Yes it works now. Made another implementation of the pulse IRQ and all that. We'll see if I keep this or go back to the older. It is IMPORTANT, REQUIRED to use a 4.9 linux kernel for it to work. There are obviously bugs in the RealTek network drivers R8168/R8169 in 5+ kernels. All this work could have been avoided with a 4.9 kernel.

Firmware/include/StepGen2.h

@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@ class StepGen2
 public:
     volatile double_t actualPosition;
     volatile int32_t nSteps;
-    volatile uint32_t timerPulseSteps;
     volatile uint32_t timerFrequency;
+    volatile int32_t timerPosition = 0;
+    volatile int32_t timerEndPosition = 0;
 
 public:
     volatile float Tstartf;    // Starting delay in secs
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ public:
     HardwareTimer *startTimer; // Use timers 10,11,13,14
     uint8_t dirPin;
     PinName stepPin;
-    uint32_t Tjitter = 400; // Longest time from IRQ to handling in handleStepper, unit is microseconds
+    uint32_t Tjitter = 350; // Longest time from IRQ to handling in handleStepper, unit is microseconds
     uint64_t dbg;
     const uint16_t t2 = 5;                                            // DIR is ahead of PUL with at least 5 usecs
     const uint16_t t3 = 3;                                            // Pulse width at least 2.5 usecs
@@ -37,8 +38,8 @@ public:
     volatile uint8_t enabled;               // Enabled step generator
     volatile float frequency;
 
-    static uint32_t sync0CycleTime;     // Nominal EtherCAT cycle time nanoseconds
+    static uint32_t sync0CycleTime; // Nominal EtherCAT cycle time nanoseconds
-    volatile float lcncCycleTime;       // Linuxcnc nominal cycle time in sec (1 ms often)
+    volatile float lcncCycleTime;   // Linuxcnc nominal cycle time in sec (1 ms often)
 
     StepGen2(TIM_TypeDef *Timer, uint32_t _timerChannel, PinName _stepPin, uint8_t _dirPin, void irq(void), TIM_TypeDef *Timer2, void irq2(void));
 
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ class extend32to64
 {
 public:
     int64_t previousTimeValue = 0;
-    const uint64_t ONE_PERIOD =  4294967296; // almost UINT32_MAX;
+    const uint64_t ONE_PERIOD = 4294967296;  // almost UINT32_MAX;
     const uint64_t HALF_PERIOD = 2147483648; // Half of that
     int64_t extendTime(uint32_t in);
 };

Firmware/src/StepGen2.cpp

@@ -63,11 +63,14 @@ uint32_t StepGen2::handleStepper(uint64_t irqTime, uint16_t nLoops)
         Tpulses = abs(nSteps) / frequency;
     }
     updatePos(5);
-    return 1;
+
     uint32_t timeSinceISR = (longTime.extendTime(micros()) - irqTime); // Diff time from ISR (usecs)
     dbg = timeSinceISR;                                                //
     Tstartu = Tjitter + uint32_t(Tstartf * 1e6) - timeSinceISR;        // Have already wasted some time since the irq.
 
+    if (nSteps == 0) // Can do this much earlier, but want some calculated data for debugging
+        return updatePos(1);
+
     timerFrequency = uint32_t(ceil(frequency));
     startTimer->setOverflow(Tstartu, MICROSEC_FORMAT); // All handled by irqs
     startTimer->refresh();
@@ -77,13 +80,13 @@ uint32_t StepGen2::handleStepper(uint64_t irqTime, uint16_t nLoops)
 
 void StepGen2::startTimerCB()
 {
-    startTimer->pause(); // Once is enough.
+    startTimer->pause();                                                    // Once is enough.
-    digitalWrite(dirPin, nSteps < 0 ? HIGH : LOW);
+    digitalWriteFast(digitalPinToPinName(dirPin), nSteps < 0 ? HIGH : LOW); // nSteps negative => decrease, HIGH
-    // There will be a short break here for t2 usecs, in the future.
+                                                                            // There will be a short break here for t2 usecs, in the future.
-    timerPulseSteps = abs(nSteps);
+    timerEndPosition += nSteps;
-    pulseTimer->setMode(pulseTimerChan, TIMER_OUTPUT_COMPARE_PWM2, stepPin);
+    pulseTimer->pause();
+    pulseTimer->setMode(pulseTimerChan, TIMER_OUTPUT_COMPARE_PWM1, stepPin);
     pulseTimer->setOverflow(timerFrequency, HERTZ_FORMAT);
-    // pulseTimer->setCaptureCompare(pulseTimerChan, t3, MICROSEC_COMPARE_FORMAT);
     pulseTimer->setCaptureCompare(pulseTimerChan, 50, PERCENT_COMPARE_FORMAT);
     pulseTimer->refresh();
     pulseTimer->resume();
@@ -91,10 +94,21 @@ void StepGen2::startTimerCB()
 
