Hi Preso,
sorry didn't mean to come over highhanded but giving up is the third and least desirable option.
The first test should be to check if the pulse engine is running, aka 'the driver test'
Set it running, as admin if you have to, and observe the results.
If the kernel speed is 25kHz, the default, the timer will issue an interrupt every 40us.
The driver test measures what variation in time delay the PC requires before servicing the interrupt.
A well configured/managed PC will have a variation of 3 or 4us and an occasional peak delay of 12 to
15us. The line of the graph give a visual representation of the data. The raw data is displayed in
text boxes below the graphics screen.
Once you've run an digested the info for the kernel at 25khz, close it and reconfigure Mach3 on the
ports and pins page to run at 45kHz say. You will need to close Mach and then restart Mach for the
change to be seen. Rerun the driver test, you may need to check the new kernel speed and observe
the results as before.
Would expect the absolute 'jitter' to be similar but to represent a larger percentage jitter but with any luck
the driver test should issue an 'excellent' rating. If this is the case there is reasonable assurance that it will
run at slower speeds with some margin. My old XP machine would run pretty well at 45khz poorly at
60kHz and crash at 100kHz. The new dual core Atom platform I use now while technically less powerful
than the XP it replaces runs sweet as a nut at 100kHz, go figure!
I run my machine at 25kHz and there is no advantage in running faster unless you need it.
My guess is your real problem is the communication between the pulse engine and the parallel port.
A lot of PCI cards don't work. A lot of them 'emulate' a PP with some creative conversion from serial
to parallel, they don't work. Have a read of the documentation that came with the card, sometimes the language used
will give you a hint that the manufacturer has used this technique. Post the details and maybe I can help.
Craig