At the end of my Rope!!!

[Hood]

That is why you are having problems, your port is putting out a bad pulse, the line should be  flat with only occasional spikes if any.

Few things you can try, have a look at the optimisation steps, you will find it here http://www.machsupport.com/downloads/XP_Optimization.txt

If you use onboard graphics then possibly using a separate graphics card will help

You could try a PCI parallel Port


None are guaranteed to sort it out though, it will just be a try and see

Hood

[Kubotaman]

Hood, I have a very foolish question. Do I have to have my controller box pluged into the parallel port or not when I run the diagonistic test?  Am I not just better off buying a used intel computer to just desiginate to the machine itself instead of fooling with this computer?

[Hood]

Doesnt matter either way whether the computer is plugged to the controller for the driver test.

You could go and get an older computer and try that but again no guarantees that it will work, it is not an AMD versus Intel thing, I only used AMD and never had a problem.
I will say however that it is much better to have a dedicated computer for your machine rather than using the same computer for all other things.


Hood

[RICH]

Here is a driver test comparison of two pc's. The Dell / Intel has on-board graphics. The Asus pc is as follows:

- Asus motherboard - M2N68-AM SE2
- 2 GIG Ram
- AMD  64X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ 2.7 Ghz
- Asus graphics Card - EN9600GSO
- Rosewill PCI pp card - RC302

DELL driver test:
Note the pulses per second, the non straight line , if you move the mouse during the test you will get a lot of spikes.
The output signal from it has ringing ( actualy two signals out of phase as can be seen on an o'scope and the motors
sound like someone is hitting them with a mallet. Max i can run the lathe at is 8 IPM! There is no cure that i have ever
found other than using a SS. I will say that is a great pc for everything else i use it for.

ASUS driver test:
The pulses per second are always near / closer to Kernel speed, straight line no interference from programs, keyboard, mouse
etc. When running Mach the Pulse freq will only vary from the 24996 by +-1 as compared to the Dell which can go down to
14000 and really fluctuate. The pc is cnc dedicated to cnc ( no antivirus, internet, or some of the other crap on the pc). The AMD is
 just a different model than yours. The graphics card is certainly not top of the line and the pp card is an el-cheapo!
I can run my lathe at 120 IPM ( that's over 10x compared to the Dell). It just has a nice clean  signal going to the drivers.

So when you changed the motherboard you have a very different condition compared to the other pc. I will not recomend
some specific pc, i only report info on mine and you decide for yourself. 

The deal i had with the company that did mine was that they..... GUARANTEED  ... that a pc would be put together at  min cost to me
that would satisfy my need, such that, if any component required to be replaced i would only pay for cost difference of the component
and nothing else ( pays to work with a local outfit!). Had no problems at all out from the first build. 

Hope this is of value for you,

RICH

[Kubotaman]

Rich, your poor signal from the Dell is nothing compared to mine. I must have a 100 spikes on the screen after I ran the test! I am now looking for a used unit that will work versus using the same computer on my Shopbot. The machines are in two different locations so wouldn't work that good even if my present machine worked.

[Zaaephod]

I'm not sure if you guys have something like this in your town, but I regularly purchase computers, monitors, keyboards, etc. from the local state surplus center. It's where all the old stuff that the college tosses out when they upgrade, the city offices do the same, I've even got a couple that came from a bank. While it's not top notch hardware, most of it has been perfect for use with mach3 and my machines. I've paid anywhere from 20$ to $75 for complete systems with video cards, sound cards, cd drives. Sometimes when I see a very common unit, I buy it just to salvage the parts for future builds.

I can say though, avoid these 'mini' computers. Go for the full size desktop PC cases, they're easier to swap parts around in, and I've had better luck with them overall.

EDIT: The place here has a testing station where you can plug in each unit and make sure it works, but once you pay for it, there are no returns.

[angel tech]

i had this stuttering once, and it was a bad earth between the drives and the breakout board.

[Kubotaman]

Sorry I am not a guru in computers. What is a break out board? Sorry for the stupid questions! I will check all grounds tomorrow. I do thank all of you for your help. Thanks!!!!!!!!

[Hood]

Most users find that the optimisation steps help, one programme to make sure you DONT have is apples QuickTime, it really screws with the pulse.

A breakout board is what the parallel port connects to, some controls use them others that have all in one drives are sort of drive and breakout combined and some people wire direct from the cable to their drives.
Hood