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okay this is really weird but i looked again at the errors i was getting when i switched to display=tkemc and display=tkxemc just to be sure they were the same errors i posted originally...they're not. so i went back downstairs to look at it again...tried to open emc...yep, i'm not getting the "X Error of failed request: BadLength (poly request too large or internal Xlib length error)" anymore, now it's something that seems a lot more directly related to my messing around with rtai modules. i added the smi module to rtapi.conf again and retried, and this is the error i got.

Print file information:
RUN_IN_PLACE=no
EMC2_DIR=
EMC2_BIN_DIR=/usr/bin
EMC2_TCL_DIR=/usr/share/emc/tcl
EMC2_SCRIPT_DIR=
EMC2_RTLIB_DIR=/usr/realtime-2.6.32-122-rtai/modules/emc2
EMC2_CONFIG_DIR=
EMC2_LANG_DIR=/usr/share/emc/tcl/msgs
INIVAR=inivar
HALCMD=halcmd
EMC2_EMCSH=/usr/bin/wish8.5
EMC2 - 2.4.6
Machine configuration directory is '/home/samuel/emc2/configs/3axismdf'
Machine configuration file is '3axismdf.ini'
INIFILE=/home/samuel/emc2/configs/3axismdf/3axismdf.ini
PARAMETER_FILE=emc.var
EMCMOT=motmod
EMCIO=io
TASK=milltask
HALUI=
DISPLAY=axis
NML_FILE=
Starting EMC2...
Starting EMC2 server program: emcsvr
Loading Real Time OS, RTAPI, and HAL_LIB modules
Realtime system did not load
Shutting down and cleaning up EMC2...
Killing task emcsvr, PID=2956
Removing HAL_LIB, RTAPI, and Real Time OS modules
Removing NML shared memory segments
Cleanup done

Debug file information:
/etc/emc2/rtapi.conf: line 21: : command not found
insmod: can't read '/usr/realtime-2.6.32-122-rtai/modules/rtai_shm.ko': No such file or directory
2956
PID TTY STAT TIME COMMAND
Stopping realtime threads
Unloading hal components
/etc/emc2/rtapi.conf: line 21: : command not found
ERROR: Module hal_lib does not exist in /proc/modules
ERROR: Module rtapi does not exist in /proc/modules
ERROR: Module rtai_smi does not exist in /proc/modules
ERROR: Module rtai_math does not exist in /proc/modules
ERROR: Module rtai_sem does not exist in /proc/modules
ERROR: Module rtai_shm does not exist in /proc/modules

Kernel message information:
[11442.773631] I-pipe: Domain RTAI registered.
[11442.773642] RTAI[hal]: <3.8.1> mounted over IPIPE-NOTHREADS 2.6-03.
[11442.773646] RTAI[hal]: compiled with gcc version 4.4.3 (Ubuntu 4.4.3-4ubuntu5) .
[11442.773734] RTAI[hal]: mounted (IPIPE-NOTHREADS, IMMEDIATE (INTERNAL IRQs DISPATCHED), ISOL_CPUS_MASK: 0).
[11442.773738] PIPELINE layers:
[11442.773742] f9e06e20 9ac15d93 RTAI 200
[11442.773746] c085cb20 0 Linux 100
[11442.801882] RTAI[malloc]: global heap size = 2097152 bytes, <BSD>.
[11442.802108] RTAI[sched]: IMMEDIATE, MP, USER/KERNEL SPACE: <with RTAI OWN KTASKs>, kstacks pool size = 524288 bytes.
[11442.802117] RTAI[sched]: hard timer type/freq = APIC/12468270(Hz); default timing: periodic; linear timed lists.
[11442.802122] RTAI[sched]: Linux timer freq = 250 (Hz), TimeBase freq = 2792906000 hz.
[11442.802126] RTAI[sched]: timer setup = 999 ns, resched latency = 2944 ns.
[11442.802235] RTAI[usi]: enabled.
[11443.377745] SCHED releases registered named ALIEN RTGLBH
[11443.408375] RTAI[malloc]: unloaded.
[11443.508026] RTAI[sched]: unloaded (forced hard/soft/hard transitions: traps 0, syscalls 0).
[11443.512479] I-pipe: Domain RTAI unregistered.
[11443.512581] RTAI[hal]: unmounted.

It took some doing but I've my garage hard wired for Internet access. Linux is as you're finding out much less fun disconnected. I've had spotty results with wi-fi. No one comes right out and says it but Internet connectivity is almost a prerequisite for getting this stuff to work. Technically you don't need it, but it is an awful lot more work going that route. Isn't this stuff already hard enough?

Hi

Rather difficult to assist because you have posted the errors but not the files which caused them.

2 things could be causingwhich appears to be the root of your errors

One is that you haven't edited the rtapi.conf as per http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?FixingSMIIssues

Most common mistake omitting the smi module from either MODULES or MODPATH lines.
Or just could be a mis-spelling or typo somewhere, or using a Windoze editor and filling the file with CR/LF pairs etc

The other could simply be that linuxcnc exited last in an error state and did not properly unload rtai
Trying to re-start it without a re-boot will produce all sorts of strange rt module errors, because some of them are still loaded.

