Machsupport Forum

Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: bobbya47 on October 10, 2009, 04:01:35 PM

Title: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 10, 2009, 04:01:35 PM
Having trouble with my port. I built a test jig that will allow me to test the voltage with my breakout board connected. All pins are high with the exception of pins 17 & 18.  I have tried changing the onbord port mode with no results. The choices I have are normal, bidiectional, ECC, and EPP. None of them make a difference.  I am using address 378 and irq7.  I disabled the onboard port and installed a new board which does the same thing. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: Hood on October 10, 2009, 07:49:46 PM
Can you attach your xml please.
Hood
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 10, 2009, 09:16:33 PM
Reloaded everything. Now dir signal works but I do not get a step signal.
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: Chip on October 10, 2009, 10:38:55 PM
Hi, Bob

Your xml worked fine hear, Try this printer port tester, Set Mach to Sherline 1/2 step mode and set the tester to "As fast as possible".

Chip
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 10, 2009, 11:04:41 PM
That shows the step pins pulsing and direction pins pulsing , but when I check the voltage out of the ports they are low. Pin 2 goes 3.3v but the rest are 1.7 or below.
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: Hood on October 11, 2009, 05:58:23 AM
If your xml is the one you are using with the PCI port then I think you will have the wrong port address set in Mach. You have 378 but that is the normal for onboard ports and it is very likely that your PCI will have a totally different address.
Hood
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: RICH on October 11, 2009, 08:23:49 AM
What Mach version are you using?
Do you have multiple installations of Mach on your PC?
RICH
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 11, 2009, 09:04:45 AM
I am not using the pci card now. I have removed it. Mach version is R3.042.029
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 11, 2009, 09:18:01 AM
I booted the pc up this morning and everything is hi with no response to Mach 3 commands.  The port monitor shows pins 1-9, 14, and 16 hi. There is only one installation. In fact, Mach is the only program on the pc.
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: Hood on October 11, 2009, 09:31:54 AM
Do have printer drivers installed?


Hood
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 11, 2009, 09:32:34 AM
No printers
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 11, 2009, 09:46:30 AM
Her is my test setup
(http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj169/bat47/100_1916.jpg)
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: Hood on October 11, 2009, 09:59:55 AM
I would suggest you unplug all and test direct on the port, if that checks out then move down a piece at a time.
Hood
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 11, 2009, 05:01:32 PM
I have a second computer with the same motherboard (Asus P5PE-VM) and the same processor. I ran the pp monitor and it is identical. Pins 1-16 hi. The driver test is excellent but still no control.
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: Hood on October 11, 2009, 05:03:49 PM
Have you tested direct to the port instead of through the cable?
Hood
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 11, 2009, 05:18:01 PM
Yes, pins 1-16 hi just like the port monitor says.
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: Hood on October 11, 2009, 05:24:32 PM
Then I dont have an answer and I find it very strange  that two computers  onboard ports and a PCI card are all defective in exactly the same manner. Hopefully someone will think of  a reason.
Hood
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 11, 2009, 05:29:29 PM
I have not ran mach on the second computer but both port monitors look identical. I believe the ports are ok. I think something is keeping the mach driver from working. By the way, thanks for the help.
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: Hood on October 11, 2009, 05:34:15 PM
Do the DROs move in Mach when you jog?
Do you see a pulse frequency and a Time in Int on the Diagnostics page?
If all of the above is correct and you have definitely got the correct port address in then I am at a loss to what the problem could be.

Hood
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 11, 2009, 05:43:20 PM
Yes, all that is working.
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: RICH on October 11, 2009, 10:01:41 PM
HMM......
Recently with a new  PC / Mach version .028. I could not for the life of me get the axes to move.
For some goofy reason, Mach just would not take the PP address. IE; I would get a DRO change when jogging but no axis movement. Yes windows said all was fine, yep pin outs were correct, all that stuff..........I just kept changing between the two address and finaly ......after 2 hours...... it took.
Never had that problem before. I even remember the address  DC00 and the other was D880, it finaly took the
D880.

Now one critical difference is, i could not see the status change at the PP.

Which you are saying is happening.

If that's the case, then is the signal appropriate for all your downstream "stuff"?

Oh, BTW, we had a similar problem were the pin assignment for the drivers were not correct in the instructions.
Only 256 combinations, a number of hours later , had 2 out the 4 axis working. So just a thought......

RICH
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 11, 2009, 11:14:25 PM
I am not sure what happened but after a reboot I get no change in pp pins. DRO's change but no change in pin status.
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 11, 2009, 11:46:27 PM
Now I x axis dir is toggling and step is very erratic but never gets above 2v. This thing keeps changing and is driving me nuts.
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 12, 2009, 10:57:39 AM
Parallel port is now working. The last thing that I did was change the pp address in the bios to 278 and set up mach to look at that address. That did not work so I changed everthing back to 378 and the pp now responds to mach. I hooked everything back up in the machine. I get all my dir signals but no step signal. All inputs work fine. The pp monitor led flickers but the motors do not move. I cannot see anything on my dvm and do not have a scope.
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: Hood on October 12, 2009, 10:59:58 AM
You can put the voltmeter on mV scale and you should see some activity when jogging.
Hood
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 12, 2009, 11:37:10 AM
I had forgotten that I had pulled the fuse for drive ps. Powered up drives and now I get erratic movement on drives all the time. I unplugged the pp and movement stops so it is coming from pp. This is without mach open. Very erratic signal. Motors hardly even move. I am going to be out of the shop until tomorrow afternoon.
Title: Re: Parallel port problem
Post by: bobbya47 on October 13, 2009, 07:00:54 PM
Nothing seems to work so I went another route. I had an older IBM Netvista, 1.8ghz w/512meg memory, that my son had brought home. I had to put it back together and it worked good. It had 2000 on it so I formated and loaded XP and downloaded Mach. It worked first time. I am going to run it for now. I will add more memory. Do not know what was wrong with the other one but I have a use for it. So I am good to go.