Mailbox

If the EtherCAT slave supports one or more mailbox protocols, the additional "Mailbox" entry is displayed in the "Advanced Settings" dialog tree. Under "Mailbox", "CoE" and "FoE" you can make changes to the configuration of the mailbox.

The "Mailbox" dialog displays the default settings from the EtherCAT slave information file.

Mailbox Configuration

Special Bootstrap Configuration	Normal: For process data traffic or mailbox protocols. Bootstrap: For firmware download.
Out Addr (hex)	Physical start address of the output mailbox in the slave controller.
In Addr (hex)	Physical start address of the input mailbox in the slave controller.
Out Size == In Size	If you check this checkbox, Out Size and In Size are the same.
Out Size (hex)	Size of the output mailbox in bytes.
In Size (hex)	Size of the input mailbox in bytes.
Mailbox Data Link Layer	If this checkbox is checked, errors in the communication are handled. This function must be supported by the slave.
Show Messages	If this checkbox is checked, corresponding error messages are displayed.

Mailbox Polling

Cyclic	If this checkbox is selected, the master cyclically reads the mailbox of the EtherCAT slave.
Cycle Time (ms)	If the "Cyclic" checkbox is checked, this value indicates how often the master reads the mailbox of the EtherCAT slave.
State Change	If this checkbox is selected, the master checks a status bit of the slave in order to determine whether unread data are available in the mailbox. In this case the master reads the mailbox. This mode is more efficient than cyclic mode, because the master can check the state of the mailboxes of several EtherCAT slaves with a single EtherCAT command (LRD).

ADS Info

ADS identification of the EtherCAT slave.

The ADS-Net-ID is the same as the Net-ID of the EtherCAT device.
The ADS port is the same as the fixed address of the EtherCAT device. See "EtherCAT Addr".

With the help of ADS you can communicate with the mailbox of the EtherCAT slave (for example SDO Upload Request).