Machsupport Forum

Mach Discussion => Mach4 General Discussion => Topic started by: ART on May 08, 2014, 12:21:58 PM

Title: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 08, 2014, 12:21:58 PM
Hello Everyone:

   In this thread I will post any information or bugs with the Darwin Printer Port driver for Mach4.

A video for configuration Darwin in Mach4 can be seen here for those testing the driver.

Darwin Config. Tutor

http://youtu.be/f2IzaLQ85YA (http://youtu.be/f2IzaLQ85YA)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6SU5JVTpik (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6SU5JVTpik)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2IzaLQ85YA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2IzaLQ85YA)

Thx
Art


Link to post containing the latest plugin 10/23/2015 http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,27194.msg215746.html#msg215746 (http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,27194.msg215746.html#msg215746)

Latest plugin 5/20/2015  http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=27194.0;attach=41004 (http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=27194.0;attach=41004)

Link to post containing the latest plugin 5/20/2015 http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,27194.msg209393.html#msg209393 (http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,27194.msg209393.html#msg209393)

A special license test plugin can be found here. 10/10/2014 http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=27194.0;attach=38841

Link to the Arduino Panels construction. http://gearotic.com/ESW/FavIcons/index.php?topic=1086.0 (http://gearotic.com/ESW/FavIcons/index.php?topic=1086.0)
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ya-Nvr-No on May 08, 2014, 01:02:10 PM
Great job as ever Art, thank you
Master programmer And Master video trainer, CNC Mach controls and Gearotic
Looks like a pretty simple implementation of Darwin PP driver
ought to make a lot of people feel a sigh of relief to see the PP still alive
"You are the Man"
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: BR549 on May 08, 2014, 04:29:39 PM
HIYA ART we do not HAVE the printer port driver.  That I know of it has not been released. I HAVE ASKED ABOUT IT(;-)


There has been talk of Mach4 not having it.

(;-) TP
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 08, 2014, 04:47:30 PM
Terry:

   There is one, I just finished it today, so very few have it. Ill be discussing with Brian this week how
best to get it out for testing.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: BR549 on May 08, 2014, 04:58:48 PM
HIYA art I have the manual and am waiting patiently. Well maybe not patiently but waiting.

IS the manual still valid as to how it works ?

(;-) TP
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 08, 2014, 06:32:27 PM
Terry

  Pretty much. The video shows me setting it up to run a basic system..but it can do much more...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: BR549 on May 08, 2014, 07:49:46 PM
I noticed that Darwin can do a LOT of I/O but you suggest only 2 lpt ports as normal. Where does one access the higher number of I/O ?

(;-) TP
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: BR549 on May 08, 2014, 07:52:44 PM
DOES THC work in Darwin ?

(;-) TP
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 08, 2014, 09:39:27 PM
Terry:

 there is nothing fancy like THC in it, not that it couldnt be added. You can use up to 4 ports with 2-9 as input, and it can multiplex the inputs so theres a fair amount of IO capability, though probably far more than can actually used.

  Cant promise anything, but it should load under 32 bit systems, so far its doing well on mine.

Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on May 09, 2014, 05:16:59 AM
Excellent work Art, you certainly have my interest.  ;)

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: RICH on May 09, 2014, 06:01:43 AM
Thanks Art.
Look forward for the release.

RICH
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 09, 2014, 07:08:46 AM
Hi Guys:

    Ive tried the driver with a few of you, I suspect though that my development version is incompatible with
what you are using. Testing of Darwin will have to wait until it can be included in the release demo files.
Hopefully not too long..

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: mickelsen on May 18, 2014, 05:41:43 AM
Hey guys,
I hate to appear dumb or behind the times but I have a stupid question: when you are talking about Darwin, what is that referring to?
Thanks,
Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on May 18, 2014, 07:05:35 AM
Darwin is the Mach4 parallel port driver.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: mickelsen on May 18, 2014, 08:26:21 PM
Okay.  Is there any particular reason why it is called that?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 18, 2014, 09:08:56 PM
Had to call it something... :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ya-Nvr-No on May 19, 2014, 10:53:07 AM
I just tested the Probing in Darwin and it works sweet, and so fast. ;D
I'm Happy to say it was so easy to setup and get working.
Great job guys.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 01, 2014, 10:04:20 AM
Just a note that I finally have my robotic arm running under Darwin, its fast and solid here so far.
Im in the process of building an engraver out of my arm, so Ill use it to test darwin on a fairly good machine.
Ill report in future as to how it goes..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 01, 2014, 10:31:52 AM
We need to see some pictures of that robotic arm in action Art (please).  ;)

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 01, 2014, 02:13:47 PM
Hi Tweaky:

 As requested.. http://youtu.be/lmybFe9VTs0

  I may need your advice as I progress on this one. Im seriously considering mounting a 40watt co2 laser vertically on that
carriage. Im thinking its not violent enough to hurt the tube. That way I can write some arduino code to control a new engraving
module Im thinking of. Good for MAch4 tests and I really want a gray scale laser engraver controlled by me. :)

  What do you think, I KNOW your an expert on the subject. Can a Glass CO2 handle that motion this video shows or is the water
mass to high and will deflect the tube too much? I intend to strongly support the laser its entire length.

ARt
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 01, 2014, 02:49:50 PM
Hi Art,

Wow, that motion is fantastic – I’d love to have that on my CNC (perhaps one day).

My view is that the motion would not cause any damage to a glass CO2 tube (the water coolant mass is really not that great) but…

There are serious problems with mounting single CO2 laser tubes (metal or glass) vertically – basically there is debris produced as a result of the RF or plasma arcs, this debris settles (under gravity) onto the ‘output coupler’ which burns in and results in early failure of this component. For example, Synrad withdraw their warranty on tubes mounted beyond a specified degrees from the horizontal. Having said that, the ‘double’ glass tubes which only have 100% reflecting mirrors at the lower end (outside the plasma envelope) are often mounted vertically in medical equipment. Obviously their tubes are changed very frequently but I think it indicates that there are ways around the problem.

I think you would have to go a long way to better the performance of the Mach3 Impact / Laser Engraving plugin (which you wrote way back when) but I look forward to hearing more of your progress.

Keep up the good work my friend. ;)

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: BR549 on June 01, 2014, 02:54:44 PM
Could you not mount it horizontal and use either a mirror or fiber optic to redirect the beam to vertical ??

Just a thought, (;-) TP
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 01, 2014, 06:16:33 PM
   I think Ill give a shot on a vertical mounting anyway and see how it can work.
I can always reuse the power supply if I end up burning out the tube. :)
  That saves quite a bit of hassle on mirrors and such. I really would like to build a
laser as a complete unit for snapping on or off the gantry. An Arduino will run it and
take care of safeties and such as well as a fast PWM routine for power control.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 07, 2014, 03:15:42 PM
Hello All:

  --REDACTED -- incompatible with latest hobbymach release.

  Enclosed is a test of Darwin. Its tested with Mach4  as of Today.
It does homing, probing and general motion. It is Limited to 2
axis only. Instructions are in the zip folder for how to use it, if you
currently use Mach3 with XP and a printer port it should run fine.

Good luck, have fun,
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 08, 2014, 01:02:24 AM
Wow! - Thanks Art, now I know what I will be doing this afternoon  ;D

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 08, 2014, 06:28:22 AM
Tweaky:

   I finally finished today digesting that very long engraver thread of yours. Facinating stuff, youve done
great work with that old engraving plugin and that Synrad of yours. I have a Synrad J48-1 on its way, Im crossing
my fingers that its a working one as the Ebay seller advertised. :)

   Seems to me Mach4 will require a new engraving plugin perhaps a bit more powerfull than Mach3's. We'll
have to discuss that as things develop. Ill start a new thread when I begin and document the process as you did
with your engraving machine journey. (Ill only start a new thread because your is soooo long. lol)

Have fun,
Art

   
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 08, 2014, 08:11:59 AM
Hi Art,

That old plugin is going to take some bettering you know  ;D

Incidentally, because the Digital Trigger only has a maximum duty cycle of 50% I am now experimenting with using an external processor to measure the PRF (dependant on Feed-Rate) and adjust the pulse width to increase the duty cycle to 95% (adjustable). This has enabled the plugin's use with diode lasers down to 150mW output power allbeit extremely slow feed-rate and my 40Watt tube to really attack Corian at 4500 mm/min.  ;D

I look forward to following your progress in the new thread once you get everything up and running.  ;)

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 08, 2014, 08:35:29 AM
Tweak...

  I'll be using a test platform speed of 14000mm/min for the new plugin..  Im thinking Id like to see what I can do with subpixelation
of the data. With the Synrad I see 20Khz can be done which should allow for some interesting subpixelation routines to upconvert
resolutions on the fly. The old engraving plugin actually does a small version of that with its auto dithering of gray codes, but I think
it'd be better to actually use the power as the gray code.. anyway..lots to play with..


Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on June 08, 2014, 05:04:18 PM
hi art I played with Darwin last night on the latest version of Mach4 it worked just took a lot of farting around to get to stay stable. crashed a lot. I just had to start slowly bring up the pulse rate and speed at the same time, I got it to run at 500mm/min with a pulses rate of 3700, that needs to go higher yet.
its running on a very old win XP computer that is half of the problem.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 08, 2014, 05:10:06 PM
Dan:
 
   I highly suspect the latest version of Mach4 has a bug in XP.. Ive removed the driver until its again compatable, I was running 14500mm/min in version
1767

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on June 08, 2014, 05:16:40 PM
ill try in older version see if that helps
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 08, 2014, 09:15:24 PM
Dan:

   It works with ver 1767 , but not after. The bug has been found and it shoudl also work with the next release.
Ill reinstate the download at that time.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 08, 2014, 09:16:04 PM
btw:
    I hear probing doesnt yet work properly in Darwin , that will be out soon.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Don C on June 09, 2014, 01:54:21 PM
were can I download Darwin (parallel port plugin).
 Thanks
    Don Clifton
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on June 09, 2014, 02:30:24 PM
You can't until the next version of Mach4 is released.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Don C on June 09, 2014, 02:33:04 PM
Thanks Ger21
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on June 09, 2014, 05:19:36 PM
art when I was adjusting the pules rate the machine sounded a lot smother is it just me or what,
also does the Darwin plug in support the spindle
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 09, 2014, 06:18:54 PM
Dan:

  Darwin is , or should be , somewhat smoother. Its a very much cleaned up Mach3 driver using 16 bit shifters for each motor.
It can handle spindles, as any output signal can be given a frequency for that output. It has alot of capabilities that probably will
never be used, but as its probably the last printer port cnc driver to be made, I thought Id try to make it the best of its class.
When it homes or jogs in the config, its jogging in hi order , not a bang bang type of motion, thats what makes it seem smoother
I suspect. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on June 09, 2014, 06:35:29 PM
 :) :)
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 16, 2014, 07:09:45 AM
My congratulations go out to the Mach4 team and Art for his excellent work with the parallel port driver.

This engraving was my first test run using Mach4 ver.1767 with the Darwin driver and it behaved faultlessly (except for the final blended G00 X0 Y0 home move which stalled both motors but that was my fault for having my Velocity / Acceleration settings optimistically set way too high). The 4 holes and the profile cutting require a tool change and as I don’t have Auto Tool Zero set-up decided to give this part of the toolpath a miss. The actual engraving is not the finest – I used an old (retired) engraving bit mainly because I just wanted to get some confidence in the software without damaging a good engraving bit if anything went wrong during the run.
It is hard to describe the sound but the motion is just so smooth my machine sounds entirely different – the steppers make a much higher pitch whine as opposed to the hum they make when running Mach3.

Setting the spindle to respond to the M3 / M5 commands defies my understanding and seems to be just a matter of luck. Although I finally succeeded I don’t know how I did it or if I will ever be able to do it again. I still have no idea how I will be able to switch my laser on / off  from Mach4 but that will have to wait until another day.

I don’t know if it is just me or if others will encounter a similar issue but once everything has been set-up and is working OK – shutting down the PC then restarting the following day nothing works and the only cure has been to re-install Mach4 then enter all the settings again from scratch. This could just be a WinXP problem in the way it saves settings on shutdown but I need to investigate this further.

One major problem I encountered initially was that the graphics card fitted to my machine PC was not up to the task of handling Mach4 and this card had to be swapped out for a higher spec. gaming graphics card before I achieved anything like smooth motion from the steppers.

Overall I am very impressed with the performance of Mach4 but the initial setting-up is very different to Mach3 and takes quite a bit of learning (without a manual) but I am getting there slowly.

Tweakie.

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 16, 2014, 07:25:51 AM
Tweaky:

   Thank you so much for the test. Its good to hear your result, it matches mine with the arm, it does run here much better than Mach3 did as well.
Im not totally sure why darwin is smoother, the code is totally new and has no old mach3 driver code in it other then the system internals of the
interrupt and even that was gone over and redesigned for better standards.
   Sorry for any errors, Im sure as Mach4 matures towards completion they will go away. Its a slow slog so we'll see where we're at soon. As to how to
control your laser, since Im now hooking up one of my own I think youll be presented with a method...though it may not be a method from before :), I
havent quite decided as yet. Keep up the great work, I appreciate the feedback. You have officially become the first person to ever actually cut with
Darwin, all my testing has been in motion and math only. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 17, 2014, 06:04:25 AM
My first laser test with Mach4 and Darwin (using a well trusted GCode toolpath that has been run many times before). Although this is not a method I would prefer to use the laser switching was done by using the A axis direction pin (A1=on and A0=off) and everything ran exactly as expected with no errors.

The problem mentioned in my earlier post regarding the final G00 X0,Y0 home move has now been identified as being the M30 command which, on my old and perhaps rather slow PC causes, both motors to stall during the GCode rewind. Removing the M30 cures this problem.

The ‘run today and not tomorrow’ problem I was experiencing has also been cured so it’s onwards and upwards with perhaps some more adventurous testing.  :)

You need to get that Synrad hooked up and running Art.  ;)

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 17, 2014, 07:00:36 AM
Wow, thats excellent Tweak..

   Question:

     I know the synrad ( and most RF lasers) requires a tickle of 1us at 5Khz.. The most Mach3 could ever do
at 5Khz was ( kernalspeed / 5khz ) was 5 power levels at 25Khz. The synrad has a pulse former in it that cleans up the 1us pulse so it probably worked fine for a pre-lase condition..my question is "Was 5 - 10 levels of power enough for you?" Looking at the situation with mine Im wondering if Id rather have 100 levels using a small micro hooked up and commanded by Mach in some way to produce the required levels.
  In chinese lasers you have only power, but RF lasers have so much more you "could" do. A maximum of 20Khz of control could be done..and still maintain the tickle properly if a small micro was used to control the trigger in conjunction with mach.

    Mach3's engraver plugin used a dithering grey code for photo's, this stretched any pixel by generating a grey code equivalent to the grey scale of the pixel involved. Does that work real well? Would it be an improvement if the actual power changed for each pixel? I never actually tested that grey code scale, I added it on faith at the time as a bit stream that alternated in a bresenham way as a function of photo density..

 Just wondering...

Art


 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 17, 2014, 08:20:34 AM
Hi Art,

For the Synrad I use an external tickle pulse generator. It is a very simple circuit and has approx 10% of adjustment for both the frequency and pulse width – this enables it to be set to just below the point of lase. The Mach PWM and the tickle pulse are then switched in or out by a separate trigger circuit (diagrams attached).

In order to get the best laser versatility (never know what we will want to do tomorrow) I think you need as many different individual levels of power as you can achieve (I believe Synrad use 5% step variation of the duty cycle between 0% and 95%).

You will have to be careful if operating the Synrad above the recommended 5kHz PRF – for example at 20kHz then a 95% duty cycle will exceed the maximum recommended internal photon density for the tube (overheating the output coupler and / or the rear mirror). The Synrad controllers software limit the maximum available duty cycle as PRF is increased thereby negating the problem.

I am no expert here but it is my understanding that the Mach3 engraving plugin allocates a set number of ‘dots’ per each individual pixel value and because for high pixel values the dots overlap each other many times during one X axis scan it produces ‘dot-gain’ and thus a shade of burn in accordance with actual pixel value. In my opinion this process works extremely well and I think I am able to get results that are up there with the professional laser systems. Overall the engraving plugin is going to take a lot to better but you are the expert and I am really looking forward to trying the Mk II.

On the other side of the coin those using diode lasers have found that DC variation in actual laser output power level in accordance with pixel value is the way to go.
I can actually do this with my DC excited laser but I still prefer to vary the output power level by varying the PWM in the same way as the Synrad is controlled.

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ya-Nvr-No on June 17, 2014, 09:27:36 AM
Hi Tweakie

trying to follow your diagrams, is this correct? Not at all an electronics expert.
Plus when I see this, I get a little confused why you pass a single signal to both sides of an "and gate", when you already have the logic.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 17, 2014, 10:31:20 AM
Tweaky:

  I wasnt aware of the power issue, Im glad you mentioned it. Its surprising as they do allow a CW operation, youd think the power of 100% wouldnt be that much less than 95%, though I reliase its a matter of photon reovery allowing higher power at 95% than at 100%.  Ill keep note of that..

>>Mach3 engraving plugin allocates a set number of ‘dots’ per each individual pixel value and because for high pixel values the dots o

  Was it recoded since the original I wrote? As I recall I adopted a grey scaleing of the distance between pixels..but I wasnt sure if I put the code out for others to modify. ..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 17, 2014, 11:32:37 AM
@ Craig,

I understand what you say, however, the logic gates invert the signal - connecting another gate in series restores the state. As there are 4 'and gates' in a package it makes sense to use one of them this way rather than use a separate inverter chip.
The output shown from the tickle pulse generator is signal 1 and GND. Signal 2 is fed from the Mach PWM or a stand alone PWM generator then the output goes to the laser control circuitry. Hope this makes sense.  :-\

@ Art,

I think the Synrad CW operation may only apply to the relatively new models of their RF lasers. I don’t know for sure but I suspect that externally we can apply 100% duty cycle while internally the electronics is still pulsing at a reduced duty cycle and I would be concerned that older models do not have this safeguard. Perhaps we need to contact Synrad for more information.

As far as I am aware the grey scaling was not incorporated into the version of the plugin that you released.
If it’s any help this is typical of the shades of grey that can be achieved from the plugin as it stands http://openbuilds.com/attachments/a1-jpg.1862/

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 17, 2014, 11:46:02 AM
Tweaky:

  Interesting...Ill have to take a look at the current code to see whats changed...

The J48-1 manual says wiring for CW is fine ( and seems to be here) but that you
get slightly less power than you do at 95% as the gas recovery rate is less. I dont think
its pulsing it when CW'ing.. the latest manual shows a pretty good explanation of the
method used , the waveforms seem convincing. Also, with a 10 wattt I doubt the
density gets high enough to hurt the mirrors or the lenses , though with 100 watt Id probably
worry about it. I did wonder about how they cool without water sufficiently, but then aluminum is a very
good conductor.

  I saw a photo of a J48-2 laser the other day mounted vertical, so failure in isuch a situation must be statistical,
your fine or your not..or your fine till your not. :)

  Very interesting world to play in..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 17, 2014, 12:05:29 PM
Hi Art,

I have been searching my PC but cannot find the link to it - The Synrad UC2000 controller data sheet gives a lot more information on Duty Cycle and Pulse Repetition Frequencies and how they should be managed - perhaps may be worth looking for it if it is still available on the Synrad site.

I have no practical experience of mounting a tube vertically I am just going on the manufacturer's advice trusting that they are correct. :-\

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 17, 2014, 01:58:26 PM
Just thought I should mention this...

I don’t know if this is a Mach4 v.1767 issue or a Darwin issue but for those like me, that work in metric, the motors Counts per Unit : Velocity and Acceleration all have to be entered in Imperial units irrespective if metric is selected in general config. Not a problem once you know but it was puzzling initially. :)

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 17, 2014, 03:47:34 PM
Must be a small M4 bug, Darwin knows nothing of inches or mm's, it uses only steps/unit as its inputs. It understands frequencies , not distances.


:)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 18, 2014, 02:18:57 AM
Thanks Art.

Another issue which is probably just M4 v.1767 related and maybe not of interest here but I am just reporting as I find.

In Imperial mode everything is OK but in Metric mode G00 X1 Y1 Z1 moves X,Y,Z axis 1mm whereas G00 A1 moves the A axis 25.4mm (all DRO’s reflect the correct physical movement).

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: hrlaust on June 18, 2014, 04:48:25 AM
Thanks Art.

Another issue which is probably just M4 v.1767 related and maybe not of interest here but I am just reporting as I find.

In Imperial mode everything is OK but in Metric mode G00 X1 Y1 Z1 moves X,Y,Z axis 1mm whereas G00 A1 moves the A axis 25.4mm (all DRO’s reflect the correct physical movement).

Tweakie.


I just tried in the 1817 version and I get the same result when you move the A-axis. Also the feedrate is 2,5 (not 2,54) times larger than the feedrate I have set. This only affects the A-axis.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 19, 2014, 07:29:40 AM
Hi Art,

I am having troubles running a simple code such as:-

G1 F300
M3
X10
Y10
X0
Y0
M5
%

I had to delete the M3, M5 macros from the Mach4 macros folder on order to get these commands to operate the spindle but now the motion is lumpy (almost single step mode). If I leave out the M5 then it runs just fine (starting the spindle at the M3) but of course the spindle is not stopped at program end.
I have a similar problem if ending a program with M30 (for the last few lines it runs lumpy) and I put this down to my PC being antique but now I am not so sure.

Does using the M3 / M5 combination alter the output stream from Mach4 in some way?

Any advice greatly appreciated as this issue has me stumped at the present.

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 19, 2014, 08:22:08 AM
Tweaky:

   This sounds like a Mach4 error similar to one M3 has a long while back. The Gcode should stop being interpreted and wait for something like an M3 or M5. It sounds like M4 is doing something strange with macros.

  Heres what I think is happening. When Mach4 sees the M5, it starts a wait thread. This thread wakes up every once in a while to see if all else is done up to that point. If it is, is does the M5, if it isnt, then it goes back to sleep.
For some reason it sounds like this is affecting job performance. Perhaps this thread waking up and going back to sleep doesn't affect external hardware but for screws up the program calling darwin regularly. Id report it to Brian and see what he thinks.. Things are still changing too fast for me to focus on the plugin, Im on other projects till M4 is further along.

Art

   
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 19, 2014, 10:21:59 AM
Hi Art,

Thank you for the information and taking the time to look at the problem.

I have now found that it has nothing to do with the spindle and think I can confirm what you have said. The following runs with rough motion until the M9 is encountered then it runs just fine (so it looks like it's a Mach4 problem).

code
m7
code
m9
code

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 19, 2014, 10:45:14 AM
Ill ask Brian about that as well, its not seen on his other testing so it maybe a hidden item that affects performance..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 19, 2014, 11:46:16 AM
Tweaky:

  I cant run latest version, my XP locks up hard. Are you using XP? (Just curious).
Ive spoken to Brian, he'll look into it tomorrow and we'll see why.

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 19, 2014, 12:00:45 PM
Hi Art,

Yes I am using WinXP sp3 -  I can't run v.1817 either  :'(

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 19, 2014, 01:49:18 PM
I tried 1845 today, it wont run under XP as well...
Ive notified Brian of that..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 20, 2014, 03:10:51 AM
Looks like I will have to wait until a build is released which runs with XP then.  :'(

I think the Mcode issue is quite deep rooted as it appears that just one Mcode in a short program is OK but put two Mcodes (almost any Mcodes) in the program and the smooth motion is destroyed for the duration of the program run between the two Mcodes.  :'(

I presume that external motion controllers, such as the ESS, will not suffer from this issue ?

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 20, 2014, 07:57:27 AM
Tweaky:

 Hard to say. It may not be noticed till now..but to me its a symptom of underlying issues with CPU loading, at least in XP, it may not effect other OS's. Im sure it will be found eventually.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: tivoi on June 22, 2014, 12:58:49 AM
where i can get DarWin Timing Engine plugin?
thanks you
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 22, 2014, 07:01:33 AM
Sorry, at the moment the current release does not support XP so I cant yet verify Darwin works well enough
for release. Im hoping for a new release in a week or so.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 22, 2014, 07:09:57 AM
Actually, for those that have Vista or Win7 32 bit, this version may as well be online.
This is the same version of Darwin previously published. It will be updated once the XP problem
is solved.

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: tivoi on June 22, 2014, 07:32:42 AM
thanks art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 22, 2014, 07:53:07 AM
Hi Art,

If it's any help, I did try it with Win7 32bit but could not get the DarwinTest.exe to run (maybe just me though).

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ya-Nvr-No on June 22, 2014, 08:01:42 AM
did you run the vcredist_x86.exe installer first?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 22, 2014, 08:04:54 AM
Thanks Craig - no I didn't (silly me  :'() I will try again.  :)

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 22, 2014, 08:06:29 AM
On some systems its very possible you would have to run the Device Manager, right click the root and select "Install Legacy hardware", then select "Show all devices", then "Have disk" and guide it to the darwin.inf file in the darwin folder. Then the driver test should work. The indication for this is usually an error that says "Error: Admin rights?"

  My Win7 is 64 bit so I unfortunately cannot test it.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ya-Nvr-No on June 22, 2014, 08:16:29 AM
Hell Art, I would have thought you had a computer with every OS for testing   ;D make your wife proud!  :o
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 22, 2014, 08:34:08 AM
I have 6 around here, but for some reason none has Win7-32 bit on it. Most have xp, a couple have win7-64.
Were I developing for Mach still I probably would have one of each, but since I mostly program for GM or for myself which doesnt require much hardware compatability, it hasnt been an issue for me. I suppose if Darwin is ever put hard to use Ill have to break down and set up yet another machine. Where the heck does one find all the needed space is the issue. :-)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: RICH on June 22, 2014, 08:40:20 AM
ART,
I have limited space........SO when the floor space is used up you add counter space or pull out shelves etc, when they fill up you start adding
drop downs from the ceiling. Now when every thing is filled up, you venture onto your better half's space and test your brides ability to share.



RICH  :) ;) :D ;D
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ya-Nvr-No on June 22, 2014, 09:16:07 AM
Rich aren't you in the man cave in the basement? As long as the washer and dryer is not down there she doesn't care how it looks.  :D But I'm sure she still shakes her head.

laptops work for saving space, not like they all have to be running at the same time or on a network. Learned years ago that one computer cant do it all so have dedicated laptops/computers now.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 22, 2014, 12:21:38 PM
>>Rich aren't you in the man cave in the basement? As long as the washer and dryer is not down there she doesn't care how it looks.

  Thats how I am.. I have a workshop outside as well, but its pretty full too.. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 22, 2014, 12:47:36 PM
 ;D ;D ;D

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: RICH on June 22, 2014, 04:00:55 PM
Quote
in the basement?

Yes, that is true.

Quote
As long as the washer and dryer is not down there she doesn't care how it looks.

Washer and dryer are down here and the last thing you want is metal chips to end up inside your drawers.......
Also she does Tai Bo or whatever it's called and she needs room to practice.
Little thing she is but can surely kick the ********* out something!  ;D  ;)  :D

RICH
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 24, 2014, 06:44:08 AM
Just for the fun of it I made another video – this time with a second video monitor in the shot. http://www.graytel.talktalk.net/Mach4B.wmv

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 24, 2014, 07:22:00 AM
:) Love it..

  What power is that laser Tweak? Is that the synrad?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on June 24, 2014, 07:32:57 AM
Hi Art,

It's a 40 Watt glass tube (dc excited) on that machine.

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 02, 2014, 12:22:43 PM
HI Guys:

  Here is a new darwin. Its tested for homing , probing and PWM spindles with latest version of HobbyMach 1877.

To use PWM, you tell Darwin in config there is an output for a spindle, just name one output (spindle) for example, set it to use a frequency
on active. The frequency you give it will be the base of the PWM, try 5000hz. Then in Mach4 map the SpindleON signal to the pp port and the
signal named spindle. (signal name is unimportant, this is just an example.).
   In the spindle setup in m4, set a min and max spindle speed, this will actually control your pwm. If for example the range is 0 to 5000,
then an S2500 will make the signal named "Spindle" put out a PWM at 50% with a base of 5000hz or whatever you entered as frequency.

  Remember though, is such a system your granularity is the kernalspeed divided by the base. So 5000hx in a 45000hz system will only give
9 levels of power. etc.. PWM output is automatic if any output is used as a spindle output AND has a frequency on output set..

BTW: This an unlimited,uncrippled release , all axis are functional.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on July 02, 2014, 01:33:06 PM
Hi Art,

Great news on the PWM.  :)

In your zip file you do not appear to have included the 'mcDarwin.m4pw' file which is required for the plugins folder. Also only Mach4 v1872 is currently available to us mortals.  ;D

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 02, 2014, 02:14:21 PM
Sorry Tweakie:

  Ive updated the file, the plugin is now included.

Hopefully, youll have the next version of m4 shortly..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on July 05, 2014, 06:45:22 AM
A big thank you goes out to Art for all his continuing hard work with the Darwin driver, which just keeps getting better and better. Excellent work my friend. :)

Another short video, this time using the PWM signal to control laser power thus enabling seamless engraving and cutting operations. https://youtu.be/8fUg6ebWut0 (https://youtu.be/8fUg6ebWut0)

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 05, 2014, 02:36:49 PM
Tweakie:

  Very cool. You did very well getting up and running with the limited information I provide
for testing. Great Job!!

  Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 05, 2014, 04:23:59 PM
Uhmmm... Any idea when build 1877 will be available for release?  I had downloaded 1872 and the driver, installed, and tried running before I saw the comment about it needing 1877.  I'm really looking forward to testing this on my Seig X3 mill.

-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Greolt on July 05, 2014, 07:56:08 PM
Yeah I have been watching out for the first opportunity to test on a machine.

Tweakie do you have 1877 or is there another way to use Darwin ?

Greolt
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on July 05, 2014, 08:05:06 PM
art cannot get Darwin to work with build 1872 on win xp
build 1767 does work on win xp.
and when I load up the new Darwin it does not show up under plugins its just a blank space and the machine freezes.
when i reload build 1767 and old version of Darwin it comes right.
could just be the computer will do more testing to day.
other than that Darwin is the best thing since sliced bread
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 05, 2014, 08:21:35 PM
Hi Guys:

   You really need 1877 or better, there were errors in previous versions that harmed XP's abiility to run and there was a bad api header used
in previous darwins. Only in this version did all the fixes come together. BUT, Ive had weird behaviour on a few occasions and Ive found that
after tuning motors or changing signal mapping you need to restart Mach4 to ensure nothing is hanging.

  Ill drop a note to Brian asking him to update the release as soon as he can for people who'd like to test darwin. My thanks to those that have
tested so far, my hats off to Tweaky and Craig for their success in running Darwin. PWM appears to work well. I'm fixing up a few errors I've noted
but other than that Darwin itself appears to work fine.

 Ill release a new version with some fixes as soon as the guys release a new hobby release.

Art

           
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Greolt on July 06, 2014, 03:55:28 AM
That's great Art.

I will look forward to giving it a run.

Greolt
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 06, 2014, 10:51:14 AM
Hi Guys:

 Brian tells me he'll put out a version on Monday.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Greolt on July 10, 2014, 06:36:46 AM
Thanks Art

I will wait patiently but probably won't hold my breath.  ;D
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on July 10, 2014, 07:29:53 AM
Come on, it's only Thursday. ;) Or is it Friday for you? :)
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 10, 2014, 01:00:07 PM
I'm told Todd will be uploading version 1888 shortly.., I've tested it for a few minutes on 1888 and all
seems well. There is still no way for you to set a frequency controlled spindle, Ill try to add that this week.
 
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 11, 2014, 01:06:04 AM
What version of Microsoft Visual Studio is Mach4 and Darwin written with?  I'm getting the dreaded Error 14001 which appears to be a failure to load the McDarwin.m4pw binary due to a missing share library.  I need to install the MS Visual C++ redistribution package to fix it.

-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 11, 2014, 01:49:03 AM
What version of Microsoft Visual Studio is Mach4 and Darwin written with?  I'm getting the dreaded Error 14001 which appears to be a failure to load the McDarwin.m4pw binary due to a missing share library.  I need to install the MS Visual C++ redistribution package to fix it.

-Freeman

I found the answer.  Install the VC9 redistribution package.  It can be found at:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=29
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 11, 2014, 02:20:51 AM
Does the Mach3 driver have to be disabled or removed?

I was able to install and see the plugin and driver in the Mach4Hobby directory.  When I run plugin configuration in Mach4 or the DarwinTest.exe from the zip directory and use the same port as my running Mach3, none of feedback that's shown in video happens.  I select the same port, I enable it, I answer the prompt, and then try toggling any of the limit switches, probes, or estop and none of the leds toggle on the screen.

I went back to Mach3 and ran it and everything works.  What am I missing?  I did notice the the Mach3 driver was installed along side the Darwin driver in the device manager.  Is that appropriate?  Should the Mach4 configuration see the parallel port even though the Mach3 driver is installed?

-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on July 11, 2014, 03:14:51 AM
Quote
Does the Mach3 driver have to be disabled or removed?

No, it does not have to be removed or disabled.

Quote
I was able to install and see the plugin and driver in the Mach4Hobby directory.  When I run plugin configuration in Mach4 or the DarwinTest.exe from the zip directory and use the same port as my running Mach3, none of feedback that's shown in video happens.  I select the same port, I enable it, I answer the prompt, and then try toggling any of the limit switches, probes, or estop and none of the leds toggle on the screen.

As well as configuring inputs port and pin in Darwin you also need to configure inputs in Mach4 (mapping enabled, device 'parallel0' etc.).

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 11, 2014, 08:44:21 AM
Hi Guys:

  As tweaky says, there is no problem installing Darwin and Mach3 on the same machine. In fact they are very similar in their code. They do have a different
GUID's so they will share a machine. YOu do need the vs9 runtime, if you install the Gearotic demo from Gearotic.com the appropriate files will be installed,
or you can simly download the vcredist_x86 files from microsoft.

  Darwin uses a DLL as its intermediary , unlike Mach3. Thats why the redist has to be installed. Watch the video on its setup carefully, you should be able to duplicate
pretty much everythign I do onscreen. If problems develop Ill do another video to show changes Ive made. Darwin can control PWM spindles, Ill turn on frequency spindles
shortly in the code as well. Please report your experiences, both good and bad so I can complete it prior to Mach4's release date.

 Good luck
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on July 11, 2014, 10:04:09 PM
hi art got Darwin work very well on xp with new release of Darwin and M4 found there was a problem with the new release of Darwin the DarwinDLL is wrong put the DarwinDLL from the first release and all is working now.
also the problem with no tool path display is still there it is the only problem I have found so far other than that its still better than M3
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 11, 2014, 11:10:05 PM
Thanks Daniel:

  Ill release a new zip package soon with new driver and dll. The new one will show version numbers of the dll and the driver so we can start to track any troubles. Ill also turn on frequency driven spindles..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 11, 2014, 11:55:33 PM
Okay, another night of frustration.  Nothing I seem to do causes Darwin to even acknowledge that the configured parallel port is active.  Despite the fact that I'm using all the same settings I have my Mach3 configured for and runs whenever I start it.  I don't know if it has something to do with my Windows 7 config or something up with Darwin.  None of the pin statuses change in the Darwin configuration screens or in th Mach4 Diagnostics tab when I physically manipulate them.  The configured port (0x9C00) is the port being used by Mach3 and I see it in the device manager.

Current configuration:

  - Fresh installation of Windows 7 Home Premium with updates.
  - Darwin2014-1.0.zip (from this thread)
  - Mach4 1.0 build 1889 (same behavior with 1888)

I will attach the screen shots of the Darwin configuration windows as a zip to conserve space, but include the the PulseStats and Ports Control windows in-line to show that Darwin appears to bless my machine and that I have PP configured and enabled.

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-PvOt4r7dDbY/U8Cvp9-wEiI/AAAAAAAAGDY/p02fd_KVDNs/w783-h508-no/Darwin+-+PulseStats.png)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BEzYyXgR1so/U8CvpsXoy0I/AAAAAAAAGDQ/-diCOHGGDyk/w783-h508-no/Darwin+-+Ports+Control.png)

These images are from Darwin after I start the plugin configuration from Mach4. 

-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 12, 2014, 07:30:30 AM
Hi Analias:

   I have to say all looks very good. Your pulsing is good, the way your turning things on and off looks good. waterfall is great..
In fact it all looks good. Id have to say its working. Yes, I hear your responce. " No it friggin isnt..". (I also respect the amount of
rustration your likely feeling.). Happens to me too when faced with the impossible.
   So, whats next? Id have to test right at the printer plug. Im convinced its working. If your port address is definitely the same as
your mach3 address then it must be working. Logically then, what could cause it to fail. We have enough reports of working systems
to know the port address selector and pulse code works ok.. also i/o works ok. So what could stop it is the question. I can come up with
only 1 real suggestion to eliiminate any possibility of charge pump's or something turning off the breakout board and making it look as if
it isnt working when it really is.

  So try this, ( first Ill annoyingly ask you triple check the address is correct as logic dictates it the highest chance of being the trouble,)
then Id ask you to unplug your printer port plug .
   Your pins are all showing a low., ( Except pin 11 but thats a special pin that the motherboard negates, so its really low as well.)

  The only way input pins can be low is if their held there by an input, otherwise many of them will pull high. So simply unplugging the
printer port plug should change the ports dialog to show some highs as the display shows the raw input data, nothing else. Makes
no difference as to system settings or config, raw data is raw data. Im thinking perhaps a breakout board is holding everything low
until it sees a proper charge pump signal.. so lets eliiminate just one problem.. unplug the plug, does anything read high or does anything
change? ( And triple check the port address...just in case...yeah I know.. :)  )

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 12, 2014, 11:10:17 AM
Oh..just one more comment because Ive been caught by it.. Make sure the ACTIVE port of Mach3 is the one your using. I had a system with 2 ports,
and I used port #2 really, and port 1 wasnt used. But when I converted I used the port1 address, which didnt work as port 2 was the correct one to use.
  So just ensure the port is correctly the one Mach is using.. I only mention it because as I say I was once bitten by that..

Good luck
ARt
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 12, 2014, 04:03:11 PM
Art,

I effectively side stepped the issue.  My X3 controller was using a PCI PP card that the original owner installed.  I enabled the PP on the motherboard and set it in EPP mode.  The Darwin plugin configuration and Mach4 now see changes from breakout board.  With any luck, I'll have Mach4 moving my axis in a very short while.

-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 12, 2014, 04:59:05 PM
Freeman:

  Way to go!.. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 12, 2014, 05:09:27 PM
Art,

Is the version of Darwin supplied in this thread limited to the first two motors?  I am getting "Too fast" errors in Mach4.  I thought I read or heard that this version had the motors all enabled.


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 12, 2014, 06:21:59 PM
Art,

Most functions in the Darwin configuration screens seem to be working with the exception of jogging with any of the motors and triggering Charge Pump #1 (pin 17).

When I have motors 0 - 2 (x,y,z) enabled and I try jogging none of the jog LEDs light, the job box border turns red, and the state of the configured pins never changes.

The same with the Charge Pump #.  I can toggle the pin in the config screen and nothing happens.  I've tried with Freq set to 0 and 100Hz.  The only thing I can do in this screen to change the stage of the PP is to negate the signal - all it does it toggle the state of the pin on the PP.  Do I need to set the charge pump frequency (I think the charge pump is frequency triggered).

I suspect all of these are related to a root cause.  I'm hoping you can hit me with the clue bat, you may have to hit me several times  :)


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 12, 2014, 07:18:17 PM
I figured out the issue about enabling jogging and the charge pump.  The Emergency signal needs to be configured correctly.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 12, 2014, 07:42:38 PM
Freeman:

   Yes, and the frequency of most charge pumps is about 12500 hz. as I recall.

Actually, the rest has ot be configured properly for mach4, but when testing there is a button on the ports
page that shows the drivers ESTOP condition, you can press reset to make it green at which point all signals will
work when toggled and the motors should drive.

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 12, 2014, 07:44:28 PM
I think I found a bug for Mach4. 

Don't use forward slashes in signal descriptions in Darwin.  The forward slash is used as a delimiter separating the port and signal name in the Mach4 profile configuration file. 

When setting a mach4 configuration item, the drop down will show the signal name with a slash and appears to accept it when you save and exit.  When you go back and confirm that the setting was set it will be gone.  In some cases the selected port will be also missing.


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 12, 2014, 08:47:06 PM
nice.. good to know.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 12, 2014, 10:31:13 PM
Ok, I have my X3 moving in all three axis.  All my input signals are recognized.  I tuned my motors and they seem to be behaving just fine, no stutters or erratic behavior.

Issues I'm seeing at the moment:

  * Had to disable Charge Pump on board the C11G.  Works in Darwin when configured for 100Hz, but Mach4 doesn't seem to do anything with it (ie. toggle it on/off as needed).  Mach4 is configured to see it.

  * When initiating homing from Mach4, each axis moves in the correct direction until it hits the limit switch at which point I get an "hit limits" error without the axis backing off.  I have tried with "e-stop trip" turned on and off.  Is homing suppose to be functional?


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 13, 2014, 07:34:26 AM
Freeman:

   The charge pump should turn on and off depending on if your in EStop or not. If in ESTOP, no frequency should come out, if not that 100hz should be present, Ill check that
and report back.
  As to homing, its the specification of M4 that in homing the axis should move to the switch. No other action occurs and the home is considered complete. I was told originally that scripting or other user operations would move the axis back off the switch.....or not. However , just as in M3, if you share a home and limit, the limit safety trip is turned off until you jog, script or otherwise
make the axis move off the switch. Ill ask Brian how they handle that in other hardware , it may be a macro or other operation that moves off the switch. The Axis are all zeroed at the switch trip position so really whats needed is just an execturion of a G53X0Y0Z0 after a home to get it to move to the machien coordinate of 0,0,0.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 14, 2014, 11:55:03 AM
Hi Guys:

   Found the problem with Charge pumps and weirdness with other signals. M4 was telling enable  to turn on before re-enabling the control.
Its always been my habit to refuse IO when in EStop, so the enable got refused in many cases. Thats been fixed. The Charge pumps were a typo
on my part and are also fixed. Finally, frequency based spindles were on my list. I cant find a way to get M4 to give me any sort of frequency vs rpm
information, so I guess the plugin has to figure that out. SO Ive put a workaround in there for the moment. If you have a PWM spindle, use an even numbered
output signal and proceed as you did in previous versions. If you have a frequency spindle, use an odd numbered signal. (For example if PWM set signal #6 to
the name Spindle, and set your PWM base frequency in the freq box in darwin. All will work properly., if you have a frequency driven spindle set signal #7 to the
name Spindle. This will put out a frequency equal to the S word. S5000 will put out 5khz, etc.. ). If you just want On/OFF , then map the signal SpindleForward
instead of Spindle in Mach4. Using the Spindle output will map you to PWM or freq, depending on if the mapped SPINDLE signal is even or odd numbered.

  When you config the pulser, version numbers are now displayed for driver and dll , both should read 1.07, if they dont your driver or dll didnt update
properly. Soem people find they must delete the old driver or it will reinstall itself instead of installing the new one.

Art


 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 15, 2014, 12:26:35 AM
Installed Darwin 1.07 under Mach 4 build 1889.  I had to use pnputil to remove the 1.05 darwin driver since it constantly got re-installed. 

Charge pump now seems to get set correctly when enabled.  I verified this using a PMDX-111 serial monitor that has provisions for monitoring the charge pump on pin 17.  I  added a LED for Charge Pump #1 on my diagnostic screens and it never activates, even though the PMDX-111 says it is.

Art, in your configuration video you configured your limit switches to be homing switches and had them trigger e-stop.  I have done the same. I have all my limit switches tied to pin 11 and they are used for homing. When homing, should the e-stop be triggered by darwin when the limit switches are reached? 

When I home my axis and the limit switches are triggered, I get stuck in a situation where I cannot back off my axis due to not being able to re-enable the machine.  I have to physically back off the axis by removing power and using the hand dials I have on the X & Y.  The Z axis I have to disable e-stop trip and then jog off, since I don't have a hand dial on it.

Oddly the diagnostic screen doesn't show any input signals causing the problem (such as the emergency signal).  Should darwin tell Mach4 that the emergency signal was triggered?  Better yet, should Darwin not issue the e-stop when it is homing.  Does darwin even know it is homing when Mach4 homes?

Is the homing order column in the Homing/SoftLimits work?  No matter what values I use in this column to set the order of which axis homes, my mill homes all axis concurrently.  I would assume (Danger Will Robinson) that setting the Z to a smaller number than the others would cause it to home first.  Setting any value to zero would disable homing for that axis.

-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 15, 2014, 07:26:59 AM
Installed Darwin 1.07 under Mach 4 build 1889.  I had to use pnputil to remove the 1.05 darwin driver since it constantly got re-installed.

>>Ive heard of that, the other solution is to find and delete the old one from windows/system32 or whereever your system put it.

Charge pump now seems to get set correctly when enabled.  I verified this using a PMDX-111 serial monitor that has provisions for monitoring the charge pump on pin 17.  I  added a LED for Charge Pump #1 on my diagnostic screens and it never activates, even though the PMDX-111 says it is.

>>Im thinking charge pumps are only used in printer port systems so they never hooked it up.  For my part I actiavet it when the plugin is running,
really thats the only spec on a charge pump, run when the program is running. Mach3 used it as well for Estops, M4 will not, it will just put
out its frequency when running. Im not sure why it doesnt show in led's, Ill check that out.

Art, in your configuration video you configured your limit switches to be homing switches and had them trigger e-stop.  I have done the same. I have all my limit switches tied to pin 11 and they are used for homing. When homing, should the e-stop be triggered by darwin when the limit switches are reached? 

>> No, Darwin igores the limits when homing.. Im think perhaps m4 doesnt .. Ill check this as well.. Darwin works as m3 did in that area.


When I home my axis and the limit switches are triggered, I get stuck in a situation where I cannot back off my axis due to not being able to re-enable the machine.  I have to physically back off the axis by removing power and using the hand dials I have on the X & Y.  The Z axis I have to disable e-stop trip and then jog off, since I don't have a hand dial on it.

>>yes, not good, Ill figiure out whats up there..


Oddly the diagnostic screen doesn't show any input signals causing the problem (such as the emergency signal).  Should darwin tell Mach4 that the emergency signal was triggered?  Better yet, should Darwin not issue the e-stop when it is homing.  Does darwin even know it is homing when Mach4 homes?

>>>I only found there is a difference between emergency and disable in m4, so Ill see about what coudl cause this and fiux it up ..


Is the homing order column in the Homing/SoftLimits work?  No matter what values I use in this column to set the order of which axis homes, my mill homes all axis concurrently.  I would assume (Danger Will Robinson) that setting the Z to a smaller number than the others would cause it to home first.  Setting any value to zero would disable homing for that axis.

 >> Thats an M4 thing.. I think.. I get a call for homing.. and it homes. If all three go together Im not sure where I coudl stop it. But Ill ask the guys why that might be.. perhaps the plugin is supposed to hold them to an order but that seems a bit weird..

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 15, 2014, 09:43:57 PM
Hi Guys:

  Here is version 1.08 which fixes many many things. First, homing is done in the order you declare in m4. You may set a home or limit to Estop tripable in Darwin and it will work. If, when trying to re-enable a limit is found to be tripping an Estop, it will be
disabled and the control will enable to allow you to jog off, at which point it will auto-re enable.

  Charge pump will work, though the led may or may not, the guys are looking into it.. Most everything works in this version, a couple of bugs remain, I will turn on a register to allow you to calibrate the spindle frequencies if not in pwm shortly, also M4 doesnt show the IO on its diag until after the signal changes.. Ill fix that up with a delayed refresh after startup...but other than that all seems to work well and a great many bugs were repaired. Thx for the reports, it really helsp to get these things out of the
way as quick as I can.

No limitations in this plugin at all at the moment..Please let me know what you find. The driver test should show 1.07 on each.
 

Art


 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 17, 2014, 12:53:00 AM
Darwin 1.08
Mach 4 build 1900

Charge Pump works much better now.  Although I noticed that I have to cycle Mach 4 through disabled-enabled-disabled before the Charge Pump comes on.  After that it behaves.  The LED still doesn't light.

When homing, the e-stop is handled correctly.  I can now back off the axis.  Although Mach4 doesn't leave me in an e-stop, it does have the limits triggered and the axis is not zeroed.

Are there documents available for developers of motion controller drivers?  I would expect it would outline the division of responsibilities between Mach 4 and the motion controller driver.  It might also show points for where script drivers would interject their own Lua code to control behavior like homing, probing, etc.


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 17, 2014, 07:22:00 AM
Freeman:

  No, there is no doc, its why it will take a little while to stabilize plugs, its still early for the developers in terms of docs.
Things are getting better though. When you home, the machine coordinate gets zeroed to the offset value. For example,
if you have an offset of 10, the X axis will read -10 plus and decel distance observed. So the machine coordinate should
read the actual distance from the trip point of the switch. Doing a G53X0Y0Z0 would then move you to machine zero. If you then zero your fully zeroed in the work coordinates.

   Ill fix up the Charge pump activation, I noticed M4 doesnt show a signal on the diags till its toggled as well.. minor issue..

  The limits triggered will happen if you map the home switch to the X-- for example on X. The switch being triggered will stop any joggin in that direction as a side effect.

Have fun , preciate the feedback..
Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: alcwell on July 17, 2014, 03:48:53 PM
I have installed Mach4 build 1900 and Darwin 1.08 on XP. Driver install reported successful and DarwinTest.exe runs as expected.
I have copied mcDarwin.m4pw to the plugins folder and DarwinDLL.dll to Mach4 program folder. I have remoced sim.m4pw.

