Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => Mach3 under Vista => Topic started by: pfact on August 28, 2010, 09:13:50 PM
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HI guys,
I can't get Mach 3 to talk to my Zenbot CNC, I am hoping someone out there can help me out. Notably, I am not great with the PC (I am a MAc programmer).
I am using a 3 year old HP Pavilion with an AMD 32 bit processor running Vista. I installed a NetMos PCI parallel card and the most recent Vista driver for it. The best I have managed is an occasional click of the motors when I turn the computer on.
I have installed the memory override. The parallel card is set as port 1, I located the port address and entered that into the pins and ports panel in Mach 3. The only thing I am not certain about are the pin numbers. I also enabled the motor outputs.
One other thing, I have several times copied the license I got from Zenbot into the Mach 3 folder but the program doesn't switch from the demo version.
What am I doing wrong?
Phil
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I installed a NetMos PCI parallel card and the most recent Vista driver for it.
This is the key sentence. If you had to install a driver than the card is emulating a printer port, it is not a 'real' hardware parallel port. In other words you can use it for a printer but you can't twiddle individual bits on it like Mach does. You can either find a PCI parallel port card that says 'no driver required' or go with something like a SmoothStepper: http://www.soigeneris.com/SmoothStepper-details.aspx (my website)
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Thanks Jeff,
I just ordered a smooth stepper and LPH26 to DB25 cable adaptor.
Can you tell me what pin settings I should be using in the config for Mach 3?
Phil
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You'll use the XML that Zenbot provides but you'll need to change the motion control device to the SmoothStepper. I've detailed how to do this in the PDF called: Installation Tips , that you can get here: http://www.soigeneris.com/Documentation-content.aspx#SmoothStepper (http://www.soigeneris.com/Documentation-content.aspx#SmoothStepper) The manual and driver/plug-in can be downloaded from the same page. Normally I email this information but thought I would post it here in case someone was reading this thread in the future looking for the same information.
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Thanks Jeff
I received an email indicating the smooth stepper was shipped this afternoon.
Phil
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Jeff
So far I can't get to step 1 - my computer will not install the USB driver. Can you tell me where the files need to go?
Phil
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Look on page 6 of the Installation Tips guide, toward the bottom and follow the directions for upgrading a driver: http://www.soigeneris.com/Document/Installing_and_Configuring_the_SmoothStepper.pdf (http://www.soigeneris.com/Document/Installing_and_Configuring_the_SmoothStepper.pdf) Vista and Windows make it a bit harder to manually specify a driver to manually but once you learn the trick it is pretty easy.
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Jeff
Your solution only works if the driver has been previously installed.
There is a bug in Vista such that when I ask the device installer to browse for the driver the driver is treated as a hidden file and you can not open subfolders.
The only solution is to manually place the driver files in their appropriate destinations.
Thanks for all the ehlp,
Phil
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I've done this several times actually. When you plug-in a USB device, even if the driver is not successfully installed it will show up in Device Manager. While there is no driver loaded yet you can go through the 'update driver' procedure just fine. I'm not sure what problem your seeing with the driver installer not seeing the driver 'inf' files. It might be that Vista has blocked them as they were downloaded. I've had that happen on one particular file, not related to SS, that was hard to figure out. If you right click on the file and select properties you should be able to see if it is blocked or not.
If you still have trouble just drop me a line at birt_j@soigeneris.com and perhaps we can arrange a time where I can remote into your computer so we can both see what is happening at the same time.
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Jeff,
I sent you an email
Phil
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Jeff,
Did you have a chance to look at my configuration file?
Phil
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Sorry Phil, I'm running behind. Since your using Port 2 on the SS you need to set the motor outputs to Port 2. The right most two columns set the port for the Step and Direction signals. Change them from '1' to '2'.
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Thanks for the suggestion but unfortunately, still no luck. I even tried the opposite - ribbon cable in port 1.
I am getting the proper light sequence on the smooth stepper. I made sure the ribbon cable is in port 2.
Should port 2 be checked in the config panel? and if so what address do I use?
Also, the program starts up in emergency stop mode, getting it to reset requires multiple clicks of the goto and online buttons then sometimes I can get the program to reset but it always hangs shortly after resetting.
Other thoughts?
Thanks again for your generous help,
Phil
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I typically set up Port 1 to drive the machine. Then if you need more I/O use Port 2. You don't need to worry about the port address, just make sure that the port is enabled as the SS plug-in may look at that. You have your EStop set up on Port 1 Pin 10. Do you have any sort of EStop input wired up?
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No Estop
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Then you'll need to change the active low state of that input to 'bypass' the EStop for now.
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OK, I'll give it a go later this evening and let you know how it goes.
Phil
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Then you'll need to change the active low state of that input to 'bypass' the EStop for now.
Jeff,
I changed Estop to active low and now the reset buttom works and the program isn't crashing. But still no movement of my Zenbot. I also tried connecting the ribbon cable and parallel cable to post 1 (and I checked port 1 in the config menu) and again no movement of my Zenbot.
Phil
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I just looked at the Mach profile that Zenbot has for download and see that the pins assignments for each axis are different than what you have. If you have wired up the machine according to their directions I'm guessing your profile is wrong. I've attached the ZenBOt profile so you don't have to go looking for it. You'll need to tell it you want to use the SmoothStepper. Also, use the Port 1 connector on the SS as the profile is already set for that and it will make troubleshooting much easier.
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Success!!!
The correct pin settings make a big difference
Thanks Jeff, I couldn't have done this without you.
Phil
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Great! Glad to hear you got it sorted out, now its time to let the chips fly!