Hi Folks,
I am trying to set up a VistaCNC P1A-S Pendant on my PCNC 440 running Pathpilot V2.10.1 and running into what appears to be a failed md5sum checksum issue that prevents Pathpilot from starting. I can’t seem to find anything about this error online, either for Pathpilot or LinuxCNC, and I reached out to VistaCNC but their suggested ini file modifications didn’t work (still waiting on hearing back about next steps).
Here’s the background: first I successfully flashed the pendant to LinuxCNC firmware, then followed VistaCNC’s instructions (attached pdf) to “install” the “firmware” for the pendant on the Pathpilot controller (mostly involves copying various HAL files to various locations, running a make install command in terminal, and modifying the tormach_mill_base.ini file (under home/operator/tmc/configs/tormach_mill) to call out the new HAL files. But once I do that, when I restart the controller Pathpilot refuses to open, giving me the following error:
Error Starting PathPilot
It appears that PathPilot was not able to start successfully. Sometimes this can be caused by an incorrect machine configuration. After clicking OK, the machine configuration will appear and provide an opportunity to make changes if necessary.
Redoing machine configuration doesn’t allow it to start, I end up with the same message. If I revert the original tormach_mill_base.ini file it starts fine, but of course the pendant won’t work. The changes I was instructed to make to the base.ini file are as follows (added lines highlighted by **):
[HAL]
HALUI = halui
HALFILE = tormach_mill_mesa.hal
**HALFILE = vc-p1as-pp.hal**
POSTGUI_SHUTTLEXPRESS_HALFILE = millshuttlexpress.hal
POSTGUI_VMC_CONSOLE_HALFILE = ../common/operator_console_controls_4axis.hal
POSTGUI_HALFILE = postgui_tormach_mill.hal
POSTGUI_USER_COMP_DEPENDENCIES = zbotatc remap
**[HALUI]**
**MDI_COMMAND=...**
**MDI_COMMAND=...**
**MDI_COMMAND=...**
**MDI_COMMAND=...**
**MDI_COMMAND=...**
**MDI_COMMAND=G10 L20 P1 X0**
**MDI_COMMAND=G10 L20 P1 Y0**
**MDI_COMMAND=G10 L20 P1 Z0**
[TRAJ]
I’ve gone through and verified to the best of my ability that all the files in the VistaCNC instructions are in the correct locations, and triple-checked for typos in base.ini (plus tried a few variants because the sample text in the instructions is a bit different from my original file, but someone from VistaCNC suggested the callout above as the correct one).
Anyway, when checking the log file, I believe the relevant error is this:
024-11-15 20:22:40.819452 | Z-Bot ATC: HAL component : started [python/hal_zbotatc.py:31]
2024-11-15 20:22:41.136272 | Smart Cool: HAL component: started [python/hal_zbotschnozz.py:122]
tormachheightgauge: starting
2024-11-15 20:22:41.476047 | USBIO : HAL component starting [usbio.py:31]
tormach_mill_mesa.hal:151: parameter or pin 'hm2_7i92T.0.encoder.timer-number' not found
HALCMD ini file /home/operator/tmc/configs/tormach_mill/tormach_440_7i92.ini load failed with config file tormach_mill_mesa.hal
Shutting down and cleaning up LinuxCNC...
2666
Killing linuxcncsvr
Killing task linuxcncsvr, PID=2666
PID TTY STAT TIME COMMAND
2665
Killing redis-server
Killing task redis-server, PID=2665
PID TTY STAT TIME COMMAND
2665 ? Sl 0:00 /home/operator/tmc/bin/redis-server *:6379
PID TTY STAT TIME COMMAND
Stopping realtime threads
halcmd stop
Unloading hal components
halcmd unload all
And/or this:
Checking md5sum manifest for all config files in /home/operator/v2.10.1/configs
./tormach_mill/tormach_mill_base.ini: FAILED
md5sum: WARNING: 1 computed checksum did NOT match
ALERT: config files have been changed by customer.
Disabling USB autosuspend
/home/operator/v2.10.1/venv
Entering Python virtual environment
I’m not a good programmer, but from what I can tell during startup, Pathpilot checks tormach_mill_base.ini (and/or other files generated from it) against a checksum hash and throws an error if the file appears to be modified, preventing the program from starting. Does anyone know if there is a way to disable or bypass this checksum? Or generate a new hash for the modified file? Or any other workaround? I assume this checksum appeared in a somewhat recent PP version because I can find videos of other people who successfully installed the P1A-S pendant years ago and none mention running into it (plus the VistaCNC instructions don’t mention it either)… I suppose I could downgrade my PP version but that’s not so ideal.
Appreciate any insight here! Happy to supply full log files or any other info you might need.
P.S. I do get another error right after the BIOS screen flashes on every startup that says the following:
[ 0.551029] ACPI Exception: AE_BAD_PARAMETER, Could not install PciConfig handler for Root Bridge PCIO (20170119/evrgnini-245)
However, I think this error has been present since I first set up the machine and occurs whether or not the base.ini file is modified. It doesn’t seem to affect any functionality as far as I can tell (my USB wifi adapter works, bluetooth keyboard, USB drive, HDMI video out is fine, etc.), and PP starts fine… so I doubt it is related to the pendant issue, but if anyone knows about it and if it’s something I should try to resolve, let me know. Otherwise I’ll just live with it.
P1A-S PathPilot Installation Instruction.pdf (143.6 KB)