When starting Mach4 the error message in the image attached is displayed. I have tried restarting PC, re-installing Mach4 and removing the other plugins exept Lua but it dosen't help.

Does anyone have any ideas.

Alastair
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 17, 2014, 03:58:26 PM
hmm.. Have you tried running the 32 bit runtime for vs9.. ? I dont have any reports of not loading in
that way as yet. Download the VS9 runtime from microsoft..   vsredist_x86.exe , might help with that error,
though you should have gotten somthign about side-by-side config error if that was the trouble..

Art


 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: alcwell on July 17, 2014, 06:15:28 PM
Thanks Art, that got it loading!

Another question.
Is there a way to increase the width of the step and direction pulses as you can in Mach3 on the motor tuning page. I only had a short time to play once I got it loading but I couldn't see this in either Mach4 or Darwin. In Mach3 I have to set them to 3us to allow for the opto couplers on my breakout board.

Alastair

 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 17, 2014, 08:08:02 PM
alastair:

  Sorry, at this point no. Darwin only puts out step pulses at 1 interrupt length in size. If I find this is too
limiting Ill look at stretching it, but initial polls showed most were fine at the default 1us that the printer ports usuallt
take by default.. Does it seem to lose steps without any stretching?

Art


 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: alcwell on July 18, 2014, 08:43:30 AM
In Mach3 without stretching it looses steps constantly and the motors sound terrible!

In Mach4 the motors will not move except for a small kick when you command a move in the opposite direction to the previous move.

I didn't have much time to experiment but the pulse length was the first thing that came to mind so I went looking for the setting. I won't get back to it until mid week but when I do get some spare time I will check the signals with a scope.

Alastair
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 18, 2014, 09:11:52 AM
alastair:

   That kick is a suggestion the step and direction pins are revered. Direction is held until a reversal, so if when you reverse you get a small kick.. thats the step seeing the direction change. Check your step and dir arent reversed..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Greolt on July 19, 2014, 04:36:39 AM
I read opinions from smarter people than myself. like Tweakie.  And I quote

"Art’s ‘Darwin’, parallel port driver, performed beautifully during the tests with no faults or bugs to report. It is very easy to set-up and the motion produced is just so smooth it is difficult to describe the difference from Mach3."

My experience is VERY different which makes me think I am doing some rather stupid things.  :)    I am using Darwin 1.08 with Mach4 1888

Firstly I abandoned any idea of using Metric.   The results just confused the hell out of me.

For the life of me I could not get B axis (motor 4) selected as slave to Y axis.  Had to settle for A axis (motor 3)  Just could not figure how to get it to allow me to select B as slave.

Maybe that is a built in limitation of hobby version.  That would be a shame as I have one slaved axis and also a 4th axis (rotary).  That would blow Mach4 out of the water for me as a future option.

Dual axis homing I have not worked out yet.  Master and slave work well together up until I reference that axis.  Then they try to move in different directions.

However all that is small potatoes compared with the smoothness of operation (or lack of it) compared with Mach3.

25000 kernal speed.  Good driver test graphic.  Time in interrupt approx 7 micro seconds (is this my problem?)

No hardware changes. Start up Mach3 and all is sweet again, as it has been for years.

With Mach4 it sounds awful but does move and I don't think positional integrity is affected. (I need to check that)

Any ideas what silly mistake I have made?

Greolt
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on July 19, 2014, 05:28:32 AM
Hi Greg,

Thanks for the compliment - I am far from being smart - I am perhaps just lucky  :D  I also had a lot of help from Art.  I have it working on WinXP and Vista but so far have had no luck at all with Win7.

If it's any consolation I could not get B axis working either (as you say it is probably a limitation).
I have not yet tried v.1888 but I am fairly certain the Metric / Imperial issue has been sorted.

I start loosing occasional steps, only on blended moves, when using a Pulse Count above 27000 but up to that the motion is beautiful so I am guessing it may be something relating to your PC but I have no suggestions as to what it may be.  Does 'Disable VBO Tool Path' make any difference ?

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Greolt on July 19, 2014, 06:17:53 AM
Tweakie

I will try the 'Disable VBO Tool Path' thing tomorrow.

I am in a different time zone and off to bed now.  ;D

Greolt

PS: this is XP
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 19, 2014, 08:10:44 AM
Hi:

>>"Art’s ‘Darwin’, parallel port driver, performed beautifully during the tests with no faults or bugs to report. It is very easy to set-up and the motion produced is just so smooth it is difficult to describe the difference from Mach3."
My experience is VERY different which makes me think I am doing some rather stupid things.   I am using Darwin 1.08 with Mach4 1888

     Goes to show experiences do vary. Could be machine, could be something else..time and testing will tell. Doesnt make you any dumber than I.. Im sure testing will show why things are screwy.. I havent had any limitations even up to 70,000 pulse frequency..BUT Im using servo's which can smooth timing discrepancies out of a stream. Its very possible that some problem or
another is creating trouble. Tweaky is the second to have grinding noise above a certain value.. Its something Im hoping time
and use will point to. It may be pulse width as one person pointed out. I only pulse at the default of 1us or so on the step, allowing the minimum time of pp port register changes to control the time. Im m3 I added up to 3-4 us to make the pulse
longer.. I may have to try that to see if it helps. (Tweaky: did you have to add time before to the pulse widths?)

>>Firstly I abandoned any idea of using Metric.   The results just confused the hell out of me.

   I used only metric, but I found any switch between inch and mm caused huge trouble for me, first you have to restart the program and something about the switch junked many things.. until latest version 1900 which seemed to fix that up for me.

>>For the life of me I could not get B axis (motor 4) selected as slave to Y axis.  Had to settle for A axis (motor 3)  Just could not figure how to get it to allow me to select B as slave.

   In M4 no motor actually owns an axis. Your "B" axis is simply motor 3. So youd map motor 3 to B axis in M4 and slave it. But Ive done no slaving tests so I cant confirm slaving works.

>>Maybe that is a built in limitation of hobby version.  That would be a shame as I have one slaved axis and also a 4th axis (rotary).  That would blow Mach4 out of the water for me as a future option.

   Darwin only handles 4 axis at the moment, I havent turned on the others, Ill list to do so, no reason for them to be off anymore..

>>Dual axis homing I have not worked out yet.  Master and slave work well together up until I reference that axis.  Then they try to move in different directions. 

  Probably has to do with the mapping, the homing can handle slaved axis, interesting that they move in different directions... ID have thought theyd home the same way they move, in reverse to each other. (Listed for checking)..

>>However all that is small potatoes compared with the smoothness of operation (or lack of it) compared with Mach3.
>>25000 kernal speed.  Good driver test graphic.  Time in interrupt approx 7 micro seconds (is this my problem?)

   Thats low compared to M3, and likely due to the decreased pulse width. Did your M3 have pulse width setting higher than default? Ill add a setting for that to see how stretching the pulse might help in smoothness for you. Mine is very smooth as was tweakies, but even Tweakie has roughness above a set number...that makes me thing pulse width..

>>Any ideas what silly mistake I have made?

  None. :) , you tested and reported, Im gratefull. I will add in a pulse stretch by making all steps take a 1us wait to make them longer, we'll see if that helps, and Ill check the homing to see why a slave might home in the reverse direction.. ( Thats ahandy report..). Ill also turn on the other two axis so 6 motors can work..

Thx
Art


Greolt
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on July 19, 2014, 08:21:59 AM
Quote
Tweaky: did you have to add time before to the pulse widths?

Hi Art,

Yes, in Mach3 I am using 2uS for the step pulses.

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 19, 2014, 10:21:54 AM
Hi guys:

  Here is version 1.09 of Darwin. The driver is the same, it will report 1.08 (lower number), you dont need to replace it.
The dll's version is the upper version reported, and it should read 1.09. So all you need to do is overwrite the plugin and the dll and your good to test..

The plugin is also 1.09. This plugin turns on the step stretching. ( The code was written in I just hadnt turned it on). I have
no way for you to set it as yet, so I set it to 2 extra uSecs on the step pulse only.

  Unfortunately, this version has a few changes that made a reset necessary. You will have to remap all the signals in Mach4.
They will sill have a checkmark, you just need to map them to "Darwin" since "parallel0" is no longer a name in the system,
all mapping should now be done to the Darwin device. Just do a remap of any signal and youll see what I mean.

  If this doesnt fix roughness its OK, what I need to know is , Is it Smoother than it was..? If so Ill turn on a setting you can change to make it match your system. If indeed pulse width is the culprit, this should at very least make it better.

 I need to discuss with Brian a solution for the homing a slave axis direction, Im askign M4 what direction to go so perhaps
the plugin should reverse any slave in homing ( though that seems arbitrary..what if the axis isnt reversed..)..

 Anyway, Ill take that up on monday and correct as necessary..

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Greolt on July 19, 2014, 10:39:01 PM

  If this doesnt fix roughness its OK, what I need to know is , Is it Smoother than it was..? If so Ill turn on a setting you can change to make it match your system. If indeed pulse width is the culprit, this should at very least make it better.


No I don't think it is any different in my case.  Perhaps my computer hardware combination that happily runs Mach3 is not up to the mark for Mach4.

I had Mach3 set to 3us pulses.  Only because I set it to that way back.  Set it to zero and it made no difference to smoothness in Mach3.

Mach4 again. Funny thing is sometimes an axis will run smooth and then next time rough.  Sounds like it has sand in the linear bearings.

I have gone to ver. 1900 and set everything to metric.  That seems OK now.

Spending way too much time trying to get a handle on homing with a slaved axis.  Need to stop doing that for now.  Can't make any consistent sense of it.

Greolt
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 20, 2014, 07:37:04 AM
Greg:

 So in version 1900 in metric it sounds smooth? Is that the upshot?
That's an important thing to know I think, it would tel me that something in your CPU
is being dragged down by M4 in terms of having enough time to properly function.

 Video seems implicated on at least one system Is this in wxMach or in MachGUI? Ive
also heard of differences there...
Thx for the testing, Ill find out about the homing on Monday and fix up whatever I need to.
I suspect its still early to say exactly what goes on in such troubles, I need more experiences and
numbers to tell me. A grinding in the bearings sound usually means the stream is very uneven,
so if your waterfall is fine ( and everyones seems to be ) then Im really thinking M4's use of video
or something is creating a bottleneck.
  Unfortunately for me, external hardware doesnt need an unlagged system ,it'd be hard to tell when
overloaded, Darwin, like M3 needs a system without the cpu being bogged down. Im hoping we
can find that bottleneck. By the way, has anyone looked at CPU load during a noisy run compared
to a smooth one?
   Yours is the third time Ive heard switching to metric makes a difference. Darwin knows nothing
of number systems it works solely on steps.. but VIDEO on the other hand works in inches or mm's...
so Im thinking perhaps of some unknown effect there.. but I could be wrong.

Anyway, thank you for the response, it adds to the knowledge base. :)  , testing continues..

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 20, 2014, 07:44:58 AM
Tweaky:

   I promised to keep you appraised on my laser project. I now have an arduino
programmed to give me a good tickle at 1us with the ability to send any pulse or
number of pulses from 3us to 190us at any frequency up to 5khz in 1000 different
power levels.

   Just waiting now on some final components before making a laser control panel
which will accept step signals from the x,y and a axis in order to be able to engrave
with 1000 discrete power levels while M4 ( or mach3) does a simple grid raster or spiral
or whatever rastering shape one wishes. The idea is to remove mach's control of the laser
and rather have the control panel monitor position and pulse its output based on uploaded
photos or other criteria. So the steps signals will simply be paralleled to the "MasterBlaster"
control panel , which is wireless, and will operate in concert with Mach3, Mach3 ( or any
step/direction controller). This will allow on the fly pulse to pulse variation in power
based on photographic input prior to any raster scan. Thats the plan anyway. :)

  Im hoping such a panel could be used on any laser and with any cnc system to allow
3d engraving in a new way. We'll see how reality intrudes on my plans. :)

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on July 20, 2014, 08:30:19 AM
Sounds great Art, I particularly like the idea of 1000 discrete power levels.

I look forward to following your progress on this and maybe even following in your footsteps although I keep saying 'the Impact / Laser engraving plugin is going to take a lot to better'.  ;D


Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 20, 2014, 02:37:41 PM
Hi guys

 this version changes only the plugin, so you only need to copy in the plugin file.

 This should correct homing of a slave as to its direction. This also adds changeable registers. In the
Operator/Regfile youll find a Darwin entry. There you can specify a min freq and max freq for Frequency based spindles,
and you can select if a PWM spindle is in effect .. this replaces the even/odd signal number selection.

 You can also specify a step pulse width from 0 - 5us in width.

Steve is fixing a diags bug where signals dont show up till toggled. This will probably be finxed in next mach release.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Greolt on July 20, 2014, 05:26:55 PM
Greg:

 So in version 1900 in metric it sounds smooth? Is that the upshot?
That's an important thing to know I think, it would tel me that something in your CPU
is being dragged down by M4 in terms of having enough time to properly function.


Sorry, my poor explanation.

Metric weirdness seems fixed but smoothness is not discernibly different.

Greolt
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 20, 2014, 05:32:30 PM
Ahhh.. OK, good to know.

 Im not sure why the smoothness issues occur, wether its computer related or some setting. My system
is silky smooth, but then Im using servo's, they tend to be forgiving.. On the other hand my lathe is stepper and
seems to run quite smooth as well, which agian makes me think its some setting or the cpu.

  The registers now available will allow you to try 5us step width ( which is really about 7us in size..), that
may help... Let me know if it does anything for the quality of your motion.. Ill give some thought as
to some test I may be able to devise to help us figure out why it would be rough..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on July 21, 2014, 11:43:52 AM
Hi Art,

The addition of the changeable registers is nice and much better to select Freq. / PWM rather than the odd / even signal.
My system seems to run better with a 2uS step pulse although it is difficult to be certain – one thing for sure is that anything >2uS causes me step problems.

Just out of curiosity, in the future, will we have any commands to operate in a similar manner to the M11P1 / M10P1 ?

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 21, 2014, 11:49:14 AM
Tweakie:

 Hard to say is the M11P0/P1 capability will be repeated. Up to Brian really. I added it for engravers but its not a Gcode staple.. Id ask the M4 guys if they intend to offer a realtime on/off signal capability..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 21, 2014, 11:50:11 AM
hmm.. weird that over 2us causes trouble..Id have thought youd never notice if the pulse was too wide.. Ill have to check why that might be..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: alcwell on July 21, 2014, 06:01:18 PM
Tested tonight with Darwin 1.10 and was able to get the motors moving :) The movement appears to be good on a test run of road runner with the pulse width stretched to 3us.
This is what I found when setting up.

As someone else reported the charge pump doesn't activate when you first click enable in Mach4. It then activates when you click disable.

Charge pump frequency measured on an oscilloscope is half the value that is set.

I cannot jog from within Darwin configure. Charge pump was toggled on when testing.

Changing the setting for pulse width doesn't take affect until you restart Mach4.

Frequently when exiting Darwin configure Mach4 stops responding and the Mach4GUI task cannot be ended via task manager. Only option is shut down and restart.



I will do some more testing when I get some spare time. For now thanks go to Art for Darwin and to Brian and the team for the effort and time that has gone into Mach4.

Alastair
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Student on July 21, 2014, 06:20:14 PM
Tested Mach4 1900 with Darwin driver today.
I have configured the darwin plugin as described in the youttube video...

I was able to jog all three axes, but I wasn't able to do a homing with the homing button.
Do I have to configure anything else?


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 22, 2014, 07:23:42 AM
Hi:

  You need to map the homing in Mach4. Check the Mach4 config screens and youll find a way to map the home switches you named in Darwin to the axis in m4. All the inputs and outputs you turned on in Darwins config, you need to map inside m4's config screens...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 22, 2014, 07:28:46 AM
Hi Alistair

 
>>Tested tonight with Darwin 1.10 and was able to get the motors moving Smiley The movement appears to be good on a test run of road runner with the pulse width stretched to 3us.

  Very good, thank you.
 
>>As someone else reported the charge pump doesn't activate when you first click enable in Mach4. It then activates when you click disable.

  M4 bug, being fixed by Steve, IO isnt inited until after an enable disable toggle..

>>Charge pump frequency measured on an oscilloscope is half the value that is set.

   Probably my fault, I think its toggling at the set frequency which does make it 1/2 the right rate. Differently from
M3 the charge pump I think is a wide pulse, Ill check and correct.. thc for that test and report..

>>I cannot jog from within Darwin configure. Charge pump was toggled on when testing.

  On the ports screen there is a RESET button, press it if the led above it is red, otherwise no motion can be done.

>>Changing the setting for pulse width doesn't take affect until you restart Mach4.

  True, part of driver design. Ill have a message put out in near future to tell a user that fact.. agains, thx, I missed that one.

>>Frequently when exiting Darwin configure Mach4 stops responding and the Mach4GUI task cannot be ended via task manager. Only option is shut down and restart.

   Ive heard of this one, but I only use wxMach so far, this appears to be a Gui error of some sort..will iron out in future.

>>I will do some more testing when I get some spare time. For now thanks go to Art for Darwin and to Brian and the team for the effort and time that has gone into Mach4.

Thx for the testing, I know its a drudge bvut it does help get things right.

Art

 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on July 22, 2014, 05:15:46 PM
Art I have been playing with Darwin a bit more, every new release you do seams to make it more stable on my win xp computer. decided to push my luck and set it at 45000 hz it ran fine I moved it back to 35000 hz and it runs very nicely.
I am haveing a couple of  problem one is with the graphics I think it is a m4 problem it comes up with vertex buffer objects not available this has also shown up on my win 7 laptop from release 1900 before that it was ok.

And I cant get the spindle to run properly I can start and stop it but it runs at full noise I have try all sorts of different configs cant seam to get it to work right its connected to a super pid what is connected to a g540 what has pin 17 on/off and pin 14 pwm.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 22, 2014, 06:09:03 PM
Hi Daniellyall:

>>Art I have been playing with Darwin a bit more, every new release you do seams to make it more stable on my win xp computer. decided to push my luck and set it at 45000 hz it ran fine I moved it back to 35000 hz and it runs very nicely.

  Good to hear. :)

>>I am haveing a couple of  problem one is with the graphics I think it is a m4 problem it comes up with vertex buffer objects not available this has also shown up on my win 7 laptop from release 1900 before that it was ok.

 Id mention it to the M4 guys, I dont use vertex object and I know they do. It may simply be a opengl issue or somethign with widgets.

>>And I cant get the spindle to run properly I can start and stop it but it runs at full noise I have try all sorts of different configs cant seam to get it to work right its connected to a super pid what is connected to a g540 what has pin 17 on/off and pin 14 pwm.

  Im no expert on either g540 or SuperPid... but form what I recall, you need to hook a 10volt source to the G540 ( pin 7 & 9?) and then feed in a 50hz PWM to the PWM input. It will then put out a voltage from 0-10volts based on pwm to control a vfd..or a superPid Im assuming.

   TO do that with Darwin youd create a signal, name it SpindleOn and just set it to be high active. Youd map that in Mach4 to SpindleForward and connect it to pin 17 for on/off. Youd then create a signal named SpinPWM in Darwin and put 50 in the frequency box, connect its output to the g540 on pin 14. . Then in M4 map that to SpindleOn. If you then command M3S500 in the mdi the pin17 should go high and the pin14 should see a (50%?) duty cycle if your m4 spindle max is 1000 for example. The G540 then will put out 5volts.. ( 50% power) on its vfd output.. again, Im no expert on any of that, its just my understanding of how it "should" work. Try it and see whats on pin14.. pwm? Does pin17 toggle? etc..

Thx for the report.

Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on July 23, 2014, 12:37:45 AM
Mach 4 build 1900
Darwin 1.10? (says 1.09/1.08 after removing and re-installing)

Completely reconfigured and everything appears to be working well.  I'll have to try configuring my spindle next and see if it behaves.

Art, one day I hope you can release the code for Darwin - after you have made you billions.  I really want to know the black magic you used to do this.  I've been a computer geek and developer for over 25 years and you PP driver still amazes me.  I could do it under Unix/Linux (I've written device drivers and kernel modules), but under Windows - never.


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 23, 2014, 07:19:58 AM
Freeman:

  lol. I once showed the source to a Windows device driver professional when he offered to help in some questions I had,
he sent back a reply saying he didnt understand what the hell I did but as long as it worked..what the hell. Its truly not that
difficult, but it is a worm virus that uses a trick. To figure it out you kinda have to squint your eyes and look at it sideways...
 Someday I will release the code to it, like most magical tricks, you might be surprised at what you end up seeing..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on July 23, 2014, 08:09:05 PM
art I did what you suggested to do it did not work, in the mean time a wire broke and when I was fixing it I checked the connections on the super pid it was not connected to pwm it was contended to the pot line, set it up to run that way and it worked.
Also Darwin does fix the M4 problem with metric what cool.
I just need to get my M codes correct as I cant change speeds, just on and off might changes to the pwm line to see if that makes a differences.
so everything with Darwin works very well on my machine just a couple of M4 problems.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 23, 2014, 08:38:08 PM
Dan:
 
   You just need an S word for speed changes... M3S500 for example...

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on July 23, 2014, 08:43:48 PM
its not working its just turning spindle on or of no matter what I put in.
I was playing with the M3 macro brook it some how so only can toggle on/off.
could I ask if I can see the M3 macro you are using please.
this is what i am useing.
Code: [Select]
function m3()
    local inst = mc.mcGetInstance();
    local sigh = mc.mcSignalGetHandle(inst, mc.OSIG_SPINDLEON);
    local sigState = mc.mcSignalGetState(sigh);

    if (sigState == 0) then
        mc.mcSpindleSetDirection(inst, 1);
        --dir =,  -1=ccw, 1=cw, 0=off   
    end

    local dummy = 1;
end
 
if (mc.mcInEditor() == 1) then
   m3();
end
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ya-Nvr-No on July 23, 2014, 08:52:16 PM
this might work better for you

    --Get the hReg handle for Spindle direction
    hReg = mc.mcSignalGetHandle(inst, mc.OSIG_SPINDLEFWD); --get the handle
    mc.mcSignalSetState(hReg, true); --set the state of the signals handle


    --Get the hReg handle for Spindle on
    hReg = mc.mcSignalGetHandle(inst, mc.OSIG_SPINDLEON);
    mc.mcSignalSetState(hReg, true);

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 23, 2014, 09:06:39 PM
I use the unmodified one you get with the installation of Mach4. But you DO need to set a frequency in the spindle signal in Darwins setup. If you dont set a frequency as the PWM base frequency, it will act only as an on/off control...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on July 23, 2014, 10:07:30 PM
thanks art/Ya-Nvr_No, will give that a crank see what happens.
Also I have not changed wiring yet.
I have SpindleFreqLo set to 0 and SpindleFreqHi set to 5000.
I will set it at 50 in darwin
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ya-Nvr-No on July 23, 2014, 10:15:38 PM
I set one pin #6 in my case to 10hz also set mux on and set mux low
then wired pin 6 and a ground wire to the spindle drive
m3s100 turned on spindle and set speed and the pulse width was spewing out pin6, nice clean signal
change speed and signal changes to suit.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 24, 2014, 07:20:36 AM
Hi Guys:

  Just to correct some things I haven't explained well.

SpindleFreqHi and Lo are only used when the PWM selection is zero. In other words those values are for
frequency spindles only, not PWM. When you use PWM the FREQ box in Darwin sets the base frequency
of the PWM and your S word creates a ratio between your SpindleLowSpeed in Mach4's settings and its mate
SpindleHiSpeed to derive the PWM output frequency.
 
   The MUX setting should always be off. MUX'ing is a way to double IO , if you have an input pin..lets call it
Input#1 on Pin 11 say.. and you select MUX, you can then create an Input#2 also on Pin 11. You set one to
MUX-LO and the other to MUX-HI. This means when the charge pump is low, Input#1 is read from pin 11,
when the charge pump is high, Input#2 is read.  This means the breakout baord must be special and must switch
two signals back and forth to pin11 when the charge pump level dictates. ( in this case).

   Muxing was used in Mach3 by some THC kits to get more inputs and outputs in a printer port. I put in the
capability just in case it was needed. Generally, leave the MUX turned off. For PWM one needs only to set a base
frequency in the Darwin FREQ box. TO use a frequency based spindle it doesnt matter if Darwin has any entry
in that box, the frequency put out will be ratioed to the min and max frequency set in the registers..

 Ill explain all this in docs for Darwin and in a final setup video when we all agree Darwin is working OK. :)

  Again, my thanks for all the testing, Im pretty pleased so far with the results. 

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: alcwell on July 24, 2014, 05:46:39 PM
Not sure if this should be posted here or in the bug thread.

I downloaded Mach4 build 1914 and found that I was unable to run a GCode file with Darwin.

No problems jogging even with the speed cranked way up. Trying to run a file resulted in missed steps and horrible sounds from the motors. It is the same affect I get if I don't use a stretched pulse width. Is it possible that the pulse width setting is being ignored when running a GCode file? Went back to build 1900 and GCode files run without any problems.

Alastair
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on July 24, 2014, 05:55:27 PM
art I found what the problem was it was the macros, I remove the M3 macro from the macro folder and the screen.
I can now type in a M3S5000 command in the mdi it will turn on at 5000 rpm but cant get it to go faster it try`s to go faster then goes back to 5000 rpm.
there is a problem in M4 that is making this to happen.
I am going to do a complete reinstall of m4 and Darwin to see if it clears up the problem.
other than that there are no other problems
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 24, 2014, 06:26:30 PM
Alastair:  --Havent tried that version as yet. Sounds like a setting. It isnt possible for m4 to change the step width, so it must be a timing issue, motor trying to go too fast or the sytem really bogging down when running a Gcode.. video maybe? We'll have to see
if thats on all systems or not to try to find that one. Ill update this week and see what a code file does here.

Daniellyall - Sounds like perhaps the max spindle speed in mach is set to 5000? Let us know if you find what ails you. :)

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on July 24, 2014, 06:31:15 PM
Max speed is set to 26000 rpm when the speed is called it goes to that speed for a second then straight to 5000 rpm.
I will do the reinstall after I put on latest m4 release to see if that fixes it.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: alcwell on July 25, 2014, 04:12:47 PM
I tried build 1914 again and the CPU is maxed at 100% when running GCode with wxMach using 99%.
With build 1900 the CPU is around 5-10%.

I guess the question needs directed the the Mach4 team !! Is it a bug in the new build or a feature that has been turned on that is causing the drastic increase in CPU usage?

Running Windows XP.
Athlon 64 3200+
Nvidia GeForce GT6600 Graphics Card.

Alastair

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 25, 2014, 05:13:20 PM
>>I tried build 1914 again and the CPU is maxed at 100% when running GCode with wxMach using 99%.
With build 1900 the CPU is around 5-10%.


Ill mention that too them... :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Greolt on July 25, 2014, 08:24:49 PM
Art

I have two computers happily running Mach3 on XP. 

Both would be considered under spec for Mach3 but have been doing a great job for some years (and continue to do so).  Very smooth reliable movement.

Both have on board graphics. (no video card)

One will run Mach4 with rough and unreliable movement.  The other will barely move an axis.

I have gone through all the things you have recommended to try. Pulse widths, kernal speeds etc.

Have come to the conclusion that the computer is too far under spec to ever run Mach4 and to chase it further is just wasting your time.

So my question is, do you think there is a chance that adding a graphics card would make any substantial difference.

I have never got as far as seeing if toolpath display is OK or not.  I will worry about that after getting smooth movement.

Thanks for all your help.

Greolt
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on July 25, 2014, 08:37:31 PM
Greg, I haven't  tried to run a machine with Mach4, but from what I've seen on my old desktop, it would appear that Mach4 needs about 4x the PC power that mach3 needed.
Check your CPU usage with Mach4 running.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Greolt on July 25, 2014, 08:48:12 PM
Ger

It is only running to about 25%

Mach4  Ver 1914

Greolt

EDIT:
That was jogging one axis.  When running a three axis file it goes up to about 40%

However one of the four graphs (cores?) goes to 100%
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 25, 2014, 08:56:54 PM
I guess, in the end, we need to figure out why motion woudl be bad. Im thinking it is indeed CPU usage..

One proof of that is in the Darwin drivers config. If you make sure the port status screen is green
and press reset if its red, then use the jog box on the motors page the motion will tell you if the problem
is one of Mach4 or if its the computer itself vs Darwin. Theres a slider to select speed of the jog.
If the jog is smooth it means Darwins having no trouble at all, so if the motion is bad, it probably means Mach4 is
being too heavy on CPU. That doesntr mean it always will be. Ive seen several iterations of M4 where it uses a lot of cpu,
and version where it doesnt. M4 I think is a great many threads, it may take awhile to balance them all to keep
cpu usage down. I havent made m4 screens yet, can one remove the toolpath display? If the motion smooths with it
gone it will tell a tale I think...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Greolt on July 25, 2014, 09:23:00 PM
OK I jogged from the darwin driver.

Movement was definitely smoother but not as good as Mach3

Then it crashed my computer. :(

It is my better half's birthday and I must now go and do what dutiful husbands must do and stop that infernal fiddling with stuff in the shed. :)

Greolt

EDIT:  I am going to assume that adding a video card is not going to miraculously transform my meagre computer into a Mach4 power house. :)
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 25, 2014, 10:11:13 PM
lol.. no. Sounds like more than a video card is in order. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 26, 2014, 08:44:04 AM
Hi Guys:

 Apparently the api has changed so Darwin will have to be recompiled when I get a new sdk. So stay with the older version of 1900
if you wish to test Darwin, Ill post when I have a 1914 level ready.. :(

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 01, 2014, 03:34:22 PM
Hi Guys:

  Latest version tested and compiled with prerelease version of m4..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on August 01, 2014, 04:25:25 PM
Art,

Just to be clear.  This version will only run with Mach 4 build 1914 and later? 


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 01, 2014, 04:33:45 PM
Freeman


  It was compiled under the 1917 version sdk. It should, hopefully, run on all future versions but of course will be updated
as things go along..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 02, 2014, 04:13:02 AM
Hi All
I have just tried to install Darwin now when I start Mach 4 I get "driver installation failed"
anybody help please.
Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 02, 2014, 08:08:12 AM
Bob:
   
  Sounds like the driver didn't install. Are you running a 32 bit OS of XP or Vista.. Win7 may work as well
but it must be 32 bit.


Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 02, 2014, 08:14:04 AM
Bob:

   If your in Vista or Win7-32 bit , you may find it helps to run DriverTest.exe by right clicking and selecting "Run as Administrator".
DriverTest.exe will then try to reload the driver if it doesnt find it..


Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 02, 2014, 09:04:24 AM
Bob:

  If your in XP , you can run "Add Hardware" form your control panel. Tell it you want to select the driver and select the
folder with the driver in it , it should find the Darwin.inf file and load the driver..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on August 02, 2014, 01:30:27 PM
Art,

I did a clean install of Mach 4 Build 1914 and Darwin2014-1-10.zip.  I now notice a new behavior that wasn't happening with the previous versions that ran with Mach 4 build 1900 and prior.  Using the same motor tuning settings, I'm now seeing an occasional "pop" in all three configured axis when I jog.  I tried re-tuning the motors, but the problem got worse if I went above or below the original calculation.  It's better at lower jogging speeds, but nearing 100% jog rate I start to see e-stops with messages saying that Darwin is too fast.

Any ideas?


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 02, 2014, 08:52:55 PM
Freeman:

   The pop's are the frequency going over the kernal speed.
Those messages are only generated by Darwin if the steps/sec times
the max velocity is greater than the kernal frequency.
  It means you need to lower the speed, or raise the kernal speed.
In the end, the maxvel in units/min must follow the formula

  maxVel / 60 * StepsPerUnit <= KernalFrequency

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 02, 2014, 09:56:14 PM
some thing that is new with the new release of Darwin and M4 you need to have the  Kernal Frequency set low or it goes mad.
before build 1900, higher Kernal Frequency worked better its not a problem its something to be aware off.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 02, 2014, 10:01:24 PM
hmm, what kind of limitation are you seeing? I use 40khz and it seems good, are you having trouble when set that high..or higher??

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 02, 2014, 10:28:49 PM
set at 40 kHz it sounds like i have sand in my ball screws.
changed it down to 15 kHz it was bad, set its to 20 kHz its smoothie as a baby's bum.
I did a complete reinstall of M4 and Darwin to see if it was something to do with older version of M4 or Darwin it was not that.
its not a problem just some thing to be aware off probable only something to with my win xp computer or win xp computers.
still can not get spindle to work with M4 only can do on or off its not that much of a problem as I can do manual speed control. will play more when I have time.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on August 03, 2014, 01:41:04 AM
Freeman:

   The pop's are the frequency going over the kernal speed.
Those messages are only generated by Darwin if the steps/sec times
the max velocity is greater than the kernal frequency.
  It means you need to lower the speed, or raise the kernal speed.
In the end, the maxvel in units/min must follow the formula

  maxVel / 60 * StepsPerUnit <= KernalFrequency

Art


I have been through the calculations multiple times.  Each time I come up with 17kHz for


    (400 steps * 25.4mm) = 10160 steps/inch               --- I have metric ballscrews

    (100 in/min / 60s) * 10160 steps/inch = 16933.33 Hz   --- this is for X & Y, Z I run at 75 in/min, which is 12700 Hz < 17000 Hz


X and Y axis run smoother now at 100% jog.  Most jogs back and forth on the X & Y axis run fine, but about every third or forth traversal of the axis the motor stalls hard with a high pitch noise.

The Z axis running with 75 in/min acceleration and 17kHz kernel speed is completely useless.  It can't more more than an half a inch before it stalls and squeals.

I noticed my Mach3 motor tuning has 5ms pulses, so I tried setting Darwin's pulse length to 5ms using the register diagnostic tool -- no change.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.  This was all running fine before the last update.  I was using 17kHz and 100in/min which is what I used under Mach 3.


-Freeman

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 03, 2014, 01:45:51 AM
Hi All
Thanks for the replies. My fault I am running Win 7 64 bit (I didn't see that it was for 32 bit only) so I guess I wont be buying Mach 4
Thanks Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 03, 2014, 07:07:13 AM
I was using 17kHz and 100in/min which is what I used under Mach 3.


-Freeman

Are you sure your Z accel is 100 in/sec/sec in Mach3. Even 75 is a very high acceleration rate for a Z axis.


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 03, 2014, 08:26:42 AM
Interesting.

   Ill run some tests. Your numbers are correct, in fact I wouldnt keep the kernal that low, Id run it at a minimum of 25000
or 35000hz, you dot have to tune the kernal to be just above your calcs, its best to have it much higher if you can. So Id leave it on at least 25Khz in your case.

  Ill run some tests and see what I see. I only use metric and havent had any trouble, but Ive heard from several that have
told me that inches dont work for them but metric does.. whichis curious as m4 and Darwin dont really use anything but steps.
The toolpath display is abotu the only thin that does.

  Ill run some speed tests and see what I see. Ill get back to you..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 03, 2014, 08:50:32 AM
Hi Guys:
   I created a inch profile and ran some speed tests, all seems well BUT I did find a glaring error on my part,
when coming out of EStop I wasnt syncing M4's position, so a "Speed too fast" could occur after an enable
operation. This version repairs that.
   I ran several loops of G12I12 and G13I12's to check circles in high speed, I ran 40Khz at 350Inches/minute
and I cannot hear any trouble. Im running servo's which can hide small aberations, so I tested quickly on my
emco lathe as well which has steppers. All seems good so Im not sure whats up. Test this version if you have had
"speed too fast" errors, this will fix that up.

  You only need to update the plugin , not the driver or dll in this update...

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: lragan on August 04, 2014, 05:00:44 PM
Just out of curiosity, will the driver install if the computer does not have a parallel port?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 04, 2014, 06:35:56 PM
Yes, its a software driver which talks to ports, it actually knows nothing of printer ports and no port driver is needed either..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 04, 2014, 09:37:36 PM
Hi Guys:

 This is current plugin with just a change to the text file to indicate it allows 4 axis on control..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 05, 2014, 04:26:54 PM
hay art the new release fix up the problem with my machine needing a very low pulse rate.
the problem I am having with the spindle its a problem with the computer and M4 nothing to do with Darwin, part of the problem exists when I don't have Darwin on the computer.
its the only problem I have everything else works well.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 05, 2014, 05:18:42 PM
Daniel:

 Thx, I know its hard to separate into whats at fault sometimes...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 05, 2014, 05:38:23 PM
yea its a conflict between the macros if i remove the m3 from the macro folder some of the problems go but it still wont change speeds just on off ill connect a pot to the super pid so I can a least cut something
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Wasteofspace on August 05, 2014, 07:49:24 PM
Hi Art

Can you tell me why you decided to reserve pins 1 and 2 on port one for the probe in Darwin?

It's just that it sort of offends my sense of the correct order of things.  ;D

I would have thought that the motors would take precedence over just about everything else and yet they are relegated to a position behind the probe (which I may or may not have). It just isn't right.  :'(

Bob Willson
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 05, 2014, 08:53:28 PM
Bob:

:)

  No pins are reserved for anything... The signal number is reserved is all. Any signal can be any pin and any port.
Turns out Mach doesnt easily report to me the probe pin, ( or didnt when it was written) so I reserved the signal number so Id know to use Signal 1 as a probe for example.. BUT that signal, same as all other can be set to any pin and any port number. Dont be fooled by the signal being reserved, its just the order of the signal thats reserved...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 06, 2014, 01:22:20 AM
Hi Art
I got an XP machine and install Mach 4 and  Darwin and things would not work the programme would not open. It says the configuration is wrong. So after reading some more on this forum I then started to install VBredist first from the Microsoft site then an older version still no joy I then saw your comment about installing Gearotic Demo which has VB 2008 and joy of joys the programme works. So after a couple of days playing about I have just bought a license. Now just to wait for a plugin for a Smoothstepper. Thanks to you for your help.
Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 06, 2014, 08:14:03 AM
Bob:

  Glad it helped, that redist issue is a complex one and depends on a users machine to a great extent, nice to
hear installing Gearotic worked.. :))

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on August 07, 2014, 11:15:57 PM
Art,

I finally got some time to look at my issues with movement with Mach 4 build 1914 and Darwin 1.10.  I made a video of the behavior so you can see what I'm seeing.  The link for the video is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAqcAZq-vPM&list=UU27_FcP3Gq_GKOvqGMof2tg


Going over the finer points... I'm able to set Darwin to any value above 17kHz as you suggested. In Darwin, once I have the port and the charge pump enabled, I can jog smoothly at full speed on X.  Y seizes at the top end of the rate (say above 80%), but runs smoothly up until then.  When I exit out of Darwin and try jogging in Mach 4 (running at 40kHz) the X and Z axis simply sputter and jerk at 28% jog rate.  The CPU in both cases shows Mach 4 bouncing around between 60% and 90%.  The problem doesn't look like it's CPU bound.  I also tried reducing my video interval in the screen set from 50ms to 40ms, with no improvement. I'm running with a very good nVidia GTX 550 TI with at least a 1Gb of RAM on it.


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on August 08, 2014, 03:37:23 AM
Hello Freeman

I have the same issue as you. It has been reported by other users that something changed between Mach 4 build 1900 and build 1914.

My CPU load is maxed at 100% while jogging with Mach 4 my servos sound like crap. I can jog inside Darwin and motors are smooth and I

have no complaints. I wish I had a chance to test with build 1900 so I could see if it Mach 4 works. I have read that this seems to be the case

on older systems. A newer computer isn't an option right now since Mach 3 runs so well on my current computer. I'll have to wait for the next

build release to see if CPU overload has been fixed. Thats whats causing the motors to not jog smoothly in Mach 4.

Dell Otiplex GX270
2.8GHz P4 CPU
4GB System RAM
ATI Radeon 9550 256MB Video Card
Win XP SP3 32bit

Eric

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on August 08, 2014, 05:10:32 AM
Hi Guys,

I agree with your findings. Although I get smooth machine motion with Mach4 v.1914 and Darwin v1.10 (using my Samsung laptop + parallel port) I would not trust it 100% as I would v.1900. There seems to be a lot more going on in the background with v.1914 and this gives me some cause for concern.
Something I did notice and mentioned in another thread, is that the A axis works OK from MDI but not from GCode.

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 08, 2014, 07:07:19 AM
HI Guys:

  I believe version 1917 fixes this for everyone, but I cant verify that as yet. Im using 1917 here with very smooth motion and CPU at nearly
zero%.

   I think youll find the next posted version of Mach4 fixes all this, my understanding was its a program thread acting up. ( I think its a display thread
but I cant verify that.). Be patient till next version of M4 put out, since mine is 1917 I suspect the next one will be at least that for you. Thanks to
Freeman for that video, it made it quite clear to me whats happening. M4 is so bogging the CPU that the trajectory filling is working in spurts and
not outputting enough data to keep ahead of the step usage by the motors. When the CPU% drops, the output should be great.

   The one thing I can tell you, is that if the motion is mooth in Darwin itself, then its very likely you will not have to upgrade hardware to make things
work. Could happen, but Im doubtfull youll have to. I suspect almost all of this is due to some code acting badly.

Thx for the testing.
Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on August 08, 2014, 03:54:31 PM
Brian posted on the Yahoo Mach 3 group site that Mach 4 1936 has been released on the machsupport web site. I installed over 1900 and it did fix the high CPU usage problem that was present with 1914. I ran a circle pocket gcode program with no spindle and CPU didn't go over 14%.


Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 08, 2014, 05:53:01 PM
Eric:

  Yes, latest version should fix up pretty much everyone I think. Also MPG capability was added, so Ill attach to those shortly.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on August 08, 2014, 09:11:08 PM
Art,

I wish I could say that Mach 4 build 1936 and Darwin 1.11 solved everything, but I'm still getting the same behavior as I videoed last night.  While everything runs fine in Darwin, I'm seeing 100% CPU usage and stuttering when jogging or do a G00 in Mach 4.  ???


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 08, 2014, 10:03:57 PM
Freeman:

 Just in case something didnt update, what are the two version numbers reporte din Darwins startup screen in config..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on August 08, 2014, 10:44:21 PM
Freeman:

 Just in case something didnt update, what are the two version numbers reporte din Darwins startup screen in config..

Art


The versions listed on the Darwin startup screen are 1.09 and 1.08.  Just to be through  I deleted and recopied the DLL and plugin before checking.  I still go the same behavior when jogging.


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 08, 2014, 10:50:36 PM
Hmm..Those are the most recent versions.... I guess we'll have to see what further reports show..
You might want to totally delete the folder to make sure no old file is corrupting things...an reinstall. Might be worth the effort..

I did misreport that you cant do step/dir spindles.. you can , Ill show in a new video how to set that up.  Im adding MPGs next..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 08, 2014, 11:04:57 PM
I'm guessing that this is something that Mach4 should deal with, but if you set your velocity too fast for the kernel speed, you get a "Darwin Buffer Error - Too Fast?"
You might want to change the error to "Velocity too high?", as it took me a while to figure out the problem.
While trying to figure out the problem, I tried to switch back to the Sim driver. While setting up motors and axis mapping, Mach4 crashed hard again. I think this is what was happening the other day.
When I tried to run Darwin test, it said another instance of Darwin was already running, and then it opened and appeared to hang. System required a hard reboot.
I doubt I'll see this again, now that I know what I'm doing (a little bit). Just giving you a little info for reference.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on August 08, 2014, 11:49:05 PM
...
You might want to totally delete the folder to make sure no old file is corrupting things...an reinstall. Might be worth the effort..

...

Art


I deleted my \Mach4Hobby and re-installed everything from scratch - no reuse of anything.  No change in behavior. :(


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 09, 2014, 06:06:47 AM
Hi Art
 I Just upgraded to Mach 4 1936 . Now I cannot get it to run with Darwin. If I go to Sim it works OK. but when I go to darwin I get "Darwin buffer erroe - too fast.
I have tried everything I can think of to sort it with no joy.
I deleted the sim from the plugin folder no joy
I changed the counts per unit, the velocity units per min no joy
if  I go back to sim then everything works
and Mach 4 is crashing all the time
Any toughts as the system was running with 1914 and darwin 1.11
Thanks
Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 09, 2014, 07:14:41 AM
Hi Art
 I Just upgraded to Mach 4 1936 . Now I cannot get it to run with Darwin. If I go to Sim it works OK. but when I go to darwin I get "Darwin buffer erroe - too fast.



What kernel speed, steps/unit, and velocity settings are you using?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 09, 2014, 07:27:12 AM
Hi Gerry
I tried 25000 and 30000 and 35000 kernal
2000 steps/unit 600 velocity

None seems to help
Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 09, 2014, 07:44:13 AM
Try lowering the velocity to 150 and see if it works.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 09, 2014, 07:49:16 AM
tried 120 still the same
bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 09, 2014, 07:51:10 AM
I got the same message when my velocity was too high for the kernel speed, but when I lowered it, it worked fine.
Hopefully Art will have an answer for you.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 09, 2014, 07:54:30 AM
set units/ to 1000 now cannot change this without mach crasing and pc needs hard reboot
bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 09, 2014, 08:20:26 AM
Hi Gerry
got it working I think.
25000 kernal 2000 unit/ 120 veloc
but only if I disable the estop in Darwin
Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 09, 2014, 08:23:50 AM
Hi Guys:

  There are two messages in Darwin you need to know..if you get this one...

"Warning::Axis %x set over max speed of %.2f Units/min"

It means your axis is tuned too fast. If you get this one..

"Darwin Buffer Error - Too fast?"

 It means Darwin sensed a motion that was way to large ofr a single time increment.
It could be due to soem offset Im unuaware of as yet, or an axis not enabled in M4, but enabled
in Darwin. (Or visa versa.). Im looking into the situation..

Art



Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 09, 2014, 08:34:13 AM
Hi Art
yep you are right if i Enable motor 3 in darwin but not in Mach I get the problem
If I over veloc a motor I get the Warning axis too fast
I am setting mach up i metric and I think the units / and the veloc/ were too fast works with 2000/unit  and 120 veloc/
When I updated to mach 4/1936 it must have changed all my settings
I am going for a pint
Thanks

Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 09, 2014, 08:38:28 AM
Bob..et al:

  It not you, I too am getting crashes in the latest version of m4. When I turned it on today I had no jog buttons.
I found the motors were mapped, but not enabled. So I enabled them, and promptly crashed.

When I rebooted ( Mach wouldnt shut down..) I restarted the program and the axis were mapped but not enabled, so
I enabled x,y, and z.. and away they went. Jogging buttons appeared and all motion seemed to work.

 Something is performing badly. Hard to say what as yet, but at least you know it isnt you or your machine, if its happening here
it can happen anywhere. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 09, 2014, 08:44:37 AM
When I just started Mach4, I get a warning:

"file \Machine.ini, line 2145: key SpindleMax was first found at line 1625"

When I click OK, I get another:

"entry "SpindleMax" appears more than once in Group "/Darwin".


I haven't touched any spindle settings since I installed last night, as I don't have a machine connected. Only 3 motors enabled in Darwin, and the three were assigned to X, Y, and Z in Mach4.

I went into Config:Mach, and saw that the motors were no longer enabled. When trying to enable them, I once again got the dreaded frozen Mach4, requiring yet another 5 minute reboot.

At this point, Mach4 crashes so frequently that it's not any fun even trying to do anything with it, as the crashes ALWAYS require a reboot. Looks like I'll wait a few more weeks and try again.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 09, 2014, 08:46:07 AM
Hi Art I noticed once  after rebooting that the jog buttons had disapeared too.
I have restarted mach many times in the last 30 minutes and the PC a few times now and all is still OK
We will just have to wait and see.
Thanks see you later
Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 09, 2014, 08:46:25 AM
Looks like your getting the same thing I am, Art. That's encouraging. But the crashes are incredibly frustrating.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 09, 2014, 08:48:52 AM
Hi Gerry  am going to try and find out how to close mach without a reboot.
But as everything is working now I dopnt want to play about with the settings .
bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 09, 2014, 09:21:28 AM
Hi Gerry  am going to try and find out how to close mach without a reboot.

I don't think you can

Quote
But as everything is working now I dopnt want to play about with the settings .

AS Art mentioned, the problem is that the next time you turn off your PC, the settings can appear to change on their own, which results in another crash. That's what happened to both Art and I today.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 09, 2014, 10:16:44 AM
Hi Guys:

  This version of Darwin may solve many of those issues, turns out one of my libraries was out of date. It could explain the
forgetfullness of the settings as well as some of the errors. MPG's are added in this version but I need to test them. Please
let me know if lockups or forgotten settings are seen with this version...

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 09, 2014, 10:34:09 AM
Hi Guys:

  Ive been running and restarting for about an hour..

 Ive had no more forgetting of settings and it hasnt locked up on me either. I think I was hosing the system due to
an unknown responce to creating multiple registers with this version. This version seems to be working quite well so far.
For CPU speed, Mach4 doesnt register in the top 15 processes while jogging. Homing has been restest and all appears well.
I will create a new video on configuration , hopefully today..
Thx
Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 09, 2014, 10:45:34 AM
Hi Art
I have deleted the old Darwin and loaded the new DLL and M4pw.
the first time I went to look at the settings of Darwin mach crashed needed a hard reboot.
since then I have restarted mach serveal time and all is OK I shall continue rebooting and restarting for the rest of the afternoon  (while watching Moto GP from Indianapolis )
and let you know what I find
Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 09, 2014, 10:48:42 AM
Hi Art
just lost all the motor enable settings in mach after a mach restart
Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 09, 2014, 10:52:01 AM
Hi Art
just resarted PC then Mach everything back to ruuning normal. I dont think this has anything to do with Darwin I think this is Mach.
Maybe Brian should get involved.
Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 09, 2014, 11:03:00 AM
Hi Art
just lost all the motor enable settings in mach after a mach restart
Bob

Same here, but they stuck the second time.

