@dc42 , @jay_s_uk ,
Thank you both for your kind replies. What I had in mind was to tap into your communication with the RPi and find (preferred) or implement (if you allow) an interface in analogy to what LinuxCNC has with the MESA cards, or better, that mimics how you talk to the driver chip.

Any such interface could then be used for arbitrary other projects, be it marble machines or some other person may think that MIDI is the ultimate language and then uses your board to drive his violin.

For some initial benchmarking that I had in mind, comparing G-code of the current still original setup with your 15 years younger drivers, your board will be fine as it is, so I can start, but the summer I hope to bring a LinuxCNC-based solution.

@markz I have ordered the Duet3 main board (for an easy start) and the extension (for LinuxCNC as proposed by @kr15_uk ) and now we'll see where this carries me.

@kr15_uk This sounds like a very nice idea. Many thanks!

@markz Any particular reason - I just helped packaging LinuxCNC up for Debian and would like to now use that package on my mill that I basically bought because of LinuxCNC and because of something that I wanted to mill - for a 3D printer, actually. Was pointed to Duet3 by a friend who already owns a Duet2 while looking for suitable drivers for a Mesa card - you may say I was not ready for Duet, yet.. But it is not only about G code.

For instance I want to attach glass scales to close feedback loops - which I just do not know if this is possible with Duet, yet. There may be other things coming up, like a tool changer, or maybe some interaction with a robot, no idea, I just know that LinuxCNC is a good community for that.

And finally, that Duet3 board looks so nice, it should not be hidden behind a web page.

@dc42 , @jay_s_uk ,
Thank you both for your kind replies. What I had in mind was to tap into your communication with the RPi and find (preferred) or implement (if you allow) an interface in analogy to what LinuxCNC has with the MESA cards, or better, that mimics how you talk to the driver chip.

Any such interface could then be used for arbitrary other projects, be it marble machines or some other person may think that MIDI is the ultimate language and then uses your board to drive his violin.

For some initial benchmarking that I had in mind, comparing G-code of the current still original setup with your 15 years younger drivers, your board will be fine as it is, so I can start, but the summer I hope to bring a LinuxCNC-based solution.

I happily found Duet3 to be powerful enough to drive the steppers of my mill. As a Linux enthusiast I am very happy about LinuxCNC and would like to use that via the Duet board to control my motors, i.e. also with LinuxCNC-generated G-code.

Possible? Already done?

Many thanks!