Knowledge Public | IO Builder

Installing EtherCAT Driver

Identify the Ethernet Port
To configure EtherCAT, you’ll need to know which Ethernet port to use. Start by identifying the MAC address of your network adapters:

sudo lshw -C network

This command provides detailed information about each network adapter. Make sure your operating system and network adapter are compatible with the EtherCAT drivers as specified in the prerequisites section.

Download and Install the EtherCAT Driver

Download the latest EtherCAT driver from this link.
Extract the downloaded archive.
Identify the required driver for your network adapter based on the information in the prerequisites section.
Make the installer executable:
```
chmod +x ./install_[driver].sh
```
Run the installer with root privileges:
```
sudo ./install_[driver].sh
```
Ensure there are no errors during installation. If an error occurs, cancel the installation with Ctrl+C and contact support.

Configure the EtherCAT Adapter
After a successful installation, configure the Ethernet adapter by selecting the MAC address you noted earlier.

Modify the EtherCAT Configuration

Open the EtherCAT configuration file:
```
sudo nano /etc/sysconfig/ethercat
```
In the configuration file, set the correct MAC address for the adapter you intend to use:
```
MASTER0_DEVICE="xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx"
```
Ensure the correct driver is specified:
- For igb driver-compatible Ethernet adapters:
```
DEVICE_MODULES="igb"
```
- For e1000e driver-compatible adapters:
```
DEVICE_MODULES="e1000e"
```

Control the EtherCAT Service
You can start, stop, or restart the EtherCAT service with the following commands:

sudo /etc/init.d/ethercat start
sudo /etc/init.d/ethercat stop
sudo /etc/init.d/ethercat restart

Verify EtherCAT Connection
To check connected EtherCAT slaves, use:

sudo ethercat slaves

Additional Resources
For more detailed information on using the IGH EtherCAT driver, refer to the original documentation.