 void StepGen2::pulseTimerCB()
 {
-    --timerPulseSteps;
+    int16_t dir = digitalReadFast(digitalPinToPinName(dirPin));
-    if (timerPulseSteps == 0)
+    if (dir == HIGH)
-    {
+        timerPosition--;
+    else
+        timerPosition++;
+    int32_t diffPosition = timerEndPosition - timerPosition; // Same "polarity" as nSteps
+    if (diffPosition == 0)
         pulseTimer->pause();
+    else
+    {
+        if (diffPosition < 0 && dir == LOW)                      // Change direction. Should not end up here, but alas
+            digitalWriteFast(digitalPinToPinName(dirPin), HIGH); // Normal is to be HIGH when decreasing
+        if (diffPosition > 0 && dir == HIGH)                     // Change direction. Should not end up here, but alas
+            digitalWriteFast(digitalPinToPinName(dirPin), LOW);  // Normal is to be LOW when increasing
+                                                                 // Normally nothing is needed
     }
 }
 

Firmware/src/main.cpp

@@ -45,8 +45,6 @@ void cb_set_outputs(void) // Master outputs gets here, slave inputs, first opera
    // Step2.reqPos(Obj.CommandedPosition2);
    // Step2.setScale(Obj.StepsPerMM2);
    // Step2.enable(1);
-   Obj.ActualPosition1 = Obj.CommandedPosition1; // Step1.actPos();
-   Obj.ActualPosition2 = Obj.CommandedPosition2; // Step2.actPos();
 }
 
 uint16_t nLoops;
@@ -78,6 +76,9 @@ void cb_get_inputs(void) // Set Master inputs, slave outputs, last operation
    Obj.EncPos = Encoder1.currentPos();
    Obj.EncFrequency = Encoder1.frequency(ESCvar.Time);
    Obj.IndexByte = Encoder1.getIndexState();
+   float_t ap2 = Obj.ActualPosition2;
+   Obj.ActualPosition1 = Obj.CommandedPosition1; // Step1.actPos();
+   Obj.ActualPosition2 = Obj.CommandedPosition2; // Step2.actPos();
 
    uint64_t dTim = nowTime - thenTime; // Debug. Getting jitter over the last 200 milliseconds
    Tim.push(dTim);
@@ -93,9 +94,9 @@ void cb_get_inputs(void) // Set Master inputs, slave outputs, last operation
    thenTime = irqTime;
    Obj.DiffT = longTime.extendTime(micros()) - irqTime; // max_Tim - min_Tim; // Debug
    Obj.D1 = Step2.frequency;
-   Obj.D2 = nLoops;
+   Obj.D2 = Step2.nSteps;
-   Obj.D3 = max_Tim - min_Tim;
+   Obj.D3 = abs(1000 * (ap2 - Obj.CommandedPosition2)); // Step2.actPos();
-   Obj.D4 = ALEventIRQ;
+   Obj.D4 = Step2.Tstartu;
 }
 
 void ESC_interrupt_enable(uint32_t mask);
@@ -139,8 +140,8 @@ void loop(void)
    {
       nowTime = longTime.extendTime(micros());
       /* Read local time from ESC*/
-      ESC_read(ESCREG_LOCALTIME, (void *)&ESCvar.Time, sizeof(ESCvar.Time));
+      // ESC_read(ESCREG_LOCALTIME, (void *)&ESCvar.Time, sizeof(ESCvar.Time));
-      ESCvar.Time = etohl(ESCvar.Time);
+      // ESCvar.Time = etohl(ESCvar.Time);
       DIG_process(ALEventIRQ, DIG_PROCESS_WD_FLAG | DIG_PROCESS_OUTPUTS_FLAG |
                                   DIG_PROCESS_APP_HOOK_FLAG | DIG_PROCESS_INPUTS_FLAG);
       serveIRQ = 0;
@@ -148,14 +149,14 @@ void loop(void)
       ecat_slv_poll();
    }
    dTime = longTime.extendTime(micros()) - irqTime;
-   if ((dTime > 500 && dTime < 800) || dTime > 5000) // Don't run ecat_slv_poll when expecting to serve interrupt
+   if (dTime > 5000) // Don't run ecat_slv_poll when expecting to serve interrupt
       ecat_slv_poll();
 }
 
 void sync0Handler(void)
 {
    ALEventIRQ = ESC_ALeventread();
-   if (ALEventIRQ & ESCREG_ALEVENT_SM2)
+   // if (ALEventIRQ & ESCREG_ALEVENT_SM2)
    {
       serveIRQ = 1;
       irqTime = longTime.extendTime(micros());