The Brains

[Wallerawang]

Hi Dave

I have been enjoying learning to use your new screen set - thank you for all the hard work that you have put into it. 

1: May I ask what the included brains are used for and do they have to be enabled for your screen to function as it should do? (Please excuse me if the answer is in your documentation - I haven't found mention of them yet).

2: My brain I use for feedrate and spindle speed overrides (borrowed from Hood) cause the MDI line to deactivate before I get a chance to type in it!  (It works through a PoKeys 55 and works fine on the other screens set I have used) Would you have any ideas why this may be happening - I have attached the brain concerned and I look forward to your comments.

Thanks
Steve

[DaveCVI]

Hi Steve,

1) Yes, the brains installed with MSM are required for proper operation.
(I'll bet you expected that answer   )
The MSM brains drive the display of several LEDs in the MSM screens.
One of the MSM brains is an integrated part of the handling of the tool change sequence.

2) Thank you for attaching the brain that you are trying to use with MSM.
Please understand that at this point in the program, I'm a bit of a one man show here and I don't really have the time required to look into a brain you got from a 3rd party to see what it does.

I did take a 10 second look - but what it is trying to do was not immediately obvious to me.
The MSM brains don't have anything to do with the MDI control. IN fact, other than putting MDI control on a screen page, MSM has no control over what the MDI control does.

I suggest that you do some more basic problem area testing as your net step.
Determine if the interaction you are seeing is Mach or MSM related. Does it work with mach 3.43.10 and the 1024 screens?

Dave

Hi Dave

I have been enjoying learning to use your new screen set - thank you for all the hard work that you have put into it.  

1: May I ask what the included brains are used for and do they have to be enabled for your screen to function as it should do? (Please excuse me if the answer is in your documentation - I haven't found mention of them yet).

2: My brain I use for feedrate and spindle speed overrides (borrowed from Hood) cause the MDI line to deactivate before I get a chance to type in it!  (It works through a PoKeys 55 and works fine on the other screens set I have used) Would you have any ideas why this may be happening - I have attached the brain concerned and I look forward to your comments.

Thanks
Steve

[thosj]

I believe I have the same issue as Steve, can't type fast enough in the MDI line, but never put it together that it was the brain, or brains, for FRO and SRO. Mine were also originally from Hood's brains.

Steve, which function of the brains do you think is causing this, and how, exactly, did you arrive at the conclusion that it was these brains causing the problem? I'd be interested to figure this out as I love these brains and have NO IDEA why they'd cause the MDI line to go away.

[Wallerawang]

Hi Dave and Thosj

I tried a few different things today and found it was nothing to do with Dave's screen set but something to do with the beta release of Mach R3.043.10 as when I set up a profile with the 1024 set it did the same thing, that is the MDI line would deactivate before you could type in it. Please note these brains have been working excellently for 4 or 5 months on many different screen sets (Mach Motion, 1024 and Mach 3 Flash sets) with the previous releases of Mach.

Thosj I guessed it must have been the brain because the MDI line was pulsing at the same rate as the spindle/feed rate display reset timer in the brain was pulsing at, and by deactivating the brain gave me back control of the MDI line.

I would like to be able to use my Brain as I have made a console to use with Mach3 and I find being able to change my feed rate with a physical knob very useful.

Regards
Steve

[thosj]

Steve, great find that it was Mach 043.010. Have you posted on the Yahoo Group to see if Brian has any input?

I have the same setup as you, almost. Physical pots, PoKeys55 with CNC4PC M2/M21/M23, brains for pots, but my brains don't have that timer in that yours do, so it's not the timer although it's nice yours have the timer as it let you figure out it was the brain. So for you, disabling the brain fixes it? I have some time today, so I'll try some stuff and see what I can learn.

I'm going to check into Jeff Birt's pots (http://www.soigeneris.com) that work with plugins instead of brains. I'll email him and see if they work with Mach 043.010, SmoothStepper, and one thing I'd like to know, do they STOP axis motion STOPPED, not just slow it way down.

If Dave would rather us take this off the forum now that you've figured out it's NOT MSM, we can go to the Yahoo group, or email.

[Wallerawang]

Hi thosj

I have a separate brain for feedhold (attached). Please keep me updated if you have any success.

Regards
Steve

[thosj]

Which one caused the problem, although if they're like mine, they need to work in duo, right?

I'll look at your feedhold brain, see if they're both like mine. Edit, the feedhold is the same as mine.

Tom

[Wallerawang]

Hi Tom

Yes they do work together, I like my brains in small chunks because they are hard to edit if you make a mistake early on in one -  you might as well just start a new one as fix up one that doesn't work how you want! - they run so fast you can have many going at once with no effect on Mach's performance. I found it was my overrides brain was causing it because the MDI reset was the same rate as my overrides display reset. You say you don't need that feature for it to work OK - I'll have to try it without the reset. As I said before I was guided by Hood's excellent work with his Pendant article and he had the reset in his brain for that items feedrate override.

Keep in touch
Steve

[thosj]

I don't think I said, sure didn't MEAN to say, that the display reset, if that's what the Timer Module in the brain does, isn't needed. Just said/meant that my brain doesn't have that, but still the MDI input line doesn't work, so I don't think that's what's causing it.

I'm not a very good brain creator. I mostly get something from someone and try to use it, or modify it slightly. And I'm sympathetic to editing them, what a pain. Really no editing, just delete back and do over!!

I ordered two of Jeff Birt's MPGs and emailed him, awaiting a reply.

I'll get down there and see what I can learn some time today!!

[thosj]

Steve,

Here are my two Feedhold brains if you want to look, try.