Whats the current developement state of the SS?

[elpablito]

Hi,

Im currently using SS in my router, and would like to know some more about its developement status.
I have noticed that its still in BETA and that new updates are not being released very often.
It would be nice if someone in its developement team could inform if theyre still working on the plugin and firmware and what are the next fixes and features to be expected.

Regards
Pablo

[RICH]

Pablo,
You may want to ask on the Warp9 site of the SS.
LOL,
RICH

[elpablito]

And what is this section for? Isnt it for smoothstepper related questions?

[Dan13]

It is, Pablo, but I think what Rich suggests is that Greg (the developer of the SS) doesn't really visit this section, so there is no one else here who can give you a better answer than he can. Hope it's not the case on the Warp9 site.

Daniel

[BobWarfield]

Status is pretty unclear, Pablo.  They still are manufacturing it, and boards are for sale.  But, I just looked, and Greg hasn't posted to his forum in 3 months.  There are no new software updates.

Best,

BW

[elpablito]

We called them a couple months ago and they said it was still being developed.
I started this thread to try get some updates on its status (sorry Rich I misunderstood your response)
I hope they continue on business, but if their status is unclear maybe someone from Mach developement team could inform us what hardware they expect to be compatible with Mach4

I had two routers running with chinesse controllers. Then decided to adapt them to mach. We used the G100s that seemed to be the best option, but they never really worked and died in BETA stage.
Then we moved to the SS that was the best option at that time, and also made our own bb board arround it. Now, about a year later, its status is unclear?...

Mach is without doubt an outstanding software, but it seems that there are no serious hardware developements arround it

[RICH]

I will speak out of ignorance.
Suggested the Warp9 Site for reasons clarified by  Daniel above , sorry i wasn't clear on my reply.
I check the site out occasionaly to just have a flavor of what is happening and after waiting forever for  backlash comp to get implemented, I just put the SS aside and bought a new PC. My guess is that you won't see too much until Mach 4 comes about since that needs to settle out as support items are affected by what is happening. In the end all should be better, only Greg can speak for the product.
RICH

[ger21]

Take a look at Dynamotion's KFLOP. They seem to be actively supporting it, but there aren't a lot of Mach3 users.

[simpson36]

Take a look at Dynamotion's KFLOP. They seem to be actively supporting it, but there aren't a lot of Mach3 users.

I read up on this product and was about to purchase the Kflop board . . until I saw $20 shipping for a board that 'fits in the palm of your hand' from California to Texas. In my experience, a company that blatantly overcharges for shipping also mistreats their customers in other ways as well. I'll keep looking . . . .

[BobWarfield]

Simpson, I could live with the shipping charge.  It's not crazy out of line when you consider they're probably trying to recoup whatever it costs them to pack a box, label it, and so forth.  There's usually more than just a UPS charge there is what I'm getting at.

After having been through a GRex and a Smoothstepper, I think the best answer on these boards is for Mach3 to publish a standard API for step generators.  The problem always seems to be with software.  If it could be written once, and reused across all the hardware, and if it didn't require custom plug-ins, then I think there would be more hope. 

I have to believe the Mach developers are tired of writing new interfaces anyway.  By now, there have been enough I would think they understand what's needed and could publish such an API.  Then it would be up to the board members to follow the API.  Maybe we could finally get one finished and well supported then.

Cheers,

BW