Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: LC on November 27, 2010, 02:46:13 AM
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Hi all,
This is my 1st post and it will be immediately obvious I'm a newby to all this.
I have a small cnc router that is controlled by mach3. I use VCarve Pro to design jobs and create g-code.
Today I was happily routing away when the machine froze. An error message on the screen said there could be a problem with windows not transferring data, etc (I can't remember the rest).
I tried to send the tool home by clicking on the X0Y0 button - nothing happened. I tried moving the tool by pressing the arrow and page up/down buttons - all seemed good. I again tried the X0Y0 button and nothing. I reset the e-stop and tried again - still nothing.
I exited mach3, re-started and tried again - still nothing when the X0Y0 button is pressed.
I rebooted the laptop, turned the power off and on to the machine and re-started mach3, again pressed the X0Y0 button - still would not drive the tool back to X0Y0.
I also noticed when I load a g-code program no toolpath is generated - it just sits there calculating.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks LC
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Can you attach your xml please.
Hood
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What's an xml? I did warn you I know next to nothing :)
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The xml is the file that holds your config settings and will have the name of the profile you are using. If for example you are using the standard mill profile then it will be called Mach3Mill.xml and you will find it in the main Mach directory. If you have a custom profile the xml will have the name of that custom profile.
To attach to the forum use the additional options button on the reply page. You will likely also have to change the name of the xml as the forum only accepts a file name once. So copy your xml to the desktop and rename to something like LC.xml and then attach it.
Hood
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Are you using a SmoothStepper?
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Thanks for the replies.
Hood - in the main Mach3 folder there are 5 xml files: Romaxx.xml, Smoothstepper.xml, Screen4.xml, Mill.xml, and Lazycam.xml. Is Mill.xml the one you need?
Gerry - Yes I am using smoothstepper. I'll try to attach the error message.
Thanks again for your help.
LC
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I forgot to say, this error message appears whenever I press reset on Mach3.
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It will be the SmoothStepper one if the above screenshot is the profile you use as you will notice it says Smoothstepper for the profile (lower left of screen)
Hood
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Hood,
Smoothstepper file is attached.
Thanks
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I will have to wait until I get home from the workshop to test with my spare SmoothStepper.
Hood
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You have Inputs 1 and 2 set to the same Port and Pin numbers as OEM Triggers 1 and 2, could that be your issue?
Hood
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Thanks for replying Hood, but sorry, to me that sounds like you are speaking Swahili.
All I know is the machine has worked flawlessly for 12 months before this happened. So I'm guessing the hardware set-up is correct and I have a software problem.
Unless... while the machine was running I used the drill press. Would starting that have caused a voltage fluctuation that may have corrupted a file?
I really don't know what I'm talking about so I'll accept any advice I can get.
Regards, LC
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What I was meaning is if you go to Config menu then Ports and Pins then finally Inputs and scroll down you will see you have Input1 and 2 set for Port 1 and Pins 11 and 12 respectively. If you scroll down a bit further you will see OEM Trigger 1 and 2 are set up to the same port and pins. This shouldnt in itself cause problems but you may be getting some interference between them.
I am not seeing any problems here with the xml myself but you may have Brains or Plugins operating that I dont have.
Hood
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I think I have a lot to learn.
I need to run a test but the solution may have been found. In the error message there is an email address. I contacted Greg at warp9td.com and he sent me an updated plugin for smoothstepper. I installed that, restarted and again had the same error message and problem. Then, after resetting a couple of times things seemed to go back to normal - Yeehaa. I'll run a test tomorrow.
So it may have been a smoothstepper problem, not a Mach3 problem.
Thanks again for your help. I'll let you know the outcome.
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Problem is solved. Just ran the machine and it appeared to work fine.
Thanks, LC
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Good to hear you are running.
Hood