Hi,

So Mach 4 was the direct result of us listening to what our users wanted!  But now they don't want it?  Thus my confused state of mind.

Ii used to be, or I used to think, that hobbyist had simple machines to do simple things.  3 axis mill without a tool changer, for example.  But no.  Just take a look at the feature request thread!!!!  90% of that thread is people wanting Mach 4 to do something special.  But also, 90% of that can be accomplished with using the tools that are already provided with Mach 4!

I completely agree with Steve: mach4 is feature-rich and powerful enuf to drive any hobby machine.
... and I agree on him too, that the one who makes money with his cnc is no more a hobby user.

For me, m4 is well suited to drive any special machine beyond hobby interests too.
... and I don't have any problem in having to learn m4 programming and a new programming language to solve special needs.
Even more - I don't care, if api or fileformat changes - as long as there exist an upgrade path, with reasonable costs and instructions on how to reach current api level.

What I miss most is communication from artsoft to hobby-users. Let me tell, what I thought during last year:
This time last year I was convinced, that m4 will be my way. But then I became unsure, as I didn't see any reaction on bug reports. I followed the updates, but could not see any issue solved.
Then from august until january this year there was no update - and I thought: well, they might be working on other products or for industrial customers ...
When the last update came out, it was clear: there has been folks working on m4. Nearly 200 commits is a bunch of changes.
But where can I read what has been done?
The installation does not contain any information about that.

So from my point of view, best way to bring hobby-users back to artsoft and document the commitment of artsoft to hobby-users would be in establishing a ticket system public-readable like this forum. This way, hobbyists can enter wishes and bug-report and developers can answer by setting issue-priority (like "we're working on it" or "closed. Not our business").
Hobbists that can search the tickets and see, what happened to reported bugs (resolved with build ####, need more information).
I think, that will create transparency and feedback with little cost to developers and it could be a way, to receive user-submissions like translated files or the like.
The ticket system will allow to create some statistics and history without the need to have a developer write a novel.
I think, a ticket system will create communication from artsoft to hobby-users at little to no extra costs for the developers.

Reinhard

Rienhold, we have a change log in the Mach4 download tab on our website that covers changes in the latest releases. http://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Change%20log%203481.pdf

We created the ticketing system and have added staff here at Artsoft specifically to work with hobby users. Our tech support team responds to and works with hobby users every day. Tuesday morning alone of this week I assisted 3 users in getting their machines up and running with Mach4 and a compatible motion controller right out of the box. No custom scripting required. In fact we have profiles for the common 3020 6040 table top CNC machines that we share with users and literally they are up and running within 20-30 minutes depending on their ability and knowledge.  

We created the help desk to better track and ensure that tickets are responded to and users are helped. Some folks do not want to post publicly what they have for questions, and to be honest I don't think that you would want to read 10 posts a day about how to license the software or what OS the software can run on.   Some users when they get answers post them on the forums some do not. We have kept the forums open for those that want to share publicly what they are doing or working on and that is the individuals choice to make and we respect that choice. We are providing support options for users in addition to forums rather then instead of the forums and in the end its the comfort level and choice of the end user. We will continue to add how to videos to our youtube channel so if there are specific things that you would like to see please let us know! Best regards, Jim.

Hi Jim,

we have a change log in the Mach4 download tab

Yeah - pretty outdated and it looks like a developer has to sit down and write a novel
Such things could be automated from ticket system so its a one-click operation at build time.
... and it would be nice, if you package that file into the installer, so any user can read it after installation.

Tuesday morning alone of this week I assisted 3 users in getting their machines up and running with Mach4 and a compatible motion controller right out of the box. No custom scripting required.

Sure you do!
But who knows about it?
In germany we have a saying: do good things and talk about it
I don't doubt, that your doing good - but I miss your talking about it
A whole year without any change (yes, I realized the blog entry about lua) on your website is a very long time.

We created the help desk to better track and ensure that tickets are responded to and users are helped. Some folks do not want to post publicly what they have for questions, and to be honest I don't think that you would want to read 10 posts a day about how to license the software or what OS the software can run on.

You're right.
But beside that - look at the forum thread like "mach 4 feature request" and "mach 4 bug reports" ...
They are dead, unsearchable and nobody cares about it =:O
I believe, that a ticket system as used by open source hosters will reduce your work (respect to feedback) and rise your reputation for hobby-users.
Well my 2 cent

Reinhard

Thank you for the feed back and you are correct that we need to get the word out that we are here to help!

So getting to your screen set, thank you for sending that in. I have loaded it here in 3 different Mach4 builds and it all opens and I can edit it as you can see in the response and screenshots that I sent you on your ticket. Run dependency walker on your XP machine and see if there is a file that the later build needs I believe that is your issue as I am able to edit it with out crashing or having any error messages here in Win10.

Best regards, Jim

Hi Jim,

thank you for your support and the hint to dependency walker.
There are 2 dlls missing: ieshims.dll and wer.dll - wich looks like a well known problem without solution.

I'll try to find that dlls somewhere, but if I don't find them, I'm done with m4

Reinhard

Mach4 uses c++ and that XP os that you are running is not even supported by Microsoft any longer. You can find the C++ redistributable from Microsoft and that will most likely address your issue. Trying run the latest software versions on a 15 years old un-supported OS is going to come at a price I am afraid. Best regards Jim. 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads

Thanks again, Jim!

the dll's from technet discussion did not work and the redistributable C++-runtime did not solve it either.
So I think, that's (finally?) the end of XP - and I'm very sad to have to say good bye to m4.

So whenever you decide to start the linux trail - please drop me a mail and I would be happy in helping.


best regards

Reinhard

Reinhard, there is a development version on the FTP that may work better for you if your interested in trying. Version 4.2.0.3643. If you do, let me know how it goes. The only way i will ever know how something works in XP again is to hear about it.

there is a development version on the FTP that may work better for you if your interested in trying. Version 4.2.0.3643

Thank you so much! You're my hero
Looks like 3643 works again (as 3485 did before). So only 3633 fails on XP

Well, don't take me wrong - I only used m4 with the screen editor as I don't have a working cnc yet. So I can't say if it will fail on real work. But at the moment I'm happy, that I can continue working on my screens

Reinhard

Quote

there is a development version on the FTP that may work better for you if your interested in trying. Version 4.2.0.3643

Thank you so much! You're my hero
Looks like 3643 works again (as 3485 did before). So only 3633 fails on XP

Well, don't take me wrong - I only used m4 with the screen editor as I don't have a working cnc yet. So I can't say if it will fail on real work. But at the moment I'm happy, that I can continue working on my screens

Reinhard