This documentation is no longer maintained. For documentation of the current version of emc2, please see http://www.linuxcnc.org/docview/html

1 Computer

1.1 Minimum Requirements

The minimum system to run EMC2 and Ubuntu may vary depending on the exact usage. Stepper systems in general require faster threads to generate step pulses than servo systems. Using the Live-CD you can test the software before committing a computer. Keep in mind that the Latency Test numbers are more important than the processor speed for software step generation. More information on the Latency Test is in Section ([->]).

Additional information is on the EMC Wiki site:

http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/emcinfo.pl?Hardware_Requirements

EMC2 and Ubuntu should run reasonably well on a computer with the following minimum hardware specification. These numbers are not the absolute minimum but will give reasonable performance for most stepper systems.

700 MHz x86 processor (1.2 GHz x86 processor recommended)
384 MB of RAM system memory (512 MB up to 1 GB recommended)
8 GB of disk space
Graphics card capable of 1024x768 resolution
A network or Internet connection (optional but great for updates)
A sound card (optional)

1.2 Problematic Hardware

1.2.1 Laptops

Laptops are not generally suited to real time software step generation. Again a Latency Test ran for an extended time will give you the info you need to determine suitability.

1.2.2 Video Cards

If your installation pops up with 800 x 600 screen resolution then most likely Ubuntu does not recognize your video card. On board video many times cause bad real time performance.