Messages

51

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Can't set machine position in script

« on: October 16, 2022, 05:11:59 PM »

I know what you are saying, I just don't understand why restoring the shutdown parameters isn't a basic default. I mean why not? It seems counter intuative to arbitrarily reset the machine Coords to zero.

Not heard of the Galil - have you got a link?

thansk

https://www.galil.com/.  However, note that the Galil is not a plug and play motion controller.  You must understand how a Galil works to effectively integrate them into a CNC machine.  Also, while there are things like position retention available with the Mach/Galil plugin, other things like lathe threading and mill rigid tapping are not available.  So research and decide.

I think everyone that wants something a certain way wishes for it to be a "basic default".  It is human nature.    However, most motion controllers set the machine coordinates during the home operation because in all cases except ABS encoders, the correct thought is that the position is undefined until the machine is referenced.  Otherwise, why would there even be a homing/referencing feature?  Mach 4 has lots of screw mapping and Z leveling features that Mach 3 never had and they simply depend on the machine being referenced.  Referencing the machine at startup simply ensures correct operation EVERY time.  Not some of the time or times where nobody bumps the table.  Even though the Galil remembers the previous positions, I do not use it because it takes a mere 20 seconds to home my machine and then I know my fixture offset is correct.  No guessing or checking.

But again, this is not a Mach 4 limitation.  Mach 4's notion of machine coordinates is whatever the motion controller tells Mach it is.  If you wish for your shutdown positions to be retained, ask your motion controller vendor for that feature.

Steve

52

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Can't set machine position in script

« on: October 15, 2022, 07:47:18 PM »

Thats another pain in the aris.

Got a Fagor controller on one of my lathes, shut it down and restart it and it saves all positions prefectly. A quick check to confirm and jobs can be resumed without having to re-home etc. Never failed.

The Devs should expose the methods to do this. Seems easy enough as they RESET the machine Coords to zero on a restart.

More headaches....

It depends on the motion controller.  My machine with a Galil on it does this perfectly so it isn't a Mach limitation.  HOWEVER, what if someone bumps the table?  Game over.  Only homing or ABS encoders will ensure proper positioning. 

Steve

53

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Quick way to update lua scripts in Mach4.

« on: October 14, 2022, 12:49:51 AM »

Nice!  Someone that understands the world of LUA.    You can also implement this with with modules.

I think it would be more clear if you showed the code behind the "Reload Scripts" button.

Steve

54

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: How to get Input0 User Description from lua?

« on: October 14, 2022, 12:38:28 AM »

Yeah, that user description is the poor/lazy man's wiring diagram.    It was added in way after the fact, so it is kind of bolted on.  You can read the Machine.ini with mc.mcProfileGetString(inst, "Signal1", "UserDesc").  The section "Signal1" is derived by concatenating the word "Signal" with the signal id that you are interested in. 

Code: [Select]

local userDesc, rc
local section = "Signal" .. tostring(mc.ISIG_INPUT0)
userDesc, rc = mc.mcProfileGetString(inst, section, "UserDesc")
if (rc == mc.MERROR_NOERROR) then
    -- userDesc is valid.
end

Steve

55

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: DRO on probe setting page (industrial)

« on: October 13, 2022, 11:12:31 PM »

Perhaps you can give me some more information about the issue.  Like a screen shot showing the DRO?  Have you made a ticket with the support guys?  If not, I would do so.  They will get all of the pertinent info and they may already know of a solution. 

We are trying to get a new release out and if there is a screen issue, I would like it fixed before the release.

Steve

56

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Why does mc.mcCtrlLoadGcodeString change the font size of the Gcode window to 32

« on: October 13, 2022, 11:04:00 PM »

I figured it out.  The font size of the g code window is controlled by the number of lines you have the window set to.  Setting the font size parameter does nothing. If you leave the lines parameter blank it will default to a font size of 32 (for my window size).  The higher the lines count the lower the font size the window will have.

Correct.  In the beginning, to make Mach cross platform, we used cross platform fonts that you selected from a dropdown list.  They had no point sizes and the number of lines in the display is what "sized" the fonts.  But people wanted to use Windows provided fonts at the expense of the cross platform ability of the original GUI.  So we added that in and the standard Windows Font dialog was used to select the font.  Everything in the font dialog is used with the exception of the point size on screen elements that used the line sizing before for backwards compatibility.

Steve

57

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: DRO on probe setting page (industrial)

« on: October 13, 2022, 03:14:35 PM »

What build number are you running?  (The build number is REALLY useful info when trying to find a solution.)  Have you tried a newer build?  Some of the screens had an error in the DRO update/modify scripts at one time. 

Also, Hobby probing is handled completely different than Industrial.  Industrial has full Macro B and thus you really can't compare Hobby and Industrial.  You can get Hobby style probing by running the hobby screen sets though. 

Steve

58

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: is there a way to change the size of the on screen keypad

« on: October 13, 2022, 03:04:37 PM »

Just click into the DRO and drag the corner of the keypad with the mouse.  Make is as big or as small as you want.  The next time you used that DRO, the keypad will come up to the last size.

Steve

59

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Read older screen.set file

« on: October 01, 2022, 04:06:55 PM »

The Mach 4 screen sets are actually ZIP files.  Rename .set to .zip and inside the archive is a file called screen.xml.  You can open this file with an editor and find your code. 

Steve

60

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Serial-rtu Modbus baudrate up to 1000000kbps!

« on: September 30, 2022, 10:36:14 PM »

The serial speeds are actually coming from the MODBUS library we use.  I'll ask them to see if they will make it customizable.

Steve