If neither of above, you will need to post a zip of your rtapi.conf, .ini .hal files etc so we can look at them.

Your chipset ICH7_01 is one specified in the smi module, so should work OK.
Would however appear prudent to get your system back working, albeit with SMI spikes, and go from there initially.

regards

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it won't let me upload .conf files...any way around this?

# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE !
#
# ../scripts/rtapi.conf. Generated from rtapi.conf.in by configure.
# on Sat Oct 15 18:51:38 UTC 2011
#

# A few parameters from emc2/Makefile.inc
EMC2_HOME=/usr
KERNELDIR=/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-122-rtai
RTLIB_DIR=/usr/realtime-2.6.32-122-rtai/modules/emc2
MODULE_EXT=.ko
RTPREFIX=rtai

# Sets the default DEBUG level
DEBUG='1'

# Path to the realtime kernel modules
MODPATH=/usr/realtime-2.6.32-122-rtai/modules

#List of realtime kernel modules to be loaded
if [ "3" = "3" ] ; then \
MODULES="adeos rtai_hal rtai_ksched rtai_fifos rtai_shm rtai_sem rtai_math rtai_smi"
RTAI=3
MODPATH_adeos=
MODPATH_rtai_smi=/usr/realtime-$(uname -r)/modules/rtai_smi.ko
MODPATH_rtai_hal=/usr/realtime-$(uname -r)/modules/rtai_hal.ko
MODPATH_rtai_ksched=/usr/realtime-$(uname -r)/modules/rtai_ksched.ko
MODPATH_rtai_fifos=/usr/realtime-$(uname -r)/modules/rtai_fifos.ko
MODPATH_rtai_shm=/usr/realtime-$(uname -r)/modules/rtai_shm.ko
MODPATH_rtai_sem=/usr/realtime-$(uname -r)/modules/rtai_sem.ko
MODPATH_rtai_math=/usr/realtime-$(uname -r)/modules/rtai_math.ko

elif [ $RTPREFIX = rtai ] ; then
MODULES="adeos rtai rt_mem_mgr rtai_sched rtai_fifos rtai_shm rtai_libm"
MODPATH_adeos=
MODPATH_rtai=
MODPATH_rt_mem_mgr=
MODPATH_rtai_sched=/usr/realtime-$(uname -r)/modules/rtai_sched.ko
MODPATH_rtai_shm=
MODPATH_rtai_libm=
elif [ $RTPREFIX = rtl ] ; then
MODULES="rtl mbuff rtl_time rtl_sched rtl_posixio rtl_fifo"
MODPATH_rtl=
MODPATH_mbuff=
MODPATH_rtl_time=
MODPATH_rtl_sched=
MODPATH_rtl_posixio=
MODPATH_rtl_fifo=
fi

Hi
Just rename the extension to .txt. Easiest way would have been to zip all the files into one, its quite happy with zips.

I still haven't figured out how to get several pictures in one post though:}

Your errors specified a problem with loading rtai_shm.koIn your rtai.conf file the MODPATH entry for rtai_shm is
MODPATH_rtai_shm=/usr/realtime-$(uname -r)/modules/rtai_shm.ko

In my rtai.conf file and that of a fresh install it is
MODPATH_rtai_shm=

Don't ask me why, but this appears to be correct and that line is what insmod had trouble with.
(It is possible that rtai_shm is a dependency of other modules and automatically loaded, so does not need to be specifically addressed?)

Also your rtai,conf has a corrupted line herewhich should be "3" = "3"
(again don't ask me why bother testing if 3 = 3, why not just dispense with the rest of the options in the file ?)

Looks like a HTML mark up, don't know if that is how it is in the original, because we only have a paste of it, the paste into the forum might have done that bit.

I have attached my rtapi.conf file (you will have to rename it to that) which you can substitute for yours.
It does not load rtai_smi.ko by default, but I have included the lines commented out for substitution later.

Regards the .ini and .hal files, they look pretty standard stepconf generated ones.

The only thing that strikes me in the .hal file are the figuresIf those are the manufacturers figures then so be it, they are 3 times the size of the figures for my small stepper mill however.

In you .ini file I noted that your acceleration figures are extremely high, especially in comparison to your modest and probably realistic velocity figure.

Has no bearing on your current problem, but when you get running, very high ACCELERATION in combination with a very high SCALE figure (gearing plus very high micro-stepping?)
and your slow dirhold and dirsetup figures look like a sure fire recipe for lost steps.

regards

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Banana Jack wrote:The first line suggests a problem with your edit to rtapi.conf
The rest indicates that RTAI didn't exit cleanly. You _must_ restart the machine when you see those errors, or any further testing is meaniningless.
(and I have spent days on end chasing bugs (in my hardware drivers) that required that, it was like having a ZX81 again..)

For anyone born in the last 30 years or so, this is what the ZX81 did best

Maybe for you.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Sinclair-Surplus-Keyboard-Graft/

Pretty good story... at least your still pfred1 over here

John