Recent Posts

71

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: G54 work offset changes after re-homing

« Last post by cncmagic on July 14, 2026, 05:52:35 AM »

and its not a process from my motion controller... the servo's have their own built in homing procedure. Usually even the motion cards/modules don't use the 'z' marker either. They are only as accurate as the switch make and break repeatability and their own characteristics. Could be off by thousands of an inch repeatability. 

72

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: G54 work offset changes after re-homing

« Last post by cncmagic on July 14, 2026, 05:48:10 AM »

that's not the same thing... you are still relying on the mechanical switch contacts break and make... as I said, my system does it's procedure outside of Mach4 and uses the 'z' marker on the servo encoder. With the gearin I have and the encoder count, even being off a count or two, gives me an accuracy in excess of 0.0000001" repeatability. 

73

Mach3 and G-Rex / Re: Why is the Auto Tool Zero button not working?

« Last post by thomasbest on July 13, 2026, 11:13:59 PM »

It looks like the script itself isn't the problem since it runs correctly with Run Script. The "Not Yet Implemented" message usually means the Auto Tool Zero button in your controller profile or screen set isn't actually linked to a working function. In other words, the button isn't executing your M930.m1s macro—it simply hasn't been implemented for that particular screen or controller plugin.

74

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: G54 work offset changes after re-homing

« Last post by joeaverage on July 13, 2026, 05:29:36 PM »

Hi,
Mach4 has always done that, as did Mach3 before it.

The native homing procedure is:
1) the axis to be homed advances in the programmed direction at the programmed homing speed (as set in the Mach Control plugin)
2) On home switch activation the axis decelerates to a stop. Once the motion controller signals that the machine has stopped it then reverses that axis at the back-off velocity (as programmed in the
motion control plugin)
3) When the switch deactivates the motion controller decelerates the axis to a stop.
4) When the motion control signals Mach that all axes are stopped the Mach latches the axis position as reported by the motion controller in integer step units and resets Mach Machine Coordinate
Counter to zero.

There are a few variations on that general theme. For example instead of setting the Machine Coordinate counter to zero, Mach may set it to some Offset as programmed in the Mach Control plugin, Homing Tab.

Note that Mach does NOT provide a means to back off a certain distance, and never has. Starting, at first I believe with the PoKeys 57CNC motion control you could program the motion control to back-off
the home switch a programmable distance, as set in the motion control plugin. Many people found that useful and consequently all the other motion control manufacturers copied the same thing.
Thus when you program your machine to back-off the home switch by 75mm say, the actual process is that the axis homes to the switch until it activates, then backs off until the home switch deactivates,
i.e. the standard Mach homing procedure, but then the motion control drives an extra certain distance.

Index homing is another feature that is not native to Mach. It is a feature offered by the motion control.

The homing procedure with Index Homing is that the axis homes toward the home switch until it activates, then backs off only until the home switch deactivates, as per normal and standard Mach homing procedure
but then the motion control carries on the rotation of the axis stepper or servo UNTIL its index switch is activated. Then and only then does it signal Mach that all axes are stopped and Mach can latch
the machine position. That this is a feature of the motion control note that Index Homing is programmed in the motion control plugin.....not Mach's Control plugin.

So both programmable back-off distance and Index Homing are both features of the motion control and are not in fact native to Mach at all.

Note also that in every instance the core homing procedure is that the axis advanced is at the programmed speed and direction UNTIL the home switch goes active and then backs up UNTIL the switch
again goes inactive. This places a very strict demand to the repeatability of a  home switch to activate and then reliably and precisely deactivate. Most people assume that a switch with zero dead-band is
the ideal, but in fact this is incorrect. Snap action microswitches has a very precise and repeatable dead-band, also called hysteresis, and thus despite having a difference in the moment of activation verses
deactivation they perform extremely well as home switches, better in my opinion than proximity switches which have at best, a poorly defined hysteresis.

Craig

75

Probes and Tool Setters / Re: MachPro Probing Wizard

« Last post by cd_edwards on July 13, 2026, 08:30:55 AM »

All of the files in the scripts folder/directory have the word Default in them. Once you remove the word "Default" and press compile scripts OR restart MachPro, functions, macro's etc  will be enabled within MachPro. Notice that most of the files are actually commented out with --[[   --]] brackets.

76

Probes and Tool Setters / Re: MachPro Probing Wizard

« Last post by cd_edwards on July 13, 2026, 07:01:20 AM »

Rename the file, and press compile scripts in the services menu

77

Probes and Tool Setters / Re: MachPro Probing Wizard

« Last post by lmarti13 on July 12, 2026, 06:23:52 PM »

Hello,

I just upgraded to Mach Pro (v5.0.1, Build 7147 - 64 bit) and the UserGUIModule.mcs does not exist in the installation.  I found the UserGUIModule.CreateUserCommands() inside UserGUIModuleDefault.mcs, but could not get the mcTouchOff function to appear in the drop down list for configuring a button.

