Machsupport Forum
Third party software and hardware support forums. => SmoothStepper USB => Topic started by: samyap on June 09, 2011, 01:45:13 AM
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I have a Smoothstepper connected to a T42 laptop running Windows XP SP3.
Ever so often, I see an error message: FT_IO_ERROR. This causes Mach 3 to hang and the only way to recover is to kill it via task manager. Needless to say, if this happens when a program is running, the job is ruined.
I have been through this board and done the following:
Isolated the Smoothstepper physically and electrically from the rest of the electronics.
Changed USB cables.
Switched to Standard PC mode on the computer.
Can anyone point me to what else I could do? I am literally tearing my hair out...
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First warning: Sometimes laptops do not work with Mach, even with a SmoothStepper. I would suggest reinstalling XP in standard mode, I have read reports that trying to switch it after installation does not always work properly. But try these other things first.
Download this document: http://www.soigeneris.com/Document/Installing_and_Configuring_the_SmoothStepper.pdf (http://www.soigeneris.com/Document/Installing_and_Configuring_the_SmoothStepper.pdf) . I wrote this up to make it easier to get this information out to everyone. I have found in many cases that a ferrite clipped over the USB cable will really help on may USB devices: http://www.soigeneris.com/Ferrite_for_USB_cable-details.aspx (http://www.soigeneris.com/Ferrite_for_USB_cable-details.aspx).
Let us know if any of this helps.
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Thanks, Jeff.
I will try and rebuild the computer this weekend and see how it goes.
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I tried all the steps in the document mentioned above. Now the FT_IO Errors are gone, but I have a new issue.
As long as the Smoothstepper is not connected to the breakout board, all works correctly. As soon as I plug in the breakout board via the ribbon cable, Mach3 is frozen as soon as it starts. If I then unplug the USB cable to the smoothstepper, it starts up, but reports another error: Could not write to USB chip with serial # ******************x.
If I connect just the BoB to the laptop using the parallel cable, everything works as it should :(
I am now totally lost :(
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It sounds like you have a driver issue. I talked to someone the other day that had a glitch while installing the driver and he had to use the FTDI driver removal utility to completely remove the driver and reinstall it from scratch. There is a link to the driver uninstaller on the Warp9TD forum, take a look at this link: http://www.warp9td.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=33&func=view&id=3012&catid=7#3012 (http://www.warp9td.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=33&func=view&id=3012&catid=7#3012)
Also look in Mach at the plug-ins folder and make sure only one SmoothStepper plug-in is installed.
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Jeff,
Thank you for the pointers. Sorry for the delays in replying, was caught up in other work :(
I tried uninstalling the driver as you suggested. It ran fine for a couple of hours and then went back to throwing the IO errors. I am at wits' end.
Sam.
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Did you turn off the power saving settings for the USB root hubs?
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Yes, I did.
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Sorry please ignore I have managed to answer my own question.
Thanks
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Hey all,
I know this is an old post, but I just solved my own IO issue and wanted to throw in my two bits for anyone still in need.
Long story short, my issue was related to the fact that I had the shielding from my servo and limit switch cables going through the ground on the Smoothstepper's breakout board (c25). In hindsight I guess it was easy to see how that could be messing up the USB data connection and therefor giving those dreaded errors. Once I removed the ground lead from the board and connected it to the case (and therefor right to the mains) I was able to get clean operation without errors.
Hope this helps