Then loaded g-code, and when I clicked Run, I got a:

Darwin Buffer Error - Motion out of bounds.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 09, 2014, 11:05:44 AM
Damn, I was hopefull that was it. Its intermittant enough that it fooled me into thinking I had it. Unfortunatly Im out
of ideas as to what I can try. This will require Brian and Steve to look at.  The only other thing I did was create a new profile to
get rid of any corruption in my old one...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 09, 2014, 11:12:37 AM

Then loaded g-code, and when I clicked Run, I got a:

Darwin Buffer Error - Motion out of bounds.

This happens in the same place every time, after the initial Z move.

After re-enabling, Cycle Start jumps ahead about 20 lines and runs through the rest of the g-code.

I don't have a machine hooked up, but motion is very erratic. On a long rapid move, the feedrate is jumping all over the place, and it's visible on the toolpath display. Happens on G1 moves as well. With a feedrate of 75ipm, I'm seeing feedrates down to 1, jumping around everywhere in between 1 and 75.

Tried jogging from Mach4, and I'm seeing the same erratic feedrates. CPU usage is in the 5-8% range.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 09, 2014, 11:17:01 AM
Hi Art
not to worry just resarted the PCand the errors have gone away .
I think there is a register that is not getting cleared properly and is causeing all sorts of problems.
If Brian wants any info I took some screen shots of my problems.
thanks
Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 09, 2014, 11:21:46 AM
Hi Gerry
I also have nothing connected to mach4 ( I dont want to risk it)
but my fedd rate on running the arctest is stable at 97-98
bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 09, 2014, 11:24:41 AM
Scratch my previous issue. Looks like Firefox was interfering with Darwin big time. Closed Firefox after posting, and motion became very smooth, and the Buffer error was gone. Perhaps having 25 tabs open in Firefox has it's disadvantages, especially in XP.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 09, 2014, 11:25:39 AM
I also fixed my previous issue with the machine.ini file by editing out the extra SpindMax entry. I guess it got messed up during one of the crashes?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 09, 2014, 12:07:01 PM
Just started Mach4 again, and motors are not enabled again.
It hasn't crashed, but I'm afraid to enable them, because I don't want to reboot right now. ;)
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 09, 2014, 12:15:59 PM
Gerry:

  I did find when it crashes from that one if I then run Darwins DriverTest.exe, MAch4 then closes with no reboot.

(If that helps. :) )

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on August 09, 2014, 12:27:16 PM
No luck with Darwin 1.11 - the stuttering while jogging or rapids in Mach4 are still there.  Homing while referencing axis moves smoothly, but that's all Darwin there.  No crashes for me.

-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 09, 2014, 12:41:35 PM
Freeman:

  Pretty strange. I find it hard to blame that on CPU Power, my machine isnt great but run at 0%..

Has to be some process or another hanging up.. hopefully it will become appararent as we go..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 09, 2014, 12:57:30 PM
New Darwin version here , only difference is the help file link to the video.

New video online at
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6SU5JVTpik

  for configuring Darwin.

Note:
  I did neglect to mention that to home you  set the motors home switch (Just under the motor enable) to the signal number of the home signal
you set up in inputs. So if Signal #4 is set to "HomeX", then you have to enter 4 in the motors "home switch" box in the motors tab.

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 09, 2014, 01:04:09 PM
No luck with Darwin 1.11 - the stuttering while jogging or rapids in Mach4 are still there.  Homing while referencing axis moves smoothly, but that's all Darwin there.  No crashes for me.

-Freeman

Do you have anything else running? I saw similar behavior with Firefox running.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 09, 2014, 01:20:03 PM
For anyone testing and finding their motor mappings and settings gone... Ive noticed if you reboot
all your settings come back..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 09, 2014, 01:38:47 PM
For anyone testing and finding their motor mappings and settings gone... Ive noticed if you reboot
all your settings come back..

Art


Not here they didn't. Enabling them gave me a crash.
When I went to run the DarwinTest, I noticed that the entire Darwin2014-1-11 folder that I had extracted into mach4Hobby was gone.
Extracted a new copy, ran DarwinTest, and got:
Another instance of Darwin is already running, followed by a crash of DarwinTest, while Mach4gui continued to chug along in the background, impervious to everything but a hard reboot. :(

Is there any chance that Darwin is messing with my DVD drive? It was working fine the other day, but when I just went to use it, it's not there. Device manager says Windows can't find it.
Removing it and rebooting, had Windows find and install it, and then proceed to tell me that it can't find it.
Time to finally move away from XP. Just need to save another $1500 for my next 7 year PC.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 09, 2014, 02:25:19 PM
Gerry:

  No, Darwin really cant screw with you, but rebooting always has a chance of it. I too noticed that runnign DriverTest won twork most of the time,
Ive been hard booting as well. Id advise leaving it till we figure out why the settings are slowly disappearing. The fact they CAN come back
means their not getting overwritten, I think instead a bug is happening.. We'll wait till monday and see what Brian thinks..
Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on August 09, 2014, 02:39:42 PM
Freeman:

  Pretty strange. I find it hard to blame that on CPU Power, my machine isnt great but run at 0%..

Has to be some process or another hanging up.. hopefully it will become appararent as we go..

Art


Chrome hangouts was running in the background.  That seemed to be the only "extra" processing that was running for me or any other user on the system.  I made a point killing everything that was extraneous, only "slight" improvement in jogging or rapids.  I seem to remember one of the first attempts early on that ran smoothly, it was on my built in video card, so I removed the GTX 550ti and the extra PCI serial port.  Still no improvement.

I tried forcing the process priority higher incrementally, there was "slight" improvement until I set the mach4gui process to "realtime".  There was no performance gain but, the GUI was ignored.  Jogging once caused the table to stutter move until it hit a limit switch was hit or I triggered one myself.  None of the GUI buttons were responded to.

Just as a data point, I'm running under Win 7 Home edition.  I tried running under Win XP SP 3 compatibility mode with no change.


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 09, 2014, 03:42:26 PM
Freeman..

  Well, Im still seeing symptoms of weirdness, so dont give up hope, yours may be just more
sensitve to whatevers wrong.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 09, 2014, 04:49:51 PM
Well, I found a workaround for the problem on my machine. Every once in a while, ( 1 out of 4-5 runs) the ini file gets loaded wrong. If you try fixing the
mapping you crash..but if you exit and then overwrite the ini with a good one, your fine again until it loads bad data again. So if you setup
Darwin, then exit, copy the machine.ini file to good.ini youll be ok as long as when you run the program and any signals are missing, you copy the good.ini  back to machine.ini . Your next run will be fine.  Probably a code order thing where Im using the file before it can be done safely or something.. hopefully fixed soon...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on August 09, 2014, 06:41:10 PM
Art, when I set Darwin back down closer to my minimum calculated speed for my desired acceleration in motor tuning, my axis start running much smoother.  With my motors, ballscrews, and desired top acceleration that minimum is *just* under 17000.  I have Darwin set to 18kHz and I have been as high as 22kHz before noticing problems.  I'm running at 18kHz at the moment to allow my Z axis to run without seizing and squealing.  This driver (v1.10) seems to be much better at handling frequencies above the minimum of 17kHz I needed in the past.  It use to be that any thing above 17kHz would cause problems.

I'm wondering if there is some relationship between the usable frequency range that you tune your motors for and how fast you can marshal requests to the driver.  Not knowing the internals of Darwin or Mach 4, and only going on the hints you have giving on the forum, in emails, and in videos - it got me thinking if Mach is having a problem feeding Darwin fast enough to to keep it from starving, or if you have a classic bug with the queue boundary tracking being overwritten.

Just some random thoughts from someone who doesn't know better.


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 09, 2014, 07:32:54 PM
Freeman:

>> is having a problem feeding Darwin fast enough to to keep it from starving, or

  The problem IS that M4 isnt calling Darwin to fill it up often enough if the CPU load is too high. Its identical to problems seen in early Mach2.
Now normally Mach4 shouldnt take any more than a few % of a CPU usage, so it has no trouble calling the Plugin often enough to keep
the waypoint buffer full. But your right, in your case there isnt enough time, which is why you run into trouble. If you step at 18khz, that means m4 must fill 18000 positions per second or it starts to strutter. That shouldnt be a challenge right up to 75000 or so per second on a system that isnt bogged down.

   So if your CPU is above 20% or so I can see where your frequency would cause a limitation. Yours seems pretty accute. I dont know whats slowing it so much.. maybe your cpu runs hot and is throttled or something in the video chain is very slow.. just about impossible to tell at this point.

Your right on the symptom, but the cause is as yet unknown..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 09, 2014, 09:19:55 PM
art i have found out what is causing the spindle to not run properly its not getting a variable pwm signal what ever I set the pwm to that's all it gets. I tested it with M3 there is nothing wrong with the superpid or G540 it all works with M3.
so what's causing this problem god only knows.
also when running the roadrunner g code file the machine is run at 90 - 100% when not doing anything its between 0- 15%.
post version 1900 this does not happen
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on August 10, 2014, 05:36:59 AM
Hi Art,

I don’t know if you get the time to follow all the topics but thought you may be interested in my findings here:- http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,27782.msg195672.html#msg195672
Now that I have started looking in more detail at the samples I have made I also notice that a following S**** command also takes effect a few milliseconds before the preceding line of Gcode has completed.

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 10, 2014, 06:38:23 AM
Tweaky:

   Thank you for pointing me to that, I wasnt aware. ( Ill be honest, I dont follow all
the m4 threads, Im a busy enough person I follow only what I need to.. I appreciate it
when Im pointed to a pertinant thread.. thx)

   I tend to agree with you, I dont think scripted codes will ever be enough for lasers,
Im convinced there is only one way a laser should be operated and thats with commands tied to
a step pulse. Darwin is prepared to trip commands via waypoint, which is a guarenteed trip
within 16 steps of any specified point. the command can include modifiers to move that to a
particular step..).  Im facinated that you get 10ms early on an MCode.. thats pretty early..

Daniel:

    The pwn should vary.. but its output must be mapped to the "Spindle On" signal
in M4, and your spindle range must be set properly. At that point it should follow the
S word commands. ... For next iteration Ill add a message output to show what Darwin is
thinking on an Sword interpretation. It may help in tracking down such things.

Art


  Hopefully we can find why the intermittant errors we're getting now occur, get it all working
and do some focus on things like laser triggering.. I cant speak for other hardware..but Im pretty sure
I can make Darwin trigger such things with absolute timing..

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 10, 2014, 07:22:44 AM
its all set and connected properly same as in m3 I have tried a lot of different settings it just wont change speed I can make it change speed by changing the pwm value I set, everything is set according to the g540 / superpid manual. if its set wrong it comes up with pot instead of pwm so you know straight away if its set wrong
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 10, 2014, 08:34:06 AM
Daniell:

   If the PWM changes when you set a new value, then its probably the setup. I screwed up in the video. You need to set the
frequency in the box to the PWM base frequency you want. So set that number to whatever the base frequency in M3 was set to.
You get only the number of steps equal to the kernal freq / base. SO , if you set 5000 in that box, and your kernal is set to 40000, youll
get 8 steps of PWM. Here an example setup and result.

 In M4, you have spindle min set to 0rpm and Spindle max set to 25000rpm in the spindle setup.
 In Darwins Spindle output you have entered 4000 as the base pwm. The kernal freq is set to 40,000hz
 You command an S5000.

   The system will put out a base pwm of 4Khz since thats what youve entered in Darwins Spindle signals frequency.
   The system will ratio 5000 into 0-25000 and come up with a power of 20%.
   It will then see you have a base of 4Khz, and set its duty cycle to 20%.
   Since your kernal is 40000, abnd the base is 4000, you have 10 levels of pwm.
   the 10 levels availble are then S4000 , S8000, S12000,S16000 etc..

   So in this example, you would need to use those S words for those power levels.
   Any S word in between would give you the same pwm as the closest lower multiple of 4000.

  So make sure the base frequency is what youve entered in the box.. not
some arbitrary output frequency.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 10, 2014, 08:55:02 AM
Hi All:

  I "think" I found the problem with the settings being forgotten. It seems an MPG call when made can, but not always, cause
the ini file to get corrupted. Please let me know if you have the same forgetting of settings in this version. You need only
update the m4pw file, only the plugin changes in this one...

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 10, 2014, 09:26:33 AM
Sorry guys..

 It fooled me again. It just erased my motor settings again after 10 runs..

 I guess theres no way I can track this down myself. We'll just have to wait
for Brian or Steve to take a look at it.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 10, 2014, 10:44:56 AM
Art, some observations that I hope are useful to you:

When clearing the E stop, it is necessary to clear, set, then clear again before motion will be available.  This is true in both Darwin and M4.
Pin mapping in the port setup appears to have some errors.  On my system, port 2 input pins 5, 6, and 7 are also tied to pins 15, 13, and 12 respectively.  When ever input pin 5 goes low, so does the indicator for pin 15, and so on.  In addition, my input pin 11 does not toggle with the actual input (probe).  All of these problems do not occur when running M3 on the same system.

Question.  I read recently that homing does not move off the home switch like My M3 does.  Will this option be coming in the future or is there a work around?

Thanks
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 10, 2014, 11:18:27 AM
Quote
Question.  I read recently that homing does not move off the home switch like My M3 does.  Will this option be coming in the future or is there a work around?

I believe there are some posts here that cover that. I think you just edit the homing scripts to make them do whatever you want.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 10, 2014, 11:55:35 AM
Hi:

>>When clearing the E stop, it is necessary to clear, set, then clear again before motion will be available. 

  Hmm. First report of this, doesnt happen on my system. I can move immediately after enable is pressed.

>> This is true in both Darwin and M4.

  You mean in the config? Ill try to reproduce. But I cant image as yet why..

>>Pin mapping in the port setup appears to have some errors.  On my system, port 2 input pins 5, 6, and 7 are also tied to pins 15, 13, and 12 respectively. 

Ouch..Thx. Ill check that out, I havent used a port 2 as yet, I have only one. I may have screwed up a mask. Preciate the report.

>>In addition, my input pin 11 does not toggle with the actual input (probe). 

This is also on Port2?

Thx
ARt
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 10, 2014, 12:05:08 PM
forgot to answer on homing.

 Yes, the design spec called for the user to either use modified homing scripts or buttons to ellicit
behaviour other than "stop on switch".

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 10, 2014, 12:08:31 PM
>>Pin mapping in the port setup appears to have some errors.  On my system, port 2 input pins 5, 6, and 7 are also tied to pins 15, 13, and 12 respectively. 

I cant seem to repeat that one. I dont have two ports, so I turned on a second port and pointed it to my only printer port.
Both ports show up with identical inputs, pins 5,6 & 7 are showing different than 15,13, and 12..

 Can you change port 2 to the port 1 address and see if those pins still mimic each other?

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 10, 2014, 12:48:57 PM
Art,

I disabled port 2 and changed the port 1 address to the second port address and set pins 2-9 to inputs.  Now I can't clear the e stop and pin 17 which is my charge pump in port one is still flashing although I don't have anything assigned to pin 17 on port 2.  Pins 2 through 7 don't change when I move the axes (they are shaft encoder inputs) but pins 15, 13, and 12 still do with the same axes.  So. yes the mimicking still happens although the desired input pins don't change, perhaps because of the charge pump.  If I clear the set pins 2-9 to inputs option, I can clear e stop but, of course, I can't drive the pins with the encoders

Yes the probe is also on port 2 pin 11.

Where do I find or create a modified homing script or am I too far ahead?

Hows you coffee allowance holding up?   ;D
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 10, 2014, 12:58:30 PM
Very weird. I cant see a way for that to work... do your versions properly show 1.09 and 1.08 on the darwin waterfall screen?

  Your ahead on scripting, I imagine screens will appear with that done in the buttons.. not something Ill deal with myself.
What happens if you disable port 1, does port 2 change any way?

Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 10, 2014, 01:07:53 PM
Yes, those are the version numbers showing.

No change to the operation of port 2 if I disable port 1 as compared to my original post.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 10, 2014, 02:24:54 PM
Peter:

 Guess we'll have to wait for more testers to see if thats a common occurance. Ive gone over all the input
sections and and the processors, and cant find anything that would do that, all the port data is quite
separate in space.
   Ill keep an eye out for any info that looks similar..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 10, 2014, 02:57:21 PM
Art:

Thanks for looking.  I'll have to hope that a later version will fix this for me or that I will find something I've done.  If it weren't for the fact that the same hardware works in M3, I'd start tearing into the hardware.

One other thing I noticed, if I click on the "set motion device" tab in M4 configure, M4 freezes and the only way out is a system reboot.  Don't know if that helps or not.  My life experience tells me that multiple problems usually have a common source but since everything here is so new, that may not hold.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 10, 2014, 03:42:02 PM
Peter:

 Yes, thats what i worry about, Ive reports of crashing all over with this version, so its best not to tear too deeply
till at least that problem is fixed, anythings possible when that type of thing is happening...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 10, 2014, 08:46:42 PM
found the problem with spindle the speed sensor has to be in the correct position for it to work did not check this before as don't have this problem with M3 speed changing is still a problem
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on August 11, 2014, 03:21:42 AM
Quote
  Im facinated that you get 10ms early on an MCode.. thats pretty early..

Just a heads up - after more tests and  assuming the wx.MicroSleep timing is accurate the Mcode is taking effect some 50mS before the completion of the preceding line of Gcode (5 x the figure I had first thought).  :)

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 11, 2014, 03:38:02 AM
art I have set everything the way you suggested the only speeds I can do is 5000rpm if the pwm is set to 50, or 29000 if its set to 10 and different speeds in-between if I change the PWM rate.
I typed in to the mdi M3S5000 all the way to M3S26000 with out a speed change.
I have changed all the settings around to different settings too I was blue in the faces with out anything working properly.
and I have to have the pulse rate set to 19000 so the balls don't turn into sand LOL.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 11, 2014, 07:26:05 AM
Danielle:

  What base frequency do you have set in Mach3 and in Darwin?
Whats the min spindle speed and max spindle speed set in Mach4?
  hmm, maybe you should post your machine.ini file here so I can take
a look to see if I see anything obvious.. PWM changes here fine, Tweaky
has been able to use it as well, so Im pretty sure the code works ok..Unless
whatever bug is crashing us is affecting things...


  Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 11, 2014, 09:25:48 AM
Art,

One more piece of input on the port 2 problem I've been having.  I have a probe connected to port 2 pin 11 and a spindle sensor connected to port 2 pin 9.  As I mentioned, I get no response from the probe while looking at the port setup in Darwin.  However, pin 9 does toggle with the index input and pin 11 toggles in the reverse.  So pins 9 and 11 are somehow connected but are inverted.

Just passing it along as I know that sometimes the least likely clue turns up the answer.

Thanks

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 11, 2014, 03:13:36 PM
Its set to 50, min spindle is 5000 max is 26000 its a rebuild emco pc mill 30 with a g540 and super pid.
it works really well in M3.
it could be my computer causing this problem I am going to do a reinstall M4 1936 as some of the other problems I was having have disapeard it will be something simple.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 11, 2014, 03:49:15 PM
Hi:

 I tested with your numbers and found a bug, next version should drive your 50hz pwm just fine,
a bug was clipping it at only a few speeds... you should notice a big change next version.

  Steve is trying to find a race condition causing the axis to disable..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 11, 2014, 04:51:42 PM
cool thanks art new it was something simple.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: alcwell on August 11, 2014, 05:56:08 PM
I was able to do a quick test of Mach4 1936 with Darwin 1.12 and all appears to be working well again.

GCode files are running without any issues with CPU mostly staying below 30%. I haven't noticed any issues with settings disappearing but I only had a short time to try it out. I will try to get some time to give it a better test later in the week.

Alastair
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 13, 2014, 10:50:46 AM
HI All;

  New darwin version is here. You need only update the plugin and the dll. The driver shouldn't need replacing.
This should fix any settings loss.

Note:  If you use a freq spindle, or frequency output, reconfig it in Darwin, the numbers have changed to properly
   reflect actual period frequencies as oppsed to toggle frequencies. So in a charge pump entering 12500 will now
properly give you 12.5Khz. If you use a PWM spindle..say at 50hz, you need to enter 25 in the box. PWM, due to the
way the timer works needs to be set to 50% of the actual base frequency used. This is also noted on the entry screen.

  MPG's are temorarily turned off for this release.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 13, 2014, 11:01:06 AM
By the way ...

 On this version I have confirmed by scope the PWM at 50hz from power 0 - 100% , the frequency outputs for spindleor general output as accruate to the
entered setting. Other then the oddity that you have to enter 1/2 base required into the pwm freq, all seems well.
  Ive been foole don the meory loss before , so please let me know if you lose your motors again, Ive run over 25 times with no loss so it looks
good.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 13, 2014, 02:40:20 PM
Hi Art:

Should the new Darwin 12a show up as a different version in the water fall display page? (old one 1.09 1.08) ?

Sage

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 13, 2014, 02:50:07 PM
Sage:

 You should see 1.1 and 1.08. The 1.1 comes from replacing the darwin.dll in the Mach4 folder, and the 1.08 is the driver itself..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 13, 2014, 02:54:16 PM
Sage:

  I double checked to be sure, and the dll is out of date slightly. the only change is some text on the outputs tab to warn
a user to use 1/2f for PWM base setting. Other than that function should be the same. Ill post new one here but updating
probably isnt necessary till next time..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 13, 2014, 03:24:00 PM
Tweaky:

  Slowly getting the laser built. :)

http://plus.google.com/u/0/+ArthurFenerty/posts/FhMxe9dgwMx?pid=6047131578158603650&oid=118339423221700707274

Dunno if that link works or not.. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 13, 2014, 03:35:04 PM
link works,it looks very fast I will test new release of Darwin in a couple of hour's. I still have problem with macros I have to delete M3, M4, M5 before i can get the spindle to run from code or MDI.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 13, 2014, 03:44:52 PM
Thats very strange. I dont have to delete anything, but I do need to set a S word.. Defaults to zero..

Your using PWM right?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on August 13, 2014, 05:59:14 PM
Hey Art any ideas why on the Darwin configuration I can't type the letter "B"?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 13, 2014, 06:00:23 PM
yes pwm if I type M3S5000 or what ever into mdi it does not work same goes for if its in a gcode no workey.
but button screen works.
I have removed macros i can use mdi and gcode to turn spindle on and screen button but no speed change its still just on or off.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 13, 2014, 06:14:15 PM
Dan:

   Ahh, Ive been using the button. Ill check M3's and see why it wont work..

 -

Letter B wont type? --- Ill check it out..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 13, 2014, 06:17:40 PM
Patton:

 Just tested on mine, I can enter B's on pretty much any spot that should accept a B... what box were you unable to enter it into?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 13, 2014, 06:19:59 PM
everything is connected and set how you said to do it. I always do a restart when I make changes. M4 Darwin might just not like the superpid
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 13, 2014, 06:22:57 PM
Hi Dan:

  The M3 , M4 and M5 macros I have seem to be turned off. SO they intercept the M3 and wont perform it. I too have to delete them
otherwise my M3 doesnt work. SO Id just delete them till you need a custom way for m3 to perform.

 Other than that, you shoudl be fine, the 50hz PWM is pretty exact. You enter 25 in the spindle outputs freq box in Darwin,
then set the PWM register in M4 to 1 . It should work fine then..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on August 13, 2014, 06:35:05 PM
Ok I had tried to configure a hotkey in Mach4 ...took that out and it works fine. Thanks
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 13, 2014, 06:39:44 PM
done all of that still no speed change
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 13, 2014, 08:11:37 PM
Lets try this.. Use the menu item Operator/Logging and turn n the log , then execute an M3S2500 and look to the log
generatoed. HEres what I get  as the spindle turns on.. you must delete all the macros for this to work..

2014-08-13 21:09:13.187 - API: mcCntlMdiExecute() called. (m3)
2014-08-13 21:09:13.296 - Attempt transition from "Idle" on event "MDI Start" Controller.cpp:1371
2014-08-13 21:09:13.296 - S_IDLE_on_exit
2014-08-13 21:09:13.296 - MACH_STATE_start_mdi
2014-08-13 21:09:13.296 - S_MDI_RUNNING_on_entry
2014-08-13 21:09:13.296 - S_MDI_RUNNING2_on_entry
2014-08-13 21:09:13.296 - Signal id 1114, (Gcode Running), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2014-08-13 21:09:13.312 - Signal id 1142, (Spindle Fwd), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2014-08-13 21:09:13.312 - Signal id 1141, (Spindle On), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2014-08-13 21:09:13.312 - Waiting 1.000000 seconds for spindle at speed... Spindle.cpp:328
2014-08-13 21:09:14.312 - Done. Spindle.cpp:331
2014-08-13 21:09:14.421 - Attempt transition from "MDI Running" on event "Stop" GcodeExec.cpp:724
2014-08-13 21:09:14.421 - S_MDI_RUNNING2_on_exit
2014-08-13 21:09:14.421 - Signal id 1114, (Gcode Running), changed from HIGH to LOW.
2014-08-13 21:09:14.421 - S_MDI_RUNNING_on_exit
2014-08-13 21:09:14.421 - MACH_STATE_stop
2014-08-13 21:09:14.421 - S_IDLE_on_entry

  What do you get thats different?

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 13, 2014, 09:26:45 PM
This is what i am getting

M3 only

2014-08-14 12:19:07.250 - API: mcCntlMdiExecute() called. (m3)
2014-08-14 12:19:07.359 - Attempt transition from "Idle" on event "MDI Start" Controller.cpp:1371
2014-08-14 12:19:07.359 - S_IDLE_on_exit
2014-08-14 12:19:07.359 - MACH_STATE_start_mdi
2014-08-14 12:19:07.359 - S_MDI_RUNNING_on_entry
2014-08-14 12:19:07.359 - S_MDI_RUNNING2_on_entry
2014-08-14 12:19:07.359 - Signal id 1114, (Gcode Running), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2014-08-14 12:19:07.484 - Attempt transition from "MDI Running" on event "Stop" GcodeExec.cpp:724
2014-08-14 12:19:07.484 - S_MDI_RUNNING2_on_exit
2014-08-14 12:19:07.484 - Signal id 1114, (Gcode Running), changed from HIGH to LOW.
2014-08-14 12:19:07.484 - S_MDI_RUNNING_on_exit
2014-08-14 12:19:07.484 - MACH_STATE_stop
2014-08-14 12:19:07.484 - S_IDLE_on_entry

with M3 S5000

2014-08-14 12:21:30.453 - API: mcCntlMdiExecute() called. (m3s5000)
2014-08-14 12:21:30.562 - Attempt transition from "Idle" on event "MDI Start" Controller.cpp:1371
2014-08-14 12:21:30.562 - S_IDLE_on_exit
2014-08-14 12:21:30.562 - MACH_STATE_start_mdi
2014-08-14 12:21:30.562 - S_MDI_RUNNING_on_entry
2014-08-14 12:21:30.562 - S_MDI_RUNNING2_on_entry
2014-08-14 12:21:30.562 - Signal id 1114, (Gcode Running), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2014-08-14 12:21:30.578 - Signal id 1142, (Spindle Fwd), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2014-08-14 12:21:30.578 - Signal id 1141, (Spindle On), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2014-08-14 12:21:30.578 - Waiting 1.000000 seconds for spindle at speed... Spindle.cpp:328
2014-08-14 12:21:31.578 - Done. Spindle.cpp:331
2014-08-14 12:21:31.687 - Attempt transition from "MDI Running" on event "Stop" GcodeExec.cpp:724
2014-08-14 12:21:31.687 - S_MDI_RUNNING2_on_exit
2014-08-14 12:21:31.687 - Signal id 1114, (Gcode Running), changed from HIGH to LOW.
2014-08-14 12:21:31.687 - S_MDI_RUNNING_on_exit
2014-08-14 12:21:31.687 - MACH_STATE_stop
2014-08-14 12:21:31.687 - S_IDLE_on_entry
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on August 14, 2014, 01:58:13 AM
Excellent work with the laser Art - that really looks the business  ;)

I am expecting to see pictures of "great works of art" to follow  ;D

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 14, 2014, 02:48:35 AM
Hi Art
sorry to say I installed the latest  (1.12.a.1) and I still loose my settings . got to go to work now but will try a few things tonight and let you know
Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 14, 2014, 06:57:24 AM
Damn.. anyone else lose settings? So far mine are solid.

I will reversion on the next update to ensure upgrades take effect ..

Dan:

   Looks to me as if your calls are reaching the plugin, I will now add diags to the spindle calls
so we can figure out why yours is not changing pwm.. or show it is and its the superPID expecting
some other signal frequency..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 14, 2014, 07:14:43 AM
Dan:

  Here is a new version of the plugin ( you need only to update the plugin, it is version 1.14.)

Now, when you command the spindle, the bottom line of the program will show the signal
being found, the speed set and % of PWM set. Hit the history button to see all messages.

 Can you tell what it says if you command a 50% RPM of the spindle? As I recall you use a PWM of
50 hz. So the result will tell me if thats running well. If the superPID doesnt work after that, Id
recommend you use the "Signal Negated" signal selection. PWM can be a positive or Negative
signal, it may just be you need it negated.. ( mine is..)
 
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 14, 2014, 09:13:53 AM
Hi Art:
Things are fast and furious here for you so I'll just summarize my findings on 12a version. I didn't see the 14 version until just now. I'll try soon but I'm not using a spindle.

1. Losing settings seems to be fixed for me now. I restarted several times and it was ok. I'm sure I would have lost settings before.
2. The Y offset setting I put into home/offsets in M4 does not seem to be acted on. I have to enter 6.4" because my table ref's at the far end. Yesterday the DRO would pick up the 6.4 value after a ref and put it on the DRO but today with 12a it remains at 0.0

3. My ref Y (or the LED next to the Y DRO) is always green. No settings seem to change it. The port status leds in Darwin follow the switch status fine and in the diagnostic screen the switch led follows the switch on/off ok. Settings for X axis logic are the same. X Ref led acts normally. It's just the Y that's stuck green. Homing, REF and Ref all work fine.

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 14, 2014, 10:19:16 AM
Sage:

   Interesting., Ive reported abug as well that after homing I cannot jog until I cycle Enable.

This happened to me only once, then acted normally and it turned out that turning off my nonexistant
Z axis which was set to "homeinplace" fixed the error. I turned it back on and the error was gone.

 I think this is an M4 error.. as I dont control the Ref'ed LED's.... Im checking with the guys but something is a bit hinky with homing..

thx for the report, Ill let you know what I find.

Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 14, 2014, 12:27:46 PM
Hi All:

  Well, heres the next version of Darwin, again only the plugin has changed on this one. It deals with homing and Estopped limits.

When homing youll now get debug messages on the status bar, press history to see them all in order. You may, if you wish , check the ETrip box for a
home switch. Darwin will turn it on and off as required and warn you. Your offsets should be properly calculated even if you home when on a switch
which is now ignored ,,,but your warned.

 Let me know if this fixes anythign for you Sage..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 14, 2014, 12:55:01 PM
Hi Art:

[edit: I guess you were posting the new version while I was typing. I'll take a look. In the mean time maybe this will shed some light]

I had similar issues with Ref and homing wherein I had to cycle the enable / disable to get it to respond to jogging after doing a Ref.
It turned out to be a conundrum (if that's the right word) between what Darwin wants and what Brian said concerning "never using active low" for Mach signals. I was trying (without success) to satisfy both. It goes like this.
 My home switches issue an active low (ground) signal. This is what is required by my PMDX132 BOB in order to make it's (physical) leds light so that's the way I want to keep it so I can look at the BOB and troubleshoot problems. It's happy to pass any level along but I want the leds to light on switch activation (low).
These home signals are buffered and go straight to the parallel port so Low is active.
Darwin requires it's led (icons) to be lit when the signal is active so I need to configure the port pin in Darwin to be reversed for that to happen. Darwin is then happy. Icon lights when switch is low.
But when I get into Mach, it's expecting a High as active and lights it's LED's (icons) for a high signal. So for Mach to recognize my active low signal I have to apply the "active low" check box in Mach to make the reversal.
For reasons unknown Brain stated that you should not use the active low checkbox in M4 but there is no other way to satisfy both Darwin and M4 without it.
 With all the crashing and confusion I may have missed something but it's all working now (inverted in Darwin and M4).
Before I applied the "active low" in M4  I assume M4 never saw the home switch and even though Darwin moved the axis and stopped on home, M4 was merrily waiting for a switch activation (to high) and required an enable / disable to get it out of that loop every time I homed or Ref'd.

Anyway, everything works now. The only confusion now is the icons in the M4 diagnostics page show off (not lit) when the home switches are activated. This makes sense though as apparently high = lit and I have low signals. I can live with it.

On another topic:
Do you know if the issue with M1 not being recognized has been looked at?
and I assume the next version of M4 will correct the issue with the enable / disable having to be toggled a couple of times to get the charge pump to come on (and stay on).

Thanks for you efforts

Sage

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 14, 2014, 06:28:36 PM
>>Anyway, everything works now. The only confusion now is the icons in the M4 diagnostics page show off (not lit) when the home switches are activated. This makes sense though as apparently high = lit and I have low signals. I can live with it.

  Ill check why that is..doesnt make sense to me to not be able to change the active level....

>>Do you know if the issue with M1 not being recognized has been looked at?
and I assume the next version of M4 will correct the issue with the enable / disable having to be toggled a couple of times to get the charge pump to come on (and stay on).

  No clue. Thats a M4 issue they havent got to yet I suppose. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 14, 2014, 07:44:01 PM
Hi Art:

I checked out Darwin V145 with M4 1936 and it seems to work as good as V14 as far as stability etc. I think.

Not sure if these are new observations or if they went un-noticed before.

When I start up I noticed that on M4 diagnostics screen the Home switch status is in-correct. I have to trigger the home switches (manually) once to get the led icons to indicate the correct polarity. (according to my previous post) The Table was not on the switch so the level is high so the icon should be showing lit but they aren't. If I trigger the switch and let it go the icon comes on (as it should be) and it's fine from then on. (until I restart the machine again)

I'm confused by the Ref X,Y,Z Leds (icons).
With V145 the Ref Y icon is no longer stuck green like it was before.
When I press a Ref button the icon goes red and when the Ref is done it goes green. It stays green then even if I jog off the home switch. So I'm not sure what the icon is supposed to indicate since technically it's no longer Ref'd if I move off the switch. I goes red again if I ref again and back to green when done.

I still can't get the value entered in M4 homing and offsets for the Y axis to transfer to the DRO when the ref is done. This used to work back in (I think) Darwin 1.1 but I've done so much messing with home settings I might have screwed it up. Problem is everything to do with homing works physically and logically so I'm not sure what settings could be changed to make that work again.

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 14, 2014, 08:47:00 PM
Hi Sage:

>>When I start up I noticed that on M4 diagnostics screen the Home switch status is in-correct. I have to trigger the home switches (manually) once to get >>the led icons to indicate the correct polarity. (according to my previous post) The Table was not on the switch so the level is high so the icon should be >>showing lit but they aren't. If I trigger the switch and let it go the icon comes on (as it should be) and it's fine from then on. (until I restart the machine >>again)

   Known Bug: Reported to the M4 team awhile back, its on their list.

>>I'm confused by the Ref X,Y,Z Leds (icons).
>>With V145 the Ref Y icon is no longer stuck green like it was before.
>>When I press a Ref button the icon goes red and when the Ref is done it goes green. It stays green then even if I jog off the home switch. So I'm not >>sure what the icon is supposed to indicate since technically it's no longer Ref'd if I move off the switch. I goes red again if I ref again and back to green >>when done.

    This is proper. The Green means the system is properly referenced. When you turn on the system it doesn't know its position is accurate or not, once homed the position is KNOWN to be accurate, so its green from then on. When you press Ref again, its no longer a valid known good position, until it verifies it by hitting the home switch.

>>I still can't get the value entered in M4 homing and offsets for the Y axis to transfer to the DRO when the ref is done. This used to work back in (I think) Darwin 1.1 but I've done so much messing with home settings I might have screwed it up. Problem is everything to do with homing works physically and logically so I'm not sure what settings could be changed to make that work again.

  It shouldn't set the position coordinates other than to set the offset in the machine coordinates.

Consider homing this way. You turn on the system and a number appears in the DRO's. You dont KNOW its valid, perhaps the table moved while power was off. So the REF led is red to notify you of that. SO you ref. and in your settings you have told it the home switch offset is 20mm.
The axis ( lets just consider one for now..), moves to the home switch and hits it. What happens next is the REF led is turned green to notify you the Machine coordinates will now be accurate coordinates showing at all times the distance from the home switch. BUT, you've entered in the config
that your home offset is 20mm.
  While darwin was homing the machine, it took note that the switch was hit at a particular spot, it also notes how long it takes to decelerate to a stop.
 It then sets the Machine coordinates ( not your current work coordinates) to a value equal to your offset( 20mm in this case ) + the decel distance.
 
 SO what would that be if the deceleration took 2mm to stop..for example as on my system. The Machine coordinates will now read -22 mm. Its unknown what  your current work coordinates will read. Its also unimportant. The idea is that you will have a button in which the code "G53X0Y0" will be in.
 
 SO you home, the machine coordinates now read -22mm. You now press that button which you'd label "Goto Home", which really tells the system to
 go to a machine coordinate of 0,0,0 ( which is home..).
  
 Your work coordinates now read any weird number..who knows. BUT..if you now zero your axis, your work coordinates now agree with your machine
 coords and all is at zero. Everyones happy.
  
  Why all this you say? Lets say your cutting a job.. but it looks as if you have lost a few steps. You pause the run. You press RefAll,
  the above process happens. You dont however press any zeroing buttons, the above process will simply correct for any lost position, you can
  now continue your run with the axis now accurate with any lost steps removed. Its best to have a REF system which simply makes sure that
  your machine coordinates are accurate with referance to an actual origin. So the home offset is simply the distance from your home switches
  to that origin. SO when you home repeatedly, nothing will seem to change.. unless you zero after homing, or tell the system to "G53X0Y0Z0" and
  then home. Typically it isn't important for the current position to match the work coordinates, but it IS important for the machine coordinates
  to be accurate indicators of distance to the home switch. It allows softlimits and such to be accurate.
  
  This is why, unlike Mach3, there is no moving of the axis off the switches automatically. While that's sometimes handy, its handier to
  have a ref system that doesn't disturb your current zeroing in a job..unless steps were lost in which case ref'ing fixes it on the fly.
  
  
  Sorry for the verbosity.. :)
    
  Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 14, 2014, 09:08:14 PM
   
  Why all this you say? Lets say your cutting a job.. but it looks as if you have lost a few steps. You pause the run. You press RefAll,
  the above process happens. You dont however press any zeroing buttons, the above process will simply correct for any lost position, you can
  now continue your run with the axis now accurate with any lost steps removed. Its best to have a REF system which simply makes sure that
  your machine coordinates are accurate with referance to an actual origin. So the home offset is simply the distance from your home switches
  to that origin. SO when you home repeatedly, nothing will seem to change.. unless you zero after homing, or tell the system to "G53X0Y0Z0" and
  then home. Typically it isn't important for the current position to match the work coordinates, but it IS important for the machine coordinates
  to be accurate indicators of distance to the home switch. It allows softlimits and such to be accurate.
 
  This is why, unlike Mach3, there is no moving of the axis off the switches automatically. While that's sometimes handy, its handier to
  have a ref system that doesn't disturb your current zeroing in a job..unless steps were lost in which case ref'ing fixes it on the fly.
 

Actually, I'd prefer a bit more verbosity. ;)

Can you clarify how Mach3 can disturb your current zero? Homing is homing, isn't it? And re-homing at any time should just restore your home position, and not affect the offsets? Or is Darwin's homing more accurate because it factors in the decel?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 14, 2014, 09:48:08 PM
Gerry:

   The only way its more accurate is that is doesnt move off the switches. Mach3 moved off, but it didnt accelerate, it just
moved off at full set homing speed. This means a few steps "could" have gotten lost by the "auto move to zero" process. It
didnt accelerate because it was the driver doing it, and it wasnt smart enough to know how to properly accelerate, though it
tried. Repeatability should be higher in M4.. for some thats no change, for others its an increase in accuracy.

 Mach4 CAN move off zero, it will just take a script button to do so. Im assuming here that due to M4's design mechanics, buttons
for such things will appear quite quickly in several options so anyone can kinda take their pick of how they want "their" home to behave,
thus eliminating the ever ongoing discussion of "I think it should be this way...not YOUR way dickhead..". M4 was designed to be all
things to all people, so Darwin is designed to allow for whatever type of end behaviour you wish, it doesnt force any particular behaviour
beyond what I find necessary. The Scripting and threading in M4 should allow for some very interesting screens..and custom canned cycles
of motion.

Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 14, 2014, 09:51:08 PM
I should add that Darwin will probably not do threading. While Mach4 turning will work with Darwin generally, threading I may decide not to implement. If it cant do it pretty much perfectly, Id rather Darwin not try. I may change that view..but currently that's my line of thought. I did leave myself hooks for encoder based threading, Ill wait to see if there really a need in future.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 14, 2014, 10:39:37 PM
To provide an additional view on homing, my system homes until the switch closes, then reverses and travels until the switch opens, then continues until the encoder index signal occurs.  Since the encoder is 2000 counts per rev and the index pulse is one count wide, this provides for a very accurate home.  Simple mechanical switches are not that repeatable.  However, this will call for a script in M4.  No big deal, just a little exercise in programming.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 14, 2014, 11:12:51 PM
Wow:

Great information Art. I'll have to read that over a few times to understand it fully. So much thought put into homing. I guess I should use homing more. I usually just zero the axis' (DRO's) over a point on the stock that I've designated in my CAM program to be zero and work from there.
Once I understand your explanation better I should probably take advantage of homing properly. I'm not sure my home switches are too accurate or repeatable to any great degree being that they are just micro switches so I may never be able to use the feature properly.
 So are you saying that M4 has purposely been made different than M3? Because right now if I home M3 the main Y DRO goes to 6.4" because that's what I've set (I believe) in the offset.
Why do I have it this way you ask - I try to pull the table to the front for easy access which is a Y+ direction. i.e the quill is over the top left corner of the table at X0 Y6.4. Doesn't have to be that way but that's how I have it. Is that something I should change? It would only mean moving the Y home switch to the back instead of the front on the machine.


Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on August 15, 2014, 12:30:43 AM
Hi Art

Finally made some head way with the latest Darwin 1.145 plugin. I was able to home without any problem and move off of the limits without having to push reset. Tried working on the step/direction spindle. Darwin reg isn't remembering any changes to the settings in the reg file editor. I need to set the spindlefreqhi to 800 for so my spindle will be close to desired rpm and stepwidth has to be set 5 per the C6 speed board instructions. When I exit M4 and restart the spindlefreqhi goes to 5000 and the stepwidth goes back to 0. I did this several times and had the same result. Tried the estop setting for home switch in limits that still isn't working right. When machine tries to home M4 goes to estop when home switch is tripped. That one must be M4. If you can fix the forgetfull regfile settings bug I think Darwin will be there.

Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 15, 2014, 12:51:00 AM
Hi art still no luck with spindle speed change.
Its getting the pwm signal just not doing anything with it above 5000 rpm.
when it turns on the superpid receives a .5v signal what is the same as M3 for 5000 rpm.
in M3 the superpid gets around .5v per 5000 rpm, so 5000rpm .5v, 10000 rpm 1v, 15000 1.5v there about.
M4 is just not putting out anything above .5v what is only 5000 rpm.
So ever M4 does not like the superpid or something is wrong with M4
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: redpiperbob on August 15, 2014, 02:29:03 AM
Hi Art
so I could not get the m4 to keep its settings so I swopped computers and did a complete new install. And guess what everything is working beautiful.


Mach 4 V1936
Darwin 1.14.5

Thanks for all your help and hard work
Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 15, 2014, 02:50:31 AM
I found when that happens I remove anything to do with M4 and Darwin, so I was doing a clean install and it came right.
I think it might just be a problem with some computers.
as the computer on my machine never really has any problems with M3 and M4 other than when I cleaned it up and removed a program M4 needed put it back on those problems went away.
the computer on my dad machine is a piece of poo it can just run M3 after its started twice and it cant run M4 at all its a newer a fast computer than mine.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 15, 2014, 07:10:46 AM
Wow.. lots of responce today. :)

Sage:  Yes, when making Darwin I had talks with Brian about simplifying the homing as a base operation, an then allowing scripts to prsonalise
the process. It just makes better sense. As to if you should change..no..not if your happy with it, I use my systems as I see fit, no reason you
shouldnt. I might mention on some system I home regularly just in case somethign screws up, on others I just zero and cut. There is no wrong way, there is simply "my way". :)

  Hands:   Ill look into the forgotten settings. I fixed memory loss by oving those setting change saving to the shutdown process, so it may be your
system isnt shutting down properly, I'll check that out..

Dan:

    In the end , from what I read, you need 50Hz being fed to the Gecko which then feeds your PID. I think you need to select "Negate Signal" on your spindle signal. Other than that it shoudl work. BUT.. I added some messages ot find out whats up. Try an M3S2500 and then hit the history button on the
bottom of the screen. Whats listed? It shouidl show each step of Darwins journey to set up a pwm 50hz at a proper percentage. Th results may show us
where your problem lies.

Thx everyone, Great work..

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 15, 2014, 07:27:09 AM
Hi All:

   Darwin 1.15 is here. It fixes the reg's not being saved. It also seems to fix the inputs not showing up till you toggle them.
Note: Until M4 fixes that bug that creates that situation I have told darwin to toggle all inputs for 1 second on startup, this causes
the signals to show up properly.

  Unfortunately I cant fix the charge pump, youll still need to toggle the enable a couple times sometimes to get it to work. Ill bump that
report to the guys. Thanks again for all the testing, I think we're just about there in terms of having a working system.. Ill be hooking
up my laser and further developing an engraving system for myself, so over the next months Ill undoubtedly see places to make
improvements. Report any errors you see and Ill see what I can do.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: stirling on August 15, 2014, 08:35:01 AM
Mach3 moved off, but it didnt accelerate, it just moved off at full set homing speed. This means a few steps "could" have gotten lost by the "auto move to zero" process. It didnt accelerate because it was the driver doing it, and it wasnt smart enough to know how to properly accelerate, though it tried.

Art

That "though it tried" has me intrigued.

I've always been of the understanding that Mach3 hits the switch decelerates to a stop, (reverses direction), accelerates, comes off the switch and then decelerates to a stop and calls that home.

I just scoped it here and sure enough that's certainly what it looks like - clear accel/decel ramps.

I then compared these homing ramp pulse timings to those used for jogging and they're pretty darn close - fractions of ms different.

Certainly here - "though it tried" translates to "and it darn well succeeds too".  ;D

Ian
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cfell on August 15, 2014, 03:46:06 PM
Hi,
I am having Darwin installation problems. I downloaded Darwin 2014-1-14 last night (have been running Mach4 without a driver) and attempted to install it.  I am running Windows 7, SP1, 64 Bit.  Darwin Test would not install, reported “an error has occurred, admin rights?, contact support.  I am running as Admin, the only user.  I copied files as the instructions suggested and turned the plug-in on.  Now when Mach 4 loads I get the Darwin error message and when I attempt to configure the plug-in the screen is red.  Can you suggest what I should do next?
Thank you
Charlie
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 15, 2014, 03:55:28 PM
Charlie:

  Sorry, there is nothing you can do. 64-bit systems cannot run Darwin. Microsoft encrypted access 
to the parts of the OS Darwin uses in 64 bit systems..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 15, 2014, 04:15:25 PM
Hi Art:

My report on V1.15 posted this morning seems to have vaporized. I think my session timed out and I didn't notice.  I guess that's what happens when I'm so long winded. :-\

To summarize, it looks like you've killed all the bugs.
The leds showing the wrong states, homing, crashing, and whatever else you've tackled over the last few days are all fixed here and it seems to be doing everything properly.
Great Work !!  ;D ;) :)

I presume the issue with CPU loading has been corrected with M4 V1936??
I haven't had a problem even with the earlier versions and my system runs at about zero % as far as I can see. I ran the roadrunner Gcode at warp speed and still only had the odd quick spike up to maybe 15%.

So what were the conditions that folks were seeing high CPU load??

Seems like a lot of folks are asking what the minimum machine requirement is for M4.

Perhaps the developers should come up with a standard test condition.
1. Gcode file for all to execute with dimensions that fit on a small machine so all can execute it.
2. A standardized tool path display setting.
3. A reasonable machine movement speed that everyone can achieve (even if it's slow or a little fast for some folks)

etc. so that folks can evaluate different machines and report back what they are using and their loading. This way a set of features that are good/bad or indifferent for machine hardware can be determined.

Sage

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on August 15, 2014, 04:28:14 PM
Hello all.... does the combination limit/home switches work for Darwin and if so do I set a separate input signal for each one?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 15, 2014, 05:01:06 PM
Patton:

  You can set a spearate one, OR just check the box labeled "ETrip" on the home switch signal in Darwin. The switch will then be both a limit
and a home. It will turn off as a limit during homing, or when you reset after hitting it trips an Estop, and it will reengage when you jog off it.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 15, 2014, 05:05:11 PM
Sage:

 Thx, great to hear its well.. :)

  As to speed troubles or minimum system requirements, I suspect only Darwin would be critical to time, most external motion
devices take waypoints at 1ms per waypoint , so time isnt critical. Darwin takes it at (1/f)*16 seconds or 400us per waypoint at 40khz. This
makes it more critical to refill. I think the guys slayed the dragon though and speed for most should no longer be an issue.

  It does look like its ready for prime time, now only long term cutting tests will tell the tale. Im optimistic. :)

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: peu on August 15, 2014, 05:54:59 PM
I should add that Darwin will probably not do threading. While Mach4 turning will work with Darwin generally, threading I may decide not to implement. If it cant do it pretty much perfectly, Id rather Darwin not try. I may change that view..but currently that's my line of thought. I did leave myself hooks for encoder based threading, Ill wait to see if there really a need in future.

