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This is the README file of the IgH EtherCAT Master.

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$Id$

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vim: spelllang=en spell tw=78

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Contents:

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1) General Information

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2) Requirements

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3) Building and installing

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4) Realtime & Tuning

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5) License

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6) Coding Style

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1) General Information

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======================

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This is an open-source EtherCAT master implementation for Linux 2.6.

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See the FEATURES file for a list of features. For more information, see

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http://etherlab.org/en/ethercat.

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or contact

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Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Florian Pose <fp@igh-essen.com>

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Ingenieurgemeinschaft IgH

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Heinz-Baecker-Str. 34

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D-45356 Essen

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http://igh-essen.com

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2) Requirements

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===============

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1) Software requirements

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Configured sources for the Linux 2.6 kernel are required to build the EtherCAT

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master.

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2) Hardware requirements

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A table of supported hardware can be found at

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http://etherlab.org/en/ethercat/hardware.php.

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3) Building and installing

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==========================

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See the INSTALL file.

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4) Realtime & Tuning

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====================

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Realtime patches for the Linux kernel are supported, but not required. The

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realtime processing has to be done by the calling module (see API

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documentation). The EtherCAT master code itself is passive (except for the

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idle mode and EoE).

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To avoid frame timeouts, deactivating DMA access for hard drives is

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recommended (hdparm -d0 <DEV>).

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5) License

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==========

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Copyright (C) 2006-2009  Florian Pose, Ingenieurgemeinschaft IgH

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This file is part of the IgH EtherCAT Master.

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The IgH EtherCAT Master is free software; you can redistribute it and/or

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modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2, as

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published by the Free Software Foundation.

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The IgH EtherCAT Master is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but

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WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or

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FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more

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details.

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You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with

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the IgH EtherCAT Master; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,

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51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA

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---

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The license mentioned above concerns the source code only. Using the EtherCAT

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technology and brand is only permitted in compliance with the industrial

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property and similar rights of Beckhoff Automation GmbH.

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6) Coding Style

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===============

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Developers shall use the coding style rules in the CodingStyle.txt file.

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