Any thoughts?

78

MachPro General Discussion / BUG? Axis A not homed... but I have no A axis

« Last post by Sunkistist on July 10, 2026, 01:17:37 PM »

Hi, first time post long time lurker. Looking forward to learning where I’ve gone wrong.

I recently purchased and installed Machpro and I am looking forward to using it with my CNC knee mill. However, I have yet to get it fully functioning. The profile I’m running was imported from Mach4, where it was working fine. After running the homing sequence the first thing I tried was fire off a simple XY move (G01 X1 Y1 F10) via the MDI button. But nothing moves and I get an error in the status box stating “Axis A must be homed before running G-code”. I thought I could get by without the MDI but the error pops up while running a g-code file and when I was setting up my auto tool setter.
 
Nowhere in my settings is Axis A, or Motor 3, enabled. And in settings under Safety Check - Ignore Axes Homing Safety Check I have tried both “3” and “3-5”.
I went so far as to make an entirely new profile from scratch. That profile is throwing errors for a door interlock safety and a low coolant switch, neither of which I have. And for the record they are disabled in the settings section and no inputs were ever set for them. Also for the record, the motors are working as I can home and jog to my hearts content.

It won't let me attach files but below is the diagnostics log.

2026-07-06 12:57:49.419

• [I    ] - Logging Enabled.

2026-07-06 12:57:51.134

• [I    ] - Cycle Start Button Pressed  Line

2026-07-06 12:57:51.135

• [I    ] - Function: SetStopStatus():  completed successfully, called by: SetStopStatusAll(), (inst = 0) ?

2026-07-06 12:57:51.135

• [I    ] - Function: SetStopStatusAll():  completed successfully (inst = 0) ?

2026-07-06 12:57:51.135

• [I    ] - Function: ResetAllOverrideAxes():  completed successfully (inst = 0) ?

2026-07-06 12:57:51.135

• [I    ] - Function: ResetEndOfProgramOutput():  completed successfully (inst = 0) ?

2026-07-06 12:57:51.135

• [I    ] - Function: LaserPointerCycleStartCheck():  completed successfully (inst = 0) ?

2026-07-06 12:57:51.135

• [I    ] - Function: GetSoftLimits():  completed successfully, called by: CycleStartSoftLimitRecovery(), (inst = 0) ?

2026-07-06 12:57:51.135

• [I    ] - Function: CycleStartSoftLimitRecovery():  completed successfully (inst = 0) ?

2026-07-06 12:57:51.136

• [I    ] - API: mcCntlMdiExecute(inst = 0, commands = 'G01 X1 Y1 F10') (unknown caller)

2026-07-06 12:57:51.136

• [I    ] - Force home check failed: axis A is not homed.

2026-07-06 12:57:51.136

• [I    ] - API: mcCntlMdiExecute() Force home check failed! Returned MERROR_NOT_NOW.

2026-07-06 12:57:51.136

• [I    ] - Error: The operation could not be completed at this time. Return Code: MERROR_NOT_NOW (-18), Function: ExecuteMDI(), Called by: xpcall(), File: [C], Line: -1  Line

2026-07-06 12:57:51.136

• [I    ] - Error: The operation could not be completed at this time. Return Code: MERROR_NOT_NOW (-18), Function: _CycleStart(), Called by: pcall(), Line: -1  Line

2026-07-06 12:57:57.682

• [I    ] - Logging Enabled.

Any help is appreciated! Thank you!

79

General Mach Discussion / Re: MPG Calibration

« Last post by myasthenia on July 10, 2026, 02:32:14 AM »

It sounds like the MPG is being interpreted as a velocity jog rather than one increment per detent. Check the encoder pulse settings and use separate active inputs or a macro for the X1/X10/X100 selector, as OEM codes 191–193 may be cycling rather than selecting fixed steps.

80

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: G54 work offset changes after re-homing

« Last post by cncmagic on July 09, 2026, 09:08:35 PM »

the accuracy of the Homing procedure is probably your issue. On my machine I have actual servos... so when they home, they hit the limit switch and then back off until they 'see' their encoder 'z' pulse... that's always the exact same place in their rotation. And eliminates any small discrepancy with a mechanical limit switch. If you are using only a limit switch, the accuracy will depend on the switch repeatability and the Homing speed. You can't eliminate this even if your homing procedure moves (backs off) some distance from the switch contact.