Art


Im Im mixing definitions of threading or you mean we wont be able to make a thread on a lathe using darwin+m4? not even with single pulse as it was with M3?


Pablo
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 15, 2014, 07:12:55 PM
Art I have found the problem with the spindle control on my machine G540 super pid.

but first on my machine I need to do a clean install of Darwin for every new release, that made communication between M4 and Darwin work properly.

what I have found is that if I have a call for 5000 rpm it will do that, but if I have a call for more than that it will run at 28000 rpm.

Tested with road runner changed the spindle speed in G code to 100 it ran at 5400 rpm, then changed speed in the g code to 200 it ran at 6600 rpm there is the answer.

what ever is making the pwm needing to be set to half also is making the speed calls to be in the 00 not 0000.
so it all working properly sort of now well it is I just need to remember to change the speed calls.

Thanks for all your help art.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 15, 2014, 08:04:10 PM
Pablo:
 
    The old single pulse threading is not something Id want to add to Darwin. This means IF I add threading it would be by encoder only. Im not
opposed to adding it, but Id want to know the  numbers warrant it. Since Darwin takes a license , once M4 is fully released we'll know fairly quickly
how many are running the PP, and through threads such as this it wont be hard to tell how many want threading. If numbers are large enough, Ill
add a threading to the driver. Otherwise , it will be spec'd as having no threading capability.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 15, 2014, 08:07:24 PM
Dan:

  You just need to chenge the spindle min and max in the M4 settings. The PWM is ratio'd form those two settings. So..

Set M4's spindle max to 1000, set Spindle min speed to 0.

Command a M3S100 and record the actual speed as Speed1, then command M3S1000 and record this as Speed2.

Then enter into M4 Speed1 as the min speed and Speed2 as the high speed.

This should make it work very close to accurate..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 15, 2014, 08:11:09 PM
will do thanks art I will post this info to the superpid blocks so everyone will no how to set it
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: peu on August 16, 2014, 08:55:07 AM
Pablo:
 
    The old single pulse threading is not something Id want to add to Darwin. This means IF I add threading it would be by encoder only. Im not
opposed to adding it, but Id want to know the  numbers warrant it. Since Darwin takes a license , once M4 is fully released we'll know fairly quickly
how many are running the PP, and through threads such as this it wont be hard to tell how many want threading. If numbers are large enough, Ill
add a threading to the driver. Otherwise , it will be spec'd as having no threading capability.

Thx
Art


Well... put a +1 on the want threading column :)


Pablo
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 16, 2014, 09:35:58 AM
I will. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: peu on August 16, 2014, 11:47:57 AM
Do you mind If I post about this poll in the yahoo group?


Pablo
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 16, 2014, 12:03:08 PM
Pablo:

  Not at all. As I said, Im happy to commit to adding it if indeed there are enough users that would use encoder
threading from the printer port.  Its not a matter of not wanting to do it or anything, its just a time management issue,
I'm fairly busy on at least three fronts and I dont like to shortchange anyone.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 16, 2014, 12:04:01 PM
Pablo:

  I might add I even have an emco lathe that sites behind me on my workbench...Id only have to add an encoder
instead of that single pulse..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on August 16, 2014, 12:24:06 PM
 " You can set a spearate one, OR just check the box labeled "ETrip" on the home switch signal in Darwin. The switch will then be both a limit
and a home. It will turn off as a limit during homing, or when you reset after hitting it trips an Estop, and it will reengage when you jog off it."



Hello Art, you can mark me down for wanting threading too.... got my home and limits working perfectly.... I was trying to make that way more complicated than it needed to be.... Thanks!!
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 16, 2014, 12:43:14 PM
Patton:

  Theres one more trick you CAN do.. map the home switch as X-- limit as well.. If you do that, youll find after homing that you cannot jog past the switch in the x-- direction, but you can jog away from it..

 Just in case it helps..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 16, 2014, 05:06:34 PM
Hi art got the spindle working good its a little bit out on the slow side but that's ok.
what I had to do was set the speeds at 0.000-98000, 98000-180000, 180000-220000.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on August 16, 2014, 10:20:23 PM
Hi Art

Darwin 1.145 fixed the Darwin regs forgetfulness bug. I shutdown and restarted M4 several times and settings stay the same. I changed spindfreqhi to 800 for my step/dir spindle and it stayed rock solid thru all the shutdowns and startups. Thank you

Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 16, 2014, 11:24:33 PM
Eric:

In case you missed it - check out reply #318. Art issued 1.15
It works good too.

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 17, 2014, 08:50:13 AM
Hi Art:

You will remember I mentioned that my Y-axis homes in the full Y+ position so I set the Y offset setting  in Mach to 6.4"
and I commented that 6.4  never shows up in the DRO in Mach4 after Ref All Home  like it used to in Mach 3. In M4 the DRO just stops at whatever count happens to be on it when it stops.


Last night and this morning I notice the 6.4" is now showing up in both the machine co-ordinates display and the other DRO (sorry I forgot the name of the standard DRO).

I have to admit that it's not exactly 6.4" it has some error (actually 6.4063 or something like that).
Any idea what changed? I haven't touched any settings in the last few days.

I believe you said the rest of the homing procedure (final positioning and DRO display etc.) was going to be up to a user program. Has something changed?

Sage

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 17, 2014, 09:22:16 AM
Sage:

  No. It all simply depends on where you were zeroed before homing. The DRO that gets changes is the G53 machine coordinates. If your current work cooridnates are the same as the machine coordinates, then it will look as if both are being set to your offset. But if their different, the numbers on the DRO
in work coords will not change, provided they were correct to start with. Play around with zeroing in variou sspots and them homing and it will become
apparent as to whats going on. Darwin only sets the machine coordinates after a homing, and it only sets them to the actual distance to "home" which
you describe with your offset as being a set distance form the home switch activation.

Art   
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 17, 2014, 09:45:52 AM
Hi Art:

I'm going to have to investigate this more. This morning when I started up the table was only about halfway along in it's Y travel so I'm going to say about 3" from the switch. I didn't notice what the DRO's defaulted to when they came up (I would resume 0.0 but maybe not). First thing I did was a Ref All home. So I assume the Y would have moved only 3" to the switch. So the one DRO would only read 3".
 It would be a BIG coincidence if the starting position of the table in Y plus the value that defaulted on the Y DRO's added up exactly to 6.4xx to be exactly the same as the machine co-ordinates display.

I'm sure I'm wrong on all this because you know how it all works. I'm going to have to try it a few times and take some notes.
Maybe I was looking a the machine co-ordinates display and I wasn't toggling it properly to the other display. (so assumed they were the same).

Thanks.

Sage

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 17, 2014, 10:19:51 AM
Hi Art:

See previous post as well.

I tried this all again. Here's the findings.

In case I'm confused with the DRO's names. Work co-ordinates is the "normal" display and Machine co-ordinates are the ones you have to press the button (till the led is lit) to see the display.

With M4 still running from my previous session. I homed the machine so Y was sitting on the Y home switch.
I zeroed the Work DRO and  jogged Y to 2.5" off the switch so I now I know how far it has to go back to the switch.
I shut down M4, waited and restarted it. The Work Y display got loaded on start up with 6.4065 on startup. The machine co-ordinates display was 0.0 on startup.

I zeroed the Work Y DRO so now both machine co-ordinates and work co-ordinates DRO displays are 0.0. I still know the table is 2.5" from the switch.
I pressed the Ref All Home button. The work co-ordinates Y display counted to -2.5 and when it got there it immediately  changed to 6.4065.
The machine co-ordinates display was now also 6.4065

Other than it's 6.4065 rather than 6.4000, I like it this way because it's displaying pretty close to where the table actually is. Like it did in Mach3.

So what am I seeing / doing / interpreting wrong?
Perhaps nothing as Darwin is acting as you programmed it and Mach4 is putting the offset on the Work DRO as it was asked to do.
My confusion comes because it wasn't doing this (or I didn't notice it) a couple of days ago.


Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 17, 2014, 12:29:17 PM
 Sage:
   
      This is a question of understanding machine and work coordinates.
      Your work coordinate displays the distance from the last zeroed position. So in your case you zeroed
      the Y work coordinate when the machine coord was 0.
      So the work coordinate and machien coord read 0 together. No now you home, when the switch was hit
      the Machine coordinate got set to your offset, in this case 6.4065 , the extra being the distance the
      axis took to declerate after hitting the switch. That machine coordinate reading at that point then
      is the distance from where your currently at..to what your machine considers "Home" for the Y axis.
     
      Now the Work coordinates instantly changed as well, because its job is to report how far it is
      from the last zeroed position. The last time you zeroed you were equal to the machine coordinates.
      So when the machien coordinates changed, your work coordinate display had to as well. Your work
      coordinates now have to display the distance to the machine coordinate of 0, which you zeroed it to,
      so it now displays 6.065 as well. Had you zeroed at a machine coordinate of 10, your work cordinate
      would have changed to 16.065 .. 
     
      Consider this as an important feature for checking accuracy.. Lets say you zeroed in the middle
      of your table for a job. Half way through you suspect you lost steps. So you hit pause. It stops at
      a reading of 2.345 on the Y. You note the position and hit ref all. If the system homes and the machine
      coordinates are accurate ( you havent lost steps), you will not see any change in the work coordinate DRO's
      when the switches are hit. This is beacuse the machien coordinates didnt change, they were and stayed
      accurate. BUT, lets say you hit soemthign in the job, and you Y is .5" off. SO when the switch gets
      hit the machien coordinate zero and changes by .5, ( the distance it lost since last home). As it changes by
      .5, so too muct your work coorindate in order to repair the lost units. SO now you command it to
      go back to 2.345 where you pasued and youll notice your now .5" away from where you paused. You have
      repaired the lost steps. The rest of the job will now be accurate. Homing is good not only for starting a job
      over bu t for verifying that you have lost steps, just home and see if the DRO changes, if it doesnt you
      were accurate, if it does, you were off, but no longer are.
             
      I dont know why the guys dont have it startup with the last known coordinates, it can probably be
      configured to do that, but thats out of the scope of the printer port itself, more a question of
      how mach4 works.. and Im woefully inadequate to that task. I havent used Mach4 other than to code up
      a plugin for it. I will be designing my laser engraver aorund M4 so over time Ill know more about
      its care and maintenace.. and probably figure out where to set startuyp behaviour. :) , but the best
      best for any machine with home switches , is to do a refall immediately after every startup..and
      whenever you think perhaps youve lost steps..
     
      Art
     
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 17, 2014, 01:27:56 PM
Art:

Thanks for the explanation. It makes sense now. If this is the way it has always been then I've apparently been missing a pretty useful feature. I'll have to test the repeatability of my switches to see if they are accurate enough to use them the way you describe they are supposed to be used. Right now, when I think the machine has gotten out of calibration I go back to my 0,0 point on the work but then I have to change to an edge finder or center finder to see how far off I am. Being able to use the switches and 'test' my position without disturbing anything and have it correct itself would be really handy.
I guess I've learned something. I try to do that every day.

Sorry to make you explain all that twice. But I think I get it now.

Thanks

Sage

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 17, 2014, 02:03:03 PM
No problem. . took me a few times. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 17, 2014, 09:45:34 PM
Hi Art,

I know my problem with the duplicated inputs will probably not get much attention until someone else sees the same problem or the more pressing ones get solved.  I understand.
I have been updating M4 and Darwin as new versions become available in the hopes that the problems will go away even though they are not specifically mentioned in the changes.  However, I still have port 2 inputs 6, 7, and 8 being replicated on inputs 12, 13, and 15.  In addition, input 9 is replicated in inverted fashion on input 11 and the actual input on 11 is not recognized.  I have also noticed that the DRO for encoders 1 and 2 seem to count up and down as expected, while the DRO for encoder 0 only alternates between 0 and 1 as the inputs are triggered.

Is anyone else using port 2 for inputs?  Encoders perhaps?  A probe?

Regards

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 17, 2014, 09:50:47 PM
Peter:

 Actually, Ill try to figure this one out again now. If you switch port 1 and port2's port addresses, does Port1 then show the same thing? ( or do you know).

 It may be any port with 2-8 as input ends up mirroring into the upper bits. Ill try it tomorrow and see. Hopefully I can repeat it..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 17, 2014, 10:17:08 PM
Let me check this as well. I only have the one PP but I have a couple of relays on the BOB connected directly to output pins on the PP. Supposed to be for Aux control. One of them toggles with the charge pump activation. I'll have to check all the programming but so far I haven't seen anything programmed specifically to activate either of those pins. So they could be mirroring something else. I've just been ignoring them because I don't use them.

 I'll let you know.

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 17, 2014, 10:32:45 PM
Thanks guys.

I switched ports 1 and 2.  FYI port 1 was 378 and 2 was dcc8.  Switched all the signals as well and checked.
Everything is the same, ie.  what happened on port 2 before now happens on port 1 except the encoder DRO for encoder #0 now works as expected, it counts up and down like the other two axes.

I'd be glad to try any experiments you prescribe.

Regards

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 18, 2014, 08:01:29 AM
Peter:

   This is probably good news to find the bug then.. All ports should act the same, they all use the same code, they just loop through it 4 times
with a pointer to different port structures. Ive turned on pin2-9 as inputs on mine, and I can toggle the pins all day without seeing them mirror
on the upper pins. Im still a bit lost in finding this one, but Im still running tests. Peter, if the port#2 is unplugged from your computer, do the
ports2 pins still look mirrored in condition? I know you cant toggle them, but do they show a mirror of the pins as they just sit there unplugged?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 18, 2014, 09:11:02 AM
Peter:

 In between me and my machine, I have a PMDX-112 ( one of the best diags :), it has 15 toggle switches for setting the states of pins.
Ive tested it thorougly today and all inputs seem to be exactly as they should with no mirroring...but... I did have a bit of trouble. Turns out I had motor 3 enabled and set to my port1 inputs. SO I was getting very strange results. The lesson was to make sure NO inputs or outputs or motors are tuned on and set to the pins 2-9
when their used as inputs unless they should be pointed there. Its easy when playing with darwins setup to turn on an output or motor and have it screw
up the data your looking at..

 Just a thought..
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 18, 2014, 11:07:44 AM
Art,

With the system in the 'swapped' condition from last night (ports 1 and 2 switched), and the second port (dcc8) input to the computer unplugged, the port pins display shows all inputs false (red) except for pin 11, my probe, which shows true (green).

In addition, I have been noticing that the port selection for setting pins 2-9 as inputs was cleared.  I thought I had been seeing this before but wasn't certain.  It has happened with the 'second' port (dcc9) set as either port 1 or 2.  I'm pretty sure of this this morning.

I know what you mean by bad pin settings screwing up the results.  I've seen this so I'm being as careful as I can to be sure it's set right.

Regards

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 18, 2014, 12:43:34 PM
Hi Art:
Continue on the troubleshooting with Peter and consider this report anytime. But I have noticed an oddity here as well so I'll point it out in case it helps you with Peter's problem.
I only have one PP.
My Port 1 pin 14 activates a relay (High) whenever I enable M4 with the Disable/enable button.
I went through all the output settings and although I have the pin designated in Darwin to drive an auxiliary relay it is not enabled (it's un-checked) and yet it activates as described.
 The only way I found to stop it is to actually enable it and negate it. Then it does not toggle anymore with the Disable/enable button in M4.
If pin 14 is enabled then I can toggle the relay with the negate or toggle buttons in Darwin.
When the port monitor screen is open I can see that when I toggle it, the pin goes green when the relay is on. (BOB requires High to activate the relay).
If I go back to the original pin 14 disabled condition, as mentioned above, it turns on (high) when I enable M4 but if I go look in the port monitor the pin is red (which is ok) but it does not change when the relay turns on and off.
I also have Pin 1 configured the same way (i.e configured but not enabled) but it does not mis-behave remaining off at all times.
I ran Mach 3 and pin 14 behaves fine.
I don't see any other configurations set in Darwin or M4 either inputs or outputs or motors that are pointed at Port 1 Pin 14.

Sage



Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: mrich0908 on August 18, 2014, 01:48:53 PM
Hi Art ,
Just read your email thanks for pointing me to this thread.
Any ways I just downloaded the latest version of Darwin . Im excited to start testing . Im getting ready to bring M4 out in my garage and try er out.
I have a question though and this may seem stupid , or ignorant .
I was reading or seen on your yourtube page you said Darwin doesnt know its looking for a printer port when setting up the port address. I started to think.
Why cant we or cant you make it so that we can use a regular USB to DB25 connector you know the ones you see for a few bucks.  If it would work I would assume it could run my BOB faster and allow us lab top users a quick cheap connection.
I understand there are plenty other pricier options like smooth stepper but since you guys were building a new system thought I would speak up ..
Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 18, 2014, 02:30:01 PM
>>Why cant we or cant you make it so that we can use a regular USB to DB25 connector you know the ones you see for a few bucks.  If it would work I would assume it could run my BOB faster and allow us lab top users a quick cheap connection.

  Its not possible, those arent real printer ports, you cant control them with time being a constant, their a serial device so very slow...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 18, 2014, 02:35:09 PM
Sage:

   The code in the driver wont allow M4 or Darwin to toggle any pin unless its enabled. BUT, you have to restart M4 after config of Darwin to ensure all changes are done, it CAN lead to confusion.

  Now if your system IS toggling a pin when you enable/disable darwin and you think it shouldnt because no pins are enabled, do me a
favour and send me a copy of the machine.ini in your profile folder. It shows whats truly enabled or not..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 18, 2014, 02:44:36 PM
Peter:

 >>In addition, I have been noticing that the port selection for setting pins 2-9 as inputs was cleared.  I thought I had been seeing this before but wasn't certain.  It has happened with the 'second' port (dcc9) set a

  Are you saying port 1 is 0xdcc8 and port 2 is oxdcc9?

  That shouldn't be possible.. or at least is very unusual... are you sure those are the address's?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 18, 2014, 02:57:10 PM
Art,

Nope, unfortunate typo.  Port 1 was set to 378, port 2 to dcc8.  Last night I tried switching them to each other and redoing all of the signal definitions to match.  That's when I reported no difference except for the encoder #0 DRO operation.  This morning I put things back to the way they were.  Encoder #0 DRO working okay (go figure).  Everything else the same as it was.

Sorry for the confusion.  A really bad time for that typo.

The cleared check box for (now) port 2 inputs happened again.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 18, 2014, 03:31:11 PM
Peter:

  Thx , Ill check that checkbox....

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 18, 2014, 03:57:28 PM
Peter:

   I think the checkbox was it. The system wasnt reconfiguring after selecting that, and the system requires a bit to be changed in the
control word of the port..

  This version should fix it.. with any luck. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on August 18, 2014, 04:22:36 PM
I have pin 14 on both of my BOB that shows 5v when the display in Darwin is red and when I toggle it to green it gos to 0v... is that backwards or am I confused? the negate check box is unchecked
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 18, 2014, 05:12:45 PM
As far as Darwin is concerned Low (0v) is active. High (5v) is inactive.
But Mach4 is the reverse logic. And that IS confusing. Had me going for a couple of days trying to find a solution of reverse logic that worked for my home switches.

Even more confusing when the LED on my BOB comes on with a high (5v) from the port.
So Port high = BOB led on = Darwin ledicon off = Mach4 Ledicon ON.
Odd man out Art :-)

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 18, 2014, 05:39:36 PM
Art:

Attached is my machine.ini file. I had to rename it to .txt to get it to upload.
You can read my previous description of the issue and see what I'm missing.
At first I might assume some sort of hardware short of pin14 to something else but as mentioned pin14 does not mis-behave with Mach3.

Thanks Mr. Guru

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on August 18, 2014, 05:51:02 PM
Ok originally in mach3 I had pins 9 and 14 as spindle forward and reverse and could not make that work for mach4 and Darwin now I moved it to pins 8 and 9 and it works great. and then pin 1 is the 0-10v analog signal for the vfd which also works great... I just need to get everything set so the speed will be right.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 18, 2014, 07:27:04 PM
Hmm.

  I suspect a lot of this is because Im used to dealing with raw data. Some pins on the printer port are inverted by the hardware.
When a program sets pin 11 to active = 1, the pin on the actual cable goes low. Several pins are auto-negated that way. Mach3
the program reversed that as I recall, but to a driver data ia data, so it never reversed it.
   My feeling at the time was that one just checks "Negate signal" to make it whatever polarity you wish when its active. Now M4
having a setting for low active does confuse that issue I must admit. :).

  Pin 1, 11, 14 and 17 read reverse to logic, that is when set active a 1 is sent to the hardware, which inverts it and sets the pin
low. Checking Negate on each of these pins should make them work as youd expect.. To Darwins design,  the only important
toggle was if the pin was active..or inactive. The "negate" checkbox was to make the Active state give the appropriate output.

   It sounds however, as if I may have screwed up in the plugin by not taking M4's ActiveLow setting into account. Ill take a
look and rationlise the two systems.. In the meantime, check or uncheck "Negate" on your signals on those pins ( or any pin)
to get the level you need for an active signal.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 18, 2014, 07:32:14 PM
Art,

Eagerly installed 1.160.  It shows as 1.160 in the plug in list.  When open, the upper right hand corner numbers are: 1.11 and 1.08.

Of course, the duplicated pin problem still remains as before.  However, now there's a new twist.  When I go to port 2 (set back to dcc8), it shows as input (pins 2-9) but pins 2-7, the encoder inputs, do not change with moving the axes.  To get them to work again, I have to deselect the input box then reselect it.  Then the encoders work as before.

Maybe not quite a step back, just a little sideways?   ;D

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 18, 2014, 07:47:23 PM
Peter:

  My apologies,,.. Im losing it. I added structures and routines to fix the problem, and missed a switch to actually turn it on
in the release. This one is repaired.

Note:  As to the previous discussion on signal levels. Use the Negate in Darwin to select the appropriate level for a signal, but NEVER
use the low active setting in M4, always leave that turned off. The reason is that M4 tells Darwin to set a signal to 1 or 0, but it doesnt
tell me if thats "active" or "inactive", so it can confuse Darwin, specially on things liek PWM. So as a rule.. never check "Low Active" on
any M4 signal. Only use "Negate" in Darwin to reverse a signal and things should look much more normal to you..

  From this version replace both your dll and your plugin. No version numbers change on this one..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 18, 2014, 08:12:31 PM
Art,

Okay.  the latest version works as far as retaining the input selection on port 2.  Thank you.

However, I'm still getting the problem of replicating of some inputs on other pins.  This is not a matter of selecting a negate box.  The signals shown on pins 11, 12, and 15 are replicas of the actual inputs on pins 6, 7, and 8 respectively.  The signal showing up on pin 11 is a replication of the actual input on pin 9 but is inverted.  The actual input on pin 11 appears to have no effect.  Selecting a negate box would not help here.  I did try, but with no effect.

As to losing it, if you ever find it, please look around for mine.   :)

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 18, 2014, 09:01:52 PM
Peter:

  Im still trying to figure out how that can be and keep coming up with it being impossible. Im sure
soemthing will tickle me eventually as to how that could happen.. I just cant repeat it, If I turn off all inputs and
ouputs for port 1, I can tickle every pin and watch its responce with no mirroring.. 

Hopefully soon somethign will show itself..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 18, 2014, 09:25:09 PM
Hi Art:

Re: never using the "active low" in M4 do you mean for outputs or inputs?
If you mean for inputs then if you go back to post 304 I explained why I Have to use it in M4 order to get my homing to work. There is no way around it. I require a double negative action to keep my hardware, Darwin and M4 satisfied.

See also I posted my machine.ini back a few posts to do with my port 1 pin 14 oddity. No rush on that one unless you think it's another example of port mirroring, because I don't see where anything is supposed to be toggling it. It's not even enabled.

Maybe I'm losing it.  :P

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 18, 2014, 09:28:14 PM
Sage:

  No, I mean on Outputs only. Just leave activelow unchecked in mach4 for all output signals.

Im taking a look at your ini file now..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 18, 2014, 09:35:17 PM
Sage:

 Thx, I did find the issue. If you had a signal disabled in Darwin, but mapped in M4, Darwin would toggle it anyway assuming
there was an error in config. Ive stopped that behaviour for future versions as its confusing .. SO , only one rule, neve ruse Low Active in M4 for an output
signal mapping. If a signal is backwards always use Darwins Negate to do the fix..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 18, 2014, 09:48:48 PM
Ok. Sounds good.
Using the behavior you just described and predicting ahead a bit I'm wondering if you'll find something in M4 configured for Port 1 pin 14 in my ini file. Sounds like it's being toggled because of M4 even though it's not enable in Darwin (like you said). But I didn't see anything in M4.

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 18, 2014, 10:04:20 PM
Sage:

  Enable was turned off in Darwin, but I didnt see if it was in M4, its a bit harder to tell what signals m4 has mapped..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 18, 2014, 10:18:26 PM
Ok. I'll look around in M4. For something mapped to pin14. But now that everything has a name, wouldn't I see an output mapped to  Aux output K2 (or whatever I called it in Darwin). I don't recall anything like that.

One thing I did notice is a bunch of lit up ledicons called enable 1,2,3 (or something) on an M4 screen somewhere. Where do those get enabled? I don't remember anything labelled "enable". Maybe one of those is mapped to pin 14.


Sage


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on August 18, 2014, 10:41:59 PM
Art, Thanks for the explanation on the signals .... it definitely had me confused... all my outputs in mach4 are unchecked and everything seems to be working good now.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 18, 2014, 11:08:48 PM
Art,

An apology.  I got the replicated signal pins mixed up.  Pin 5 is being replicated on pin 15, pin 7 is being replicated on pin 12, and pin 6 is being replicated on pin 13.  Pin 9 is being replicated in inverted fashion on pin 11.  These are all port 2 input pins.

Sorry.  I know it helps to get the input data right.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 06:51:14 AM
Peter:

  Np, your forgiven.

  My next step.. and dont feel compelled. Would be to bring up the ports tab so you can see the result,
remove the plug from port 2, and jumper pin 5 to pin 25. Does pin 5 change and does pin 15 duplicate the change?

  What Im wondering is if your wiring is doing this. Mach3 didnt show the data Darwin does, so you'd never know. Of
course if you use pin 15 for something then youd think itd be noticable. SO at this point, what doesnt work? Just the
encoder on pin 1? Or does the system work but the mirroring is just strange? Various breakout baord Ive seen can
 do weird things, and feeding back an input on multiple pins wouldnt be the stangest thing Ive ever seen...



Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 06:55:31 AM
This version should fix Sage's toggling on enable.. I would hope anyway.
I doubt it will fix yours Peter, Im still struggling with where a signal can replicate itself
on another pin..

Just the plugin needs replacing on this version..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 19, 2014, 08:10:48 AM
Hi Art.
I was about to report that we had gone backwards with 16-1 because I was back to having to disable/enable to get jogging back after a Ref. But 16-2 fixed that again.

BUT otherwise 16-2 is the same with respect to pin 14 coming on (high) and activating my K2 relay.
It seems that pin 14 is following pin 17 (my charge pump) because they both seem to come on together when I have to disable/enable to get the charge pump going.

BUT
If I look at pin 14 in the Darwin control port screen pin 14 ledicon is always red regardless of relay condition. But then pin 14 is disabled in Darwin so maybe it's not indicating the status properly.

There are no other outputs configured in M4 other than the charge pump and it's pointing at the named signal "charge pump #1"

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 09:22:33 AM
Sage:

 Thx, Ill look deeper... I cant understand how a signal is getting jumpered that way. Cant seem to repeat it here either.

Anyway, Ill keep trying to think of what coudl cause yours and Peters troubles, they seem related...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 10:08:52 AM
Hi All:

  OK, heres a version that will log every signal getting activated or deactivated. Sage, can you tell me whatthe history button
shows when you enable?

(only the plugin needs to be replaced..)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 10:33:52 AM
Hi Art,

You bring up a valid point and I will check it out.  However, I am faced with the problem that my probe does not appear to trigger any pins in Darwin but does in M3.

Loading latest version of Darwin.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 11:30:39 AM
Art,

You're gonna love this!

With the cable unplugged, all port 2 pins show red except 11 which is green,  Grounding pin 5 to 25 causes pin 9 to go green and 11 to go red.  Grounding pin 9 to 25 causes pins 5 and 15 to go green!

If I ground pin 5, causing pin 9 to go green then quickly ground 9, it doesn't go red right away but does after the same delay that occurs if I just remove the jumper.  In other words, the floating inputs appear to take some time to bleed off and grounding pin 9 does not show as an immediate grounding.  However, removing the jumper from pin 9 does cause an immediate change in pins 5 and 15 back to red.  I believe this shows that pin 9 in Darwin is not really pin 9.

Anyone have an exorcism routine other than Unix?

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 11:38:30 AM
Art,

BTW, I also have something connected to my K2 relay.  I haven't configured it in either Darwin or M4 yet but it is powered on even with Darwin and M4 in estop.

I didn't see the history button in the last Darwin but it's only my first coffee.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 11:41:25 AM
Peter:

 lol.. I definitely agree that an exorcism is needed. Thats the damn weirdest thing Ive ever seen. I wish I knew if it happens
only on port2.. I have a port 1 only and it behaves very well. I honestly cant see where the port number would matter..

Still considering..

Art

ps: history button is at the screen bottom in wxMach program..
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 11:52:16 AM
Would it help if I called it port 3 and didn't use port 2?  Also, I believe I can configure the second port for different resource address.

Then the problem becomes how to describe what I've done without confusing everyone, including myself.  Port 2, 3, second port, LOL

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 19, 2014, 11:57:11 AM
Hi Art:

This will be a very short report 16-3
The history shows nothing - nada - zip. Immediately after startup and even after I enable/disable a couple of times even though the charge pump and K2 relay on Port 1  pin 14 changes state. Nothing in History.
I thought at first history was broken but I pressed a home switch and it showed in in the history bar.
In an earlier version you said you made it so more stuff would show up in history and lots of things showed up after that.
The version numbers are showing up on my Darwin config  as 1.11 and 1.08 is that correct??
I replaced both the dll and the plugin by mistake.
Maybe I screwed something up copying the files?

I didn't understand Peters port address as dcc8. But does that have any addressing bits in common with 0378. Maybe you're not addressing to the full number of bits required to distinguish between the two. Just a thought.

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 12:01:11 PM
Peter:

   I allow 4 ports. Each is filled with a simple loop and each has its own data registers.. kinda like..

for( int x = 0; x < 4; x++ ) Port

   so each port is separate entirely, and its data is separate. So if one screws up, the theory goes all ports should
screw up. Now Im willing to believe the resource address can be wrong, and that WOULD explain a great deal, but it would beg
the question as to how Mach3 works with that address. THATS whats confusing me..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 19, 2014, 12:07:14 PM
Peter / Art:

It's probably a marginal test to jumper pins with the cable open because of floating pins. Lots of funny things can happen. From experience this can drive you crazy. It would be a lot of work but terminating the cable with a bunch of pull-ups would be more reliable.
 Art: As you mentioned the hardware on the parallel port inverts some of the input signals to suit a parallel printer "normal" needed to be inverted (to low). Presumably so that if the cable was unplugged the interface could tell if the printer was present or not. (no printer - pin floats high - printer not there to pull it low)

Sage

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 12:08:24 PM
Sage:

  The empty buffer mean M4 isnt calling Darwin to trigger a change in its IO.. Thats good. It means all is normal there..

Im thinking... In Mach3, the port gets initialized and all pins are set to low, even if unused. Darwin isnt doing that,
if a pin is not specifically listed as used, it is left alone. So..when after loading the port is reset, the pins go to whatever default state they
wish to be at. It may be that is toggling things when the charge pump comes on. The charge pump starts when the program does and the port
gets reset at the same time. So Im wondering if this is simply a case of the pin is getting toggled to a low as a static reset state and triggering
the relay. Darwin doesnt care or touch any pin reported as unused, so it will be high or low depending on the type of printer port and its designers
reset state. Normally I think this is the pin getting pulled high.. So if you then enable a signal on that pin and dont use it, the pin will get pulled
to whatever inactive state is called for ( depends on the "negate" setting ). Could this be what your seeing?

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 12:09:20 PM
Sage:

 No, almost all printer ports have pullup resistors... though Ive seen them with pulldown ones. But Ive never seen one that actually floats..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 12:11:46 PM
Sorry, I take that back.. internally the driver starts with a zero integer, then fills it one by one with active signals, so
any pin not refered to will be set to a zero .. which should be a low on the output.. but of course that could be triggering your relay
since most ports default to a high on the data pins..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 12:14:41 PM
Art,

If the resource address were set to the wrong value, wouldn't that make all the pins wrong/inoperative?

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 19, 2014, 12:15:33 PM
Peter / Art:
Would it make any sense to create a setup that only deals with one port at a time. Rather than both ports. It might make it easier to see which port  is issuing which signals. It appears you have BOTH ports issuing possibly different rogue signals to each other confusing the issue.

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 12:17:16 PM
Sage,

Other than the K2 problem, port 1 appears fine.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 19, 2014, 12:32:19 PM
Art:

>>Normally I think this is the pin getting pulled high.. So if you then enable a signal on that pin and dont use it, the pin will get pulled to whatever inactive state is called for ( depends on the "negate" setting ). Could this be what your seeing?

To be clear a high is what activates my relay. But I get your point and that's probably what's going on.

 I'm going to have to experiment to see what makes it stop toggling. But regardless of what I select, if the port pin is being changed then the relay is going to toggle. I can't see where enabling the pin and inverting it will make any diference other than have the relay activate opposite to what it is now.
 But this is not really a good solution as one does not really want to have to program every port pin used or not and you don't really want unused (un-enabled) ports turning on and off on their own.
Perhaps the "pull them all low" on startup and keep them that way unless they are used would be a good thing to do.

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 12:43:05 PM
:).. of course. I think I see. By starting with a mask of zero's , Im forcing a toggle on you, what it proves is that the port resets iwth an active 1 coming out. The program then starts and pulls it low. Ill fix that up...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 19, 2014, 12:54:49 PM
Ok. I'll pretend I understand what you've discovered and wait for the new version. :-) but according to the schematic for the PMDX 132 it's a high that turns on the LED and relay. The light DOES NOT come on when you first start the PC or M4. You have to toggle the disable once M4 is up and running to turn it on.  It then does not go off until you EXIT config and only comes on again when you toggle the disable again.


BTW over the last few versions I'm noticing crashing when I exit Darwin configuration "causing a program not responding' pop-up and requiring a reboot to get rid of the Darwin config window. Not sure the status of M4 because I can't get rid of Darwin window.
I may be rushing it a bit. I open config (about as long as it takes for the waterfall to go about 1/2 way down) then close it again in order to test if the relay drops out. That's when config hangs.

Sage



Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 01:33:15 PM
Sage:

 Havent seen any lockup yet, but I did discover a typo that could cause a problem on pin 14, try this version...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 02:11:19 PM
Just to throw more 'clues' into the soup.

I configured my K2 control in Darwin and set it to negate.  I can toggle the function (it's a second spindle motor) on and off successfully within Darwin.  However, I can't turn it on from M4 by running code.  M4 diagnostic screen says it's on but it lies.  I tried remapping M4 so this output is mapped to the flood (I don't use this at present) so I could toggle M4 from the screen.  Again, the M4 diagnostic screen says it's toggling, but it's not.

I suspect M4 is playing a role in the K2 control problem, perhaps it's now the only culprit here.

No lockups here.

Can't wait to start debugging M4.  Lots of issues there, system lock ups in several places, tool path not clearing, etc.  Time to spread the work load.   :)

Thanks for your work.

Pete
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 03:17:17 PM
Pete:

 I think its because there is no scipt in those macros to activate them...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 03:44:22 PM
Pete:

 Wit recent versions you can always tell if its m4 config or Darwin ignoring you. The history button will tell you if
Darwin was instructed to turn on or off any signal.

   The problem with pin 14 was I was inverting it when reading it, and not when writing it, that was a typo that
caused that very strange pin 14 toggling error I think. We noticed a pin14 flash at startup here, which is gone in
last version. As to whats causing the pin mirroring.. Im still confused. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 19, 2014, 04:02:04 PM
Hi Art:

I don't see any difference with 16-4.
Same symptoms.
 You got my comment about the relay requiring a high to activate - right (post 401)?
Config screen still shows 1.11 / 1.08 is that correct? I copied dll and m4w..
I still get a freeze as follows:

Open config plugins but don't wait for waterfall to get any more than about 1/2 way down the page. Then X-off the config page and select Ok. For me it freezes there.

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 04:45:46 PM
Sage:

  No sorry, I wasnt clear. The driver needs replacing on this version. Versions should read..

1.11 and 1.16 on the Drawin waterfall screen... You need to replace the driver , dll looks good.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 19, 2014, 05:08:12 PM
Hi Art:

This is so weird. Is there any way Windows can be screwing around with the files. A cache or something. So many times I have unzipped the files into a new directory. Even deleted the dll and the m4pw from the C:\mach4hobby... directories, made sure they were gone and copied the new ones to the proper sub directories. I've even checked the dates on the files copied into M4 and they show a current date.
 Yet when I run M4 (which wouldn't run without the files), and go look at versions in config I see the old versions. This has happened over and over. I have tried again once when I was suspicious and the new versions showed up. It's not like I don't know how to copy files  ???
So I'm wondering if because they are the same file name windows is somehow screwing things up.  ???

I'm afraid I've been stringing you along with this troubleshooting because I haven't seen a new version reported in config for quite a while (as you can tell). But I've been ignoring it because I thought perhaps you were making minor changes without changing the version number. Sorry.


It's all very strange. I'm going to reboot and try again until I see the versions 1.16

Sage

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 05:34:55 PM
Sage:

  The 1.16 is the version of the system driver, to change it..you need to use the control panels hardware manager to remove the old Darwin driver. Then run DriverTest from the unzipped 1-16-4 folder you downloaded. It "should" install the new driver which will then read 1.16 on the waterfall screen.

 If it doesnt, your installing a cache version of the driver, so remove the driver, find all copies of darwin.sys and delete them, except for the one in the
1-16-4 folder.. Then it should install. I try very hard to try to make it so its a rare event because so many have trouble switching drivers. In the end Brian will probably put an installer for it in its package.

  Anyway, when you get it to read 1.16 as the driver version you should be OK..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 05:38:27 PM
So just to be clear, the driver version is 1.16, the plugin on the m4 screen will read in the config selector will also read 1.16 as the plugin version,
and the dll version is 1.11 ( shown just above the drivers 1.16 verison on the waterfall screen. Ive verified the files are correct in the zip file for
those versions. (Sorry for so  many versions, but there are 3 important components and they all have their own version, as well as separate compilers..:)


Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 19, 2014, 06:41:19 PM
Hi Art:
As mentioned On the waterfall display I show 1.11 on top and 1.08 below it and there's now way I can get it to change. I found your last post on where to look for the particular numbers confusing. The sentence was a bit jumbled (I think)
If what I'm seeing is not correct in the waterfall display then I have no idea where M4 is getting those files because I've deleted the Darwin dll from M4hobby root and the Darwin .m4pw file from the plugins sub directory. Cleared the trash can, rebooted, copied the new files and still I get the same thing.
 I'm afraid I've gotten it really cocked up.
In the mean time a low disk space error started showing up. Maybe something is going on there. I un-installed one large program to free up some space. Maybe that was contributing.

Can you give me instructions to start over such that I can keep my configuration or maybe I should just erase the M4 directory and re-install it.
And start over from scratch and re-config everything. I have photos of my previous config. so it won't take too long.
I'm away for a few days starting tomorrow so I may not get to it until Monday.

I notice if you create a new config it asks for a screen set. Which one should I choose?

Sorry for the confusion.

Sage

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 06:47:12 PM
Sage:

 Its not the files. The 1.11 is  fine, its the darwin.sys file. Go to the control panel, select system icon, then device manager. Under Mach pulse engines youll see Darwin.sys. Right click and select uninstall. Then.. do the the unzipped folder of files from the last update. Run  DriverTest.exe and it should install the latest driver. The version will then show 1.16.
  Your dll and plugin are fine... its the sys file thats killing you...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 19, 2014, 06:55:44 PM
Ok so there might be hope yet. I'll do the uninstall thing and get back to you but I have another problem.
I used to have a shortcut to M4 which I deleted. Which program should I be running wxMach4.exe or Mach4gui.exe
I'm not sure if I have a configuration any more either. Can I create a new one and choose one of my backup ini files in the "create a configuration from a backup" option.

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 07:00:44 PM
Your probably better off just creating a new one. But if  there a selection that looks good go for it, you can always just change the settings..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 19, 2014, 07:18:44 PM
Ok were back on track. I just remembered I never had a specially named config. I just config'ed over the default mach4 mill. I'm sure that will come back to haunt me later.

Anywayyyyy I'm back and everything is running fine. And yes your changes all seem to be working. K2 relay is quiet now.

Sorry I wasn't catching on to when I had to run Darwin test (or uninstall it and run the test) each time you changed a particular item. I thought it was just a cut and paste of the dll and m4pw files. I missed that somewhere.

I'm not clear now on which files are which.

I get that the plugin is the .m4pw file
What do you call the dll file (a driver??)
and now I see that you have sys file which apparently is not just a copy and paste operation. I assume that's the pulsing engine?

Sorry it's all Greek to me.

I guess I'm going to need a reminder when to run the Darwin test to install the new (engine??)

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 08:24:01 PM
I too had misunderstood.  When I selected configure plugin, I saw the Darwin plugin rev as 1.160 so thought I was okay.  The two numbers in the waterfall screen were 1.11 and 1.08.  So I just removed the driver using the settings and then reinstalled.  Now the waterfall shows 1.11 and 1.16.

Unfortunately, the port 2 inputs still work the same.

At least now I know why I can't get M4 to control my second spindle (K2).  The diagnostic light comes on but there is no indication in the history that Darwin was commanded.

Sage,

The next time you load an updated version of M4, I think your default configuration will be reset.  I suggest you open with static GUI and create a new profile by using copy profile and naming the new profile.  Right now I'm using Art's suggestion and calling it Darwin setup.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 19, 2014, 08:28:17 PM
its in the driver folder in c drive
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 08:40:28 PM
Hi Guys:

   For the record: :)

The plugin is a file ending in .m4pw ( Mach 4 Plugin (..beats me what the frig the W is for.. lol )
The DLL is a system interface dll.
The .sys is a system level driver. Its the pulse timer and main brain of the system.

Thx
Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 08:43:05 PM
Peter:

  I think Ive figure out your issue. Most printer port chips can handle a 16 bit fetch of data in one call, but a few cannot. They have ports that
can handle only 8 bits of transfer. Mach3 used 8 bit transfers, but Darwin uses 16 to try to speed things up a bit. Due to your machine
showing this screwy input corruption, Ill change that this week to grab ony 8 bits at a time. That will hopefully fix your trouble and prove
it was really a chip compatability issue in the hardware. Interesting result if true.. and Im thinking it probably is.

Thx
ARt
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 09:01:31 PM
Peter:

   this final version of Darwin ( for tonight. ), has driver version 1.17 on the waterfall, its a driver replacement as well. It allows only
8 bit transfers from the port chips, so if Im correct in my guess, your second port will now show the proper data..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 09:03:55 PM
Wow! Great catch.  I'll be waiting with bated breath to try it out.

If it is the case, I see a variety of approaches.  One is you change it to an 8 bit transfer for everyone.  Another is you provide an option for compatibility with hardware like mine.  Another is guys like me have to come up with new hardware.  Not to be whiny but my system is one of the ubiquitous Dell Optiplex units with low profile cards.  Given the physical profile and the age of the system, I'd probably be SOL.  I'd bet there would be a few others out there in my boat as well.

Anyway, I'm standing by for your next version.

Thanks for your great work!

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 09:06:54 PM
Okay, stand by.  I'm bolting down stairs (2 flights) to try it!
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 09:09:51 PM
If it works, Ill leave it as is. Its only a few nanoseconds.. I was being anal even attempting using 16 bit fetches from those chips.. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 09:13:51 PM
YES!!!!!   ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I have NO interaction between the different signals!  I have my probe signal, index, and encoders all working as they should.

Wonderful!  Thank you for your great work!

Now to go and start beating up the M4 guys.  LOL

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 19, 2014, 09:46:27 PM
Peter:

  Thank you for the testing, between you and Sage you've helped me clear a great many weird bugs out of the hay.
All future users of Darwin owe you both a debt of gratitude. Ill let Darwin rest for a few days while you guys figure out
if anything else is nonsensical.  I never would have found that 8-bit chip fetch error without someone unlucky enough to have such a
control chip onboard.  :-)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 19, 2014, 10:03:51 PM
Wow !!

Excellent work Art. You're the man. I'm glad you found Peter's problem and solved mine. A true talent.

Peter:
Yes I realized that I was probably setting myself up for a disaster by configuring over the original MA4 mill file.

First a question:
I lost my desktop icon.  Which .exe file are we supposed to be running? wxMach4 or Mach4Gui ??  If you run either from the root directory they first ask what configuration you want to run or create. When I used to access M4 through my desktop icon it went right into the program.

So I have an idea how I can create a new configuration without losing anything. Would this do it?

Run one of the EXE programs (mentioned above) which asks if you want to create a new config.
Select the "create a new config from a backup" give it a new name and select the latest backup ini file from the backup list. They're all dated so one should be there from today when it all started working again.

Second question: The "create new config" process asks for a screen set to use. What's the answer?


Hopefully we can get involved in testing M4. Looks like it's going to need a lot  of work.
I'm keeping a list of some minor items already.


Thanks again Art and Peter

Sage

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 10:11:10 PM
The lesson is:  If your in a store checkout line and you see me ahead of you, pick another line because it's going to stop.  LOL

Where else could I have gotten so much entertainment for the last few days for only $20?

Seriously though, there are some bugs that might well be M4 resulting in freezes.  For example, if I try to set motion device in the M4 configure tab, M4 freezes and the only way out is a system restart, requiring a forced power down.  The next M4 start up is noticeably longer but everything appears okay.  Also, selecting the Spindle CW button in M4 sets the led on.  A second click on the same button causes an M4 freeze again.  Who do I report this stuff to or am I just being impatient?

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 19, 2014, 10:17:48 PM

Seriously though, there are some bugs that might well be M4 resulting in freezes.  For example, if I try to set motion device in the M4 configure tab, M4 freezes and the only way out is a system restart, requiring a forced power down. 

This was supposed to have been fixed. Are you using 1936?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 19, 2014, 10:24:21 PM
Hi Peter:

We're probably being impatient.
Let's face it. It looks like the M4 version we're using was just supposed to be a show and tell running a do-nothing demo. They probably left a lot of stuff out of it and never expected Art to make it actually do something by issuing a PP driver to try. THey probably put in only what was required to run the demo.
At least I hope that's the case because if this is an actual indication of where they're at with the program then....
Heck M1 doesn't even work in the original 1914 (never tried 1936). That's a pretty basic thing you would expect to work.

It might be nice to see a more finished "beta" version. Many hands make light work when it comes to finding the bugs.
Look at the progress Art made in the last few days.

P.S.
Any comments on my questions about making another configuration from the one I have. (post 426)


Thanks Guys

Sage



Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 10:25:11 PM
I use Static GUI which is the icon you lost.  Go into Mach4hobby directory, right click on wxMach.exe and select create shortcut.  Drag the shortcut to your desktop or to where ever you want it.

MachGUI.exe will go straight into the program without asking you what profile to use.  I think it uses the default profile.

I don't remember what I chose for a screenset from the options that will be presented.  I would probably go with wxMach.set.  It's the latest one.  I fully expect to be using a custom screenset down the road aways.  At this point consistency is probably most important through the testing phases.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 10:36:31 PM
Gerry,

Sorry for the delay.  I wanted to run downstairs and check before I answered.  Yes, I'm using 1936.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 19, 2014, 10:57:11 PM
Sage,

Just for chuckles, I tried creating a new test profile using a screen set from my M3 collection.  M4 didn't complain but when I opened it, it looked just like the same M4 sceen set we've been using.  I suspect M4 won't let you load a different screen set yet.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 20, 2014, 01:00:06 AM
To stop M4 freezing when you push the spindle button on screen remove all macros from the macros folder not the lua one just m3, m4, m5, don't know about m6.

when you make any small changes close and restart M4 it stops any hang ups.

if you do any major changes do a reboot it does not seem to crash when I do it this way if I don't do it it does lock up the computer.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 20, 2014, 01:02:53 AM
forgot to add when I change versions of Darwin I have to completely remove all of it of the computer first this could just be my computer being a old fart
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 20, 2014, 07:11:38 AM
Sage,

Just for chuckles, I tried creating a new test profile using a screen set from my M3 collection.  M4 didn't complain but when I opened it, it looked just like the same M4 sceen set we've been using.  I suspect M4 won't let you load a different screen set yet.

Peter

Mach4 can't load Mach3 screens. But you can change to a different Mach4 screenset, if you create a new one.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 20, 2014, 08:04:59 AM
Hi All:

  I dont think freezing issues are Darwin related. At least I havent seen any that were. I highly suspect more reported
issues are script related at this point. M3,M4, and M5 dont work because the scripts arent designed to actually do anything,
at least on my versions.I think youll have to wait for the full release versions for proper scripting, or as users play with various
plugins as they get released youll see scripts being written and tested.
   I guess as Darwin is the first plugin to be seen by the masses I think its done pretty well and at least helped to identify some
of the shortcomings of the API which will get corrected as time goes by. M4 doesnt for example tell a plugin if a signal is low active
or high active, it just send a 1 or 0 to the signal. While that may work on some systems, I think its important for the plugin to KNOW
this is an ON condition which happens to be a 0, or a OFF condition that happens to be a high. Im sure such things will change over
time as these shortcomings are found. Ill let Darwin sleep for a short while now while others test and report, and the M4 team get
things more ramped up. Gearotic's new CAM modules are calling me and my laser is getting close to experimenting level, so
forgive me if I disappear for a bit, Ill answer questions and such as they appear but I think Ill leave development of Darwin alone till
it all catches up to me. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on August 20, 2014, 10:09:37 AM
Thanks Art for all the great work and effort you have put into sorting the software problems and educating us all on how to configure our systems and set up for using Mach4. You need to be getting on with that laser (and the grayscale plugin of course).

