CNC in the Workshop

LinuxCNC Software

 
 


Fresh first-time installation


If you have not yet installed LinuxCNC, go to www.linuxCNC.org

then choose “how to get it”.


Follow the instructions for a new installation, but here are some additional notes related to each of the steps listed on the website:


Unless you have really good reasons, and know what you are doing, choose to make a fresh install of LinuxCNC 2.6

and do that by using the Debian Wheezy LinuxCNC image.That will get install both the operating system (Debian Wheezy) and LinuxCNC version 2.6.0 onto your computer. Be aware that unless you take additional steps (like creating a partition on your hard disk) the best way to do this is to install a fresh new hard disk into your computer and do the installation on that.

To get the more up to date versions, after 2.6, you will need to upgrade after installation (which is easy enough, because you can set it up to do the updates automatically).

If you are following the “How to do it” steps from www.linuxcnc.org:


  1. •    Take step 1 to Download the ISO

You will need to do this on a computer which has an operating system and an internet connection, so if you intend fitting a new hard drive to your computer for the installation, don’t fit the drive until you have completed steps 1, 2 and 3, and perhaps done a test (but not an installation) as described in step 4.
Step 1 will download a file which can be burned to a DVD which will then be your installation CD.

An alternative is to install to a USB memory stick, and you will find files and instructions for that on a link to the left side of the list of steps. That’s the route I took, and installation from a USB stick works well.

There is an additional set of instructions below step 4, for writing the ISO file to a USB stick. Spoiled for choice, I guess.

If you install to a USB drive, you can skip step 2 of the instructions.


  1. •    Do step 2
    But you can’t just burn the DVD in the same way as you would when you want to save music or photo files onto a DVD. An ISO file is a disk image file and needs to be burned to a DVD in such a way that the DVD has the same files and folders as the original disk, and behaves exactly like the original disk.

    There are instructions on how to burn an ISO file to a CD or DVD in the Ubuntu Community Help Wiki, here. Mac and Windows systems have their own instructions:

for Mac - here, and for Windows 7 - here.

The files are too large for a CD, so burn onto a DVD.

  1. •    Step 3

is actually part of step 1 or step 3. It’s not essential, if you are in a hurry. Some download packages will automatically report the checksum; some won’t.


  1. •    Do step 4

I recommend test running the software from the DVD or USB drive before you actually install it.


To actually install the Operating System (Debian Wheezy) and the LinuxCNC application:


  1. 1.Put the DVD or USB drive into your computer’s DVD drive or USB slot, then boot your computer from the DVD or USB drive.
    If you are not sure how to do this, there are some instructions here.
    Some of it looks rather “techy” but that’s mainly because there are lots of different options depending on your make and model of computer, and the page tries to deal with most of those. On most computers, it’s quite straightforward, once you have the required keypress sequence.


  1. 2.My computer did not have an existing Operating System installed (it just had a fresh new empty hard drive - actually not true: it was an old drive I had used as a backup, so it had Windows XP and data on it, but that would be erased as part of the installation process. I just had to prevent the computer from booting into Windows XP), so I started the computer and held F10 down, to get to the boot menu. I selected the menu option to boot from the USB stick (in my case) and away we went.

  2. 3.Answer the installation questions and set your Hostname (name you want to give to this computer)


  1. 4.Domain (name of your home network. I used “home” because I had used that on other computers in my house). If you know better, and have a more complex setup, do what seems best for you. I’m not sure it matters a great deal at this point.


  1. 5.Follow the suggested choices for name, login-name and password. I won’t tell you mine if you don’t tell me yours...


  1. 6.The installer will now ask questions about partitioning your hard disk. Take care here. I got lost in a repeating loop. My best advice is to choose Guided Partition, and stick religiously to that. You really don’t want to get into the other options (unless you know more than me). You ant to end up with a large partition and a small SWAP partition.
    once all that is done, the installer will continue and do its job. Go and make a cup of tea.


  1. 7.When the installation is complete, do a reboot. Then choose the update icon (triangle at top right of the screen) and update everything it offers (134 updates on mine). I go a fault at the end of the installation (Fatal Error on the update package manager) but ignored that and completed the update successfully. Don’t you just love the feeling of not being in control?


  1. 8.The Applications Menu (top left - on the menu bar) should show LinuxCNC has been installed.

    Go check it out.


 

Getting and installing the software