Recent Posts

71

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3. Windows XP. Mother board with no parallel port

« Last post by JohnHaine on June 04, 2025, 02:04:56 AM »

Alternatively use a UC100 USB motion controller from cncdrive https://www.cncdrive.com/UC100.html

This should plug into the parallel port on your BoB and release you from relying on old PC hardware.  I use these on both my lathe and mill.  There was hardly any reconfiguration needed.

72

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3. Windows XP. Mother board with no parallel port

« Last post by Tweakie.CNC on June 04, 2025, 12:53:54 AM »

Hi EL34,

You should have no issues running Mach3 with a PCI Parallel Port card with your Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 motherboards. However check out this thread before purchasing the PCI card; https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=34848.msg239910#msg239910

Tweakie.

73

General Mach Discussion / Mach3. Windows XP. Mother board with no parallel port

« Last post by EL34 on June 03, 2025, 11:13:29 AM »

I have been running Mach3 on XP on an old Emachine T3410 that has a parallel port.
It has been running perfectly for more than 10 years.
No problems yet, but in case the disk drive fails I want a backup system on hand.

I wanted to set up a backup PC with stuff I already have on hand.
I have a couple older PC's that have Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 mother boards.
These boards do not have parallel ports

I can buy PCI cards that have a parallel port, but not sure this would work with Mach3?
Chat GPT says that Mach3 may have timing issues for add on parallel port cards

I realize there are newer methods to using Mach3 without a parallel port, but I want to use the same breakout board and hardware that I am using on system 1
I just want a backup system on hand.

Can someone suggest a route I should take?
I attached an image of one of the mother boards I want to use

74

General Mach Discussion / Re: asking for help

« Last post by TPS on June 03, 2025, 01:32:17 AM »

you have to setup your motor's/machine

have a look to chapter 5.5:

https://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Mach3Mill_Install_Config.pdf

75

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: MACH4 not responding to Y Axis Homing Switch

« Last post by dulciehelen on June 02, 2025, 09:57:30 PM »

Is the input pin for the Y Home switch configured in the Pokeys plugin with debounce, digital filtering, or a different mode?

76

General Mach Discussion / asking for help

« Last post by alfatal on June 02, 2025, 06:25:10 PM »

When I copy the file (NcUsbPod.dll) to the folder (PlugIns) and when I move the machine, this message appears (stepPer=0). Please help

77

General Mach Discussion / MOVED: G code in MDI window

« Last post by Tweakie.CNC on June 02, 2025, 12:11:40 PM »

This topic has been moved to Mach4 General Discussion.

https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=49283.0

78

Mach4 General Discussion / G code in MDI window

« Last post by edcross on June 02, 2025, 10:52:29 AM »

g01 x1 f10
y1                      When i start up Mach4 v 5036 this is already in the MDI window ??

     Thanks

       Ed

79

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: MACH4 not responding to Y Axis Homing Switch

« Last post by BenjaminWalker on May 30, 2025, 09:26:13 PM »

This is a common error I encountered when switching from Mach3 to Mach4, especially when using Pokeys.

Mach4 has a completely different way of processing signals than Mach3, so if you don’t check the Input Signal Mapping carefully, it’s easy to get an error like the signal is real, but Mach4 “can’t see” it. I recommend you open Mach4 > Configure > Control > Input Signals, and double-check that Y Home is assigned correctly with Signal ID 66. If not, Mach4 will never respond – even if a physical signal is sent back.

80

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 Probing Anomolies

« Last post by shortj042 on May 30, 2025, 07:48:43 PM »

Thanks everyone for the assistance. I have it sorted out. Turns out that the motion controller had issues. I now have a new one installed.

Cheers