I am also very interested in following your CAM development for GM - it can't be far away now that the buttons are operational on the GUI.  ;)


Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on August 20, 2014, 10:35:55 AM
Art,

Thank you very much.  Go have fun on something else for a while.

Gerry,

Thank you for the reply.  I need to spend a few hours going through the M4 forum topics that aren't related to Darwin.  Like how do I design a screen set.  I know how for M3 but haven't started yet for M4 and I don't want to bother folks with questions already answered.  Status of M4, etc.  Should keep me occupied for a while.   :)

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 21, 2014, 01:08:26 AM
Hi art what ever you did to Darwin has made it better I can run it faster ya.
one thing I have to recalibrate the spindle when I had a call for 18000 rpm it went 28000 rpm it should have been around 16000 rpm its not a problem it just something i through you would wont to know.

thanks for your help art keep up the good work.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 21, 2014, 07:49:00 AM
Thx,

  Its good to know it made a difference, I guess those printer ports chips dont like operating at 16 bits , Ill bear that in mind.
Glad to hear things are btter, Ive been running m4 alot last 3 days, no issues noted other than a few small api items Ive sent to the developers.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: tbadger on August 21, 2014, 08:18:46 PM
I've recently decided to give the parallel port driver a try with Mach 4. My experience hasn't been perfect. With the last two drivers, 1-15 and 1-17, I'm only able to get my Y axis to move.  I've played with the drivertext.exe several times and it loads fine. When I configure in Mach 4, all looks good.  I see the buffer out of bounds message occasionally, and The Y axis still moves, but no x or z.  I also use Mach 3 on the same machine, so I know things work.  Any ideas where to start troubleshooting?  With 1-17 I'm seeing more crashes and hangs than I did with 1-15.  Admittedly my PC is not a speed demon.  Windows XP, 2.13 Core 2 2.13 MHz , 2gb ram, 256mb video.

Trent
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 21, 2014, 08:58:11 PM
Trent:

 My system isnt much better really. Is your CPU usage high when 4 is running?

 You say only Y?  Id advise checking it one bit at a time. Does your Breakout Board have LED's? Does the DIR led toggle when you jog right
and left? Make sure all outputs are disabled to ensure none of them conflict with a motor pin. Turn on only one motor till its perfect...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 21, 2014, 09:46:17 PM
Hi Guys:

  Thx for the reports. I double checked the code due to a report of flashing led's.. I did find where
the DIR bits may have gotten reset. This version unfortunately requires another driver update to version 1.18
which youll see on the waterfall screen if properly installed.

 My appologies for the weird symptoms some of you may have gotten..

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: tbadger on August 22, 2014, 12:00:37 AM
Okay, having reviewed the video for the 10th time, it occurred to me that I should be able to move my motors while running the driver test. Is this correct Art?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: tbadger on August 22, 2014, 01:12:39 AM
Ok, so I've took some time and watched the LEDs on my board while running Mach3 - btw, my board is the C1 rev10 from CNC4PC, so LEDs on all step/dir connections.

In Mach 3 all related motor LEDs are off by default.  On first move, the step LED lights up regardless of direction.  The direction determines whether or not the DIR LED lights up (as far as I can remember now, being late and I'm nearly an old fart).  Going X+ lights up the DIR LED, while then going X- turns off the DIR LED.  This behavior can be observed across Y and Z axis as well.

Now, in Mach 4, it is a similar story, but not quite.  The Y axis seems to behave as it should.  I disabled the other motors and then started to work through them all individually.  While the Y works as expected, I'm seeing interesting results on the failing X axis.  If I go X+ first, I only see the DIR LED light very dimly, as though it is getting no power.  The Step LED does not light at all.  However, if I then press X-, the Step DIR lights up brightly and stays lit (as I would have expected it).  If I then press teh X+ again, the Step LED goes out, while the DIR LED again lights very dimly.  

I stopped at X failing because this old man gots to go to bed (having started with Y because I knew I could get it to work and wanted to verify my sanity).  Will conclude next evening with Z and see if there are similar results.  I suspect that I have something crossed somewhere, but then again, maybe not.  Mach 3 works flawlessly, so it could be a number of things.  The CPU by the way stayed quite low - never over 10-15% that I remember seeing.  

I saw the same results with 1-17, and with 1-18 just released today having seen it posted while I was checking for feedback - Thanks Art!

Trent
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 22, 2014, 07:05:11 AM
Trent:

   You have reversed th eStep and Dir pin on that axis. The dim ilghting is the step, the hard on led is the DIR, sounds very much like their reversed
in your setup. Reverse the step and dir pin and see what happens..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: peu on August 22, 2014, 12:48:34 PM
Art, did you enabled the MPG capability in Darwin?


Pablo
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 22, 2014, 01:32:23 PM
Pablo:

 As of last nights version, yes, it is turned on. Set the MPG count and encoder number and it will send a message each time the increment is
equal or more than detent.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: tbadger on August 22, 2014, 01:59:24 PM
Art,

I had my hopes really high with your suggestion I had the reversed the eStep and Dir pin on the X axis.  I did a quick swap on my way out this morning to verify that I had indeed swapped the pins.  However, to my dismay, changing the pin assignments didn't make any difference, except that the LEDs lit exactly the same way just opposite what it was before, and still no movement.  I'll give it a more thorough work over this evening or tomorrow and verify the settings.  I'm pretty confident I had the settings correct because I had printed screen shots of all my settings in Mach 3 and entered them exactly as I had them into Mach 4.

I have an older C10 Bob I may try for kicks and giggles, but would take much more effort to rewire and test.

Trent
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Racer on August 22, 2014, 02:23:16 PM
Art,

I have everything working on my 3D printer except no movement on Y axes.
X pins 7 and 1
Y pins 3 and 8 ( I tried switching them but same thing)
Z pins 4 and 5
A pins 17 and 16.

Moch 3 same computer works fine.

Any help?

Thanks
Jerry

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: peu on August 22, 2014, 02:51:28 PM
Great, I have time this afternoon, will configure again everything and try the MPG and let you know.

Pablo:

 As of last nights version, yes, it is turned on. Set the MPG count and encoder number and it will send a message each time the increment is
equal or more than detent.

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 22, 2014, 02:58:17 PM
Hi Jerry:

>>I have everything working on my 3D printer except no movement on Y axes.
>>X pins 7 and 1
>>Y pins 3 and 8 ( I tried switching them but same thing)
>>Mach 3 same computer works fine.
 
  If you switch the X and Y settings, does the Y then move when you try to move X? Does X move when you try to move Y?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Racer on August 22, 2014, 03:21:39 PM
Hi Jerry:

>>I have everything working on my 3D printer except no movement on Y axes.
>>X pins 7 and 1
>>Y pins 3 and 8 ( I tried switching them but same thing)
>>Mach 3 same computer works fine.
 
  If you switch the X and Y settings, does the Y then move when you try to move X? Does X move when you try to move Y?

Art


X Moves when I try to move Y
nothing moves when I try to move X

I switched the pin assignment only.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 22, 2014, 03:30:58 PM
Well, that proves its not Mach then. :)

 OK, so we need to know why pin 3 doesnt work ( Im assuming the STEP pin is pin 3? )
Well ignore the DIR pin as if it was bad the motor would still move, just in the wrong direction.
So search for any signal you may have turned in in other motors, or outputs that is set to pin3.
Its about the only thing that can stop you. The pin will not be set to step unless no other pin uses it.
  Pin3 is a bit in the 8 bit area of pins 2-9 , so theres nothing particularly special about it, so I cant see
anything other than 2 possibilites, the Y axis isnt working or the pin 3 signal is getting overwritten by an output
or other motor..

Any chance its that?

Art

   
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Racer on August 22, 2014, 03:38:58 PM
Well, that proves its not Mach then. :)

 OK, so we need to know why pin 3 doesnt work ( Im assuming the STEP pin is pin 3? )
Well ignore the DIR pin as if it was bad the motor would still move, just in the wrong direction.
So search for any signal you may have turned in in other motors, or outputs that is set to pin3.
Its about the only thing that can stop you. The pin will not be set to step unless no other pin uses it.
  Pin3 is a bit in the 8 bit area of pins 2-9 , so theres nothing particularly special about it, so I cant see
anything other than 2 possibilites, the Y axis isnt working or the pin 3 signal is getting overwritten by an output
or other motor..

Any chance its that?

Art

   
Pin 8 is step but I tried switching 3 and 8 no go.

All outputs are disabled.
All inputs are disabled.

I will keep playing with it.

Thanks Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 22, 2014, 03:47:11 PM
Ahh, pin 8..

 Ill run a check just to be absolutley sure ..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Racer on August 22, 2014, 04:09:02 PM
Ahh, pin 8..

 Ill run a check just to be absolutley sure ..

Art


The Index number is real HI,  like 25018  when jogging motor #1
Motor #0 is 3221

Jerry

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: rjantz3 on August 22, 2014, 05:03:59 PM
Art,

What would cause the a motor to move in darwin? It makes no difference whether the motor is enabled or not. I have had trouble with this since 1.145 although I never tested versions 1.15 or 1.16. Version 1.18 does this as well.

Ryan
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 22, 2014, 08:05:28 PM
Jerry

The index doesnt matter, its just a count of how many steps it has moved since turn on..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 22, 2014, 08:06:50 PM
Ryan:

 If the motor isnt enabled, then it shouldnt move. Unless something points to its step pin, it should stay still..
Ill keep my eyes open for what might cause that..

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: tbadger on August 22, 2014, 08:21:04 PM
Art,

I was able to get all the motors moving as they should - in the process I built an LED panel to make it easier to see the appropriate LEDs as my BoB is upside down under my table inside an old PC case, so was hard to see using a mirror under the table :/-

Initially, I had expected that the step LEDs should all be lit.  But it turned out they were not.  After some trial and error, I figured out that I had to negate the step settings for each port.  With that done, all LEDs for step are now lit. Now expecting that the step signals were coming through correctly, I expected things to work, and as expected all motors now move.  I also negated the Dir settings for each as well to get the motors moving in the right direction. :)  Glad the world can't see into my shop, as I had to do the happy dance for just a brief moment.  Now to limits and homing, and then  on proper motor timing.  Maybe some saw dust after that.

Thanks again for the advice and encouragement Art.

Trent
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 22, 2014, 08:30:13 PM
Hi Trent:

>>I was able to get all the motors moving as they should - in the process I built an LED panel to make it easier to see the appropriate LEDs as my BoB is upside down under my table inside an old PC case, so was hard to see using a mirror under the table :/-

    I understand, mine is a bitch as well.. :)

>>Initially, I had expected that the step LEDs should all be lit.  But it turned out they were not.  After some trial and error, I figured out that I had to >>negate the step settings for each port.  With that done, all LEDs for step are now lit. Now expecting that the step signals were coming through correctly, >>I expected things to work, and as expected all motors now move.  I also negated the Dir settings for each as well to get the motors moving in the right 

  Some driver require a high on that led, others require a low, negating as a test is a good diagnostic .. but the most important diagnostic was the
drive to keep hacking.. well done! :)

Art



Thanks again for the advice and encouragement Art.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 23, 2014, 12:59:09 PM
Hi All:

  Yet another version of darwin for those with slaved axis. This will stop an exception that occured
with slaves.

 Plugin only changed in this version from last. This is plugin 1.17

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on August 23, 2014, 01:21:55 PM
  "Yet another version of darwin for those with slaved axis. This will stop an exception that occured
with slaves. "


Hey Art, If we don't use slaved axises, do you still recomend that we install the latest version of Darwin?

Thanks Dave
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 23, 2014, 01:38:23 PM
Dave:

 Shouldnt be any reason to, its the only change and it isnt triggered unless one has slaved axis.. so I htink your
OK to skip it.

Thx
Art
www.gearotic.com
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on August 23, 2014, 04:22:49 PM
Hey Art, here are 2 of my history files.... I did not change any settings between them... on history1 the leds that turn on in diagnostics are the X++ limit, the Xhome and ref changes to green and I can't jog... if I disable and enable again it changes the ref to red again and i can jog off the switch.

on history2 the leds in diagnostics that come on are the X++ limit and the Xhome and the ref stays red. it tripps the estop and I can renable and it lets me jog off the switch.

other times it seems like I can referance it and all works right. could this be an issue with noise I tried to use the debounce but it won't save that setting.

Thanks Dave



history1

Axis 0 Estop capability disabled for homing
Axis Homing begins on Axis 0
Home switch X Home tripped!
Limit switch X ++ tripped!
Axis 0  Homed with 5 steps decel after switch
All Homing Complete




history2

Axis 0 Estop capability disabled for homing
Axis 0 Estop capability re-enabled after homing
Axis Homing begins on Axis 0
Darwin Calls for EStop.
Home switch X Home tripped!
Limit switch X ++ tripped!
Signal 5 set to 0
Warning::EStop signal inhibited for XHome till cleared
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 23, 2014, 04:32:52 PM
Hi Dave:
 OK, a couple questions..cuz that all looks fairly good.

1) What happens if the X++ limits are turned off in Mach?
2) upgrade darwins plugin the one published this afternoon, it has a message not appearing in this history.

  It may be noise, if it homes OK much of the time that makes sense. I wasnt
aware that wouldnt save, Ill fix that right away..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 23, 2014, 04:41:54 PM
Hi Guys:

  This version saves the debounce settings in case your system has noise.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on August 23, 2014, 04:47:18 PM
Art,

If I disable the limits in mach4 it seems to home everytime and I can jog off the switch no problems. I forgot to mention I did not have the X-- limit enabled at all.

and this is the 1.18 version of Darwin ..... the config plugin window says 1.160 and in Darwin it show 1.11 and version 1.18

Thanks Dave
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on August 23, 2014, 05:47:41 PM
Art,

I think that was it.... when I set the debounce for the limit switch it had no affect, but when I set it to 100 for the e-stop and referanced it maybe 20 times and it worked right every time with the limit enabled. gonna have to go through my wiring. Thanks for all your help!

Dave
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 23, 2014, 05:51:32 PM
Dave:

   I think for now Id kill the X++ switch and set the home switch to Etrip. Tht way it will act as a safety unless your homing..

Im not sure why the X++ would do that as yet... but then your one of a few that home in a positive direction..Ill give it thought.

Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on August 23, 2014, 06:41:30 PM
Art,

My mistake... when I went to uncheck the debounce for the limit switch I unchecked the e-stop trip and then when I was testing it it would home everytime. I tried the debounce in both the e-stop and the limit set at 200 and it had no effect. I will do like you said. the reason I'm homing in a positive direction is because it's a Lathe with the tool post in front. I figured I made it work with Mach3 so I can make it work with this. Maybe I can't... I'm probably the only one trying to put it on a lathe right now. Thanks again for your help!

Dave
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 23, 2014, 08:19:31 PM
Dave:

  As far as I know, you can turn on that x++ switch, but not set it to Estop. It will then stop motion, but position is remembered.
SO just stop the Estop portion of the limit and I think it will be fine..
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 24, 2014, 07:00:17 PM
I purchased the Mach4 pre-buy a week ago and got my license no problem.
I just now purchased the parallel port driver and went through almost the same process but the website automatically added Mach4 to the cart when I selected only the PP item so I removed it from the cart.
The system asked for the Machine ID again which I entered.  ???
The purchase went through for just the PP driver ($20) but I was sen another license file.
What's up with that and what do I do with it. I already have one.

Now what  :-\

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on August 24, 2014, 07:02:01 PM
Send an email to license@machsupport.com and explain the situation.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on August 24, 2014, 08:00:10 PM
Will do

Thanks

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Racer on August 25, 2014, 09:50:32 AM
Ahh, pin 8..

 Ill run a check just to be absolutley sure ..

Art


Art:

More testing on the Y axes not working.

In Darwin Control all 4 axes setup and working (x,y,z,a)
X out to Mach 4 set everything up in Motors and Maping, did not enable.
Went back to Darwin control, all still working.
Back to Mach 4 and hit enable all work execpt Y axes on pins 8 step and 3 direction.
Go back to Darwin controal and Y not working.
The only way to get y working in Darwin Controal is Create new profile and start over.


Again Mach 3 works good on same config, same computer.
Might be a Mack 4 problem.

Thanks
Jerry
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 25, 2014, 10:03:34 AM
Jerry:

  Post your machine.ini when its not working but should be. Might be some setting that Darwin is screwing up on when saving..
( Or it might be Mach4 is limited to 3 axis.. I havent used 4 yet..)


Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Racer on August 25, 2014, 10:42:44 AM
Jerry:

  Post your machine.ini when its not working but should be. Might be some setting that Darwin is screwing up on when saving..
( Or it might be Mach4 is limited to 3 axis.. I havent used 4 yet..)


Art

Had to rename the file.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: peu on August 26, 2014, 12:19:23 PM
Pablo:

 As of last nights version, yes, it is turned on. Set the MPG count and encoder number and it will send a message each time the increment is
equal or more than detent.


Sorry for the late reply...

Art, after asking Scott for a proper license for the router computer (the PC I had in file was not the router one) I started to configure everything using both latest darwin and M4.

Managed to move and home all axis on port 1 and also configured the pendant on port 2 with the axis and multiplier selectors, also the MPG and a couple extra buttons I have.

On the config plugin I test every signal and it works as expected, the MPG counts back and forth nicely.

GOOD WORK ART!

Now I need a little orientation on how to assign each pendant signal to its intended use, on M3 I associated each signal to a hotkey and the MPG was configured via its specific menu. Im still very green regarding M4.


Pablo

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 27, 2014, 10:17:17 AM
Hi All:

  Here is a version of Darwin with an installer. This is not an update, but simply an installer for easier
use.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: rjantz3 on August 27, 2014, 05:05:57 PM
Art,

I now have the z axis functioning correctly from within M4. I never figured out what the problem was but a reinstall of Mach4 and Darwin worked.

On the ports control page why would pin 17 (used for the charge pump) blink? When I by mistake had charge pump1 hooked to pin 1 that light blinked. When I mapped it to pin 17 then 17 blinks. Is this anything to worry about?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 27, 2014, 06:20:48 PM
Hi:

  Any signal will blink if it has a fequency set to it, a Charge pump usually does ..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Mike_F on August 28, 2014, 08:54:11 AM
Hi Art,

Not being a computer expert in any sense, it was with some trepidation that I installed Mach4 and Darwin on my Mach3 machine. Alas all is not well and Darwin seems to be flat-lining and in need of a medic. Attached is a screen shot of the Darwin driver test. I have tried using the installer and I get the same response. It seems strange that there is no version number. Both Mach4 and Darwin are licensed. The computer has very little on it, not connected to the internet and uses XP Pro.

Mike
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 28, 2014, 11:01:08 AM
Hi Mike:
 
  Fear not, its not a serious situation , the driver simply didnt load. Im not sure why. Did your install tell you to reboot after installing?

  I doubt very much you have the driver installed. First, this is a 32 bit XP, right? 64 bit wont work..

 If it is 32 bit...

  Open your control panel, select add hardware and after it searches, pick "Yes, I have installed.".  Then pick "Add new Hardware Device" form the menu. Then select "Install hardware I manually select". Then select "Show all devices"

Select Have Disk... Browse to the folder with the files Darwin.sys and darwin.inf in it. Select Darwin.inf and press OK.. it should load the driver that way or give you an error. THEN REBOOT if it loads. Do not attempt to run MAch4 or you will crash. If the driver loads you need a reboot if its the first time youve loaded
mach3 or darwin on this machine. If youve run mach3 with a printer port, no reboot is required..

Art



Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Mike_F on August 28, 2014, 12:53:26 PM
OK, thanks Art, we are getting somewhere. Driver now seems to be working somewhat but I have no slider for the frequency and the Driver Test does not keep the port address. My port address is 0x387 but it keeps returning to your default each time I run the test. I have noticed there are two instances of the driver test program, one in the C:\Mach4hobby folder and one in C:\Mach4Hobby\Plugins\DarwinDriver

Mike
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 28, 2014, 03:20:37 PM
Mike:

 Drivcer test will not remember anything, to store changes you have to configure it in Mach4.
SO nwo that the driver is running, try Mach4 and select the pp as your motion device, then configure it..


Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Mike_F on August 28, 2014, 03:28:21 PM
Thanks Art, but any idea why I cannot see the frequency slider?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 28, 2014, 03:34:25 PM
Mike:

   I have heard of that, and Ive had it go away on me too and then show up again. Its an issue with a graphic control I use. Im looking into it
, its only a display issue, it actually works and changes the numbers. If you have a hardware acceleration control, turn it down a notch, that can help,
also make sure your video driver is up to date. Im still trying to get it to do that to me so I can kill it..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Mike_F on August 28, 2014, 03:44:10 PM
OK, thanks Art - I'll press on and see if I can put into practice all the information in your video that I have now watched a few times!

Mike
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Mike_F on August 28, 2014, 04:38:58 PM
Progress!! I have been jogging axes - charge pump works and jogging is sounding really good. However, I still cannot change the frequency and although it starts as showing 40000Hz, when I jog the axes and go back to the 'Pulse Stats' I get the screen below. Once again blank but now showing 25000Hz. 25000Hz is what I want as the encoders on my servos are only 200 lines and my motors cannot make use of higher frequencies but should that stop me from selecting higher? I didn't think Darwin would be aware of such things.

Mike
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 28, 2014, 06:23:02 PM
Hi Mike:

  Yes, its a graphics non compatability for some reason it seems. Weird the way its intermittant on some systems and doesnt show up at all in others.
Ill take a look to that code and see if I can figure out why. I may be stressing the cpu too much so its timing out on the display or something.
Sounds like youll be able to tune it in though..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 29, 2014, 05:08:22 PM
HI Guys:

  New version of the installer for Darwin with dependancies added. Dont install unless you need to, there is no update in here other than to make the installer work better.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 02, 2014, 10:39:14 AM
Hi Guys:

 First laser engraved photo done with Darwin. Darwin sent 40 levels of power ( of 100 possible) via
serial dataclock transmission while engraving at 7000mm/min.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/118339423221700707274/albums/6054479007323314049/6054479008542443554

 Theres a video on the page as well. Im still really just developing a method for darwin to do engravings or pin
punching.. I find surprisingly that my servos have a terrible following lag only noticable because of the lasers ability
to fire instantly on any step command at any power. SO if I cut in both directions, I get a "Carrot on a stick" problem
where the laser fires on the step pulse, but the servo doesnt get there for another 10mm's of travel.
  So Ill either have to put in a following error calculation for slow servo's.. or replace them if I wish to engrave in both directions.
Cutting isnt so much an issue. The photo shows quite an impressive quality for laser on melemine , and at least verifies that
adding a simple arduino, and hooking up 4 wires to the breakout board allows a large amount of laser control..

Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 02, 2014, 07:03:18 PM
Update:

  Turns out my servos were badly out of tune, with a good increase in PID, the system can engrave bidirectionallly.
So next version of Darwin will have 3 more system outputs, a StepFlag, which pulses its output on any motors step..
, a data clock which runs at kernal frequency, and a Data line matched to the clock.

  Ill publish the code for the laser control panel , in Darwin you now just set a register named "laser" to 1 to make the
system run in laser mode. Laser mode also corrects for acceleration and deceleration to keep laser power the same no matter
what the speed.

   I know only laser users will care about making a panel, but the outpus may come in handy for other experimenters to use.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on September 02, 2014, 08:52:50 PM
thanks art this going to be very helpfull
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on September 03, 2014, 02:05:04 AM
Thanks Art, I look forward to trying your setup, allbeit at a much slower feedrate  (4500mm/min with my steppers and ballscrews) when details become available.

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 03, 2014, 08:26:37 AM
Hi Tweakie:

 Yesterday I added the implementation of M62, M63 as Steve added them to Mach4. ( Bumped up specifically to
thank you for all your work I hear. :) ). The next Darwin should work with those commands. While they are handy
for laser on/off, Im finding having the laser trigger on any step pulse VERY handy. It means I can leave the spindle on
and not worry about burning things.

  Anyway, next version of Darwin will be a few days as Im adding the laser control parameters into the plugin in a way
thats more usefull than the hobbled bunch of things I currently do to make an engraving. More on that on release.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on September 03, 2014, 12:25:05 PM
Wow ! - it all seems to be coming together faster than I anticipated.  ;D

Thanks Art.
Thanks Steve.

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 03, 2014, 01:02:32 PM
:)

  Has to be fast, In October I begin Gearotic work again, ( and Im off to Lisbon in 2 weeks for a 2 week vacation.. ), so within two weeks Ill be done
most of Darwin for this year..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 05, 2014, 12:37:41 PM
Hi Guys:

  New Darwin this weekend if not before. Heres an update on its usage...

http://youtu.be/f2IzaLQ85YA

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 05, 2014, 05:17:38 PM
Hi All:

  This version of Darwin is for Mach 1960 or better. It matches the video above.
Feel free to ask if any setting is confusing. (Debug mode) on the diagnostics
controls system message output .


Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 05, 2014, 05:51:18 PM
Ohh, I should mentioon, this version will show as
version 1.19 on all three sections, the driver, the dll and the plugin.
All three must be replaced.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: natsud2 on September 06, 2014, 01:53:12 AM
Hiya Art I just talked to you on the youtubes  :) anyway I was just wanting to know If I havent installed Mach4 on my machine yet will the new version download be complete or would i download the demo and change the files you have mentioned? Thanks
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Steve Stallings on September 06, 2014, 05:35:05 AM
If you have never installed Mach4, then the Darwin support files will not be installed and you must add them.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 06, 2014, 07:18:09 AM
Hi Guys:

   I wouldnt install the new Darwin till you see Mach4 is at least version 1958. I have verified it on that version,
and version 1958 had an api upgrade that will cause previous versions of Darwin to crash. So until 1958 ( likely 1960 now)
is released, Id wait on install. 

  In the meantime I will begin to update the "How to build the interface" section and release the arduino code that allows
Darwin to control the laser to the level shown in the video's. That forum is on the Gearotic Forums under "Arduino Laser".

Thx
Art


 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Chaoticone on September 06, 2014, 10:43:06 AM
Quote
  In the meantime I will begin to update the "How to build the interface" section and release the arduino code that allows
Darwin to control the laser to the level shown in the video's. That forum is on the Gearotic Forums under "Arduino Laser".

Also, I have edited  Art's very first post in this topic to include links to relevant videos, the latest plugin, and the Arduino Laser topic at Gearotics forum. I will try to keep those updated. This way anyone looking for the latest info./files can get them quickly.

That Art, he is responsible for a lot of fun.  :)

Brett
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: BR549 on September 06, 2014, 11:44:25 AM
HIYA Brett any idea as to when V1960 will be out for testing with Darwin ??

(;-) TP
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Chaoticone on September 06, 2014, 07:06:49 PM
Hey Terry, No, I do not know.

Brett
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 17, 2014, 07:26:27 AM
Hi All:

  Im heading for portugal tomorrow, Ill be back in October. I suspect your not far off from a 1960 or better
Mach4 release so Ill put the latest version of Darwin here. This is compiled for 1960 or better and contains
the newest code base.
   As of Oct 1st Ill be back in development mode for Gearotic so this version of Darwin , bug fixes not withstanding
will probably stay as current unless the Mach4 api changes to the point where it needs recompilation.


Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: natsud2 on September 17, 2014, 07:28:53 AM
Have a great vacation, thanks for the files
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 01, 2014, 08:28:08 AM
Hi All:

  Im back from vacation. I hear a new build needs to be done for the next release so Im working with the guys to
get a new release ready. Shouldnt be too long.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 01, 2014, 10:10:58 PM
Is that why M4 version 2012 crashes when I install Darwin 2014-1-1960?

Just want to make sure I'm not doing something wrong (for once).   :)
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on October 01, 2014, 11:33:32 PM
correct
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 02, 2014, 05:10:37 AM
Hi Guys:

  Yes, the Mach API has changed a lot over the last few versions, so the plugin has to be redone for each iteration , this will stop soon I think.
 A new version is in the works, it wont be long, and Brian will post it on the web page as the official plugin release to match the M4 download to be posted as well.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on October 04, 2014, 09:58:43 AM
Hey Art,
  Hope ya had a great trip. I installed Mach4 2030 and Darwin 2030 and when I hit the enable button it doesn't stay enabled and I get a message in the history that says : Darwin Buffer Error - Motion out of Bounds.  I'm using windows XP
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 04, 2014, 10:45:53 AM
Where did you get Darwin 2030?

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on October 04, 2014, 10:53:52 AM
"Where did you get Darwin 2030?

Peter"

If you go to downloads and updates and then the Mach4 tab it has Mach4 Hobby R1.2030 and Mach4 Parallel Port Plugin V1.2030
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 04, 2014, 11:13:34 AM
Hi Guys:

  Darwin as released needs a Darwin license placed in the Licenses folder. As of 2030 version, a Licenses folder exists, the Mach4 license AND any licenses for plugins must be placed in that folder. If Darwin does not have a license installed, then it limits itself to 1 axis. This will change shortly to something less intrusive. However, since the release of 2030 was made, a bug has been discovered in the licensing facility within Mach4 and its possible even with a license the plugin will not function with more than 1 axis. Im trying to correct this but I fear it will have to wait till Monday as the bug seems deep within M4's code, not Darwins code, and the guys take weekends off. ( Go figure. :) ).

     I have , however , just today added more MPG's ( 3) to Darwin and its in testing, so I think a new version will be ready for Monday anyway, so hopefully this bug will be found and corrected quickly. Please let me know for my own reference if you have a license and this is happening, or if you have a license and it isnt happening.. If you dont have a license then it WILL happen as from this point forward, using Darwin ( or any motion plugin) will require a license file.. The Darwin license (or any plugin license) is a separate file from the Mach4 license.. and all licenses must be copied to the Licenses folder.

Thx
Art

   
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on October 04, 2014, 11:30:42 AM
Art,
 Thanks for the info. I changed some hardware but didn't get my license changed yet for the new pc id I have now. so I'll get that straightened out first.

Dave
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 04, 2014, 03:23:18 PM
I can't get M4 V2030 to show as licensed.  I put the license files in the license folder and started M4.  When I load the Mach4 license file that gets generated, I get a message indicating success but also get an error message that copying the file failed but the operation was a success.  Opening the dat file shows the M4 license file was incorporated.

If I go ahead and install Darwin V2030, it seems to install okay but when I check the licensing status, the program crashes, an unhandled exception.

I've tried using the original license files I received as txt file, changed them to dat files, and made new dat files with just the license data but no change in trying to license M4.

I have not changed my system since getting my original licenses.

Anyone else having these types of problems?

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on October 05, 2014, 02:16:59 AM
Hi Peter,

As mentioned by Dave, the way in which our PC ID is calculated has now been changed so you need to contact license support for the new licenses (Mach4 & Darwin)  license@machsupport.com

Please bear in mind that the '1 axis limit' issue has yet to be resolved so we will all have wait for the next Mach4 / Darwin release to be posted.

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 05, 2014, 07:21:41 AM
Hi Guys:

  As Tweaky says the process has changed so the ID's may have changed, the problem with Darwins license may also necessitate
them changing yet again while the guys get the code right for this section. Id be patient and ignore the update to 2030 until this issue is resolved,
probably early this week..

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 05, 2014, 11:51:02 AM
Thank you gentlemen.  I'll wait for the next release then request new licenses.

Looking forward to working with M4!

Pete
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 07, 2014, 06:59:45 AM
Hi Guys

  As you get your systems running can you report here on success or failure. The license issue has been addressed and so
if you have your darwin license you should be able to run. The behavior of a nonlicensed system has been changed so that all axis
work fine, but no IO occurs. Id like to monitor how this all works though so please post both success as well as failure so I have a benchmark.

Thx
Art

PS( Here is a copy of the plugin just in case it takes Brian a while to release an update..)
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on October 07, 2014, 08:41:07 AM
Hi Art,

The new plugin appears to work just fine.
I have only tried jogging so far but will try running some Gcode later on today.

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on October 07, 2014, 06:11:55 PM
Hi art just played with M4 its all good. its a lot better than it was a couple of changes ago smother, faster and less of a drag on my computer.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 07, 2014, 08:08:04 PM
I installed M2030 and D2035, got new licenses for both and put them in the license folder.
Darwin configured okay and I could jog all three axes and see the limit, home, probe, index, and estop inputs toggle.  However, when I tried to jog in M4, no motion.  Tripping the estop had no effect.  It seems there is no communication between M4 and Darwin.  I double checked the licenses and confirmed they are where they should be.  All three axes are set up in M4 as far as motor configuration goes and enablement.  When I try jogging in M4, the M4 DROs change as expected, but there is no motor movement.

Could this be a problem with the Darwin license?

BTW, if I try to check the motion controller selection in M4 (after having previously set it to parallel port), M4 locks up.  This is similar to what used to happen in previous versions.  I end up stopping M4 and restarting my system.

Also, M4 takes about 60 seconds to start up.  This is longer than it used to be by far.  Again, a license issue?

Thanks

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 07, 2014, 09:11:47 PM
Hi All:

 Heres a new version of Darwin that respects old CPU id's. Im told this is necessary for a week or so till the license generator is
updated..

  Now..as to errors. If the DRO's move, motion should occur. DRO's update only due to Darwin counting steps going out.
The license behaviour has been changed so Darwin halts motion after about 30 minutes if not licensed. Ive ask the guys
to add to m4 a license status list as I know its important to see if one is correct or not..

I still get errors in Mach4GUI in config.. but not in wxMach.. Still trying to find that ..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 07, 2014, 09:18:43 PM
Note:

 Theres a workaround I found for a lockup error when configing Darwin under MachGUI.. close the Mach4 dialog while Darwins config is still open. Youll find it all works well then. If you dont close M4's selection dialog first it can lock up..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 07, 2014, 10:03:52 PM
Art,  the lockup I was referring to happens when configuring M4 and selecting the motion controller tab.  Darwin is not in configuration mode at that time.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on October 07, 2014, 10:04:38 PM
Art,

It looks like Mach 4 build 2030 and Darwin 2035 (both licensed) is work exceptionally well.  The stutter I use to observe when jogging in Mach 4 has disappeared.  I'm running Darwin at 40,000 with no problems.  


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 07, 2014, 10:09:09 PM
Peter:

   You might want to drop that one in the bug report system, I havent seen it.

Freeman, thx, great to hear. Im runnign 40K as well with no touble on my laser.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on October 07, 2014, 11:39:11 PM
Hello Art,
 Got my license changed and Mach4 now shows 2030 licensed. I tried Darwin 2030, 2035, and 2038 and none of the inputs and outputs work. if I disconect the charge pump I can jog both axises.

Dave
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 08, 2014, 07:33:50 AM
Hi Dave:

  That means the license isnt working. At present theres no indication to you that it is or isnt, the only way youd know is
if the outputs dont work...and motion shuts down after 30 minutes or so.

  Check with the license guys to see if a new license is necessary for your ID.. I know they changed some...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: natsud2 on October 09, 2014, 01:51:13 AM
Sorry for the probably dumb question but How do you get a license? was it just for the early birds? i only see the demo download and not mention of licensing available yet
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 09, 2014, 07:21:41 AM
I think you just contact licensing.. theres supposed to be a link on the site for Darwin licenses..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on October 09, 2014, 04:14:50 PM
Hello Art

Since Mach 4 2038 is up on the website. Will Darwin 2030 work with this release or do i need to wait for Darwin 2030 to be updated to 2038. 

Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 09, 2014, 04:30:32 PM
I've been unable to jog in M4 for a couple of revs now.  I uninstalled and then installed M4 2038 and Darwin 2038.  Motors jog in Darwin but not in M4.  One symptom is that when I enable Darwin and return to M4, the lower status line shows a stream of inputs from MPG1 and MPG3.  I do not have any MPGs installed.  I do have encoders but they are not moving to cause this.  With M4 2038, the history log no longer seems to be capturing events but with the previous version (2030) the log was full of MPG1 and MPG3 input events.  Disabling Darwin stops this stream.

Regarding encoders, I did find a minor bug in Darwin.  My encoder #0 channels A and B are connected to port2, pins 2 and 3 respectively.  The default channel A pin is 2 so I did not change this.  The encoder count would only alternate between 0 and 1.  Channel A input was being ignored.  If I change it to another pin then back to 2, everything is okay.  I suspect the pins are not loaded with the defaults shown (pin 2).

Thanks

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 09, 2014, 08:43:04 PM
Eric:

 Yes, it should work fine in 2038 as well, Ive been using it all day with 2038..

Peter:

   Hmm, Ill make sure I turn off those messages, they should only turn on if DEBUG is selected in the Darwin dialog ...
The M4 guys are supposed to put out a version shortly that shows the loaded licenses, if you cant jog it may be license related
, though if you can jog in Darwin , you should be able to jog in M4 even without the license..

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 09, 2014, 08:45:09 PM
Peter:

  Just checked.. and if debug isnt turned on on, you should get no messages
from Darwin. Can you confirm its off or on so I can debug this further?

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 09, 2014, 09:02:29 PM
Art,

Sorry, where do I turn on/off debug?

I do get the message "MPG3 sent motion of 2 counts to move" at the bottom of the M4 screen.  The message is actually flickering between MPG3 and MPG1.  The value shown as 2 is different each time I run M4.  Opening history shows a blank page in the latest M4 version.

When I try to jog in M4, the DROs in M4 show motion but the motors don't move.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 09, 2014, 09:05:24 PM
Peter:

  If the DRO's show motion, the step pulses are going out. The breakout baord may be stopping the motors due to a
charge pump or something.. but the DRO's, as in Mach3, indicate all is well and steps are being sent. Check your
charge pump or enables for the trouble.

For Debug,. select the menu item Diagnostics/Darwin and see if the Debug is checked..

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 09, 2014, 10:27:52 PM
Art,

I got motion back.  I reinstalled M4 and set up Darwin again but this time I did not set up my encoders.  When I set up the encoders, the motion stopped.  Disabling the inputs did not restore motion until I restarted M4.  Also, the messages about the MPGs were not there until I set up the encoder inputs.  They went away after I disabled the inputs and restarted M4.

Am I the first to set up encoder inputs?

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on October 10, 2014, 01:22:36 AM
Hello Art

Well its not working for me. It will only allow 1 axis to work. If I have more than 1 axis enabled in Darwin I can't get Mach 4 to enable and I get a Darwin Buffer Error - motion out of bounds. Its like Darwin isn't licensed. Darwin.dat and Mach4.dat are in the license folder. I have uninstalled and installed Mach 4 and Darwin several times and reconfigured and still have the same results. Restarting Mach 4 has no effect nor does rebooting computer. Mach 4 is showing it's licensed. It would be nice if there was some way to know if Darwin was licensed or not. Starting to get frustrated.

Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on October 10, 2014, 01:46:46 AM
remove Darwin drives from C/drivers then do a reninstal
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 10, 2014, 07:38:55 AM
Hi:

  If limited to one axis, the plugin is old. The recent plugins limit only the IO and turn off motioon after abotu 1/2 hour. It
seems your license isnt working. I agree with you that there should be a way to see if the license works, and Ive expressed this
to Steve, who tells me there will soon be a way to tell.
   Your plugin should show version 1.200 in Mach4's selection tab....

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 10, 2014, 07:45:26 AM
A note on encoders and MPG's.

  To the plugin, MPGs are the only use of an encoder. Darwin , if it sees an enabled encoder is set to an MPG number,
will send messages to M4 to tell it the MPG has rotated. Thats all it does. MPG's in M4 are the responsability of the
screen set involved. Not the plugin. SO no motion will result from an MPG being rotated. IF the Debug box is checked in the
plugins control dialog ( under Diagnostiscs/Darwin) then messages will be put out showing the MPG was rotated.
  This does not mean motion will occur. Youd need a screenset that uses MPG's and I havent as yet seen one released.
The encoders are not reported to Mach4 in any other way so I assume there is no use for them in Mach4 for anything other
than MPGs. A plugin could of course use them for closed loop or anything else it wishes, but Darwin doesnt use them for
anything other than MPG reporting.   So until you have a screenset that uses MPG's, you may as well leave the encoders
turned off in Darwin..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on October 10, 2014, 07:51:25 AM
Hi Art,

It appears there is a Darwin license issue. I am running Mach4 build 2038 and have tried Darwin build 2030, 2035 & 2038 (deleting and re-installing the driver each time and copying the .dll, .m4pw, .sig) but in all cases Mach4 stops after a random time – as though it was unlicensed.

I had initially thought it was a Mach4 problem but can now confirm that Mach4 build 2038 when running in simulation mode runs forever it is just when running Darwin that it stops.

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 10, 2014, 09:36:15 AM
Thanks Tweakie..

 I think it proves there is a problem with the Darwin Licenses..

Ill notify the M4 guys who deal with that ..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 10, 2014, 09:38:48 AM
Hi Guys:

  Im told you need new Darwin licenses.. Your ID's have changed, contact Todd to get new ones..

Toddm@machsupport.com


Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on October 10, 2014, 10:41:19 AM
Hi Art,

Sorry to keep causing problems...
I do appreciate that my computer ID's has changed and I have new licenses for Mach4 and Darwin (they each contain the new ID) however, the issue mentioned in my earlier post still stands.  :'(

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 10, 2014, 11:30:02 AM
Art,

Just to be clear, the stream of MPG messages was happening with no rotation of the encoders.  Also, I am not expecting any motion as a result of the MPGs and I know they are not (intentionally) used by M4 yet.  I also do not expect that enabling them would inhibit axis movement when trying to jog.

Thanks

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 10, 2014, 12:11:15 PM
Peter:

   Hmm, that would indicate the encoders are counting.. if you look to themin the config..are they counting from noise or anything?

  I have checked and the debug was efaulted to on, I have changed that default to off. Your corect that motion should still
occur, the encoders woudl have no effect on them at all. Im unsure as to why at this point youd have no motion..

Tweaky: SO they gave you a new license and still it doesnt work? Ill contact Brian and ask whats up..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 10, 2014, 12:22:02 PM
Hi Guys:

  Here is a version that tells you if Mach4 has refused your license file. Until M4 can tell you itself,
Ill leave this code in there so you at least know if your license isnt working. Sorry for all the ups and
downs but I have no control over this type of thing, the code changes faster than I can keep up.

  Make sure your licenses are int he Licenses folder.. and once you start up your bottom status line will have a message
indicating failure if it failed. Please let me know what you see.


Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on October 10, 2014, 12:40:27 PM
Hi Art,

Thanks for posting the new file.  It tells me Darwin License has failed  :'(

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 10, 2014, 12:57:15 PM
Tweakie:

  Thanks, that explains a lot. Im in discussions with Brian right now. A priority will be on fixing this issue asap..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 10, 2014, 01:48:46 PM
The encoder counters were not changing unless I moved the axes.

I will try the new plugin later just in case.

Thanks

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 10, 2014, 02:02:09 PM
Says Darwin license failed.  I stopped there.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on October 11, 2014, 12:46:51 AM
Hello Art

I installed new files and was able to get movement from all 3 axises. I was even able to run a circle pocket g code program. I tried to do some MDI commands to turn on my spindle and nothing worked. I looked in the error history and says Darwin license failed.

Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 11, 2014, 08:25:14 AM
Hi Eric:

 Yes, apparently the guys are having trouble with their license code. Hopefully they will solve it soon,
your current plugin should automatically start to work when they issue a correction..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on October 11, 2014, 09:18:10 AM
Hi Art,

Will that be a new build of Mach4 or a new license that is required to resolve the 'Darwin License has failed' issue ?

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 11, 2014, 09:31:05 AM
Tweakie:

  I suspect it could be either. Darwin , or any plugin simply calls an API routine that checks a license, it returns good or bad..
It seems its returning bad for some, good for others. So I think it will be a m4 update that will fix it, and that may require a
new license as well ..

  Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: natsud2 on October 12, 2014, 08:19:42 PM
Well I checked into getting a license but it apoears they were only selling them in the month of August and I missed out...I will have to wait til it goes on sale to the "public" I guess
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Analias on October 15, 2014, 02:28:27 PM
Art,

Should homing work with the latest Darwin (2030, 2035)?  When I initiate a "ref all" or per axis with lua calls nothing moves.


-Freeman
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 15, 2014, 03:01:10 PM
Freeman:

  Yes, homing has worked for some time...Ill retest but it should go. The Home signals must be enabled and mapped in mach4. Turn on debug
and let me know what the debug messages say.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on October 15, 2014, 04:50:24 PM
Any idea when the new release of M4 with the Darwin license bug fix will be realeased.

Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 15, 2014, 09:05:19 PM
Sorry Eric, I have no idea. You should send them an email asking them...might rush them along..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on October 28, 2014, 01:43:54 AM
Mach 4 2059 still won't allow Darwin to be licensed. I even went as far as downloading a new license file from the license manager. It downloaded as a .txt file and I had to change it to a .dat file to get Mach 4 to see it. I can jog 3 axises but that's it. Homing wont't work. I can't turn on my forward and reverse spindle relays
with M3 and M4 in MDI. Spindle won't turn on.

I looked in the history file and saw.

Failed to license feature M4_DARWIN
(mcDarwin)Darwin License has failed.
Do MDI

Then I looked in Mach 4 Help/System Informaion and saw Feature M4_mcDARWIN Unlicensed

So the Darwin plugin bug still isn't fixed.

Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on October 28, 2014, 04:44:26 AM
Hi Eric,

I sympathise  :'(

I had already made the mistake of installing build 2059 thinking that the Darwin license issue would have been resolved, unfortunately not  :'(

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on October 28, 2014, 02:07:06 PM
Hello Tweakie

Well we waited 3 weeks for this fix I guess we can wait 3 more for the next fix.

Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 31, 2014, 07:42:39 AM
Hi Guys:

  I posted this earlier, dont know what happend to it, but here is a copy that allows for your license to indicate whats wrong if
it doesnt work.


Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on October 31, 2014, 08:06:01 AM
Hey Art,
   With 2058 it says "Darwin license has failed with -33." if that helps any.

 Dave
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 31, 2014, 08:50:05 AM
Thx Dave:

  Ill report it..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 31, 2014, 08:53:50 AM
Dave:

  Interesting .. thats a file not found error. Is the license.dat in the Licenses subfolder?
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 31, 2014, 12:52:21 PM
Hi:

 Can you also check the file is named .dat and not .txt

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on October 31, 2014, 01:04:29 PM
How can something as basic as a file extension for the license be an issue for 3 months now????
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on October 31, 2014, 03:30:14 PM
Hello Art

I was just at the machsupport website and saw that Mach 4 2069 has been realeased for download. Has the Dawin license bug been fixed in this new versoin? I don't want to waste my time installing it if it isn't. Wasted 3 hours of my time on 2059.


Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on October 31, 2014, 07:21:09 PM
Hey Art,
  When I downloaded a new license file it was a .txt file. both the Mach4 and Darwin license I changed them to .dat file extension and put them in the license folder in Mach4. Then I checked Mach4 and it says it is licensed. But when I open the static gui it has a message in the history that says "Darwin license has failed with -33. I tried the latest Mach4 2067 and get the same result. I didn't uninstall the previous version of Mach4 and installed it over the other version so I will try that.

Dave
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 31, 2014, 08:07:36 PM
Can you confirm for me that the file is named "DarwinLic.dat" ? 
Ive been reporting this to Steve..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 31, 2014, 08:10:02 PM
Hi Guys:

  Here is Darwin for that 2063.. I was told 2068 breaks all plugins so I had this ready..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 31, 2014, 08:16:14 PM
Hi Guys:

  Here is Darwin full file complement for 2067 and up..
Sorry for the banging of files.. but no-one told me the new release was
being released..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on October 31, 2014, 09:08:41 PM
Hey Art,
   Got it figured out when they send a new license the name is "parallel-port-legacy-plugin-for-mach4+(your pc id).txt" so I changed the name of the file to DarwinLic.dat and now it works. Thanks

Dave
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 31, 2014, 10:53:13 PM
Kudos to you Dave!  That worked here as well.

Art, that problem with the encoder inputs somehow interfering with things has gone away with the latest versions.

I still get that minor problem where I have to disable then re-enable to get the motors to turn.  This happens when in Darwin configuration or in Mach4 operation.  It stays okay once the motors are enabled.

Homing doesn't work for me.  It just sets the axis lights to green.  I have seen reference to Darwin doing a homing operation but I cannot find where that would be.  Where would it be?

Thanks

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on November 01, 2014, 01:57:29 AM
Hello All

Changing parallel-port-legacy-plugin-for-mach4+(your pc id).txt to DarwinLic.dat worked for me also. Just need to figure how to make my step/direction spindle work now and I'm back to where I was before everything got broken.

Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 01, 2014, 08:00:35 AM
Hi Guys:

   Thanks for the confirmations..

  As to homing.. Turn on debug in the Diag/Darwin dialog. See what messages come out when you home, it sounds like you
haven't specified the homing switches completely or they have wrong polarity. debug messages will show as to why..

