Custom SII Firmware

Custom SII firmware

There is the possibility to override the slave’s SII data from file (Image version ≥ 2022.09). This is particularly useful in the rare case that the slave’s SII EEPROM is too small to hold all the required data.

Acquiring a SII file can be done via:

• Request SII data from device manufacturer.
• Via TwinCAT checkout: https://etherlab.org/en/ethercat/faq.php

Load SII file information to device:

1. The slave’s SII data needs to be available as a binary data file with name set as

   ec_{VendorID}_{ProductCode}_{RevisionNumber}.bin
   

   in which the following three items must be replaced by the slave’s value as 8 lowercase hex characters:

   • {VendorID}
   • {ProductCode}
   • {RevisionNumber}

   Tip

   When the slave is connected to the Motorcortex controller one can use the command mcx-sii-filenames on the controller to get the required filename.

2. The file needs to be added to the configuration of your project in the /etc/motorcortex/config/io/firmware folder (create if necessary).

3. After deploying this new configuration the SII firmware should be automatically loaded.

4. If one wishes to check if the firmware is loaded you can run the command dmesg -T | grep "SII firmware loaded" on the controller. An example output is shown here:

   mcx-intel:~$ dmesg -T | grep "SII firmware loaded"
   [Tue Sep 20 17:38:18 2022] EtherCAT 0-main-0: SII firmware loaded from file ec_00000619_00000006_00000001.bin.