Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: DMBGO on October 03, 2012, 08:49:33 PM
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I have a problem on the lathe and I was wondering if anyone has seen the same thing?
Everything is normal until after I have run one job, then the DRO's change normally but the X and Z stepper motors do not move, until Mach3 is restarted, at which time all is normal again until I run a job and the issue reoccurs.
This is a new problem, which has persisted for a few days so I suspect it is something I have done, but for the life of me, I do not know what.
I don't have to restart the PC, just Mach3.
My hardware is as follows:
PC P4
ESS
BOBs etc.
Thanks in anticipation
Dave
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More details about this problem:
Homing either axis prior to running a job causes the steppers not to move, therefore the job fails. This is a bit different to what I first said.
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Attach your xml please
Hood
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Thanks Hood XML attached
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Dont see anything standing out that could be a problem.
Couple of things to try
1. Load the standard lathe screenset and see if it makes a difference.
2. Delete the ESS plugin and reinstall it.
3. Delete any other plugins in the plugins folder that you are not using.
Hood
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Hi Hood,
I've tried the things on your list in the following order with no change in the symptoms described earlier.
I restarted Mach and the PC before each of these steps to ensure that I had a "clean slate"
Moved all of the plugins to a temp folder except for the current ESS plugin
Changed to an earlier ESS plugin
Loaded the standard screenset
In addition to what you suggested, I also switched to a USB SS, using the current USB driver, with no change in the symptoms, so I think we can rule out the ESS and its driver as the cause.
I am beginning to think that the problem is being caused by some other piece of software on the PC, so I will try another computer entirely.
Any other suggestions would be most welcome
Cheers
Dave
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A bit further on the road to resolution of the issue.
Tried a vanilla install of mach3 on my laptop, then copied my current mach3 folder from the PC to the laptop that normally controls the lathe.The problem was identical, and so must be a setting somewhere, probably in the xml file.
I have now taken screen shots of every config screen that is not default, and put them in a word document, which I have attached.
I am even surer now that it is something that I have done, perhaps something will stick out for another user in the attached document?
I appreciate your time having a look.
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Whoops things must be getting to me. The document name should be 2012 not 2011 and I've got things around the wrong way in my previous post as well. It should read " the PC that normally controls the lathe" The laptop was only to test things on a different PC.
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Is this with any code at all or have you just tried one specific code?
Hood
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Everything is normal
So Mach3 and the CNC are all working OK after the usual Reset/Init is done.
until after I have run one job, then the DRO's change normally but the X and Z stepper motors do not move
Mach3 updates the DROs as it goes, so that means Mach3 thinks it is running OK. It does NOT know the motors are not moving.
If the motors do not move then either the Mach3 output pulses are inhibited or the BoB is inhibited or the drivers are inhibited. What codes are at the end of the program?
until Mach3 is restarted, at which time all is normal again
Confirming my first statement.
Can you monitor the outputs on the second job? Both onscreen with the inbuilt SW diags and with something like an LED hung across the output lines. ie, check both SW and HW.
Cheers
PS: I have no idea what the problem is right now; I am just following my nose.
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Hum ... following on...
If restarting Mach3 after one job solves the problem, how about hitting the eStop after one job and then the Reset? That fires off the sdame Init string. Does that sort out the problem?
If so, I would look very closely at what M codes you have at the end and how they interact with the wiring around the eStop line. A mis-wiring around there could be the problem. Yes, I am definitely looking for a HW problem here.
Cheers
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I found the answer to the problem, and I'll post it here in case someone else runs across the same issue. The fix was simple (as most fixes are). All I had to do was uncheck in General Config, the box that said : On program end tun off all outputs.
Why this caused the issue in the first place I don't know, but I suspect that it is a bug in the Ess plugin. I'll ask on the Warp9 forum to see what Greg thinks.
Cheers
Dave
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Here is a screen shot of the solution
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What does your m9004 macro do?
Hood
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Is this M9004.m1s? if so its contents are:
SetSpinSpeed(1000)
Cheers
Dave
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Oh ok its not likely related then, I was just wondering if it could have been.
BTW you could just have easily put S1000 in the init string rather than have a macro, then again maybe your macro is used by something else so you already needed it.
Hood
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No I don't think that speed is there for anything in particular, but 1000 seems to be a good starting speed.
Cheers Dave
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FYI here's what Greg said:
"Thanks for the detailed de_script_ion with the screen shots. The DROs will only change if the board is reporting positions back to Mach. So internally the board is creating those moves but they are evidently not being output on the pins. My guess is that it somehow ended up in Offline mode. In that mode I disabled the outputs but ran the plugin as normally as possible. I'll look into it this afternoon. If I can't recreate it may write a plugin for you to try that will alert you if it ends up in that mode.
Thanks,
Greg"
Cheers Dave
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Out of curiosity, are you able to replicate this issue Hood?
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I have tested here and it does the same, reason for me is that it is taking away the enables from my servo drive. A simple reset is all that is required to get it going again.
I suspect if you also choose to have it E-Stop on M30 or Rewind then it would be fine when you enabled Mach again.
It is therefore not really a SmoothStepper issue but more a config issue.
Regarding the macro, my point was you do not need to have a macro written if all it is for is to set the spindle speed to 1000 at startup. A simple S1000 in the initialisation string on General Config would have done the same thing without having to write a custom macro.
Hood
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I don't think I wrote a custom macro, but maybe I did at some stage. It happens with a clean install, so I am dubious, that I wouldn't have noticed it b4. Perhaps mach3 has changed? It is possible that option wasn't enabled by default in previous versions?
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I will duplicate the issue tomorrow and see if a reset fixes it.
Cheers
Dave
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I think you are misunderstanding what I am meaning about the macro. It has nothing to do with your problem at all, I had just asked what was in that macro as it is in your init string and originally thought it may have had something to do with it.
You said what was in it and basically all it was doing was setting the spindle speed DRO to 1000. It is a custom macro as there is not a standard Mach macro with that number. So all I was saying was having s1000 in the init string would have done the same thing and there would have been no need to write a custom macro for it.
Hood
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Sorry Hood, my mistake, I thought you meant that about the macro. I meant that I will install a lower version of mach today and see if the same option that was causing my issue is checked. If the problem still exists, I will try a reset. I don't normally press reset, since my understanding is that you then need to rehomee axis etc, to make sure they are in the same place.
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Yes you really do need to rehome after you press reset, well if it disables your drives anyway. Steppers will move to the nearest full step when disabled and servos may move depending on tension etc.
Hood
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A reset works for me too I didn't try this b4, because as you rightly confirm, the position would be lost. Also I think I said that the "On program end tun off all outputs" box was checked by default, but I now think I was wrong. A clean install leaves this unchecked. This explains why I didn't come across this issue b4.
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I had never seen it before either but I never had that option chosen as I dont want to disable my servos unless I choose to do so.
Hood
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I'm with you, but I didn't realise I had chosen it.....