  For step/dir spindle, just specify a spindle output in M4, then in the Darwin Diag dialog specify no PWM spindle and set a min frequency and a max.
Then you should also get Debug messages if you turn on debug telling you what Darwin's attemptinbg when you try to turn on the spindle..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on November 01, 2014, 05:51:04 PM
Art,

By turning on debug I assume you mean check the print messages box.  When I do so, I get the following messages for a ref all command:

Axis 2 Estop capability disabled for homing
Axis Homing begins on Axis 2
Axis 2  Homed with 0 steps decel after switch
Homing Complete on slave motor 0
Homing Complete on Axis 2
All Homing Complete
Axis 0 Estop capability re-enabled after homing
Axis 0 Estop capability disabled for homing
Axis Homing begins on Axis 0
Axis Homing begins on Axis 1
Axis 0  Homed with 2177 steps decel after switch
Homing Complete on slave motor 0
Homing Complete on Axis 0
Axis 1  Homed with 0 steps decel after switch
Homing Complete on slave motor 0
Homing Complete on Axis 1
All Homing Complete
Axis 0 Estop capability re-enabled after homing

None of the axes move, none of the DROs change, the DRO status lights change to green.  The home switch and limit functions show up properly in both Darwin pinout and M4 diagnostic screens.

Since I don't have a slave axis and I do have separate home switches for each axis separate from the limit switches and they are not set up to trip estop, I'm thinking this is an M4 problem, not Darwin.

BTW, after checking the print box in Darwin diagnostics, the previous problem with the encoders returned.  I have disabled them until the feature is useable.

Hope you had a great Halloween.

Peter

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 01, 2014, 06:23:15 PM
Peter:

 Before you home, are the Home lights lit up on the diags page? ( They shouldnt be), and when you command home and the
DRO's turn green, are the home led's on the diags page lit? 

  If not, then I dont think Darwin is seeing that you have home switches turned on. In Darwins config, ont he Motors
config page, there is a box for setting the home switch for that motor, did you set those boxes to the signal number
of whatever switch si your home switch?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on November 01, 2014, 07:45:26 PM
Well, that was embarrassing!   :-[ :-[ :-[

I missed setting the home switch numbers for the motors.  You'd think after having reentered all the setup data over the course of reinstalling several versions of software I'd have the routine down by now but ....  Is there a config file I can save for future re-installations so I don't embarrass myself this way again?

I have all three axes homing as expected again.  Thank you for your patience.

In terms of modifying home so that the axes move off the switch then zero the DROs, is that a function I will need to program myself?

When I first enable M4 and try to jog, the DROs change but the motors don't move.  If I then disable then re enable M4, I can jog the motors.  Also, going into config plugins/Darwin, then going back to 'normal' mode will require me to go through the same routine again to establish motion.  It's as if there's a housekeeping action missing somewhere.  Any ideas?

Thanks

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 01, 2014, 08:22:02 PM
Hi Peter:

>>In terms of modifying home so that the axes move off the switch then zero the DROs, is that a function I will need to program myself?

  Yes. Youd need a script form what I hear.. Im unsure as yet how to do that..

>>When I first enable M4 and try to jog, the DROs change but the motors don't move.

  This appears to be an M4 bug.. Im still checking into it..
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on November 02, 2014, 01:58:23 AM

  For step/dir spindle, just specify a spindle output in M4, then in the Darwin Diag dialog specify no PWM spindle and set a min frequency and a max.
Then you should also get Debug messages if you turn on debug telling you what Darwin's attemptinbg when you try to turn on the spindle..


Hello Art

You say choose a spindle output in M4. Is that the Spindle On in outputs for the output frequency pin in M4 or out of band axis under Spindle in M4. I watched your last Darwin Youtube video and I'm really confused as to where to make all these settings. You said in the video that M4 has it's own step/direction spindle check out the documentation on how to set it up. There is no documentation. Been trying to set this up on my own and having no luck.

I can put a frequency to the pin in Darwin and turn on the forward relay and get spindle motion but in M4 it don't work. Hasn't since you added the Arduino laser stuff and changed the regfile.

Here is what I got from the history file when I tried to turn on my spindle.

Signal 5 set to 0
Signal 6 set to 0
Signal 7 set to 0
Do MDI
Spindle Output located.
Signal 6 set to 1
Signal 5 set to 1

Eric.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on November 02, 2014, 01:22:37 AM
have you remove the M3, M4 and M5 macros in the macros folder as they can cause the spindle not to work properly 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on November 02, 2014, 02:01:04 AM
There were no M3, M4, or M5 macros in my profile macros folder. I even copied them from the Sims profile macros folder to my profile and still still no spindle movement. My forward and reverse relays will turn on and off but no spindle movement.

Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on November 02, 2014, 02:18:32 AM
does the button on screen work.

also you tick freq ctrl, just set hi and low in Darwin config

in Darwin set your output for spindle on, in m4 set spindle forward as what you set spindle on to.

I am only going by memory I don't use the Darwin machine I have for milling any more converting to darwin laser. if I am wrong art will say
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 02, 2014, 07:47:53 AM
Hi:

 You dont need Out of Band or anything, in Mach4 you need to set a spindle range ot the first spindle range setting.
Then in Darwin diagnostics, set frequency controlled spindle. Set a minimum and max frequency the vfd or controller
for the spindle can handle. THis doesnt mean the same as the mach4 range. For example set mach4's range from
0 - 2000rpm.. then set darwins range from 500 to 20Khz..  you basically match frequnecy with the RPM it will create.
  Turn on debug messages as well just in case. Also tell M4 that the spindle output is active.

 This will giev you a step/dir spindle with no direction. TO change direction just creata another signal called SpindleCCW
and tell M4 it exists. That should be enough to make a step/dir spindle work. M4 has its own Spindle control fir such things
but like much of M4 , its still a mystery how it works until there are docs..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on November 02, 2014, 11:49:56 PM
Thanks Art followed your directions and that got my spindle working.

Eric.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 04, 2014, 07:07:55 AM
Hi Guys:

  This is version 2071 of Darwin, ( I will make darwins version number equal to the Mach4 version numbers..)

No need to upgrade unless you need to, this one reportedly reapres a few license issues, will accept .txt as well for
licenses, and can load plugins from the about menu..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on November 04, 2014, 07:12:42 AM
Hi Guys:

  This is version 2071 of Darwin, ( I will make darwins version number equal to the Mach4 version numbers..)

No need to upgrade unless you need to, this one reportedly reapres a few license issues, will accept .txt as well for
licenses, and can load plugins from the about menu..

Art


Hi Art,

You missed adding the attachment.  :)

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ya-Nvr-No on November 04, 2014, 07:42:29 AM
Don't even see Mach4 2071 available yet.  ???

As usual, Arts always ahead of the curve.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 04, 2014, 08:01:34 AM
Itll show up..  :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 04, 2014, 08:04:37 AM
In future guys, I think Ill just ensure Brian has versions appropriate for when they post new Mach4's, so then they can update their web link to an appropriate Darwin. That will keep you guys from having to search here, and if everything works as it should the web version will be up to date with the posted M4.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on November 04, 2014, 08:30:28 AM
That's perhaps the best way to ensure compatible versions of both M4 and Darwin  ;)

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Racer on November 05, 2014, 10:58:32 AM
That's perhaps the best way to ensure compatible versions of both M4 and Darwin  ;)

Tweakie.

I installed 2071 Mach4 and 2071 Darwin and still i get this in history.

Failed to license feature M4_DARWIN (mcDarwin)
Darwin License has failed with -33.
Do MDI
Do MDI

I tried renaming license file but still get the same thing.
Mach4 stops working after 10 min. or so.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 05, 2014, 11:13:39 AM
Hi Racer:

  The -33 is a "File not found" error, so your file is in the wrong spot, or the wrong name.
It should be in

C:\Mach4Hobby\Licenses\DarwinLic.dat

  The Mach4hobby may be Mach4 instead.. but the file should be named as above and placed in the licenses folder.
If it still gives a -33 error, then make sure m4 is up to date as well.

Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Racer on November 05, 2014, 11:51:30 AM

  The Mach4hobby may be Mach4 instead.. but the file should be named as above and placed in the licenses folder.
If it still gives a -33 error, then make sure m4 is up to date as well.

Art



[/quote]
Renamed to C:\Mach4Hobby\Licenses\DarwinLic.dat
getting a -37 now
Failed to license feature M4_DARWIN (mcDarwin)
Darwin License has failed with -37.
Do MDI

Should I ask for a new License?

Thanks

Jerry
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 05, 2014, 12:34:13 PM
Jerry:

 Yes, error -37 means the ID is invalid so you need a replacement.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Bezalel on November 14, 2014, 02:56:17 AM
Jerry:

 Yes, error -37 means the ID is invalid so you need a replacement.

Art


Great work Art, Thanks.

 
Does any one know What email address I should use to request a replacement Darwin license? The license I have is generating Error -37 

Cheers
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on November 14, 2014, 03:17:24 AM
Quote
Does any one know What email address I should use to request a replacement Darwin license? The license I have is generating Error -37 

Hi Bezalel,

Perhaps best to just use the contact form here http://www.machsupport.com/contact-us/

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Bezalel on November 14, 2014, 03:24:28 AM
Hi Tweakie,

The letter that came with the licenses only linked to the forum.

I'll give that url a shot.

Thanks.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on November 14, 2014, 11:27:59 AM
Bezalel,

You can manage your licenses including getting a new one by logging into your account on the website.  If you don't have an account yet, just set one up.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Bezalel on November 14, 2014, 05:46:30 PM
Hi Peter

Thanks for the good advice, it is almost the same answer as came from the Artsoft guys which arrived about the same time.

I thought I should came back to the forum and let others know about the license managing facility in your Artsoft account.
     
I see you already beat me too it.

I'm thinking most people searching for a solution to a

 "  Failed to license feature M4_DARWIN (mcDarwin)
Darwin License has failed with -37 error  "

would probably be as green as me and need a nudge in the right direction.

thanks again

Cheers

 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on November 16, 2014, 05:42:11 PM
Art,

At the risk of driving you to drink, I've discovered some more information about the encoder actions in Darwin that might be of use to you.  As you might recall, I have 3 shaft encoders that work fine in M3.  While playing around in M4, I've found that enabling encoders 0 and 1 results in both axes working fine.  If I disable encoder 0, encoder 1 stops working.  If I enable encoders 0 and 2 only, both work okay.  If I enable all three, I'm back to that problem of Darwin sending signals to M4 when there is encoder motion.
So, enabling encoder 0 seems to be required for any encoder to work.  Encoder 2 seems to interact in other ways.

I bring this up now because it appears that M4 now supports encoders.  Now I need to get the function calls and definitions!

Thanks

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on November 16, 2014, 06:25:53 PM
Correction, sentence 6 should have read:

If I enable all three, I'm back to that problem of Darwin sending signals to M4 when there is NO encoder motion.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 16, 2014, 08:19:01 PM
Peter:

  Thnks, I will check the code to see if there is an error. Do the encoders read properly in Darinws encoder tab no matter whats enabled?
It will help point to possible driver error or plugin..

thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on November 16, 2014, 08:32:36 PM
Art,

Yes, I can enable all three at once and they look okay in Darwin.  This would lead me to suspect it's an M4 problem except for the erroneous entries in the history log.

If I knew the encoder functions in M4, I might be able to do some more sleuthing.

Thanks for your patience

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on November 16, 2014, 08:51:47 PM
A bit more.  Everything looks okay in Darwin, any combination.

In M4, 0 and 1 enabled = okay.  0 and 2 enabled, 2 works, 0 doesn't. 1 and 2 enabled, neither work.  All enabled, stream of erroneous messages saying 1 and 3 have moved.  Yes, 3.  I don't have an encoder 3.  Sorry I missed this 'detail' before.

When I say doesn't work, I mean no message in the history log for that axis.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 16, 2014, 09:03:25 PM
Hi Peter:

 Thx, I think your description has lead me to the error.

Unfortunately, I dont keep old builds, but I have repaired the latest build, which will proably work
as I dont think the API has changed any structures. So use the plugin in this attachment, no need to
update the driver or anything, just update the plugin and the .sig files and your encoders should
start to work fine.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on November 16, 2014, 09:23:53 PM
Art,

You did it!  All looks good here now.  And yes, I did just realize MPG0, 1, and 2 in setup are really MPG1, 2, and 3 in the history file.

Thank you again for your fine work!

You wouldn't by any chance have a programmer's guide to Mach 4 functions, would you?  

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 16, 2014, 10:43:42 PM
Peter:

 Im afraid there is none as yet. Writing a plugin is at times quite a challenge. :) , Im glad its all working well,
I'm getting reports form many Darwin users of very good stability, and Ive been using it myself quite a bit, Im quite impressed
with how well it works for me.

  Thanks for the help on the bug..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on November 17, 2014, 04:28:25 PM
Art,

Darwin calculates the frequency for a toggling input.  This would seem like a great candidate for powering a spindle tach using an index pulse.  Is the frequency value available to Mach 4?

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 17, 2014, 05:10:46 PM
Peter:

  It is, but theres nothing in Mach4 to accept it.  Perhaps when Docs are done Ill find a way to respond to a
script asking for such information, but like encoder data, theres no place to send it. Encoder data gets in by back door
of MPG usage. Similarly, output signals can all set a frequency out, but there no way to tell it to do so. We'll see what
capabilities grow over time on the M4 scipting side..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: BR549 on November 17, 2014, 06:34:34 PM
(;-) TP
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Student on November 18, 2014, 12:35:29 PM
Hi,

i have installed the released MACH4 and the Darwin Plugin (with licenses) and configured the system as described in the youtube video.
Jogging works fine...
But when I press the Homing Button, nothing happens!

This is the log after pressing the homing button:

2014-11-18 18:20:55.281 - API: mcAxisHomeAll() called.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.281 - Attempt transition from "Idle" on event "Home" Command.cpp:851
2014-11-18 18:20:55.281 - S_IDLE_on_exit
2014-11-18 18:20:55.281 - MACH_STATE_start_homing
2014-11-18 18:20:55.281 - S_HOMING_on_entry
2014-11-18 18:20:55.281 - Signal id 1131, (Z Homed), changed from HIGH to LOW.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.296 - Signal id 1129, (X Homed), changed from HIGH to LOW.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.312 - API: mcAxisHomeComplete() called. axis 2
2014-11-18 18:20:55.312 - Signal id 1131, (Z Homed), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.312 - All motors marked as still.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.312 - API: mcMotionSync() called.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.312 - SyncPosition()!
2014-11-18 18:20:55.406 - Signal id 1130, (Y Homed), changed from HIGH to LOW.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.421 - API: mcAxisHomeComplete() called. axis 0
2014-11-18 18:20:55.421 - Signal id 1129, (X Homed), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.421 - All motors marked as still.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.421 - API: mcMotionSync() called.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.421 - SyncPosition()!
2014-11-18 18:20:55.515 - Signal id 1132, (A Homed), changed from HIGH to LOW.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.531 - API: mcAxisHomeComplete() called. axis 1
2014-11-18 18:20:55.531 - Signal id 1130, (Y Homed), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.531 - All motors marked as still.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.531 - API: mcMotionSync() called.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.531 - SyncPosition()!
2014-11-18 18:20:55.640 - API: mcAxisHomeComplete() called. axis 3
2014-11-18 18:20:55.640 - Signal id 1132, (A Homed), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.640 - Attempt transition from "Homing" on event "Stop Home" Command.cpp:954
2014-11-18 18:20:55.640 - S_HOMING_on_exit
2014-11-18 18:20:55.640 - MACH_STATE_stop_homing
2014-11-18 18:20:55.640 - SyncPosition()!
2014-11-18 18:20:55.640 - S_IDLE_on_entry
2014-11-18 18:20:55.640 - All motors marked as still.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.640 - API: mcMotionSync() called.
2014-11-18 18:20:55.640 - SyncPosition()!


what goes wrong?
Does anybody have an idea?

Stefan
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on November 18, 2014, 12:42:44 PM
Did you set the home signals on the Darwin motor setup pages?

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 18, 2014, 02:53:01 PM
What does the messagelog show..the debug messages that show on the error line.. Darwin sends messages there..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Student on November 19, 2014, 02:57:55 AM
i didn't get a message on the error line. And i have set the home singnals on the Darwin motor setup page. I have assigned each homing signal to the correspondig motor.
maybe I have to switch the logic level of the homing signals - i will check that...
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 19, 2014, 07:37:40 AM
Hi:

  Make sure in Mach that the active low is not checked.. Check the Diags page to see that when you press a switch, the diags lights up for that home switch.
The led's shoudl eb off normally for the homes.

   In Darwin, you need to set the signal for each motor.

In Darwins diagnostics setup, turn on Debug mode, youll then get messages on the
error line telling you the steps, for example it may say "Home switch already pressed." ..ect...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on November 19, 2014, 03:00:28 PM
Hi Art:

I'm finally getting back to this. Everything installed and licensed fine for me. I have only one small problem.

I have the charge pump enabled on my PMDX132. When I first start M4 just as it starts up but before the control panel fully appears, the relays click on the PMDX which is an indication that the charge pump is activated but about 1 second later when the actual control panel appears the relays drop out. The DRO's change when you jog but no movement. I have to use the disable button and re-enable then the relays latch in again and jog is fine.
I guessing that the charge pump signal is not staying active. Do you think this is a Darwin issue or a M4 issue.
I'd have to get the scope out and trace the signal from the PC I guess. I haven't done that yet.

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 19, 2014, 03:26:21 PM
Sage;

  It happens to me as well, near as I can tell its an m4 issue, but I wont claim that for sure till I troubleshoot it some more.
I always enable, disable then enable again to ensure it doesnt happen to me. Im deep in 4th axsi code at the moment, but Ill trace
that out shortly to make sure its not me.  It used to be an m4 issue, but now it may be a fix I made for the issue back when..

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on November 19, 2014, 03:37:58 PM
Since you apparently have that fancy interface board :-) maybe you have an LED or something on the PP signal (pin 17 I think). If not I can get the scope out open up my controller and have a look. In any case no rush. I'm not using it anyway.


>> Edit <<
On second thought I guess checking it on the PP cable would be useless. That's after Darwin. I guess it's up to you.
No rush.

Thanks

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 11, 2014, 12:22:48 PM
Hi All:

  Here is a version of Darwin for the recenly released 2138 lversion of Mach. My appologies for the delay,
I wasnt aware of any issue in regards to running in 2138, but I hear someone is having a problem, so here is a
version for 2138, the official download will follow soon.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 11, 2014, 01:20:57 PM
And here, just in case 2157 is delayed, is a copy in advance for version 2157 when released.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Tweakie.CNC on December 12, 2014, 01:46:00 AM
Thanks Art for posting Darwin v.2157.

Mach4 v.2157 has now been posted on the web site.

( The site managed to keep in step for a while (Mach4 / Darwin versions) but that seems to have lapsed.  :(  )

Tweakie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 12, 2014, 07:59:29 AM
Hi Tweak:

 Apparently Brian was on the road and he makes the installs, so things got a touch out of sync. Often it doesnt matter, this time
it unfortunately did. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: OtherBruce on December 18, 2014, 08:17:44 PM
Well, in the last 48 hours I have become pretty familiar with rereredoing things.  (BTW Art - Darwin installs files 1 directory too deep for Mach4 to find). 

I have a StarTech PCI add on parallel port in an old Compaq machine running Win XP SP3.  I can drill via Start/ Control panel/ System/ Hardware tab/ Device Mgr/ Ports/ PCI Parallel (LPT1)/ Propertys/ Resources to get my Hex address (AC00),...

then I can open Mach4/ Configure/ Plugins where I activate Darwin, then configure it (my pulse waterfall looks fine - even at the 75K limit). 

On port 1 I tell it the address (which it immediately revises to "0Xac00"), and I enable it. 

Then on the Motor Config tab I set the port/ pin data & enable the first three (Art - why does the motor selection come up highlighted, but it does not save feeble attempts to rename them?). 

Then on the Input Siganl tab, I change Signals 3,4 & 5 to Home X, Y & Z respectively.  Then I wander thru the other tabs looking for some rock I didn't reset.

Then it does not work.  Then I test it with a multimeter to prove it's still not working.  Then I reinstall the driver, take a nap, and start again. 

The one ray of sunshine is that when futzing with the port settings tab in the properties dialog, if I change the inerupt settings & save, the only motor I have set up (X) turns a few degrees.  Were it not for this, I would be a COMPLETE failure.

Is my error obvious?  Please & one thousand Thanks Yous.

OB
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 18, 2014, 08:56:15 PM
Hi Bruce(other) :)

>>Well, in the last 48 hours I have become pretty familiar with rereredoing things.  (BTW Art - Darwin installs files 1 directory too deep for Mach4 to find).

  Thx, I will check that, Brian makes the installs so Ill ask him to redo it if it installs wrong on mine.

>>I have a StarTech PCI add on parallel port in an old Compaq machine running Win XP SP3.  I can drill via Start/ Control panel/ System/ Hardware tab/ Device Mgr/ Ports/ PCI Parallel (LPT1)/ Propertys/ Resources to get my Hex address (AC00),...

 Sounds right.

>>then I can open Mach4/ Configure/ Plugins where I activate Darwin, then configure it (my pulse waterfall looks fine - even at the 75K limit). 

 Sounds good as well.

>>On port 1 I tell it the address (which it immediately revises to "0Xac00"), and I enable it. 

 Good.

>>Then on the Motor Config tab I set the port/ pin data & enable the first three (Art - why does the motor selection come up highlighted, but it does not save feeble attempts to rename them?). 

  Are you running this config from inside Mach4? Darwins config will only be remembered if run from the Mach3 setup menu..
If Im undertsanding you, its because you cannot rename motors. They remain as motor0, 1 2 ..etc.. Otherwise confusion could get bad between m4 and darwin as m4 considers many things
in terms of motor number.

>>Then on the Input Siganl tab, I change Signals 3,4 & 5 to Home X, Y & Z respectively.  Then I wander thru the other tabs looking for some rock I didn't reset.
>>Then it does not work.  Then I test it with a multimeter to prove it's still not working.  Then I reinstall the driver, take a nap, and start again. 

   If you press on a home switch does it show up on the ports page as raw port data toggleing? If, for example the home X is on pin 10, does pin 10 toggle in the raw data wniow when you press
that switch? Best to make sure the port address is OK by checking a ouple of inputs. Check they toggle the LEDs when you press them on the ports page. Then, if that works the port is ok, so check the
state LED on the actual input pin setup, does that toggle? Let me know where the failure is at.

>>The one ray of sunshine is that when futzing with the port settings tab in the properties dialog, if I change the inerupt settings & save, the only motor I have set up (X) turns a few degrees.  Were it not for this, I would be a COMPLETE failure.

  I take it this is in some dialog for the printer port card? Darwin doesnt set interrupts so I imagein this is some setting of the card?

Let me know and we'll see how it reacts..
Art

 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: OtherBruce on December 19, 2014, 12:52:39 AM
Thanks for the reply Art!

>Are you running [Darwin] config from inside Mach4?... only be remembered if run from the Mach...
Yes, because when I did it in the install setup they didn't hold <g>

>>Then on the Input Signal tab...Then it does not work....
>If you press on a home switch
OK, your forcing my hand.... I thought I might come off as literate in that first message, but now I have to admit I don't know where there is a home switch.  Everything I am doing is in the jog tab.  I actually just looked for a home button & could not find one.  I am setting in the living room, with one motor hooked up to one power supply, one driver, and a BOB with only a 5 loose wire attached.  My goal is to make them dance one motor at a time.... so far they're all wall flowers.

>does it show up on the ports page as raw port data toggleing?
I can't find a home button & you think I can find this? <G>  Where is the ports page?

>If, for example the home X is on pin 10, does pin 10 toggle in the raw data window
You are light days ahead of me.  Where is a raw data window?

>>if I change the inerupt settings & save, the only motor I have set up (X) turns a few degrees.
> in some dialog for the printer port card?
In one of the tabs on the port properties dialog box.

>Let me know and we'll see how it reacts.
You are a good & generous god.  Thanks Art.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: OtherBruce on December 19, 2014, 04:14:49 AM
On another item: under the Input Signal tab, you stress the signals are NOT pin numbers, OK, but what are they?  There are 15 of them,... are they unique pulse signatures?

and another - "Negated" seems to have a new meaning in CNC parlance.... is it used to mean 'reversed?'

Sorry to be needing so much education.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on December 19, 2014, 05:20:32 AM
make youtube your friend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6SU5JVTpik
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 19, 2014, 07:52:29 AM
lol, that was Dans way of saying RTFM.. :)

  OK, lets walk it back a little to where your at.. :)

 Many of us do the same as your trying, get a motor to turn so you know things work. :)

The problem with outputs like motor outputs is its hard to troubleshoot, they are there
or they arent. Where to look when they arent?

  So its best, as a first step, to check an input. In Darwins config, signal numbers arent pin numbers.
In other words, signal #7 is just the seventh signal.. not pin 7. TO set the pin you have to select
Signal#7, give it a name, then set its pin and port. ( and level). SO this is the easiest test.

 Inputs must be on certain pins.. by default pins 2-9 for example are always outputs. Pin 10 though,
is an input. So.. its the best test. Setup an input signal.. say Input #3, set it to Enabled. Now its on.,
Set it to pin 10. Now, take your pin 10, and ground it. (Attach it to pin 25). Look at the status box
on the same page your you set the signals pin, its red, green or yellow. What color is it?
Remove the short between pin 10 and 25. ( Just let pin 10 hang in space connected to nothing..)
What color is that state LED now. It should have changed. If it didnt, your porinter port isnt working right
or you havent configured it right....

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: OtherBruce on December 19, 2014, 11:43:35 AM
Thanks daniellyall - that video is how I got as far as I did! <g>
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: 3D on December 19, 2014, 02:48:54 PM
Hello Art
I am running Mach Build 2114 an Darwin 1.21 version 1.19
On your post #98 you said that if we were running both Mach 3 and 4 on the same computer we would need to have Veredist_86 installed.
If you did not have this on your computer would Mach 4 run Jerky or not at all.
Thank you
Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 19, 2014, 08:31:27 PM
Hi Eric:

   It may not run at all, generally, youll get an error "Side by Side config is wrong" if the redist isnt installed..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: OtherBruce on December 19, 2014, 08:45:24 PM
I hate being a nube. 
"RTFM" was on the mark.... but I was assuming it meant "Read the forum man!"
When I looked up the real meaning a bulb went off - as all I had been doing was the forum & youtube.

The Frikin Manual is at http://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Mach4%20Installation%20Manual.pdf

And on page 10 it tells you to FIRST select a motion device....

I am hoping my poor example will help some other poor bastard.

I hate being a nube.....
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on December 19, 2014, 09:41:04 PM
you got it in the end. that's all right I could not get my laser controller going last week I did not hock up the common from bob to arduino that's a trucken nob thing to do but it help everyone else in the end
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: OtherBruce on December 19, 2014, 10:43:05 PM
Oh I'm not there yet Daniellyall, you just pointed out that _I_ could move the log in my path (thank you). 
Now I'm now toggling back & forth between the manual & web pages that explain the concepts/ terms/ instructions in different words.
The higher I climb on this path, the better the vista of just how distant the journey will be.

I'm only trying DOING to do a 3 axis router!
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on December 20, 2014, 12:04:26 AM
yer I have done it all ready so been down the same road I set it by arts vids and the manuals the only problem I had was with the spindle it was a 3 axis as well.

now I am doing arts laser controller 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 20, 2014, 12:20:27 AM
>>now I am doing arts laser controller 

  Thats my aim, to see how much other peoples time I can waste in one lifetime..... Im going fer a record. :-)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on December 20, 2014, 12:22:49 AM
you funny art so far I seem to have only wasted your time and my own
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: 3D on December 20, 2014, 10:54:29 AM
Thanks Art,
I guess that's not my problem.
I can get to run in 2D but when I try 3D it is very Jerky. I am working on a newer pc has  I type this
Thanks again.
Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: 3D on December 22, 2014, 06:46:10 PM
Hello Art,
Will Darwin run with Windows 7 32 bit.
I try and could not get it to install
Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 22, 2014, 09:08:41 PM
Eric:

  It should , but I have heard some had trouble doing so...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Baxter1000 on December 24, 2014, 04:22:26 PM
Need some help, I am very new to CNC and have built my system.  Using Win7, Mach4 w/para port driver.  I am unable to see the Darwin in the plugins and truthfully read and tried so much, I am not sure where to go from here.  I was able to get Mach4 licensed but I think the only way to license the port plugin is thru the plugins menu inside Mach4, but not sure that is even true.  I continuously get an error message about failed to load shared library mcdarwin.m4pw.  My guess is I am not understanding something, so any help would be great.  Thanks Tom
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 24, 2014, 09:25:44 PM
Hi Tom:

  Well, I think the first thing to do is to igonre the license till you get Darwin running. It sound sliek perhaps its a
version mismatch. What version is your MAch4? ( check thehelp/about). To get darwin to run you typically just need to copy in two files to the plugins
folder. Darwin.m4pw and Darwin.sig , do both of these files exist in the plugins folder?

We'll go from there..

Thx
Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Baxter1000 on December 26, 2014, 02:50:59 PM
Good day Art,  I have looked at the version and for the Mach4 it is Build 2157, Version 4.0.1.2157.  It has taken my code so it is licensed now.  I had, and did again, copy the 2 files to the plugin folder and they still do not show up in the Mach4 plugin drop down.  I think I may have installed a couple of different versions of Darwin, so maybe I need to uninstall everything and try again.  Thanks for your help, I know it is the Holidays, so no hurry on a reply.  Tom
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 26, 2014, 03:33:52 PM
Tom:

  The only place it will show up in at first I think is in the "Select Motion Device" menu item.
Fromt here it will turn on the other menu item .. Does it apear in that menu?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Baxter1000 on December 26, 2014, 03:43:04 PM
Hi Art, the only thing in there is Simulation Device, which is checked.  Thanks
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 27, 2014, 12:11:58 AM
Hi Tom:

 the only thing that shoudl be necessary is to have Darwin.m4pw and Darwin.sig in the Plugins Folder.
I cant think of anything else that would hide it. Make sure their the files from the Darwin2157 install or zip
folder in this thread. Also make sure drivertest.exe runs properly.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Baxter1000 on December 28, 2014, 12:36:44 AM
Thanks for your help Art, I have checked all you have suggested as well as what others have suggested and nothing seems to work.  I have to much time in this and will seek other programs to do this task.  Thanks again.  Tom
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on December 28, 2014, 01:29:55 AM
you may just need to get the Darwin.m4pw and Darwin.sig and put them in the folder restart computer then run driver test restart computer and all should be good
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: 3D on December 31, 2014, 01:12:07 PM
Hello Art,
How do I check to see if the license is activated. When I trying to set up Mach 4 just stops responding to jog mode and if it sit for a little bit, I have to restart Mach 4 to get it to work. Do you have any ideas.
Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Steve Stallings on December 31, 2014, 02:15:23 PM
Timing out and then playing dead is part of the normal response to not being licensed.

To see if your Mach4Hobby license is recognized, click on the Help button on the topmost
bar on the Mach4 screen, and then select About. You should see a dialog box that states
which version of Mach4 you have and displays your license status and PCID.

To see if your Darwin license is recognized, click on the Help button on the topmost bar
on the Mach4 screen, and then select System Information (not About). You should see
a dialog box that shows Plugins and Devices on the left side. Click on Plugins to expand
the list of plugins. Find and select mcDarwin. The right window will now show all the
propertied of your plugin. At the bottom of this list should be a line that shows:

Feature M4_DARWIN       LICENSED

When Darwin is installed and running you should be able to click on Configure on the
topmost line of the Mach4 window and select Plugins, and find Darwin PP Driver in the
chart. In the right hand column of the Darwin entry there should be a Configure
button that will let you set up and test the Darwin driver.

Steve Stallings
www.PMDX.com
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: 3D on December 31, 2014, 03:40:35 PM
Thank you Steve
I loaded Mach4 But I did not load Darwin.
Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: joestefano on January 02, 2015, 07:57:03 AM
I am trying M4 in demo mode. Darwin seems to be functioning properly  ie: jog axis and control my spindle, when I go to M4 I can jog my axis but they will not home and I have no spindle control. In the M4 history window it shows a problem with Darwin license. see attached. is this because I'm in demo mode?
Can someone design a flow chart that shows how Darwin interacts with M4? Input vs output signals, axis mapping, for example, what has to be configured to get an axis to "home"?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 02, 2015, 08:11:20 AM
Hi:

 A -33 error is a "File Not found" error. Its saying it cannto find a darwin license.
In this case no IO will work, so no homing. TO home in Darwin with Mach4, you need only to have Homing inputs
turned on in both Mach4, and in Darwin. ( See Darwin Video on setup.). If you turn on Debug in Darwin, ( meni item
in Mach4), you'll get messages when homing or doing almost anything, that will tell you hat Darwin is seeing, and whats its
doing as a result. It will give an idea as to whats wrog when you try to home. Shoudlnt matter if Mach is licensed or not
to get the debug messages.

Hope that helps
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: joestefano on January 02, 2015, 08:56:31 AM
Am I receiving this message because I haven't paid for Darwin yet?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 02, 2015, 09:00:58 AM
Youd get it if you have no license file, so yes, if you havent yet recieved a personal license, it will always fail with that message.If you HAVE a license
and get that message, it means you placed it in the wrong place, or didnt rename it to DarwinLic.dat

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: joestefano on January 02, 2015, 09:10:50 AM
So in order to use M4 in demo, I have to at least purchase the Darwin license. correct?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 02, 2015, 09:55:55 AM
Well, if you use IO..yes. But Darwin in Demo combined with Mach4 is demo should be able to run programs and so forth...
you just cant do things like homing or spindle control. The point of the demo is really so you can test your system with Darwin to make
sure it runs OK. If it runs and jogs alright, then its definite it will work in release.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 02, 2015, 01:20:32 PM
Hi Guys:

  Scott and I just ran a couepl of tests to test Win7 which was reporting errors on some system with Darwin.
They failed to load darwins plugin with an error. Turns out there are a few redist.exe files for supporting VC2008,
so just in case anyone has install issues, hers a version of the redist I use, and will inlcude in the Darwin Package
as of next version. Doesnt hurt to run this, it just makes sure the VC2008 redist is up to date with whatr Darwin uses.
If you use Gearotic, even the demo, you dont need this.



Thx
Art
www.gearotic.com
Title: Mach4 Printer Port,spindle speed in Darwin and mach4 can not PWM output,
Post by: bae sang gue on January 03, 2015, 07:15:09 AM
Hi

  I'm bae sang gue korea Distributor.

  1, the spindle speed in Darwin and mach4 can not PWM output,
  Give me cry installation files. Or let me know how to set up.

  2, my computer is XP, Mach4 is parallel port pin number 16.

  3, mach3 works verry well.

  4, the mach control board that I made

  Happy New Year.
Thank you.
 
 AACNC
email: stchouse@nate.com
 fax: 82-43-215-2582
 phone: 82-10-5402-2582
 www.aacnc.com
 http://cafe.daum.net/aacnc
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 03, 2015, 08:28:03 AM
Hello:

>>1, the spindle speed in Darwin and mach4 can not PWM output,
  Give me cry installation files. Or let me know how to set up.

   In Darwin, you need to turn on an output and name it Spindle( for example).
In Mach4, use the menu item "Diagnostic/Darwin and select PWM as the Spindle
Type. Set the frequency to 50hz ( or whatever you need). Also turn on Debug messages.
  In Mach4, select Config/Mach and go to the Spindle Tab. Set Spindle #0 minimum to 0 and Max to your
real max spindle speed. Set the botom box also to max spindle speed.

  Thats it, If you issue a M3Sxx , your PWM should be on the pin you selected for Spindle
 in Darwin. Debug mesages will show in the error line at bottom of screen where Darwin will tell
you what its doing.

Thx
Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: bae sang gue on January 03, 2015, 11:53:51 AM
mach4 main Screen,
Diagnostic/Darwin
setup Directory not have..
Please check the file.

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 03, 2015, 12:23:29 PM
Do you have Diagnostics/Darwin Printer Port set up as shown?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: jdogherman on January 03, 2015, 11:35:48 PM
I have been fighting with Mach4 for awhile now. I have found this thread very helpful but one of my most recent issues is that when I use 'Ref All Home' nothing happens. The markers next to 'Zero X' is then set as green instead of red until I reload the application. I am able to move the motors with jog or gcode but not able to zero to my limit switches.

I am also having an issue when I load Mach4 and enable it I dont have control of the motors until I disable and re-renable the control.

The software version I am using is 4.0.1.2157 of both Mach4 and Darwin with a Windows XP system.

Mach3 DEMO did not have any issues with this.

I have enabled the debug under history. Here is the log:

Axis 2 Estop capability disabled for homing
Axis Homing begins on Axis 2
Axis 2  Homed with 0 steps decel after switch
Homing Complete on slave motor 0
Homing Complete on Axis 2All Homing Complete
Axis 0 Estop capability re-enabled after homing
Axis 0 Estop capability disabled for homing
Axis Homing begins on Axis 0
Axis Homing begins on Axis 1
Axis 0  Homed with 0 steps decel after switch
Homing Complete on slave motor 0
Homing Complete on Axis 0
Axis 1  Homed with 0 steps decel after switch
Homing Complete on slave motor 0
Homing Complete on Axis 1
All Homing Complete
Axis 0 Estop capability re-enabled after homing

Any ideas?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 04, 2015, 08:25:46 AM
>>Axis 2 Estop capability disabled for homing
Axis Homing begins on Axis 2
Axis 2  Homed with 0 steps decel after switch
Homing Complete on slave motor 0

  Hi:

     The messages above show the switches are set backwards. The System "thinks" they are already made.
In Darwin, when you turn on your switch, you must make sure it light up as "active" only when pressed. Make sure
of this by using "negate signal" selection if required.
   Then turn on the switch in Mach4 and MAKE SURE that "low active" is NOT selected. You must use Darwin to set the
proper level for "on", not Mach4, so Mach4 must be left as "High Active".

    I suspect thats the problem with your homing.  Now when it comes to enable/disable , I too have seen this but havent
troubleshot it for a while, it was a Mach4 bug early on, its possibel its not fixed, so for next version Ill test to see if I can
stop that behaviour.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: bae sang gue on January 04, 2015, 09:16:43 AM
pwm output no. 16-pin parallel port. Please set Darwin pwm.
 Looked the video. Darwin plugins. pwm settings, I do not know.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: bae sang gue on January 04, 2015, 09:24:50 AM
Do you have Diagnostics/Darwin Printer Port set up as shown?

Art

Print debug messages, not can
checked.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 04, 2015, 09:54:58 AM
I do not know why you cannot check the "debug" box, it shouidl work, I just tested mine. Make sure you are at latest Darwin version.

Here is what my PWM spindle looks like in Darwin.. mine is on pin 5

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: jdogherman on January 05, 2015, 04:01:03 PM
My issue with homing was related to signal 1 being set automatically with Darwin configuration under my motors. After setting them to the proper input signals the homing features worked.

I am still having issues with random lockups between operations where it will give a darwin buffer error. I hope to find the set of events that cause it.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 05, 2015, 05:25:07 PM
Hi:

 The buffer error typically only occurs if you go too fast for the kernal speed. In Mach4, make sure the velocityPerMin divided by 60 and multiplied by stepsPerunit is less than the kernal speed. ( 5% less to be safe).

Vel/60 * Steps <= Kernal frequency

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: bae sang gue on January 08, 2015, 01:51:25 AM
 :)Thank you. pwm out fine.verry good.
 One question more.
 m7 and m8  not can delay the setting operation in mach4 ..
 Please tell me. thanks.

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 08, 2015, 07:30:52 AM
Hello:

   Thats a question I think for the Mach4 developers, Im unsure as to why or how those settigns work.  ( I use a laser so I have no need of them). I will ask the guys...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cnctom on January 25, 2015, 06:45:44 PM
Hello Art
I have a issue I hope you can help me with Darwin version 1.2157 this is licensed, my problem is that I can not change anything in it after initial set up meaning if I want to change any setting in Darwin I have to make a whole new profile for Mach4 from the beginning. I'm getting really good by now not forgetting any settings in Darwin. What happens is when I go back into Darwin and make a change I go to close out and Mach4 freezes up, I then have to ctl alt deleat and end process then reboot to get everything back up and going again.

Thanks for your time.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 25, 2015, 08:52:17 PM
Hi:

  I have heard of similar reports, but only on earlier versions of the software. Latest versiosn dont sem to have any troubles
in config. 2157 sounds a bit young? Id redownload and get 2178 or whatever is the current version installed. Recent versions
seem to add more features of repair things that arent as serious as earlier versions did. Try the most recent, an make sure M4 is
installed off the root folder.. ( just in case its some security issue). If it still screws up, delete all profiles and try again. M4 seems to read
all profiles on startup, so it may be some corruption in the profile file thats the issue.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cnctom on January 27, 2015, 10:40:46 AM
Hi

Last night i uninstalled Mach4 and Darwin compleatly and reinstalled 2178 of Mach4 and Darwin witch was the latest version put all my settings in and as last time Mach and Darwin lock up as soon as i make a change in Darwin from the inital set up. Bummer is there a back door that i can make my changes in besides going through Mach4 ?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 27, 2015, 11:59:04 AM
Tom:

  Sometimes, Darwins driver versiosn can Stick. When you try to config Darwin, the plugin shows two version numbers on the Plugins Kernal Speed Page.
What two numbers do you get?

 I get ... 1.21 with 1.23 under it..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cnctom on January 27, 2015, 06:23:31 PM
Hello
 I also get version 1.21 followed by 1.23
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 27, 2015, 10:01:03 PM
Hi Tom:

  Im afraid Im out of idea's. It seems some responce of your system is locking it up, but Im unaware of other reports and cannot think
of what would stop the behaviour. Its as if some library is out of date and causing the issue, but such problems can be a bear to find
and can lead to entire reloading of an OS.  I not sure I can advise what to do in this instance..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on January 27, 2015, 10:56:27 PM
there bet you to it again art 2192 out
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cnctom on January 28, 2015, 06:52:20 AM
Art

Is there a back door that i can make my changes in besides going through Mach4 ?

Thanks for your time
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 28, 2015, 08:33:31 AM
Tom:

   The only way I can think off is to set it up on another machine and then copy the profile.ini to your machine..
Sounds liek a rough way to go..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 28, 2015, 08:33:59 AM
Try 2192 and see what It does...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cnctom on January 28, 2015, 10:40:10 AM
Will try 2192 this evening

Thanks again for your time
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on February 06, 2015, 09:28:54 PM
Art,

I installed M4 V1.2192 and it played nicely with Darwin V1.2178.  When I installed M4 V1.2214, things broke.  I couldn't jog and homing only worked on the Z axis, sort of.  I reinstalled M4 V2.2192 but no joy.  I uninstalled everything and reinstalled M4 V2.2192 and Darwin V1.2178 but things are still broken.  Then I noticed that Darwin shows version numbers 1.21 over 1.19, not 1.21. over 1.23.

How do I force Darwin to update?  Is there a version for M4 V1.2214?

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 06, 2015, 09:45:59 PM
Peter:

  theres a 2209 , but it hadnt been put out yet..

Heres a copy of the ifles..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on February 06, 2015, 11:06:59 PM
Thanks Art.

I uninstalled everything then installed M4 V1.2192 and Darwin V2209 ('manual' install).  Now I get a Darwin -33 license failure.  Do I need a new license?  M4 seems okay.  I did put the Darwin license in the license folder for M4.

When I installed Darwin 2209, it said the versions were still 1.21 over 1.19.  Do I need to go into the system drivers and remove Darwin there before reinstalling?

Pete
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 07, 2015, 08:19:55 AM
Hi Pete:

  Yes, remove the system driver, its the 1.19 and should be 1.23.

 Delete any copies of Darwin.sys that reside on your computer ( do a dearch for that file.).
Then reinstall...

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on February 07, 2015, 10:46:51 AM
Art,

Thanks.  As you can probably surmise from my last post yesterday, deleting the driver was a last minute idea as I was posting.  I verified that it fixed the version problem.  The license issue went away after I used the right license file.  Sheesh.

Everything is back to normal (except me).

Thanks.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 07, 2015, 12:53:48 PM
Glad to hear. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on February 19, 2015, 04:22:11 PM
Hi Art:

It's been a while. I figured I'd let things mature a bit instead of pulling my hair out every few days.

I downloaded the latest Mach4 2230 and also your latest Darwin from a few posts back. It's showing 1.21 over 1.23 is that correct?
Having to reconfigure EVERYTHING from scratch is very annoying. Is there a file(s) or something that can be preserved to keep all the settings - both for Mach and Darwin?
I took photos of all the setting screens and I think I have it all back to the way it was previously but I'm having a few problems. It WAS working very well.

Are there still issues with the charge pump being generated from Mach?
I have the output set up in Mach to point to the named port in Darwin and the correct port pin set in Darwin but I don't see any frequency display in Darwin diagnostics. (frequency when active display is zeros)
I know there were issues with having to enable/disable a couple of times to get the charge pump to activate.
My BOB is dead in the water without it. (unless I set some jumpers - which I don't want to do).

Any ideas.

Sage

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on February 19, 2015, 04:52:35 PM
Hey Sage,
 What I do is go into the c drive and copy the entire mach4hobby folder to a usb thumb drive. I try to do this everytime I make a change that works good and then if I make a bad change and can't get it fixed I just swap the entire mach4hobby folder with my backup from the usb thumb drive. Don't know if that would help ya but it works great for me.

Dave
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 19, 2015, 09:01:10 PM
Sage:

 Yes, 1.21 over 1.23 is the correct version numbers. If you run the setup or the diags you should have a pulse frequency shown
when you slide the slider it should change. I cant imagine why the driver woudl show a zero count, unless its stuck in memory.. did you
reboot?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on February 19, 2015, 10:22:19 PM
Patton:

In this case I was upgrading several versions so backing the whole thing up would not help. Now that I'm messing about with the same version that would be helpful in case of problems. I was more hoping that, all the settings were kept in a file like the XML file for Mach3 and that could be transplanted and be compatible with a newer Mach version. There must e something similar for Mach4. Having to re-configure the whole thing is ridiculous.

Art:
I didn't reboot. I just restarted Mach. Maybe that's my problem. I'll check that out tomorrow.

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 19, 2015, 10:40:20 PM
Sage:

  All the settings are kept in the profile folder in your machine.ini file...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on February 20, 2015, 09:32:01 AM
Art:
Re settings: Thanks, I'll transfer that file next time I do an upgrade. In fact maybe I should retrieve the old one from my previous install because it WAS all working.

I figured out that the charge pump wasn't working because I didn't have a frequency value in the "frequency when active" box. Not sure what to put there but 100hz seems to work.

Disturbing that the necessity to toggle the enable / disable button on the main Mach screen is still required to get the charge pump signal to be issued. I thought this would be fixed by now.

BUT I still have issues. I don't see any input signals in Mach (X,Y,Z HOME or E-stop. I have no limits per se, they trigger E-stop I like it that way).

In Darwin each switch works on the individual input signal configuration page LED and if I look at the Darwin parallel port configuration screen the LED's for each signal pin toggles for the home switches and E-stop.
In the Mach config inputs screen I have the Motor home signals pointing at the named signals from Darwin and they are enabled but the Mach diagnostics screen LEDS never toggle. Same for E-stop. I can negate the logic in the Mach config screen for the home switches and the LEDS go off or on in the diagnostics screen but no response to the switches themselves. Negating them in Darwin makes no change on the Mach diagnostics screen.

It's like the Darwin input name assignments aren't being recongnized by Mach.

I probably missed something somewhere. I guess I need to better document my settings once it's all working.


Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 20, 2015, 10:20:09 AM
Sage:

 Before you go further.. is your license being recognized? Darwin has no inputs unless licensed..
Check the system info in mach4 to see if the darwein module is being reported as licensed.

I do have a couepl reports of the Charge pump taking an extra press to get it running. Its not doing it here
at the moment, so Im not sure if its my bug or m4's bug. It may be mine. Ill schedule a check to see if
I can find it. I have no error reports on Darwin other than that one at the moment.. Homing etc is all tested
and verified as late as last week..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on February 20, 2015, 11:05:35 AM
I presume you mean  Help/about/plugins/Darwin?
It shows enabled and valid.
Or on the Darwin about screen with the picture of Darwin It shows it's licensed (or something that implies that).

In any case I got everything going again by copying the ini file from the backup I made before I upgraded to the new version(s). Not sure if the ini file from an old version (November I think) is compatible but it seems to run. It still would be nice to know what item I missed in the config - for future reference. I'll have to take better pictures of all the screens. I must have missed one.


BTW Art.
I posted on the general Mach discussion about the fact that I really haven't used MAch4 (and probably never will) unless I can get my Shuttle Pro to work. Do you have any plans to write a new plugin for that or should I go looking for another one that will work? I don't think I've seen any yet that work. Operation without one is very cumbersome. Perhaps a comment there would be useful to everyone.

Thanks

Sage


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Garry F on February 28, 2015, 05:55:20 PM
Can both Mack 3 and Mach 4 drivers be in memory at the same time? Thanks
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on February 28, 2015, 06:05:52 PM
yes
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Garry F on February 28, 2015, 06:08:20 PM
Thanks for the answer
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Garry F on February 28, 2015, 06:39:10 PM
Another question..

I can't get my Z to work I have it set up as motor 2 I think but get no movement In Mach 4.
In the Darwin config I see no way to test the z axis as only the x and y show up in  the quadrant box. I can move the x and y in all the quadrant boxes of motors 0,1,2.

I must be missing something really obvious I know Art said in one of his videos that he didn't use the z axies as he was using a laser. SO is there a default somewhere getting to me.

Thanks
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Garry F on February 28, 2015, 07:00:32 PM
Another question..

I can't get my Z to work I have it set up as motor 2 I think but get no movement In Mach 4.
In the Darwin config I see no way to test the z axis as only the x and y show up in  the quadrant box. I can move the x and y in all the quadrant boxes of motors 0,1,2.

I must be missing something really obvious I know Art said in one of his videos that he didn't use the z axies as he was using a laser. SO is there a default somewhere getting to me.

