in offset widget
• TkEMC: show work offsets for all axes
• Touchy: add a spindle speed readout on the manual tab
• Touchy: dynamic tabs can embed other applications, including virtual control panels
• Touchy: macro capability that uses MDI O-call
• Touchy: make single-block switch work like feed hold
• Touchy: save maximum velocity (MV) value across runs
• Touchy: Selectable tool touch off to workpiece or fixture
• Touchy: show all offsets separately in the status information
• Touchy: show the total number of lines in the loaded program
• Touchy: show which tools are in which pockets
• Touchy: support for metric configurations
• Touchy: support panel indicators for status readout
• Touchy: use appropriate jog and maxvel increments for metric and degrees
• Touchy: turning the wheel during a continuous jog changes the current jog speed
• add a G code language spec for gedit
• add latencyplot, a strip-chart type display of latency test results