Problem with computer running mach3

[Thorpydo]

Hey Guys,

I'm having a problem with my setup, hope you guys can help. The problem is that the stepper motors don't step smoothly when I jog an axis (or any other time for that matter). I believe the issue is with the computer trying to keep up. I had the mill up and running for a year or two now and then the computer died. I bought a replacement computer and am having issues. I worry that the new computer I bought will not work. It is a flat panel, Intel Atom N455 1.66G PC. It came preinstalled with windows 7. I went through, installing mach3 using the vista instructions. I think I will install XP on the machine and see where that gets me.

What all do you guys think?

Ahh, yes, and when I installed mach3 the first time, several years ago, there was some documentation that optimized the computer to run and not be interrupted. Is there such documentation for win7?

Thanks,
Adam

[Thorpydo]

I've got XP on there now. Both machines run quite a bit better. The touchscreen now allows a window to be dragged where in win7 it would hiccup. Stepper motors are sounding more regular as well. They still don't sound as steady as they did with the old machine but I will wait to see how they make chips.

[Thorpydo]

I set the kernel from 25kHz to 45 kHz and now everything runs as it should. I hadn't ever played with this setting on the previous machine.

Thanks for the help... me!

[Thorpydo]

Maybe I don't have this all figured out.....

Motors sound like they are running properly. So does the computer and the setup in general.

I'm now re-tuning the motors as described in section 5.5.4 in the mach3 setup guide. When running this code:

F1000 (i.e. faster than possible but Mach3 will limit speed)
G20 G90 (Inch and Absolute)
M98 P1234 L50 (run subroutine 50 times)
M30 (stop)
O1234
G1 X4
G1 X0 (do a feed rate move and move back)
M99 (return)

The machine will jog back and forth but the table never fully moves to x0 or x3. More like.... .5 and 2.5. I see this physically on the machine and also on the mach3 DRO.
After the program finishes, the machine is back exactly where it had started.. So it doesn't seem to be missing steps. I have also tried simply jogging back and forth at full speed trying to get it to miss steps, but it ends up right where it thinks it is.

I'm not sure what I'm missing.... Why wouldn't the machine be going all the way to x3 or x0

[Tweakie.CNC]

I have been following with great interest and you really don't need any help because you are sorting it out just fine. 

Tweakie.

( hint:  if you reduce the acceleration in motor tuning or use 'exact stop' mode instead of 'constant velocity' in general configuration it may help )

[BluePinnacle]

I replaced my computer with a new Dell unit a while back and it sounds odd when the steppers run. It has the original Dell OEM install of XP Pro and two Moschip parallell cards. The steppers have a sort of whingey note to them which speaks of ill things, and it doesn't run as fast as it should without losing steps (or halting). I'm considering the option of a fresh install of bog-standard basic-as-hell XP, rather than the funny Dell setup, as there are probably a lot of Dell-specific background processes that I really don't need for making chips. I'll see how I get on with it and report back.