Thanks

Never mind found my issue and it was me...
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 28, 2015, 08:47:04 PM
:)

 I always like the auto-fix's.. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ron Ginger on March 03, 2015, 10:07:19 AM
I cannot get darwin to work. I loaded M4 Ok, although I needed the C redistributable that is in the darwin install. I can get into the plugin config and setup the ports and pins and can jog axis. I then try to select the motion device and mach hangs. Even task manager cannot kill the mach instance, I have to power off.

If I try to select the motion device before I run the config mach4 then hangs on the restart.

This has happened on 2 xp systems that both run mach3, one on a router one on a lathe.

Are there instructions for the right install sequence of m4 and darwin?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on March 03, 2015, 10:21:12 AM
Hi Ron:

   So you can jog the axis and see Darwin is running when you test it, but it hangs Mach4? Havent heard of troubles
like that in awhile. First, run the driver test and verify the version numbers on the Port selection screen. It should read
1.21 and under that 1.23 , are those the numbers shown?
   And what version of m4 is this? Lets see if we can figure out whats up...

Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ron Ginger on March 03, 2015, 02:42:58 PM
I copied the latest kits off the net yesterday. Darwin shows version 1.21 over 1.23. It is mach build 2238.

When I powered on this time I ran the drivertest to get the version number. Then mach started up Ok. I check config plugins and it showed darwin enabled. Next I clicked Config- set motion device and it hung.

thanks
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on March 03, 2015, 03:44:02 PM
Ron:

  Im running 2247 with no issue.. But I have heard of thios type of lockup early on. Its strange that Darwin runs fine on its own, but locks up
after the config. The only fix I have heard for that is a removal of the profiles when it was a corrupted profile locking it up, I cant think of anything
in Darwin that I can test for that. Dos this happen with wxMach4 as well as  Mach4GUI?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ron Ginger on March 03, 2015, 04:20:08 PM
Quote
Dos this happen with wxMach4 as well as  Mach4GUI?

What does this man?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on March 03, 2015, 04:41:14 PM
C drive Mach4 file last bit in file is wxMach4 its a lock out from changeing screen
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ron Ginger on March 03, 2015, 04:55:03 PM
Ok, but that fails in the same way. I can configure the plugin, but when I go to set the motion device it hangs.

I deleted the old profiles and let loader build a new one, same result.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on March 03, 2015, 05:59:52 PM
try removing C /mach4/profiles/Mach4Mill/Macros M3, M4, M5, .mcc and .mcs also mcLua.mcc and m6.mcc.

and remove sim.m4pw and sim.sig from plugins this can make Darwin play up in M4

other than that only the cnc gods know
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on March 03, 2015, 06:07:09 PM
Ron:

   Sorry. My system has two version of Mach4, one is called wxMach4.exe , the other is wxMAch4GUI.exe, Ive heard of rare trouble
with wxMach4GUI that didnt happen in wxMach4.exe.

  Wasnt sure if my setup was uniqe to the developers package..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on March 03, 2015, 06:11:01 PM
Ignore that, I was a couple messages behind.

  Im not sure what woudl cause it to hang on the setting for which engine.. it sounds more MAch4'ish than Darwin'ish...

I coudl build a version to show errors.. but if it hangs Im no so sure youd get them. Unfortunately, when Mach4 hangs it takes
a bulldozer and a stick of dynamyte to stop it.. ( never seen anything like it..)

  Ill give it some thought as to what can be done..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ron Ginger on March 03, 2015, 06:39:37 PM
yeah, when it hangs task manager cannot kill it, only the power switch will get it.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on March 03, 2015, 08:37:02 PM
Ive tried everything to kill it when its hung..just not possible.

  I guess the only thing that happens when you select it as the motion plugin is it starts the main timer loop...

I can try adding a messge for you to see at what stage its locking up..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on March 04, 2015, 09:00:24 AM
Ron: ( et al.)


  Here is a diagnostic version of Darwin that breaks the main loop down into section with messages for each section.
Each section will report only once.. Let me know what it says, it may point to your troubles..

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: BR549 on March 04, 2015, 05:10:27 PM
I had that exact problem many versions ago it has since cleared up on its own through version updates.  I think it got better when I ran Gearotic Motion after each update. ( Yea sounds strange BUT it worked)

(;-) TP
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ron Ginger on March 04, 2015, 05:17:10 PM
I loaded the new code and now when Mach4 starts up it displays the progress bar for loading screen elements, and about half way done it hangs. There is a ghost of a message box over the progress bar, centered in the screen, so one of your messages tired to show.

Drivertest runs ok

I am going to take my PC up to Brians shop on Friday, I will get him to see whats happening.

Thanks for your help
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on March 04, 2015, 09:10:25 PM
Ron:

 Thx, let me know if B finds it. Since he can run debugger he will probably find whatever is hanging.. does sound like it hangs on first message.. which is kinda strange..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Fall_guy on March 07, 2015, 10:41:15 AM
Hi Art, everyone,

Just wondered if you could shed any light on what maybe causing this interference band on the Right hand side?

I've not much on this PC, in fact its pretty Raw other than, Windows 7 (32bit), Mach 4, Darwin Plug-in and Google Chrome.



Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on March 07, 2015, 11:27:47 AM
Its interesting its only on one side, god news is it probably wont bother you as its very much in sync with the main frequency.
It may be a DMA responce to something internally, or a 12us delay in every return to the system,.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Fall_guy on March 07, 2015, 11:53:26 AM
Hi Art,

Thanks for the quick reply,

Could you please confirm the following:

In Mach 4,   if I select the Configure menu / Plugins........ option         I'm presented with the Configure Plugins window.

In this window there are SEVEN different description files (one of which is Darwin PP), ALL of which are Enabled.

Should ALL of these be Enabled or should some be Disabled?

Many Thanks
John

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on March 07, 2015, 12:52:38 PM
Hi John:

   I think it depends on your system. One may be ModBus or another Lua..

 The only one Id ensure was off is Sim.. isf its there.. Darwin replaces that as a motion device..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Fall_guy on March 07, 2015, 01:13:53 PM
Thanks again Art,

I thought perhaps one of these enabled descriptions may have been causing the Interference Spike.

Have a good day
John
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: enphecktor on March 24, 2015, 02:35:14 PM
Art,
First of thanks for all your years of input across many support forums it has helped me in several situations in the past. Now I am stuck and haven't found the solution.

Is there a simple method similar to the mach3 engraving.dll to raster out images in mach4 using the darwin plugin with out  the use of arduino? Basically I would just like to use your laser mode option but with a simple on/off trigger. I have everything working on the machine with mach4. I can raster engrave using gcode however the method built into the darwin plugin is much faster and would love to use this. Any recommendations?

Thank you!
Larry
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on March 24, 2015, 03:17:34 PM
Hi Larry:

   I dont think there is a way as yet other than the GCode, or the arduino method. The problem is that GCode can provide triggers, but the arduino provides actual
power levels. Both the Mach's can handle binary laser control, but the arduino with Darwin is the only way to get instant power level switching and triggering only once per
step. This will eventually change when here is some agreed upon standard for a protocol, but in its absence I siimply went with what worked well. Im probably the only one
using it , but it does work well.  I know theres at least 1 or two others using it really, but I know too its not easy for people to make such things.
  Its probably be easier if there was just a protocol for a pwm power level which is specific to each trigger.. Im sure it'll come eventually, my arduino fix is just a holder till
M4 can handle a downstream pwm from image command. The arduino can change power on each pixel of the image, to do that in Gcode the code woudl be truly huge..
I mean 10's of millions of lines probably.. where the arduino equivalent is quite small, just a fast raster pass with power all taken care of.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: bar553 on March 30, 2015, 05:50:01 PM
Art and all.

I am running Mach4 on an XP machine, with the latest downloads, and PP driver.  XP is up to date and has the required memory.  I am trying to get a router to work, and I found instructions for Mach 3, so I also loaded that to try.  I have motor movement with Mach3, but when I use the same settings in Darwin, I have no movement in Darwin or Mach4.  I also have the system hang, if you select the choice "select motion control device" after you have first selected it at install.  Seems like a bug, that you cant make a mistake in mouse clicks without hanging the system.  Interesting enough, when in Darwin, if I hit the estop on the controller box, which is on pin10, the pin indicator changes color.  An indication to me the computer and controller are at least seeing each other.

I have read and reread the install manuals, and watched the video's.

So where do I go next?
What is the next step in trouble shooting.
IS Mach3 interfering with Mach4 on the same machine.
I have a Mach4 and PP license for another machine. do I need these licensed just to do the testing?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on April 20, 2015, 06:34:49 PM
you don't need license to test I have been testing for a long with no license.

the system hang thing is a bug I use to have it`s not there now.

the settings for M3 should be the same for M4 (just put in differently) they are for me.

put up Darwin screen shot`s of water fail, motor setup any motor will do.

a screen shot of axis mapping for M4, general and a screen shot of outputs and inputs you are using

also your machine configuration file or your profile folder
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: bar553 on April 20, 2015, 07:41:25 PM
Thanks Daniellyall

You helped me in another post, I am proceeding forth.  This issue was related to enabling the motors, which evidently M3 does without a set up, but M4 needs it specified.

BAR
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 20, 2015, 07:59:18 PM
Hi:

>>  I also have the system hang, if you select the choice "select motion control device" af

  This was reported quite a bit early on, not so much anymore. Is this all with latest versions?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on April 20, 2015, 08:36:57 PM
that's why i ask for screen shot`s that will tall me and art if your setting`s are correct.

the motors need set in Darwin with the same numbers in m4 so motor 0 in Darwin will be motor 0 in m4, but you only set it high or low in Darwin not m4 same goes for the inputs and outputs.

you should only have to set the motion controller once every time you install a new version of m4 and at the same time you remove the sim plugin.

one other thing that help is just restart m4 anytime you make a change sometimes its needed sometimes not but just do it anyway

the ess plugin is the same did a install this morning it was fine
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: bar553 on April 21, 2015, 12:03:00 AM
Yes all is working now, with the exception of the soft limit issue I reported in the M4 bug thread.

As I said, I was not enabling the motors with an output from Darwin and corresponding in M4.  The motors in the 3020 router I have have to be enabled.

I would like to know why that you have to set the enable in M4 and I did not have to in M3
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on April 21, 2015, 01:38:44 AM
you would have to ask brian that
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 29, 2015, 07:21:25 AM
Hi All:

  Here is a drop of Darwin for ver. 2350, I exposed the encoder counts in this
version. Brian will release an official version eventually, meanwhile, heres the latest.

Art
Title: step pulse length adjustment
Post by: ploenne on April 29, 2015, 09:24:43 AM
Is there a way to increase the length off the step pulse?

my steppercontroller works with optocoupler and recognize only steps pulses with a length of minimum 5 us. There was the possibility to enhance the step pulse in the motor tuning panel in mach3.

I measured the issues like shown in the picture.

Motors works fine under Mach3, no reaction under mach4 :(

Is there a way to enlarge the step pulse in the darwin driver?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 29, 2015, 10:07:21 AM
Hi:

  In the darwin registers, set StepWidth from 0 - 5

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ploenne on April 29, 2015, 11:20:22 AM
Perfect solution, thxs a lot for this nice work!
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: sascha_039 on May 18, 2015, 03:30:51 PM
Dear Guys,

i'm getting nuts.
I've bought the Darwin Plugin yesterday. Together with the mach4 hobby license.
Both is register to the same PCID

Its a Win 7 Entrerprice OS, x86.
The Mach 4 version is: 4.0.1.2441 and the software says it Licensed.
Today i've tested a lot of with the darwin plugin, the version is 1.2178.
I installed the license they send me. At the About windows it says: License file installed successfully. And the DarwinLic.dat file is in the licenses folder.
But, when i got to system information - plugins - mcDarwin, the point Feature M4_Darwin is Unlicensed.

And the sad thing is that programs stops running randomly after 100 - 200 rows.

The history says:
Failed to license feature M4_DARWIN (mcDarwin)
Darwin License has failed with -35.


So at the forum i found no hint about the error 35.

Can someone please help me?

Thanks
Sascha
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 18, 2015, 05:40:52 PM
Hi Sasha:

 Im told it means your darwin license is wrong. Your license file inside should say NF_DARWIN in the file you got.
Can you confirm its there? Did you load it using the help/about in m4? In the file you got it should be similar to

# License created: 01-10-2014
# MAC: D00B-39DE3C35656130D2
# Expires on DD-MM-YYYY: 26-04-2044
# Licensed application:
#    Name: "NF_DARWIN"
#    Description: "Darwin Plugin License"
# Features included:
#         M4_DARWIN
# Custom data:
#         url=http://www.machsupport.com
#         support=support@machsupport.com

   Is the M4_DARWIN in yours? You may have copied the wrong file..

Art

   
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: sascha_039 on May 19, 2015, 04:09:41 AM
Hey Art,
yes i loaded the file via help--> About--> Load license file.
My file in the folder mach4hobby/licenses looks like this:
# License created: 17-05-2015
# MAC: 080B-0019996A7E89
# Expires on DD-MM-YYYY: 10-12-2044
# Licensed application:
#    Name: "NF_DARWIN"
#    Description: "Darwin Plugin License"
# Features included:
#         M4_DARWIN
# Custom data:
#         url=http://www.machsupport.com
#         support=support@machsupport.com
# === Start copy after the BEGIN LICENSE line and ===
# ===      finish before END LICENSE line         ===
----- BEGIN LICENSE -----  
......

I downloaded the file again from my account. with the same problem.

Sascha
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 19, 2015, 07:40:16 AM
Do you still get error -35?

Ive reported this to the programmers.. but Im not sure why its happening to you.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: sascha_039 on May 19, 2015, 07:47:04 AM
Yes i get it.
Thats very sad because my machine has to run. I can't produce at the moment.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 19, 2015, 08:05:31 AM
Sasha:

   I just tested mine and it runs fine. Does your Mach4 show its licensed properly? Im thinking your ID may be wrong.
I cant see anything on Darwins side that coudl do that. I suggest you check your Mach4 licnse and make sure its reporting good,
and if it is, contact M4 support, because it should be running and it should never give a -35 unless the license is bad.

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 19, 2015, 09:15:34 AM
Hi Sasha:

 Ive reported this and their testing, I think all win7 licenses for Darwin have stopped working.
Should be fixed soon..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: sascha_039 on May 19, 2015, 09:58:11 AM
Hey Art..
ok, then i have to wait, hopefully they fix it very soon.
Sascha
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 19, 2015, 10:13:16 AM
Sasha,

Their checking it now.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 19, 2015, 10:31:09 AM
Hi Sahsa

  Bug is confirmed , seems to be in Win7 only, a fix is in the queue, hopefully youll hear soon.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 19, 2015, 01:43:49 PM
Sasha:

 Bug is fixed. Should be out very shortly. If not, email me personally and Ill send you a copy of the installer.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: sascha_039 on May 20, 2015, 12:45:23 PM
Art,
its running, the fix make it.
After all setting ( that where gone ) the machine is now running thru the complete programms.

But one more questions, when i mill ssome circle's, the circle's get not round, they are more elipse.
The machine stumbles when milling the circles.

Do you have any hints?
Sascha
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 20, 2015, 01:06:13 PM
Hi Sasha:

    The circles should always be perfect, usually only a few things can make them elliptical,

  So you ned to check a couple things..

1) do both axis return to zero when the circle is finished? If so, no steps were lost.
2) Is it possible you have backlash? Is the small side of the ellipse always in one axis? If you swap the step/dir pins for the x,y , does the small side then swap as well?
3) Is the circle still an ellipse if you slow it way down?
4) Did you set a step width a bit wider to make sure it isnt step width? ( Diagnostics/darwin)

Thx
Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 20, 2015, 01:39:09 PM
Hi Everyone,
 
  I have been asked to drop a current Darwin on here until the M4 website catches up
to the current level. Here it is, as of this morning, tested in both XP and Win7. To anyone updating, you need to replace your DarwinDLL.dll , mcDarwin.sig and mcDarwin.m4pw files, nothing else has changed.

   Please back up any files you are overwriting, it was very hard to upgrade this to the vs2013 compiler from VS2008, so until I see its stable for everyone I just want to make sure you have backups. As I say, it was tested here this morning, and runs on Win7, ( 32 and 64 bit) and in XP. This doesnt mean it will work in 64 bit, it wont, but it will no longer lock up the system when it fails, it will fail gracefully. This only means I can now compile it for minor tweaks on
my 64 bit system.. which benefits those who need a tweak here and there. I am happy to say I get almost no reports of
trouble and many reports of great motion. So Darwin should last until the last printer port upgrades to another motion device. There are now a few to choose from.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on May 27, 2015, 12:44:24 AM
Hey Art,

I tried Mach4 version 1.2461 and Darwin version 2461 and I'm getting the
 
"Failed to load shared library 'mcDarwin.m4pw' (error 0: the operation completed successfully.)

so I tried Mach4 1.2461 with Darwin 2350 and it worked. I'm running WinXP.

Dave
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 27, 2015, 07:14:32 AM
Hi Dave:

   Have you tried running the vcredist form VC2013? Yuo can download it from Microsoft.
Ill run soem tests here to be sure, but I tested 2461 under xp on my machine. Im wondering
if its just the redist files..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 27, 2015, 12:06:58 PM
Hi:

  Just in case the files are somehow out of date, here are ones freshly made and tested on both Win7 and XP this morning..

Darwin version 2472

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 27, 2015, 12:14:34 PM
Hi:

  While GSim isnt offically released, I will put the latest build of it here, it is free for Darwin users.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: patton on May 27, 2015, 11:50:25 PM
Hey Art
I put VC2013 on and it worked when I created a new profile..... my old profile would crash Mach4 right away but only when I have Darwin installed.... so I'll have to go through my plc script and screen script and see what the deal is there.

Thanks
Dave
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on June 01, 2015, 09:00:34 PM
hi art I got my computer back I tried updating M4 and Darwin past version M4 2136 and Darwin version 2157 it wont work I installed VC2013 that did not help, GSim crashes M4.

just for fun I installed gearrotic that wont run at all.

is there any other thing I could install to help with this
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 01, 2015, 10:02:42 PM
Describe "Wont work" .. what happens?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on June 01, 2015, 10:48:25 PM
click on M4 to start it and gearrotic no start comes up with the send error report thing. if I put in a new version of Darwin on M4 2136 it crashes M4

version 2461 and 2472 just wont start come`s up with the send error report thing what`s the default window`s error thing that has diagnose, cancel, send error report

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 02, 2015, 07:04:07 AM
Daniel:

 Sorry, Im not understanding this.

>>click on M4 to start it and gearrotic no start comes up

   Gearotic and M4 are not connected, how does clicking on M4 start gearotic? None of the Darwin plugins has a "Send report"
system in it? Im not sure exactly what your seeing...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on June 02, 2015, 06:22:20 PM
I try and do a screen shot of what the error thing is

so what happens is I click on M4 to start it it crashes, there is a error or a dependency missing of my computer that is need when everything got changed to vs2013 I have tried wxMACH it just wont start ever.

gearrotic does the same thing it just wont start, I put gearrotic on as last time this happened gearrotic had what was needed it does not this time.

I have down load some vs2013 stuff to see if it helps if it does not I will just install vs2013
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on June 02, 2015, 06:47:41 PM
this is what comes up
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 02, 2015, 09:12:09 PM
Hmm, all you should need it the vs2013 runtimes, but if not you should just get an error that the plugin wont load.
Does wxMach fail if you clear the plugins folder?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on June 03, 2015, 12:05:06 PM
Hello Art

The  step direction spindle forgotten frequency bug is still alive and well. I have to go into Darwin and set a frequency value of at least 1 and when I start Mach 4. Then my step/Dir spindle will turn. If I do a M3 S0 in MDI and then do a M3 S1000 I get no spindle rotation. Fix is to disable Mach 4 go into Darwin and set a value of 0 to at least 1. Same holds true for  a Mach 4 exit . I have to keep resetting a frequency value of at least 1 each time. It has been this way for a long time and I didn't want to say anything because Mach 4 is still in being beta tested. I think since we are more than a year since Mach 4 was released for testing its time to kill this bug. Thanks. Eric.




Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 03, 2015, 12:16:56 PM
Eric:

 Thanks, I wast aware this bug existed. I will attempt to kill it this week.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on June 03, 2015, 01:56:09 PM
Art

Narrowed it down to when Mach 4 starts when the enabled button is pushed the frequency goes to 0 in Darwin. I check the frequency before enable pushed and the frequency value was 142 for 1000 rpm from last Mach 4 exit. Push enable button MDI M3 S1000 no spindle rotation. Disable Mach 4 and check Darwin and ferq. back to 0. Set value to 1 or more and everything is OK again unless you do M3 S0 then have to go back to Darwin and set freq to 1 of more. Hope this helps narrow it down a little for you. P.S. There was a similar bug like this last year in the early development versions but it was fixed and then resurfaced as more and more updates were being released.

Eric 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on June 03, 2015, 02:08:47 PM
Art

I will refer you to Reply #339 on: August 16, 2014, 09:20:23 PM in this topic.

Eric
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Mach4User on June 11, 2015, 09:09:28 AM

View Profile Email Personal Message (Online)
 
 
Mach4 seems to lose connection to darwin

« on: June 11, 2015, 05:46:21 AM »
Reply with quote 


Hi to all,

I have a problem with Mach4 and Darwin- after a random time (5~10 Minutes) Mach4 don't react on any external inputs of my Darwin interface.
I thought that the input script is not longer executed- so then I tried to start a job with the Mach4-Buttons on the screen.
I see the state toggling to "StartCycle" but nothing happens, too.

Some days ago I saw inside a job that Mach4 stops working. No Message, no error -
It stuck in the middle of the G-code. I tried disabling, re-enabling, reset the job- no chance!
The spindle was already running. But no further movements.
A restart of Mach4 solves this state.

I opened the Darwin interface setup- there I can see that Darwin is detecting input changes in the "error state"- but It seems that Mach4 loses the connection or control.
Any Idea? I attached the log when I try to start a job in case that mach4 stuck.

For information: In the error state there are no longer input changes written in the log and no further reaction of the regarding input LEDs in the Mach4 diag screen- only in the darwin setup itself.
For getting the error state I have only to wait - Machine on - working. Then I go for drinking a coffee - when I come back: Machine stuck  Shocked

Regards and thanks!
Sebastian
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 11, 2015, 11:20:03 AM
Hi Sebastion:

   Im not sure why that would happen. In your system registry, does Darwin show up as
properly licensed? Even that shouldnt cause this symptom, but Im curious if theres a relationship.
I cant think of anything that would stop Darwin and M4 talking.. Is this the latest version of each?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Mach4User on June 11, 2015, 12:28:28 PM
Hi Art,

the latest Version of both components are installed.
You write I can get the license info from the System registry- where can I find the entry?
(Really a registry key?)
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Mach4User on June 11, 2015, 12:36:10 PM
Okay- new info:
I found it (help - System Information -plugins)
You're right: Plugins -> mcDarwin Shows "Not licensed"
The licence key is her: C:\Mach4Hobby\Licenses. Whats wrong?
Do I have to execute anything in darwin for licensing like in Mach4?
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 11, 2015, 01:07:14 PM
Hi:

   You need to download a new license, the keys went bad at one point. A new key should fix it.. if not, Mach4 itslef
needs to be updated..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Mach4User on June 11, 2015, 01:29:48 PM
Okay, I reinstalled Darwin and the license file-
now I see that the license is valid.
All issue seems to be fixed now-
thank you for your tipps!
Great work, glad to use the software!

Best regards,
Sebastian
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on June 11, 2015, 01:39:43 PM
Sebastian,

FYI, the latest version of Darwin that I've seen is 2461-a and was uploaded by Art in post 762, May 20, 2015.  The one shown on the Mach download page is very old.

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Chaoticone on June 11, 2015, 03:18:30 PM
Yup, and just so you will know, I try to keep the very first topic of this post updated to include links to the latest plugin.

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,27194.msg191918.html#msg191918

Brett
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on June 11, 2015, 04:18:17 PM
Did not know that.  I just go to the latest posts.  Given there are a huge number here, I don't start at the beginning.   ;)

It might be helpful if the latest were to be posted under the latest M4 download.  Or maybe that's NOT the latest download.   ;D

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on June 11, 2015, 05:23:06 PM
that's because there is no licence

they give X amount of time for testing only if you wont it to run all the time you have to get a licence
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on June 13, 2015, 06:18:19 PM
Hello Art

Any luck on resolving my step/direction spindle frequency issue?

Eric.

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 13, 2015, 09:44:32 PM
Hi Eric:

 Sorry, I did mean to get back to you. I have tested the step/dir spindle here with no problem and no requirement to restart or reset any registers.
Can you refine the problem. Are you using Mach4's step/dir, or simply a frequency output in Darwin as the method of step/dir. M4 can do step/dir
two ways. ( I tested both with no problem, restarting several times and immediately getting any M3S********* I selected. )

 Can you describe how your setup? Are you using an OB axis with step/dir, or not using the spindle as an axis and simply telling Darwin to use a frequency?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: handsmfg on June 17, 2015, 01:49:16 AM
Hello Art

I'm just having Darwin use frequency control. There isn't enough documentation on Mach 4 on how to configure a step/dir spindle as an OB axis. If you or someone can tell me how to do it I sure would like to try it. Right now I have Darwin configured to switch on a relay for M3 and a relay for M4 and just running frequency into a cnc4pc C6 board for an analog voltage to a KBIC speed controller. I looked at the Darwin configuration under Diagnostics and wondered what would happen if I set the Low hz to 1 under Ferq Ctrl and left the Hi hz at 1000. I closed Mach 4 and restarted and now I can do M3 S*** in MDI and I have spindle movement. So changing 0 to 1 in the Low hz window fixed it.

Eric.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 17, 2015, 07:41:21 AM
Hi Eric:

 Ahh, thcx. Glad to hear its working. TO use the M4 step/dir way, you set up a motor as your spindle. You turn the motor on but select it as an OB ( out of band) motor. DO that as well on the spindle page. It then works as a spindle step/dir.

 On the other hand if what your doing works.... :)

Art
Title: Motion stops after jogging axis one time
Post by: bensbenz on July 28, 2015, 09:45:34 PM
Let me start by saying I have a lathe setup with Mach3 that works fine.

2 days ago I downloaded the latest Mach4, Darwin plugin and test license from this thread. Ive watched the videos now 3-4 times and I am fairly certain I am setting everything up the correct way.

I am having a few different issues, perhaps all the same issue but the symptoms are as follows:


I am not sure if any of this is related to it being a demo, I cant seem to find any clear documentation on how long motion will work when in demo mode. I would really like to get this working before shelling out the money for a copy, and I hope that would be possible with the demo.

Thanks for any help\advice you can give.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 28, 2015, 11:35:01 PM
Hi:

  You should get full motion with your testing. First, an OutofBounds error mens the steps/unit is too high, which makes sense if its forgetting its
settings. Never set it up from the drivertest, only from within mach4. Try this with just frequency, set it to 30K or whatever, then exit. Restart mach4 and go back and look, is it still 30K? If so continue, if not, let me know. We'll see if we can figure out why..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: bensbenz on July 28, 2015, 11:47:09 PM
Hi Art thanks for the reply. I didn't mean to say I am setting up from the driver test area, I am getting to the plugin through Mach. I just tried what you asked and its still not saving. I thought perhaps the profile was corrupt so I tried it on the standard mill profile and it does the same thing.

Just FYI:
The Darwin version shows  1.22 over 1.23
The Mach version is 4.0.1.2568 Build 2568

Thanks
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 29, 2015, 08:09:33 AM
Hi Ben:

   Im afraid the only advice I can give is to delete the installation and try again fresh. I tested this morning with
those versions, licensed and unlicensed, and the driver worked fine, the pulse rate saved, and motion was proper.

  Im thinking the only thing that coudl screw you up that way, is if the profiles are screwed up somehow. It seems to be
an inssue with the installation of Mach4 rather than a darwin issue.
Sorry, wish I coudl advise better..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: bensbenz on July 29, 2015, 10:21:57 AM
Hi Art:

So I have uninstalled everything, deleted all the folders and installed a fresh copy of mach4 and the plugin from the main download page. The issue is still there. Just to be clear that I am not missing something, its the Max Jog Speed (hz) slider on the Motor Config tab that I am setting at what the wizard says is correct (in my case 20000hz)?

If that is the case, where is that number stored, maybe I can just manually update a file somewhere so I can get past this? My next step is to try it on a completely different PC to see if that works.

Does it matter if Mach3 is on the same machine?

Thanks for all the help.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on July 29, 2015, 10:29:27 AM
Hi:

  Makes no difference to the machine. When you use the slider and then exit the wizard, Mach4 stores the value in the machine.ini profile under [Darwin]
as ( Im pretty sure ) "Pulse Freq". TO be clear, this means you have selected config/plugins, then pressed config on Darwin. The pulse screen slider is then changed to 20,000 and you exit. This should be permanent unless changed due to the entry in the machine.ini for [Darwin] under "Frequency"

  As it starts up it runs this line
mcProfileGetInt(m_cid , "Darwin", "Frequency", &rval, 25000);, so it defaults to 25K if nothing is stored.

  So when you exit it should then read 20000. It sounds liek for some reason your configs arent saving.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: BR549 on July 29, 2015, 11:34:41 AM
Depending on the WINDOS version . Permission to write to a file can be denied in certain areas.  Try opening Mach4 in Admin mode. to see IF it still happens.

If so CHECK the directory where the save file is stored to see IF it is read only.

It does work OK here.

Just a thought, (;-) TP
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cnctom on August 25, 2015, 06:55:35 PM
Hello Art

     I've just updated to Mach4 version 2 and I seen you had  DarwinSetup-V2-2611 out so i uninstalled all of Mach4 and Darwin and after I installed Mach4 version 2 and made sure it was working with new licencing I installed  DarwinSetup-V2-2611 it ran the test like previous versions of Darwin but when i started up Mach4 I received  "Failed to load shared library 'mcDarwin.m4pw' (error 0: the operation completed successfully.)  So I reinstalled all of Mach4 and Darwin three times to the same results then I installed the older   Darwin 2178  and it worked! So I need some guidance on how to get  -V2-2611 to work, I'm running windows 7 I see in previous post there were two of the same problems and tried the (VCRedist.exe) but had no luck.   

Art, thanks for all your knowledge and hard work 

cnctom  
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 25, 2015, 09:10:59 PM
Hi Tom:

  Its probably because I switched to Win7 and compile it now under VS2013. Down the VCRedistX86 for vs2013 from microsoft. Run that and I think
the problem will go away.

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cnctom on August 26, 2015, 08:37:24 PM
Art it worked updating to VCRedistX86 and now it works thank you. I've got to figure out why it's not homing when I hit reference now it says its homing but no axes are moving bummer.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 26, 2015, 09:17:06 PM
Tom:

 Glad to hear. Check your homing switches are not set to inverted in mach4. They must only be inverted in Darwin if needs be. Look to the error buffer
as Darwin in debug moe will send messages to show what steps its doing in homing.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cnctom on August 31, 2015, 10:32:56 AM
Hi Art
I tried everything I could think of everything works but homing, I can run a program move all around but when I hit ref all it says its homing but nothing moves I guess I'll reload the old version to verify all my settings again I checked for reverse home and its all as it should be.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 31, 2015, 11:33:30 AM
Hi:

  It may be thinking its done. Before yu home, are the home leds on the diags page lit up? Do they light up when you press a home switch?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cnctom on August 31, 2015, 01:19:53 PM
Hi Art

They are not lit up, all are red. They don't light up went hitting home switch not even when i hit the micro switch manually when in homing cycle, But on the diagnostics page the x y z light's up when manually hitting the micro switch  but don't zero out the axis,  Also when testing my axis limits they light up in  the diagnostics page and stop movement as they should, so it's my thought that it mite be on the Mach4 side of thighs because Darwin is sending the single I guess to prove it out tonight I'll load the older Mach4 version 1 to see if it will work again.     





Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cnctom on August 31, 2015, 07:35:39 PM
Art

Its official I reinstalled  Mach4Hobby Installer-2313 using the latest DarwinSetup-V2-2611 and Homing works! So now we are still at square one witch isn't working quit right Mach4Hobby Installer-4.2.0.2660 or DarwinSetup-V2-2611  ??? I would think it would be Mach4 2660 not telling Dawin to go home even though Mach4 is saying "HOMING"  but I could be wrong. All settings are the same I take photo's of each screen as to be sure each step is the same.

Thanks for your time


Tom
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 31, 2015, 09:11:34 PM
Hi Tom:

  Interesting finding. I will try homing tomorrow in 2611 and see what mine does.. It sounds like somethign changed..

 ( hmm, did you check to see if your license works with the later version of Mach4? Does is show Darwin as licensed? If not, the homing wouldnt work,
and I did hear of some licenseing issues where you needed to get a new license on latest version..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on August 31, 2015, 09:54:12 PM

cnctom bring up logging when you hit ref all home it shows what mach is doing it help`s to nail problems down just keep a copy of it so when you try upgrading again you can compare working with not working
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on August 31, 2015, 10:13:06 PM
The license issue is really pinging my memory though, make sure its not just the license in latest version..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cnctom on September 01, 2015, 10:39:56 AM
Art

I know I reinstalled the Darwin licence but i guess I don't remember if it took Ill reinstall the newest mach4 and check.


Thanks

Tom
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cnctom on September 05, 2015, 08:03:44 AM
Guys
I'm sorry for the delay but I have to finish a couple of awards for a friend. After that I'll reinstall the newest mach4 and move forward. I had them resend me the Darwin license to me so that will be the next thing I try.

Thanks for your time.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 05, 2015, 08:11:26 AM
No problem Tom,

  I monitor this thread so whenever you get testing, I should be here to help. I will be away Oct 1 for a couple weeks
, but will answer when I get back should you be testing then.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: sascha_039 on September 07, 2015, 08:20:35 AM
Dear Art, sascha once again.

I'm getting the "Darwin Buffer Error - Motions  out of Bounds" error, when i click enable.
What i did:
Removed the old Mach4 installation
Installed the version 4.2.0.2673 Mach 4 Version, and it's licensed with a new ID
Installed the version Darwin Setup V2 2611, and under System Information i can see it's licensed
Installed the VCRedistX86  for vs2013.
But under System Information i can see only a Version of "1.2472" of the Darwin Plugin.

Can you help me with my error?
When i switch off my controller card and click then "Enable" the error is gone? WTF?
Thank you
Sascha
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 07, 2015, 08:59:08 AM
Sasha:

 That error should only come out if the speed is wriong, it happens only if the driver tries to go faster than it can, so if its set to 30K, if it tries to go 31K..

Are your pulse settings agreeing with your max velocities?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: sascha_039 on September 07, 2015, 09:17:42 AM
Art:
I have a motor with 800 steps per mm
a Velocitiy of 1000 units/min
so it is about 13khz
i've set my pulse setting to 24khz

That should be ok?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: sascha_039 on September 07, 2015, 10:00:57 AM
The funny thing is, i started a backup mach4 version.
Mach4.0.1.2461
Darwin 1.2178
25 khz
Motor 0 > 800Steps/Unit >Velocity 1800 ->acceleration 250
Motor 1 > 800Steps/Unit >Velocity 1400 ->acceleration 100
Motor 2 > 133.33Steps/Unit >Velocity 400 ->acceleration 20

And there is no problem with the darwin??
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 07, 2015, 10:13:05 AM
so 2178 is working ok,  "1.2472" of the Darwin Plugin is not?  Try the attached file, any difference?

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: sascha_039 on September 07, 2015, 10:19:14 AM
Yes so it is. 2178 working 2472 not
No difference. Can see the version 2646 in the plugin overview but same issue..
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 07, 2015, 11:34:35 AM
Ill run a test on mine to see what it does..

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 07, 2015, 11:48:52 AM
Just rebooted to XP and tried with my current builds.. Works fine, no errors. Make sure you have no other axis turned on.. Id turn on only 1 at a time and see if youi can track it down that way.

For the record, my test version was

Darwin reported 1.2646 , config shows 1.22/1.23 and Mach version 1.2646 as well.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: sascha_039 on September 07, 2015, 03:47:58 PM
Tested also.
Took the new Mach4.2.0.2673 and the old Darwin 1.2178 and it worked not.
The old Mach4.0.1.2461 and the new Darwin 1.2646 and it works!!!

All running under Win 7 32 bit enterprise.
What make i wrong?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: sascha_039 on September 07, 2015, 03:49:38 PM
turning off axis don't track it down... only one active and still the problem.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 07, 2015, 05:36:44 PM
Hi Sasha :

 Ill install latest versions to see if it helps.
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on September 07, 2015, 09:14:24 PM
Hi Sasha:

   Cant repeat it with latest versions.. all seems to work fine. You may want to delete the profile and reset tup to see if it makes any dfference, sounds liek a setting is stuck somewhere, but
I cant imagine what. Does the error log show no other message than out of bounds?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: gide_x on September 22, 2015, 05:55:12 PM
Hello !

I'm actually trying a new config under Windows 10 x86 and I've tested some versions of Darwin (2038.1.2, 2461-a, 2472) with always the same issue (when I run Mach4 or when I try to test the driver with DarwinTest) :

BlueScreen -> ATTEMPTED_TO_WRITE_READONLY_MEMORY (Darwin.sys)

Code: [Select]
Version=1
EventType=BlueScreen
EventTime=130874296291088299
ReportType=4
Consent=1
UploadTime=130874296357182161
ReportIdentifier=dffe787d-616d-11e5-93d8-0025b31848f5
IntegratorReportIdentifier=092215-17875-01
NsAppName=BlueScreen
Response.BucketId=0xBE_Darwin!Unknown_Function
Response.Str=http:////wer.microsoft.com//responses//resredir.aspx?sid=10&Bucket=0xBE_Darwin!Unknown_Function&State=1&ID=fe73138c-ef11-42a5-be84-bdf6bd0b0a9c
Response.CabId=fe73138c-ef11-42a5-be84-bdf6bd0b0a9c
Sig[0].Name=Code
Sig[0].Value=be
Sig[1].Name=Paramètre 1
Sig[1].Value=acc5295b
Sig[2].Name=Paramètre 2
Sig[2].Value=db6d6121
Sig[3].Name=Paramètre 3
Sig[3].Value=af2f4c1c
Sig[4].Name=Paramètre 4
Sig[4].Value=b
Sig[5].Name=Version du système d’exploitation
Sig[5].Value=10_0_10240
Sig[6].Name=Service Pack
Sig[6].Value=0_0
Sig[7].Name=Produit
Sig[7].Value=256_1
DynamicSig[1].Name=Version du système
DynamicSig[1].Value=10.0.10240.2.0.0.256.72
DynamicSig[2].Name=Identificateur de paramètres régionaux
DynamicSig[2].Value=4108
State[0].Key=Transport.DoneStage1
State[0].Value=1
File[0].CabName=092215-17875-01.dmp
File[0].Path=092215-17875-01.dmp
File[0].Flags=589826
File[0].Type=2
File[0].Original.Path=C:\Windows\Minidump\092215-17875-01.dmp
File[1].CabName=sysdata.xml
File[1].Path=WER-23937-0.sysdata.xml
File[1].Flags=589826
File[1].Type=5
File[1].Original.Path=C:\Windows\Temp\WER-23937-0.sysdata.xml
File[2].CabName=WERInternalMetadata.xml
File[2].Path=WER6CC3.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
File[2].Flags=851970
File[2].Type=5
File[2].Original.Path=C:\Windows\Temp\WER6CC3.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
File[3].CabName=Report.cab
File[3].Path=Report.cab
File[3].Flags=196608
File[3].Type=11
File[3].Original.Path=Report.cab
Ns[0].Name=stopcode
Ns[0].Value=000000BE
Ns[1].Name=p1
Ns[1].Value=ACC5295B
Ns[2].Name=p2
Ns[2].Value=DB6D6121
Ns[3].Name=p3
Ns[3].Value=AF2F4C1C
Ns[4].Name=p4
Ns[4].Value=0000000B
FriendlyEventName=Arrêt non planifié
ConsentKey=BlueScreen
AppName=Windows
AppPath=C:\Windows\System32\WerFault.exe
NsPartner=windows
NsGroup=windows8
ApplicationIdentity=00000000000000000000000000000000

Have I missed Something  ???

Thanks for your help  ;D

P.S: Under Windows 7 x86 pro, it works with version 2472 without this kind of issue...
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ger21 on September 22, 2015, 06:40:15 PM
I don't believe that you can use the printer port with any version of Windows later than Windows 7.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: gide_x on September 23, 2015, 02:51:09 PM
Ok, thank you for your answer Gerry....  :D

best regards.

JD
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Student on October 09, 2015, 03:29:52 AM
i have problems with Darwin.
My motors doesn't move very smooth. Sometimes it stutters.

On the same computer with Mach3 the axes move much more smoother.
I have used the same settings in Darwin as I used in Mach3.


Some details form my computer:

Win XP SP3
Intel Core 2 Duo 6300 @ 1,86GHz
2GB RAM

any sugestions?
Is my computer too slow?

Greets
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 13, 2015, 07:28:39 AM
Hi:

   Your spec doesnt sound too slow. Does the pulse diagnostic show strange variations? Ids the blue line in center really wide?

It may be your motor drivers require wider pulses than Mach3 puts out by default, did you increase the puilse width in the settings?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Student on October 13, 2015, 07:49:06 AM
Hi Art,

thanks for your reply.
i will check that. I will upload a picture of the pulse diag screen the next few days.

Greets
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: barrettj99 on October 13, 2015, 03:51:34 PM
Hi Art,

I purchased your plugin last night and got through the initial setup rather quickly.  I've been working with Mach3 (Demo) for some time now with no issues, but I'm ready to purchase the full version and wanted to move to Mach4 since the prices are pretty close.  When using the jog ball inside your plugin, the machine moves and sounds a bit better than when I'm running Mach3.  Problem is when I attempt to jog in Mach4, the motors noise picks up substantially and the movement doesn't seem as smooth.  It seems as if it might be a communications problem between Mach4 and your driver.  Any ideas?  I'd like to stick with Mach4 if possible as I like the new interface.  Any suggestions you can offer are appreciated.

Jason
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 13, 2015, 03:56:26 PM
Hi Phil:

   Pulse widths the only issue I have seen with Darwin that makes it rougher than Mach3, most report the opposite. I
didnt have to increase my own, but Im using servo's. Every report Ive had of rough motion till now was fixed by increasing the puilse width
in the Darwin Setup options in Mach4. Step width is usually the culprit, does it seems to have any effect for you?
Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: barrettj99 on October 13, 2015, 04:02:35 PM
Art,

Not sure if that reply was for me, but I did have to increase step pulse to 5us in Mach3 before I could get it to smooth out.  I couldn't figure out where to change that parameter though.

-Jason
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 13, 2015, 08:30:58 PM
Jason:

 In Mach4 there is a menu item ( under diags I think) for Darwin, In there you will find a few settings like encoders and Pulse width..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Student on October 16, 2015, 10:42:04 AM
Hi Art,

please find attached a picture of my pulse diagnostic.
Where can i modify the pulse width in Darwin / Mach4. i can't find any settings for that!!!

greets
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 16, 2015, 10:50:56 AM
Hi:

  Well, I have to say thats an Excellent! waveform. You should have no smoothness issues. Have you set for at least 5us pulse width additional in the diags menu?
Did you try with lower acceleration just as a test? Is it smooth in the Jog window in Darwin? Id say wothing strange is going on. Is it smooth in jogging? How bout a
g1 move? Any difference?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Student on October 16, 2015, 12:32:31 PM
Hi Art,

every move in Mach4 behaves the same (jogging, g0, g1)...
but jugging in Darwin is much smoother!!!
How can that be?

I can't find any settings for "pulse width" in the diag menu?
Do you mean "step with" underneath the mpg settings?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 16, 2015, 02:25:31 PM
Sorry, yes, thats the setting, set it to 5 or 10 to see if it helps.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Student on October 16, 2015, 03:21:37 PM
I tried, but it doesn't help.
Any other suggetions?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 16, 2015, 04:26:48 PM
Im afraid I cant think of any reason off hand why the motion would be hesitant. The driver stats are great, so the timer seems to be running fine. It could be video card or something slowing
the system or some other effect, but I havent experienced anything like that in m4, its always been smoother than mach3 for me.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Greolt on October 22, 2015, 08:59:44 PM
Art

I am sorry if this is the wrong place for my question.

Specifically to do with plasma functions.    

1:  Torch on and off signal coming from Mach4
Is there a delay in this?

2:  Up/down signals coming from a simple THC (eg Proma)
Does Darwin handle this or is it passed to Mach4?

3:  Consequent movement (steps) being sent to the Z axis in response to up/down signal
Does Darwin do this, or again, Mach4?
If Darwin does this, does it know when Mach4 should ignore up/down?  Eg when travel falls below a set % (anti dive) or when there is no ArcOK signal.

If Mach4 handles up/down THC movement, is there any acceleration ramp on those moves?

Thanks

Greolt

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 22, 2015, 09:08:17 PM
Hi  Greolt:

    Darwin knows nothing of THC. It will pass signals from pins back to M4, but it has no idea what M4 will do with them.
You may want to ask the guys at M4 what thc functions are built into Mach4, but natively Darwin has none.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on October 22, 2015, 09:11:46 PM
ha art I have been trying to get my old win xp working with M4 and darwin again whatever you did to darwin (2686) it works fine. I just cant start M4 at all and Gearotic does not work at all as well

DanL
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 22, 2015, 09:29:40 PM
Dan:

 Youd need to put in the CVruntimes for VS2013..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Greolt on October 22, 2015, 10:18:35 PM
Darwin knows nothing of THC. It will pass signals from pins back to M4, but it has no idea what M4 will do with them.

Thanks Art

My understanding was that with Mach3, the THC up/down moves  were done by the LPT driver.  Hence no acceleration on those movements.

Perhaps I am getting confused.  I am sure the Smoothstepper, for example, handles that THC stuff.  Thought the LPT driver did too.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on October 23, 2015, 12:11:36 AM
thanks Art will try over the weekend I will report back in the yahoo group and here
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 23, 2015, 08:00:20 AM
>>My understanding was that with Mach3, the THC up/down moves  were done by the LPT driver.

  They were. However, the spec of Mach4 was that such things were not to be done by the device. Darwin was completed long before Mach4
and to that original spec. There is no backlash or thc in Darwin. Darwin is at this point meant to be a bridge, it allows you to use Mach4 as
a printer port user, but its capabilities will never be increased, it is a basic 4 axis printer port driver that will do most things, but it wont
do THC, Backlash or threading.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 23, 2015, 08:06:23 PM
Hi All:

  A bug was found tonight an fixed which caused the overbuffer error on jog. Here is a new plugin, an official one will be released soon.
You only need the mcDarwin.m4pw and mcDarwin.sig files replaced to fix the trouble..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on October 23, 2015, 10:41:35 PM
Hi Art:

Good work. That seems to fix the over runs here. Although I get a Darwin License error -31 on the diagnostics line. Even so it keeps working.  I'll do some testing tomorrow.

Thanks

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 24, 2015, 07:51:47 AM
Hi Sage:

 I got that error too, but then I was too lazy to redownload my license.. I fgured it changed again. Let me know if the license issue shows up after
a redownload. Ive found I need a new license from time to time..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on October 24, 2015, 10:54:46 AM
Hi Art:

The new Darwin License fixed that issue.
Wow. Now that I can see it working - very impressive. Cudos to the development team. I see a couple of small issues but I'll do some more playing around and put them together after it's officially released.
Good work  :D

Oh. BTW. Not sure if it was the license, Darwin or another fix in Mach itself but the "Ref all Home" works now too.

Thanks
Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on October 25, 2015, 04:10:29 AM
hi art still can't get M4 to run on my xp computer I already had CV runtimes for VS2013 I am trying to find what can make it work I might be flogging a dead horses. Darwin works fine, gearotic does not work still
I installed VS2010 to see if that would help no go.

if you have any idea or something I can try other wise its going in the bin and I will just get a pokeys board and use one of my laptops
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 25, 2015, 08:42:31 AM
Hi:

 Both Gearotic and M4 shoudl work if the VC runtime for vs2013 is applied. At worst, just install both VS2008 and vs2013 runtimes, but if that doesnt make it work,
then somethign else is stopping you. Id suispect the video card driver, both M4 and Gearotic are users of OpenGL and that is sometimes very restricted
to video drivers beign up to date. Darwin doesnt use OpenGL.. but it DOES use vs2013 runtime, so if it works, Id suspect your video driver. What exactly is the
error you get?



Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 25, 2015, 08:46:26 AM
>>and I will just get a pokeys board and use one of

  I like them as well, and will be releaseing a motion controller based on Pokeys soon..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cnctom on October 25, 2015, 02:28:29 PM
The license issue is really pinging my memory though, make sure its not just the license in latest version..

Art


Hi Art
It was me all along I finally got back to it, I didn't register the new licensing right sorry for the long wait I can't work on my cnc unless its above 40 degrees because ma ma doesn't like camping any colder than 40  degrees and we camp a lot with the kids. But everything is working great! Thanks again.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on October 25, 2015, 05:22:32 PM
hi art I cant rember what openGL version I have but it is the highest you can go with win XP, before you all changed to VS2013 everything worked then nothing, you changed something with Darwin it now works but M4 Gearotic nup. I have done everything suggested anyone with win xp is to do.

I will double check the openGL then if it's on the highest and the graphic card is set to work with it, I will bin it and move on with getting a pokeys board not sure what one yet more than likely the 57E since you motion controller will work with it or M4, M3 work with the pokey`s

I post this on Yahoo group see if anyone there has a suggestion

DanL
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: BR549 on October 25, 2015, 06:05:28 PM
Might want to consider rebuilding the program for an earlier version of OpenGL. 2.0 seems to be the pivot point and a good balance between older pcs and newer PCs.

