Machsupport Forum

Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: rnponti on April 03, 2011, 09:17:17 PM

Title: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: rnponti on April 03, 2011, 09:17:17 PM
Hi,
My name is Robert, I live in SE Texas.  I built a large CNC for a home shop. I have Mach3 and a C11G break out board. When Mach3 is running the screen appears to be running correctly.  Each arrow key makes the screen numbers increase / decrease as expected. The BOB however has no reaction.  The power light is lit. The output light is on.  The direction keys for both directions on the output pins are lit. Meaning all the output lights are on. When I turn the power on the motors jog.

Here is what I have done so far.
     The charge pump jumper is disabled on the BOB and in Mach3.
     The address for the port is correct.
     The inputs (limits, e-stop etc) are all disconnected from the BOB and disabled in Mach3.
     The enable jumper on the BOB is connected / jumped.
     Arturo at CNC4PC replaced the board.
     I bought a new PCI parallel port
     I have tried 4 different 25 pin cables (pass through).

I would really like to get this running.  Does anyone have a suggestion on how I can get the computer talking to the BOB?

Here are a few questions I have -
     How do I test the parallel port to see if the pin assignment in Mach3 is actually happening on the  pins of the parallel card.
     If I am expecting to see a voltage on pin5 how do I know if it is CW or CCW. What is the expected voltage?  I am sure this discussion has taken place many times. Point me into the direction of the answer.

I own a Fluke 8060A Digital multi-meter.  It is expensive but is notorius for not reading quick signals. If the parallel port only outputs for 0.1 seconds I may not be able to read it. Do you know the duration of the expected voltage.

Thanks,

Robert


Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: Dan13 on April 04, 2011, 02:17:34 AM
Hi Robert,

Use your Fluke to measure the voltage of one of the pins directly on the PP cable connector. Unplug it from the C11G, put one of the probes on one of the direction pins, say pin 3, and the other on any of 18-25 (ground). Now using the arrows of the corresponding axis, jog it alternately each direction. The direction pin should be changing its state and you should see the readings reflect it.

Dan
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on April 04, 2011, 02:32:17 AM
Hi Robert,

The symptoms you describe would indicate that your PC is not communicating with your BoB.

It would be a good idea to actually check your parallel cable using a multimeter to see that that Pin1 goes to Pin1 and Pin2 to Pin2 and so on and that all the pins are connected.
In Device Manager check that your Printer port (LPT) is configured as ECP and that the address is 0378 or the same address as you are entering in Mach.

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: mofosheee on April 12, 2011, 02:46:13 PM
Please assist me with tieing my desk top that is running Windows7 to my computer. I'm trying to get MACH3 demo running again.  Mach runs fine on the screen.

My original system operated under the XP operating system.  That computer failed and I was forced to use another much newer computer that did not have a parallel port for the printer card installed.

A parallel port card was installed in the open PCI slot of the newer computer.  The device manager sees (LPT1) and the configuration screen shots are set-up per manufactures instructions. 

The servo motors power up but MACH will not drive the stepper motors.

Any advice appreciated

Thank you

Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: Hood on April 12, 2011, 02:48:11 PM
I answered you in your other post, please do not ask the same question in multiple threads :)
Hood
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: mofosheee on April 12, 2011, 02:51:13 PM
I apologize
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: Hood on April 12, 2011, 05:29:46 PM
What address do you have set for the port?
Do you have a voltmeter? If you do then test on the port between a Dir pin and a Gnd pin and jog the axis one way then the other and see if the voltage changes. You may need to set the active state of the E-Stop in ports and pins to the opposite of what it is now so that you can get Mach out of reset with the port cable unplugged.
Hood
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: rnponti on April 14, 2011, 08:45:29 PM
Thanks for all the suggestions.
   I bought a new parallel port that out puts 5vdc. 

Additional info that may be important, the computer is a brand new 32 bit computer, running XP.

My pins in Mach3 are set as follows:
    x axis  step 1; dir 2
    y axis  step 3; dir 4
    z axis  step 5; dir 6
    a axis  step 7; dir 8
When I test between any pin 1 to 8 and pin 18 I get pin 5.1 volts. Pressing any direction key does not change the output.

I am beginning to believe my Mach3 settings somewhere must have a conflict??

Please advise -

Thanks in advance

Robert

Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: rnponti on April 14, 2011, 08:56:19 PM
Additional items I checked
The port 1 in device manager is 0378; in mach it is Ox0378 so I think I have the correct address
I do not know what you mean by configure it for ECP. My port does not have the ECP so I assume it does not have that configuration.
When I am in the device manager the little check box for "legacy plug and play" is checked and the "never use an interupt" is also checked.
For an intelligent person I am really out of my element with computers.  Sorry for what is probably a simple solution for you.

When I was testing the pin voltages I was testing throught the parallel cable. Does 5.1 volts dc cause any problem versus 5.0?

Thanks,

Robert
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: Dan13 on April 15, 2011, 01:45:11 AM
Hi Robert,

Just to make sure Mach3 has been properly installed on your PC including the driver itself, run the driver test file located in the main Mach3 folder.

Also make sure the offline button on the main Mach3 screen is not active.

Dan
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on April 15, 2011, 02:02:50 AM
Robert,

5.1 Volts is OK.

If you can get into the BIOS of your PC (F2 or delete etc at startup) then you may be able to chqange the configuration of your parallel port to ECP.

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: rnponti on April 16, 2011, 11:21:10 AM
I did as you gentlemen suggested.  I was able to change the port to ECP.  I restarted the computer and the device manager show that it is ECP.
I did run the Mach test program and it ran for about 5 minutes and then a little window appeared that said "mach test complete".  I assume if there was an error it would have shown an error.
When I am in the device manager the little check box for "legacy plug and play" is checked and the "never use an interupt" is also checked. I changed the legacy plug and play and changed the interupt to "use interrupt assigned by setup".  I hope this isn't an error.  Nothing changed.  The Dir pins voltage do not change when I move the press the arrow keys and I plugged it into the BOB and all the lights for step and Dir are still lit.

Any more ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Robert
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: Dan13 on April 16, 2011, 11:48:07 AM
Hmm.... I remember someone was having a problem with lost steps here and he was reporting that his direction pins' state was not changing, but rather he was seeing pulses on the direction lines. It's an abnormal condition (don't remember if he reported/found the cause), but may be it's what you're having. Can you try measuring the spindle relay output? Try to toggle the spindle ON and OFF and see if it changes state.

Otherwise, looks to me like you're printer port is not functioning properly. May be reinstalling it or something could help...

Dan
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: xantera on April 21, 2011, 12:45:38 AM
I am having a similar problem so I have been reading the comments for answers.  My issue is a little different.  I can get a voltage change when I jog the X.  Connected to Step,  I get a voltage change from .072 to .095.  I don't think my breakout board can read such small voltage.  I have checked TestDriver, address, offline button, reset and none of it seems to change that I really am not getting a reading worth mentioning.  Any additional help would be appreciated. 
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: Dan13 on April 21, 2011, 01:31:57 AM
Since the step line is a square wave, and not a constant DC (nor a 50Hz AC), the voltmeter will show just "something" based on its interpolation technique. It is not a value to judge by the output correctness. But since the value does change, you can tell that signals do go out of the breakout board.

Dan
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: xantera on April 21, 2011, 03:47:22 AM
Thanks.  That is very helpful.   What about the DIR.  What voltage should that be when testing it while running the jog CCW.
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: Dan13 on April 21, 2011, 05:30:36 AM
If you're measuring at the PP output it would be around 0V in its low state and around 5V (or 3.3V depending on your PP card) in its high state.

Dan
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: larryc on April 22, 2011, 09:13:25 AM
HI I had the same problem last week. My computer guy had turned of the lpt1 port when he set up the computer.
It looked like it was runing on the screen but was not sending pulses to the break out board. I had to go into the config and turn on the port.
 Even though the mach said the port was conected it was not. and the test said everything was good and was runing find.
 Somthing like that is confusing to say the least.
It said it was working but the pins didnt show any response to voltage change.
 Also if your pins read 5 volts at rest do you have your mach set to pin low or pin high.
I have mine set to operate at pin low voltage. it will not run at pin high.
THIS MEANS THAT IT SENDS a pulse when the voltage is turned of not when it is turned on.
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: xantera on April 22, 2011, 11:02:42 AM
Thanks for the Info.  This site is a great resource.  I felt like I was on my own until I found this place.  I was able to get it to work.  It ended being the breakout board.  It ended up being the voltage coming from the drive to power the CNC side of the breakout board was only 50ma.  It was not enough to work it.  Now all seems to be working fine.  Thanks again for all your help.  My job is not done so I will most likely be back for more help.
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: fahmi azman on September 05, 2017, 10:13:44 PM
hi,
I hope someone can help me with my mach3... I've bought new breakout board and trying to connect with mach3, I already change the port address to my mach3 but when I load G-Code it not even move. how should I know that breakout board is connected to mach3?
Title: Re: Mach3 is not talking to Breakout board
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on September 06, 2017, 01:52:55 AM
hi,
I hope someone can help me with my mach3... I've bought new breakout board and trying to connect with mach3, I already change the port address to my mach3 but when I load G-Code it not even move. how should I know that breakout board is connected to mach3?

Can you provide details (make, model, etc.) of your Breakout board and your CNC controller.

Also which PC operating system are you using ?

Tweakie.