NOW IF you could get everyone to upgrade to new pcs and cards and drivers and OS  the newer ver would not be a problem (;-)

Just a thought, (;-) TP
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on October 25, 2015, 07:09:58 PM
what I found is you can still make programs to run on Xp and above in VS2012, 2013 and 2015 you just have to have it set to run from .net 4.0 and below  and have vcredist_x86.exe for the version of VS installed and openGL not sure yet on that one that's tomorrow's task, Arts more than likely correct that it`s the openGL drivers stopping it working. in a couple of years this won't be a problems everyone would of upgraded.
if I can`t get to run tomorrow that it for winXP for me spent to much time on it.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 25, 2015, 07:11:57 PM
Well, Im not convinced its graphics, but very few machines report it as a problem. Its a rare report of systems that wont
run Mach4 afaik , but Ill boot into my xp system to make sure gm still runs there.. I recently changed the compiler to allow XP, and it was working as of
last test..

 You didnt mention what it does Dan? Does it just lockup, or is it giving an artcode in gm? Whats the symptom?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on October 25, 2015, 07:45:10 PM
no error code or anything like that it just comes up with the this program failed send error report to microsoft.

so no clue what is wrong
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 25, 2015, 08:50:14 PM
Pity, I was hoping it was an error that meant something..

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: pbarratt on October 25, 2015, 09:23:22 PM
Art,

I installed the latest Darwin you just posted and it fixed the buffer problem as you said.  I am running XP Pro on an old Dell Optiplex with no graphics card.  Everything still seems to be running fine.  This is my mill system and I use it for M3 and M4.  It also has a firewall program running (scans and updates set to manual).  I have been expecting it to crap out as insufficient but, not yet.  I haven't run process explorer to see CPU loading but running seems okay.  I do not run Gearotic on it, that is on a different system.

Hope this helps you and DanL

Peter
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on October 25, 2015, 09:35:45 PM
nup I will just check the openGL setting the computer is 14 years old thanks anyway
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 25, 2015, 09:49:49 PM
Thx Peter.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: monito on October 26, 2015, 05:41:05 PM
I have installed and purchased a license for MACH4 and  DARWIN PARALLEL PORT PLUGIN. I only configured 1 motor and turn off all other inputs and outputs. I also insured that the E-Stop was not activated. But for some reason I cannot get MACH4 or DARWIN to control a single motor. When I try run MACH3 there is no issue with the system and everything is fine. I watched Arts video's and followed his instructions. It seems easy enough but I still cant seem to get it to work. Has anyone else encountered this problem? What are somethings I can do to troubleshoot the parallel port? I am focusing only in DARWIN until I get the motors to move.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 26, 2015, 06:26:43 PM
Do your DRO's move in Mach4 under Darwin? Is it possible to jog an axis from insider Darwins configurations?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: monito on October 26, 2015, 07:11:40 PM
I have installed and purchased a license for MACH4 and  DARWIN PARALLEL PORT PLUGIN. I only configured 1 motor and turn off all other inputs and outputs. I also insured that the E-Stop was not activated. But for some reason I cannot get MACH4 or DARWIN to control a single motor. When I try run MACH3 there is no issue with the system and everything is fine. I watched Arts video's and followed his instructions. It seems easy enough but I still cant seem to get it to work. Has anyone else encountered this problem? What are somethings I can do to troubleshoot the parallel port? I am focusing only in DARWIN until I get the motors to move.

I just connected an oscilloscope to pin 2. Mach3 is commanding the the step as you would expect. When I run Mach4 and then the Darwin plugin It does not send a pulse the pin 2.
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: monito on October 26, 2015, 07:14:19 PM
Art,

Nothing is working. Mach 4 and Darwin. I just posted the pulse train from Mach 3 on pin 2 which is configured for X step. When I try the same thing in Darwin I get nothing. Only 1 motor is configured nothing else. No inputs and no outputs.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on October 26, 2015, 07:28:17 PM
If you have pulses on pin2 (I assume you mean the parallel port) then that is already after Darwin so it must be working. Darwin is what it driving the Parallel port pins.
 So, likely your BOB is not passing the pulses along to the stepper driver. Have you configured a "direction pin" for the axis? Might also be a pulse polarity issue?
 Also does your BOB require an enable signal and/or charge pump.
A step by step description of what you HAVE done would be helpful for others to help you troubleshoot.
That's all I can think of off the top.

Sage
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ben.E on October 26, 2015, 08:51:24 PM
I'm running Mach4 on a laptop with Windows 7; I have purchased and installed the licenses for Mach4 and the Darwin Parallel Port Plugin.  I downloaded the latest plugin for Darwin, 2762, and ran the DarwinTest.exe and it Failed.  If you encountered this issue the only guidance under the installation instructions stated "If it fails to load you need to load the driver manually from this folder as in Mach3 with the old driver."  I never owned Mach3 so I downloaded the manual for it and the instructions to manually load the driver must be for XP or later because you cannot use these instructions for Windows 7.  Can someone please provide me the corrective action for this issue?  Also, I am not a real tech savvy guy so if you could break it down "Barney Style" for me I would greatly appreciate it.  Thanks in advance!!
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 26, 2015, 09:45:02 PM
Monito:

   SO if you enter Darwins configuration and try to jog , can you make the DRO count? In Mach4 does the DRO count ?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 26, 2015, 09:49:24 PM
Hi Ben:

  Is this a Win7, 32 bit or Win7 64 bit system? Darwin does not work on 64 bit systems. If you use the Win7 control panel you can get to the
Device manager, you want to check ( if this is a 32 bit system) is there an entry for Mach Pulseing engine showing a driver for Mach4 is
loaded?
   When you run the installer for Mach4, did you run it as admin? If not, Id try that first. It may be the installer needed higher
permissions to install the driver.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on October 27, 2015, 01:09:35 AM
hi art its the openGl what is makeing M4 not run it`s just to old to update the graphics drivers.

DanL
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ben.E on October 27, 2015, 08:20:19 AM
Hello Art, thanks for such a quick response.  The Windows 7 I'm operating is 32 bit.  I checked the Device Manager and it does not have the entry for Mach Pulseing engine; I also checked under User Account and I am logged in as the administrator.  I went ahead and uninstalled and then reinstalled Mach4 and the option to install as admin was given.  So I'm assuming that it was installed as admin, but you know what they say about assumptions.  After re-installation with licenses loaded the results were the same; "Darwin Driver Installation Failed".  Thanks again for helping me troubleshoot.

Ben
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 27, 2015, 08:43:17 AM
Ben:

   Yes, sounds like it doesnt want to install the driver. Heres a manual method, though not all systems will do it..

First, open the device manager.
Select the top of the tree and right click it, select "Add legacy hardware". hit "next"
Select "Install hardware I manually select.
Select Show All Device, click next
Select "Have disk"
Browse to C:\Mach4\Plugins\Darwin Driver
The file DarWin.inf should show up, select it..
Select OK and hold your breath.. if it works you should now be able to
run the DriverTest.exe and see the pulser work. If it doesnt work we
will all cease to exist in this dimension and no-one will ever know, though
nonsentient clones of ourselves will still be here to read your responce.

Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Ben.E on October 27, 2015, 08:42:59 PM
Art:

You, Sir, are a genius; I got it installed and DarvinTest ran successfully.  Now I have a new challenge for you...  I continued with the instructions that came with Darwin2762;  copied and paste the drivers to the appropriate folders without Mach4 running, but once I run Mach4 they are not loading.  I doubled and tripled checked the folders and ran Mach4 again and they still do not load under Mach4/Config/Plugins.  Also, the only option I'm given for Select Motion Device is the Simulation Device.  Thanks again for your time.  I can't thank you enough for you help!!

Ben     
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on October 27, 2015, 09:01:36 PM
try starting as admin that does help, if you are going to run Darwin remove the sim plugs you don't needed them
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 27, 2015, 09:13:42 PM
Hi:

 Make sure mcDarwin.m4pw and mcDarwin.sig are in the c:\Mach4\Plugins folder..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: MitchB on November 09, 2015, 01:45:50 PM
My printer port is not working.  I am using a Lava PCI parallel port card, 32 bit Win 7 and latest Darwin.  Device manager says that I have a Lava DParallel PCI Port A (LPT3) at FFF0-FFF7 and Port B (LPT2) at FFF8-FFFF.

In DarwinTest i have tried port addresses FFF0 and FFF8.  I have set Signal #3 to be the Index pulse on Port 1 Pin 10. I don't see any change in pin states when I change the index pulse state. 

Also, maybe not relevant now, but I don't see any evidence of Darwin in Mach 4 despite putting the Darwin plugin in the plugins directory and the DLL in the program directory.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 09, 2015, 02:23:49 PM
 I would think 0xfff0 should work. You should be able to toggle a pin
in darwins config though and see it happen on the pin. If it doesnt happen the IO address
is wrong for that plug. It coudl be fff2 or fff4 , hard to say, Im not familiar with that card.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: MitchB on November 10, 2015, 09:09:10 AM
I couldn't get the Lava cards working, but I realized that the computer has a standard printer port at 0x378 and that works fine.  I wish I could remember why I wasn't using that to begin with.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: MitchB on November 11, 2015, 08:22:12 AM
When I start Mach4, I see a dialog box titled "Error" which says "Failed to load shared library 'mcDarwin.m4pw' (error 0: the operation completed successfully).  I see that file in my Plugins directory.

When I installed Darwin, I got a dialog which said "Setup has detected that your Visual C++ 2008 runtime files are out of date. Click OK to install this technology now or Cancel to abort the setup. 

When I click OK, I get a dialog that says "Visual C++ 2008 runtime cannot be installed due to the following requirements: ... The Visual C++ 2008 runtime cannot be installed on this operating system... Due to this failure, it is recommended that you abort the install.  Click OK to abort the setup or Cancel to continue with the application install.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 11, 2015, 10:19:52 AM
Mitch:

  Sounds like an old Darwin... is that the current version?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: MitchB on November 11, 2015, 12:47:13 PM
It's the current version - 2.2763.  I installed the Visual C++ 2008 runtime from Microsoft's site and now I can see Darwin in Mach 4.

In Darwin Test mode, the motors jog smoothly.  But when I move them in Mach, they sound different - gravelly and it seems likely they are losing steps.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on November 23, 2015, 06:24:14 AM
Can anyone help!

Can you clarify, that with no licences , for Mach4 hobby or The Darwin Printer port software;

That Mach4 will run in trial mode (15 mins run time) and work the motors.

I am having trouble getting anything moving at present.

Can see the driver is working as it toggles leds from port input pins.

Have a posting in Mach4 general discussion ,Topic: Mach4 Hobby and Printer port - Licence verification

Cheers  Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 08, 2015, 07:13:06 AM
Hi Art,

Can you help, as I am stuck.

Purchased a Darwin Licence, Mach4 still running unlicensed.

I have a good working system with Mach3, so can verify the ports work ok.

Have been setting up mach 4 with one motor , charge pump probe and estop.

The estop, and probe seem to work ok, but when I hit the enable button.

I get an error . whenever the enable is first pressed:-
________________
Signal 5 set to 1
Darwin Buffer error - Motion Out of Bounds.
Signal 5 set to 1
_____________
I have put screen shots of all the settings in the word pad file.

Have tried everything to no avail.

Must be something quite simple and stupid that I have have done !

Kind Regards ???

Mark


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 08, 2015, 07:51:27 AM
Hi Mark:

   I tried to answer the email you sent me, but for some reason the mail itself locked up my thunderbird.. Couldnt read it, though I
could see your name as sender.

   So your getting an out-of-bounds error?  In pretty much every report of "Out of Bounds", the error
turned out to be the speed was set too high for the motors. But you shouldnt get that on enable, only on motion.

    What doe the error log show, and what do the versions in Darwins config page show. On the page with the slider for freq, there are two numbers
in the upper right corner of the config. What do they show.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 08, 2015, 08:42:11 AM
Hi Art,

Thanks for the quick reply.

At work at present so will have to sort out the extra info when I get home.

Which folder do I look in for the error log?

Kind Regards

Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 08, 2015, 12:02:46 PM
Mark:

 Theres a log button called "History" at the bottom of the scren ( left side), in wxMach.exe . Thats where Darwin sends any messages..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 08, 2015, 01:54:38 PM
Hi Art,

if you look at my previous posts  , just before this one, there are screen shots of the versions and error.

mach4 darwin 1.22 1.23  1.2763 on plugin page.

mach4 4.2.0.2803 build build 2803

here is the log file from mach4 in the attchments, see prvious attachments , which also show the pulse engine image.

Is this ok? as in one of your setup videos , you indicated a picture like mine may be causing a problem?

Thanks for your help

Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: DSTechLabs on December 08, 2015, 02:21:42 PM
I am also having problems with Mach4/Darwin.  Mach4 won't stay "Enabled" when [Enable] is clicked.
Both my Mach4 and Darwin are licensed from the guys at PMD (Steve and Bob) and the license files are in the Licenses folder.
My motors run fine with Mach3, but with Mach4/Darwin I'm getting "Darwin Buffer Error - Motion out of bounds".
Any help would be much appreciated.
--Bill Daniels
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 08, 2015, 04:13:29 PM
Is this true for both of you, that just hitting enable causes the error?  And no matter what it just goes back into estop?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: DSTechLabs on December 08, 2015, 04:33:59 PM
Yes, just hitting [Enable] causes the error, but I'm not in an E-Stop condition.

Message History:
-----------------------
Signal 5 set to 1
Signal 5 set to 1
E-Stop cleared!
Signal 5 set to 0
Darwin Buffer Error - Motion out of bounds.
Signal 5 set to 1

Log
-------------------------
2015-12-08 13:08:47.718 - Loggging Enabled.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.343 - API: mcCntlEnable(true) called.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.343 - Signal id 1018, (Enable #0), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.343 - Signal id 1019, (Enable #1), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.343 - Signal id 1020, (Enable #2), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.343 - Signal id 1120, (Machine Enabled), changed from LOW to HIGH.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.343 - API: mcMotionSync() called.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.343 - SyncPosition()! Clearing planner.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.343 - API: mcCntlReset() called.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - API: mcCntlEnable(false) called.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - Signal id 1018, (Enable #0), changed from HIGH to LOW.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - All motors marked as still.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - API: mcMotionSync() called.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - SyncPosition()! Clearing planner.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - Signal id 1019, (Enable #1), changed from HIGH to LOW.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - Signal id 1020, (Enable #2), changed from HIGH to LOW.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - Signal id 1120, (Machine Enabled), changed from HIGH to LOW.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - All motors marked as still.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - API: mcMotionSync() called.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - SyncPosition()! Clearing planner.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - API: mcMotionSync() called.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - SyncPosition()! Clearing planner.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - All motors marked as still.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - API: mcMotionSync() called.
2015-12-08 13:08:56.359 - SyncPosition()! Clearing planner.

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 08, 2015, 05:38:55 PM
Hi Guys:

  I rebooted and ran some tests on mine to see if I could replicate it, or at least to see if Darwin is running OK on mine.

  Turns out I was on version 2778, and it tested fine so I updated to 2805 and again, all runs fine. My versions for current
level are 1.22 over 1.23 exactly as you have shown. The waveform should have nothing to do with it as so long as your not
actually moving there should be no buffer check. Your not getting a message to indicate a motor is set too fast.

  So Im stumped. I suggest you set your steps/unit to 1 on all axis as a test. Does this make any difference? Do the DRO's
show a number when this error occurs? How about a machine coordinate, does it look ridiculous? Im grasping at straws
as I cant replicate this here. But Ive looked in the code and it really shouldn't happen unless things go too fast....

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on December 08, 2015, 05:59:07 PM
increase the look ahead to 200 and if you have sim in the plugin folder remove it, what do you have the Darwin Buffer set to. and how many motors are you running
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 09, 2015, 03:23:34 AM
HI art,

You mention that the problem is likely to be the motor speed.

just a thought, I have my machine set to mm,

Could there be a problem with the interpretation of this from the motor speed settings.

Has anyone got a metric system working?


Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on December 09, 2015, 03:35:40 AM
yes metric is fine
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: DSTechLabs on December 09, 2015, 01:20:35 PM
Thanks for replies -
Removed Sim from Plugins folder,
Tried increasing Look Ahead Lines to 200,
Can't find the Darwin Buffer size setting ???
No luck.
I only have the Core and Darwin plugins enabled. Do I need any other plugin enabled?
I have three motors configured (X, Y, Z) but can't even "Enable" the machine to try a simple gcode command like G0 X1.0  >:(
Went to check the motion device is still Darwin, but when I selected [Set Motion Device] from the pulldown - Mach4 crashed!  I can't even kill the Mach4GUI process !!!  The machine couldn't even Restart ... had to hold it's power button  >:(
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 09, 2015, 01:40:04 PM
Hi guys,

just tried setting the look ahead to 10 then 1.

also set the steps and velocity to 1.

still no luck, it toggles the enable then gets the motion error and unset sthe enable.

Up to now i have had no movement out of the motors , as i need the enable line set.

The probe and estop input are still working fine.

Have checked  all the setup screens , its not obvious whats wrong.

Art can you send us the settings, for a one motor setup that works for you , so we can check out the settings with our system and perhaps dpot the problem..

I need pin 14 as enable, 17 charge pump pin 2 motor dir, pin3 motor step, currently i am using motor 0 , pin 15 estop input

Kind Regards

Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on December 09, 2015, 02:03:24 PM
try running M4 as admin if that dont help do a reinstall and run as admin, some people run into problems and reinstalling as admin fixes it. other than that have you just brought up darwin and see if you can jog from inside darwin.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 09, 2015, 02:56:05 PM
Settings would be meaningless Mark, but I agree with the previous suggestion, lets do this one step at a time..

Can you jog in Darwins config masks..?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: DSTechLabs on December 10, 2015, 09:54:46 PM
I still get "Darwin Buffer Error - Motion out of bounds" with the "Test" plugin:
- Tried enabling only 1 motor,
- Tried lowering motor speed to just 10 steps/sec
- Tried multiple Pulse Count settings.
Jogging does not work in the Darwin config for any case.
I'm using a slower machine, but my "Time in Interrupt" is still only 8-9us
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 11, 2015, 07:56:16 AM
Hi guys:

 I did some experimental tracing and found the buffer error CAN get mixed with a signal set in the config to any signal
which can be told to trip an Estop. If one of your inputs is set to EstopOnActive.. you could get the buffer error instead of a
simple Estop..

  Id be interested in hat this new version does for you. You need only install the .m4pw and the .sig file to test. If you find
you no longer get buffer errors, but cannot get out of Estop.. Turn off input signals in Darwins config till you no longer get Estop..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 11, 2015, 01:40:08 PM
Hi Art,

Probably me being a bit thick.

which folder do the two files need to be moved to?
 i have put them in the  c\mach4hobby\plugins\DarwinDriver folder

however theses two files did not exist in this folder.

Is this correct or is there some other location off the windows program files path?

p.s Checked , I had been running with administrator privileges.

Kind Regards

Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 11, 2015, 02:52:17 PM
The two files should already exist in Mach4\Plugins , replace those two , the .sig and the .m4pw

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 12, 2015, 11:51:25 AM
Hi Art,got this patched.

Signal 1 emergency was causing the problem. Have turned this off in mach4 setup to, and now it seems to be ok.

The x dro can be jogged now , but still no motor output.
looking on the m4 diagnostics screen , I see the x motor light on , but no other , so i suspect we dont have any outputs working through darwin.

The probe input is still working ok.

If you like I can hook a scope onto the parrell port to check for any output.

I presume the charge pump output , should light one of the leds in the mach4 diagnostic pannel.

Kind Regards

Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: DSTechLabs on December 12, 2015, 12:09:21 PM
Hi Art -
Thanks for looking into the "Darwin Buffer Error".
The error still occurs with the new plugin, however, a signal tripping the E-Stop definitely has something to do with it.
Playing with Darwin Emergency enable on/off, Darwin E-Stop Tri on/off and Mach4 config setting on/off DOES effect the outcome.

But configs are getting a bit much for the end user ... having now duplicate settings for Darwin and Mach4 Configs.
- What config settings are the "master settings", Darwin or Mach4?
- Which settings take precedence?
- Do they negate each other? (Darwin has a signal enabled high and Mach4 has the same signal enabled low)???
- If the Emergency Signal is enabled, shouldn't it ALWAYS trip an E-Stop (the [EStop Tri] checkbox should be checked and grayed out)?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 12, 2015, 03:07:30 PM
All signals in Mach4 , like switches and inputs should be left Active HI. , do not set any active low. If a signal is active low, then invert it
in Darwin. Darwin sends a signal "Active", and that signal is true if the config in Darwin says it is, low or high, so Darwins setting takes
precedence over Mach4. Darwin wasn't designed for Mach4, which is why two configs exist, also when it was attached many of m4's
calls did not exist, so its using signals as it see's them.

  Set all M4 signals to Active High, then tell Darwin if high or low is "Active"..


   If the DRO's are counting, then Darwin "thinks" its sending out, so your almost there, ensure the port number is
correct, if it is, you should have step pulses, otherwise the DRO's would not count.  If one find you cannot enable  
Mach4, turn off all inputs, in Darwin and in Mach4. When your jogging Ok, then turn on one signal at a time,
first in darwin, and see if all is OK, then turn that signal on in Mach4, and see if its OK.  This will lead you
to the trouble. If a signal in Darwin is set to activate Estop it will do so without M4's help, so you should probably
make sure no signal is set to EStop on active inside Darwin except perhaps ESTOP..  Sounds like
if you follow this process, youll be OK at this point..

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on December 12, 2015, 03:09:11 PM
the plug in setting are the master settings, you map those signals to M4 in M4 you don't do anything to active high or low tick you leave that alone it will stuff it up, all you do is mappin enabled tick, device and input name or output name and don't touch active
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 12, 2015, 05:10:45 PM
Or..set active high. If unset the system assumes high it seems..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 13, 2015, 05:17:33 AM

Hi Art,

unfortunately I cannot test my motors with Darwin's jog control , as my controller needs both the charge pump and enable set, to run.

will check out the other points you mention in the last email to see if there are any negated inputs.

Not sure what else I can do.

Kind regards

Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 13, 2015, 07:22:14 AM
Mark:

    You can actually turn on the charge pump from Darwin, so perhaps the first thing to do is that.
Turn on the charge pump and set its frequency to 12.5khz.. You should then see the board is alive,
then turn on the enable, if its level is set right, you should then be able to jog..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 14, 2015, 04:02:58 PM
Hi Art,


Thanks again for all your help and patience things are looking a lot better.

I have now managed to get the charge pump and the enable line running.

And the motors are jogging in Darwin and Mach4.
However, some other setting is wrong as when I jog about 20 mm in Mach4 , The motor only moves 1 tick , a tiny amount.

Have checked the motor set-up in mach4 ,and this is set the same as my mach3 setting which work ok.

Its as if there is some other setting, which is overriding the steps per mm.

Any Ideas ?

Kind Regards

Mark

 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Steve Stallings on December 14, 2015, 04:56:39 PM
This sounds like a classic setup issue with the direction signal driving the step input and vice versa.

Every other time the direction changes the motor will take one step.

Check your wiring and/or Mach4 setup.

Steve Stallings
PMDX
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 14, 2015, 08:39:05 PM
I agree with Steve, its probably the step and DIR being mixed, Id also check that your not
setting units/sec when it wants units per minute...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 15, 2015, 04:21:48 AM
Hi Art, Steve,

I have already checked the step and direction pins, will check again.

Which parameter are you referring to units/sec per min, are you meaning the velocity setting on the motor screen?

Or the feed mode in the mach4 setup screen ?

Also, reviewed your utube video again, you refer to noise either side of the signal line, did you see my picture posted earlier in the thread.

It has two very strong lines , is this ok?

Kind Regards

Mark

 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 15, 2015, 07:20:23 AM
Yes, your timing lines look fine. A lack of bilateral symmetry seems to indicate a sporadic device interrupt, but its not affecting you. Your
main line is red at zero and looks good. I think you should be OK. As to settings I was reffering to max velocity, just make sre its correct and not 60 times smaller than it needs to be..I cant recall how m4 sets it velocity off hand..minute or second

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 15, 2015, 01:46:38 PM
Sorry Art ,

 just done  a load more testing, its not working.

I tried altering the motor parameter settings, the only ones that seem to work at all are identical to my mach3 settings , which work on this same pc if i run it up.

787 steps 600 velocity and 10 acceleration

Tried swoping over step and direction, this did nothing the system was dead, so put them back.

Also noticed that toggling the negate step box in Darwin is causing the motor to do 1 step.

I also noticed that when using jog in Mach4 , the pulses are not very constant as if it is missing one occasionally.

Its almost as if the pulse signal is not strong enough and only triggers occasionally.

Best wishes

Mark


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 15, 2015, 04:40:57 PM
Mark:

   Did you try increasing pulse width in Darwins diags menu item in mach4? Set your step width to 5 or so to see if it helps.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 16, 2015, 03:00:38 AM
Hi Art,

Yes with Mach3 I need to set it the pulse width to 5 , for best results.

In Mach4 have tried changing it, will do a few more tests , but 5 seems to be whats required.

I am using leadshine closed loop stepper motors

http://www.leadshine.com/productdetail.aspx?type=products&category=easy-servo-products&productype=easy-servo-drives&series=ES-D&model=ES-D1008

Kind Regards

Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 16, 2015, 07:38:15 AM
Mark:

 Yeah, try 5 or 8 or something , if negating the DIR is making it step it really does sound like
reversed step/dir lines, but small pulses CAN do the same effect..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 16, 2015, 01:33:48 PM
Hooray, it working.

Turned out to need the negate step setting.

I have some odd things going on with the Mach4 the steps per mm, does not seem to relate to the Mach3 settings, but will be able to sort this.

Such a shame it does not have the auto calibration that mach3 has.

Thank you Art for all you patience again, its difficult doing remote diagnostics.

Finally , wishing you and everyone on the group a happy Christmas and new year.

You can see my machine at          http://marktaft3.wix.com/siegx3cnc

I supported the group over 13 years ago, in master5 days , so finally I got a machine converted !

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 16, 2015, 01:52:01 PM
Mark:

 Congratz, glad its running..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: DSTechLabs on December 22, 2015, 02:41:06 PM
Hey Art, thanks for the info. This did the trick!
I thought M4's Active Low's had to match Darwin's Active Low's.
Whew!

One other question:
Why is the PC responsible for sending out step pulses?  I believe it should be the Motion Control Board that should do that.
The PC should simply send a "command" to the board to move a motor, x number of steps at a specified speed.  And the board should react to E-Stops and Home switches directly.
Communications between the PC and board could simply be serial messages.
This is how I operate my robot arms using Arduino and Beaglebone Black boards.  And I can run 8 motors simultaneously just fine.
No need for Darwin.
Perhaps for Mach5 ???
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 22, 2015, 03:40:45 PM
>>Why is the PC responsible for sending out step pulses?  I believe it should be the Motion Control Board that should do that.
The PC should simply send a "command" to the board to move a motor, x number of steps at a specified speed.  And

   There is no right answer to that, when I wrote Mach3, it was because there were no motion boards that didnt cost thousands,
and everyone had a printer port. The printer port was the secret to Mach's success. Now though, I no longer use Darwin or the printer port
any more myself. I have moved on to Win7. However, theres a lot of machine out there using printer ports, so until their willing to
upgrade... Darwin can at least help..


So even I now use motion control boards..now its all a question of how efficient one is at doing so..
 :)
 Glad its up and running.. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 29, 2015, 12:30:13 PM
Hi Art,

Just been doing some more testing, and seem to be stuck again.

Thought the problem may be a Mach4 problems posted some info on new thread "Version 2803 Problems" , they suggested it could be a Darwin problem.

My set up is still with only 1 motor on the x axis.

I have two issues ,

1) when a e-stop is activated, if mach 4 is in enabled mode, you cannot get back to enabled, even though the log says e-stop cleared.

The system seems locked , until restarted.

also noticed that I have to press enable twice for the very first time, before the motors are engaged. Could this be related.

after this you can disable / enabale and they switch ok. 

2) when I reference home, the dro zeroes , without searching for the home switch, as if it thinks its already at the home location.

when I press home switch they work the x home, x-- limit and x++ limit, the same as mach3 which works, these light up in the debug screen correctly.

I only have one switch connected to both x-- and x++ limits.

have not set any soft limits in darwin or mach4


Let me have any sugestions.

Regards

Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 29, 2015, 12:48:00 PM
Hi Mark:

>>1) when a e-stop is activated, if mach 4 is in enabled mode, you cannot get back to enabled, even though the log says e-stop cleared.
        The system seems locked , until restarted.

  When you press enable do you get any message about what causes it to drop back into Estop? Is the EStop switch showing active?

>>also noticed that I have to press enable twice for the very first time, before the motors are engaged. Could this be related.
 
  No, thats normal.
 
>>2) when I reference home, the dro zeroes , without searching for the home switch, as if it thinks its already at the home location.

   Darwin does that if it senses the home is already made. Check the home switch in Darwins config to make sure "Active" is set to the condition
when the switch is pressed. All switches in Mach3 should be left at active high in their settings, no matter how they work..
Under the History button Darwin will put messages about a home, so if it thinks the switch is made it will tell you that. Also
in darwins config you have to tell it in the axis config which signal is the homing switch for that axis, if you havent set that it wont home.

  Try those things to see what they do, based on what happens Ill boot back into xp for some tests to see how mine is reacting with latest build,
last I tested was 2805.

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: gstevens on December 29, 2015, 10:15:31 PM
Hello, I've been building a Hobby CNC machine and have been struggling for about a week on something. I have a windows 7 32 bit system that I downloaded the M3 trial version, and had some success with. I then purchased M4 with the Darwin PP plug-in and tried to set up but i'm not having luck with the configuration and can't get the X Y and Z axis to connect (nothing happens when I jog each axis). I can get the spindle to turn on and off however. I checked several times and the Hex value is correct on port 1. I'm setting up Motor 0-2 for axis x y and z. I've attached some screen shots if that helps any. Thanks in advance

Greg
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: bob_at_pmdx on December 30, 2015, 12:41:39 AM
When you say you can't get the axis to "connect", what exactly do you mean?  Do you mean simply that you get no motion?  Or is there something more?

I'll leave the Darwin specifics to Art, but in my experience the most common cause "no motion" is having the step and direction signals swapped.  Your image of the motor configuration tab shows Motor0 with direction on pin 3 and step on pin 2.  Verify that this is really how your break-out board and/or motor wiring is connected.  For example, that would be OK with a PMDX-340 or GeckoDrive G540, but would not work for a PMDX-134.

Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 30, 2015, 08:37:25 AM
Hi:

    First question here is "Do the DRO move when you Jog or try to move."?

  If DRO's count , then Darwin thinks it is sending out pulses, and Mach4 is getting the
updated positions. Since you have spindle on/off, the port is fine, if counting, Id
look to pin settings as Bob mentioned, it may be your happily pulsing your step
into your direction.. which will give you a warm feeling, but no motion.

  If no DRO's are counting, then have you set Darwin as the pulse engine? Any other
errors shown?

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: gstevens on December 30, 2015, 08:46:55 AM
By DRO you mean on the screen? Yes the value will change but I get no motion when I try to jog the axis. I believe I had the correct pins for direction and step since I set it exactly as I had it in M3, but I will double check that tonight. Thanks for the advice!
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 30, 2015, 11:08:20 AM
If the values change, Darwin is stepping. SO either the pins are set wrong, or the port. But if you have IO, the port must be fine.
Make sure also that no other output is set to the step pins...

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: gstevens on December 30, 2015, 08:47:47 PM
Hmm. No such luck. I checked M3 and the pins where set the same, I also swapped the direction and step pins just to make sure, and nothing changed. I also couldn't find anything else using the same pin. Any thing else I could check?

Thanks
Greg
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 30, 2015, 09:34:57 PM
Greg:

 Did you try pulse width under the Diags/Darwin menu.. there is a place to set a pulse width, try adding 5 to it to see if perhaps
your drivers need longer pulses?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on December 31, 2015, 05:52:57 AM
Hi Art:

Did some more testing,

>>1) when a e-stop is activated, if mach 4 is in enabled mode, you cannot get back to enabled, even though the log says e-stop cleared.
        The system seems locked , until restarted.

  When you press enable do you get any message about what causes it to drop back into Estop? Is the EStop switch showing active?

>>also noticed that I have to press enable twice for the very first time, before the motors are engaged. Could this be related.
 
  No, thats normal.
 
 >>> The enable locks up only if you do an estop (still Locke) , then press enable.
 >>> if you reset the estop first , it will enable ok.
 Checked the history and nothing is shown
 
 Once locked up, the enable is sort of greyed out, could this be a safty feature / bug of M4 or is there a special button somewhere to unlock it?
 
 
 The sequence in history is:-
 
 ..Estop condition
 ..signal 5 set to 0
 
 Then reset estopbutton
 
 ..Estop cleared
 
 at this point the enable is red and locked.
 

>>2) when I reference home, the dro zeroes , without searching for the home switch, as if it thinks its already at the home location.

   Darwin does that if it senses the home is already made. Check the home switch in Darwins config to make sure "Active" is set to the condition
when the switch is pressed. All switches in Mach3 should be left at active high in their settings, no matter how they work..
Under the History button Darwin will put messages about a home, so if it thinks the switch is made it will tell you that. Also
in darwins config you have to tell it in the axis config which signal is the homing switch for that axis, if you havent set that it wont home.

  Try those things to see what they do, based on what happens Ill boot back into xp for some tests to see how mine is reacting with latest build,
last I tested was 2805.

>>> when i press my limit switch , the history shows:-

>>>Home switch x tripped
>>>Limit X++ tripped
>>>Limit X-- tripped

>>>which is ok as I have all 3 tied to the same signal pin, physically only one switch( optical).

>>>Have set up the signal pin in darwin,sorry! I thought this was controlled by Mach4.

>>>The ref home all, now works.


>>> Can you tell me where to set the back off distance, same as Mach3.

>>I preseume darwin should do this befor handing over control to Mach4,
 >>else if does not , the ref home is set ,
>>and also trips the limit, so you have to disable limits , then jog off each axis.




Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 31, 2015, 08:03:56 AM
Hi Mark:
"  >>.Estop condition
   ..signal 5 set to 0
    Then reset estopbutton
    ..Estop cleared
    at this point the enable is red and locked. "

   This one is strange, Darwin has no control over M4's enable button. Ill ask the M4 developers why that might occur,
Ive never experienced that one (or even heard of it..)

">>and also trips the limit, so you have to disable limits , then jog off each axis."

   This too shouldnt happen. If on a limit switch, Darwin should allow you to enable
and it will ignore the limits until you jog off them.. then turn them back on.. Ill check the code
to see what permissions are required..

>>>>> Can you tell me where to set the back off distance, same as Mach3.

  This is set in M4's homing setting, it doesnt however move off. You set an offset.. say 1", when it homes,
instead of zeroing, it will set -1", pressing goto Zero's would then move you off the switches to the "real"
home position, thats how the system was designed and the original spec of Mach4 for Homing when Darwin
 was written.

  In checking the Enable code, if any signal has "ETrip set", that is if any signal in Darwins Config
has the box checked telling it to go into Estop.. such as limit switches, when you press enable they
are turned off and you get a message..
"Warning::EStop signal inhibited for "Signal Name" till cleared"When you jog off youll get
"Note::EStop capability restored for signal "signal name".

   Now that Ive checked the code, I see no place for Darwin to tell M4 to not enable the
"Enable" button.

For the problem of jogging off limits...

 I suggest the following. Turn off your limit switches in Mach4. Tell it you
have none. In Darwins config, tell it the Limit Switches should cause an Estop. Leave
them enabled in Darwin with that setting. During homing, Darwin will ignore them,
and if you hit one after, it will trip an estop and the messaging will happen as above.

   Darwin doesnt need Mach4 to know about its limit switches, so since your sharing
limits and home, its probably best to just let M4 think you have none. It was my
understanding M4 didn't do anything with limits other than simply display the LED''s,
but that may have changed in some update. SO turn them off to see if it helps,
that will at least tell us if your jog off switches thing is a M4 or Darwin issue.

  Ill ask about the enable, perhaps they added a safety I wasnt aware of.

Thx
Art


  





Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: gstevens on December 31, 2015, 05:36:38 PM
Greg:

 Did you try pulse width under the Diags/Darwin menu.. there is a place to set a pulse width, try adding 5 to it to see if perhaps
your drivers need longer pulses?

Art


Art
I tried changing pulse width but nothing is labeled that, I found under the diagnostic/Darwin menu a step width, is that the same thing? Either way I tried different values  for that and nothing changed.

Thanks
Greg
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: gstevens on January 03, 2016, 01:24:28 PM
Greg:

 Did you try pulse width under the Diags/Darwin menu.. there is a place to set a pulse width, try adding 5 to it to see if perhaps
your drivers need longer pulses?

Art


One new interesting thing that I found. Playing around with the settings I opened up both M3 and M4 and was able to get M4 to jog the axis. It soon crashed but trying to duplicate it I found that occasionally if M3 is open I can get M4 to work.  Any ideas what in M3 would override M4 and can I set it in M4?

Thanks,
Greg
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 03, 2016, 01:44:50 PM
Greg:

 I'm really not sure whats going on there.. Opening M3 and M4 at the same time Ida thought would crash you pretty hard..

Short of hooking a scope on the output pins to see whats up Im not sure what you can check. Does the system require a charge pump to move?
Is it possible your just missing a charge pump signal?

Art


 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on January 07, 2016, 06:09:08 AM
Hi Art,

in your last message you said " In Darwins config, tell it the Limit Switches should cause an Estop"

Can you elaborate in how to do this.

Cheers

Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on January 07, 2016, 06:15:00 AM
Hi Art,

Not sure if this one is for this group or not .please advise.

Are the motor parameters, steps per inch and velocity etc in Mach4 the same as mach3 ?

My Mach3 system motors sound very smooth,

However , in mach4 If I use the same settings , the system seems to be behaving total differently, the motor sound is much sharper.
and ever the steps setting has to be different.
Shouldn't the settings be identical ?

Regards

MArk
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 07, 2016, 08:33:14 AM
Mark:

>>in your last message you said " In Darwins config, tell it the Limit Switches should cause an Estop"
>>Can you elaborate in how to do this.

  In Darwin's config, where you set the input signals up, you can check or uncheck "E Stop Trip" on any signal.
In the case of a limit switch, set it to "EStop Trip" , this is a signal that tells Darwin that if such a signal is tripped
and your trying to reset, it will turn off the E-Stop on that signal till you drive off it, and will ignore it during homing.

>>However , in mach4 If I use the same settings , the system seems to be behaving total differently, the motor sound is much sharper.
and ever the steps setting has to be different.

  It should sound smoother, as Darwin is a smoother motion device than the old printer port. Steps really should be the
same. Id try inverting the Step pulse, its possible your driver needs the pulses inverted, that happens fairly often.. and can
impact the step count and sound...

Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: NKS on January 11, 2016, 09:59:09 PM
Hi Folks,

I've just finished wiring my electronics up and I'm trying to configure Darwin.  I have my X & Y steppers jogging smoothly through Darwin and Mach 4.  However, my Z is giving me some trouble.  Motor #2 (my Z axis) is configured in a similar manner to the X and Y, however, the jogging "light" does not go green when I activate the jog pad... No motion at all.  BUT, when I negate the step signal the motor moves a tiny amount and with a painful grinding noise.  I'm running a C10 BOB and I measure a clean 5v when I toggle my Z pul and dir pins on individually.

I know it's not a motor problem.  My only idea is that the driver (Keling 8070Digital), which is different from the X & Y drivers, is causing a problem?  But would that explain not getting a green light when jogging in Darwin?

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Nico





Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on January 12, 2016, 03:16:06 AM
Hi Art,

I tried inverting the step signal as you suggested.
When I do this i do not get any motion, only a little grinding noise as experienced above in the previous post.

so I assume the settings are ok.

Would you like me to record the sound of the motor on mach3 and mach4 so you ca  hear the difference?

I will lookup the steps per mm for you tonight.

Mark
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 12, 2016, 08:14:49 AM
Hi Mark:

  No, sounds likely wouldnt help. It does sound like your losing steps or something,
but as your waveform is clean I'm at a loss as to why. Your at the point where Id
personally pull out one of my scopes and see what it says is going on.
   You know, something niggles at me, make sure all the Mach4 config items liek limit
switches and home switches are set to Active High, then see if any LED's are on in
Mach4's config , like limits and homes. They should all be off. Seems to me if a
homing switch is senses as active and motion occurs, it may be choppy.. Home switches
and limits should not be ON when an axis is moving really, other than to jog off
them..

   But thats the only thing that comes to mind that "may" have an effect on pulse
clarity..

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 12, 2016, 08:15:57 AM
>>But would that explain not getting a green light when jogging in Darwin?

 Not quite sure what green light we're speaking of?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: NKS on January 12, 2016, 10:26:10 AM
Art,

I'm talking about the jogging "LED" in the diagnostics part of the motor configure page.  It goes green when I jog X&Y but stays red when I try to jog Z.  The motors are otherwise configured in an identical manner. 

Thanks,
N
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 12, 2016, 10:41:40 AM
N:

   It means Darwin doesn't think its jogging.. Is the Z axis mapped to the jogger when your jogging?
might be a bug i had'nt heard of before..  Do you have Z axis selected in axis 1 or axis 2 for jogging?
If so, the LED should be on..   Make sure no other signal is set to either its step or dir, I got bit
by that before...

   If all  else fails, do this, swap X and Z and try jogging. Does the X now sound noisy when you jog z?
Is the Z noisy when you jog X?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on January 12, 2016, 03:30:02 PM
Hi Art,

just completed a lot more testing.

Compared to Mach3 , M4 is very rough on long moves.

If i jog off a zero position , then do a return to zero ,it moans and groans, and splutters occasionally.

Despite this it does not seem to run off position , as far as a i can tell.

Spent a lot of time changing the motor settings, ( velocity and acceleration) the settings I have are the smoothest and seem to match the Mach3 setting which is realy smooth.


Enclosed are the settings of the two systems, not sure what to make of them.

Have set mach3 up with a digital vernier and getting accurate repeatable smooth moves.

Also tried changing the signal delay. Interestingly m4 seems to need less delay, and does not run as well with 5 ms

Can anyone else on the web share their results of a m3 M4 compare?

Regards

Mark
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 12, 2016, 03:39:37 PM
Hi Mark:

 Its odd really, if one can run Mach3's printer port then Darwin should as well, their both based on
the same technology, but Darwin is somewhat cleaner . Is this both in jogging in Mach4 and in Darwins config? Any
difference between the jogs?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: marktaft on January 12, 2016, 04:26:00 PM
Hi Art,

Yes the jog within Darwin is smooth.

Tried it at all speed and it works fine.

So its something to do with m4 that's causing the jumpynes.

Regards

Mark

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 12, 2016, 04:55:11 PM
Mark:

  Unfortunately, my machine is torn apart so I cant really test to see if something has changed..
I'm not getting reports of any number of such reports, but Ill keep my eyes open for anything
that points to a solution..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: NKS on January 17, 2016, 02:25:31 PM
Art,

Okay, I seem to have fixed it by changing the axis x and axis y selections.  I'm not really sure what those selections were changing, but it's worked, so I'm a happy man.

Thanks for the help,
N

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 17, 2016, 03:44:44 PM
Glad to hear your going  good.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: BigD on February 06, 2016, 10:51:22 AM
I have been using Mach3 for over 7 years now on a very old XP computer.  My Motion control system is a servo based with Gecko drivers. I really need to replace the computer and would like to move to Mach4 with its new Darwin plug in for parallel port systems.  Unfortunately all of the USB to Parallel products I find talk only about stepper motors. I am looking at the PMDX-411 from PMDX, a suggestion of ArtSoft. 
Has anyone used this product or any product with a servo system?

Thanks,

Daryl
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Steve Stallings on February 06, 2016, 01:38:25 PM
The PMDX-411 will work fine with your Gecko servo drivers because the interface
is step and direction just like a stepper motor driver. We tend not to mention
servo drivers because many people associate them with +/- 10 volt analog
interfaces and our products do not support that.

The PMDX-411 only works with Mach4.

If you would prefer to stay with the Mach3 software that you already own,
then have a look at this product:

http://www.automationtechnologiesinc.com/products-page/breakout-boards/usb-motion-controller

Regards,
Steve Stallings
www.PMDX.com
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: bob_at_pmdx on February 06, 2016, 09:57:39 PM
As Steve said, the PMDX-411 would work with the Geckos.  And we'd love to sell you one.  But I would like to clarify something you said just to be sure.

... would like to move to Mach4 with its new Darwin plug in for parallel port systems.  Unfortunately all of the USB to Parallel products I find talk only about stepper motors.
If you want to use the Darwin plug-in, that talks directly to a parallel port in your PC, *IF* your PC has a parallel port on the motherboard or in an internal expansion slot (like PCI bus), and *IF* your PC is running a 32-bit version of Windows.  With Darwin and a parallel port in your PC, you don't need a "USB to parallel port" product.  If you want a "USB to parallel port" like the PMDX-411 (see note below), then you don't need the Darwin plug-in.

** note** While the PMDX-411 plugs into the USB port and emulates signals from a parallel port, it is not a generic "USB to parallel port".  It is specifically a motion control device that presents signals that are compatible with a parallel port.  It will not work with printer drivers, etc.  On the other hand, there are devices available that are indeed generic "USB to parallel port" adapters, and you can connect things like printers to them.  Those will NOT work with Darwin.  Darwin needs actual parallel port hardware in the PC.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: BigD on February 06, 2016, 11:54:50 PM
Thank you so much for the answers. These completely answer all of questions and will allow me to move forward
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: finleytom on February 16, 2016, 05:33:25 PM
Not sure if this should be posted as another topic.

I went from Mach3 to Mach4 with Parallel Port plugin. I couldn't get any of the motors to move in Darwin, finally I fixed the issue by setting selecting the "negate" radio buttons for each motor for both direction and counts. Hope this helps anyone that runs into the same issue.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: EddieUK on April 03, 2016, 09:13:37 AM
This is my first visit to the forum & I hope I have posted this in the correct place. I have a licensed copy of Mach3 that has performed very well for many years both on my mill and lathe. I now only use Mach for lathe work and recently had a problem that turned out to be mechanical rather than software. During the search for a solution I came across Mach4. I have installed Mach4 Hobby along with Darwin. I have managed to configure my axis motors but I can’t get my spindle to operate. I have spent hours and hours on here trying to discover what I am doing wrong but there is so much contradiction I am at a loss. I think most of the set-up suggestions are for people with smooth steppers? I tried those settings too.
I have the spindle turning on with the on screen button and it will activate with an M3 S1000 command from the MDI screen but the s1000 is ignored & the spindle just turns slowly.
My Mach3 works without issue so I know it’s not my hardware. I have a BOB connected to a spindle board that turns step / direction into a 0-10V signal. I can find the part numbers for these if required.
I am hoping that someone with greater knowledge than I will give me some set-up guidance using the Mach3 spindle settings below (that work) or at least point me in the direction of an “idiots guide”
My Mach3 spindle set up is as follows -
Ports & pins tab – motor outputs, spindle set to –
Step = pin 9,  Direction = Pin 8, Direction is set to low active & Step is high active.
Output signals tab - I have #4 also set to Pin 8, active low (think this is the M3 command in spindle relay control below)
Spindle setup tab – Relay control -
Disable spindle relays (unchecked)
M3 output set to # 4
M4 output set to # 6 (not in use)
In motor tuning (spindle) I have – steps per - 4000, velocity - 33.33, acceleration -  22.5 (Metric units)

One of the confusing things is in Mach4 under spindle is right at the bottom of the page it has a step / direction axis that I set to OB1 (6), then map it. But every time I return to the spindle page this OB1 (6) has defaulted back to none. I did read that this function is not in use yet, is that correct.
Hope you can help, thank you.
Eddie.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 03, 2016, 09:34:55 AM
Hi Ed:

   In Darwins config, turn on an output on pin #8, call it SpindleFreq as a name. Set it to frequency control if you see a checkbox, ( been awhile Im not sure there is one anymore)
 Now, in Mach4, under diags, there is a selection for Darwin, in it, select a Frequency Spindle and set minimum and maximum frequency you wish to use.
Then, in the config/Mach menu, select outputs, way way down the list is Spindle, turn it on, as device select Darwin, and then under mapping select the
named signal SpindleFreq.

   That should be all you need. Make sure you dont have laser mode selected in Darwins diag config.

 When you command a spindle with M3 or do a S100, look in the error history in the tab on the bottom of the main window, it will show messages from Darwin
about what it did for the spindle commands. "Set SpindleFreq to 100" for example..

 As for DIR, you can make an output and name if SpinDir, in Mach4's config, turn on Spindle Direction and set it to Darwin, mapped to SpinDir.. or whatever
you named the signal to.

 thats about it,

Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 03, 2016, 09:37:19 AM

By the way , to calibrate it, set the min max to 0 and 100, command a S100 and measure the actual speed, enter than as max.
Now command an S10, measure it and enter the  (speed * .9) in the minimum box.. Thatll get you close..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: EddieUK on April 03, 2016, 09:45:17 AM
Thank you for the quick response, I will go try this now & come back to you.

Thank you...Ed
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: EddieUK on April 03, 2016, 11:34:10 AM
Well we are closer but not just there. I took a stab at the frequencies (I don't have a clue) set output pin 8 to 150 MHz in Darwin, toggled the output & the relay clicks in, motor spins slowly as before. Set output 9 to pin 9, called it spindle direction. Went into set frequency spindle, set min to 200, left max at 5000. Now spindle starts using the on screen button, also with an M3 command but still ignoring the S1000 command. Now here's the difference, if the spindle SRO is set high & I try turn on the spindle, I get a buzzing from the BOB, if I move the slider up & down the tone of the buzz changes, I presume because of the frequency change. If I put the slider in a low position the relay clicks in & spindle runs. Can you give me some idea what the frequencies should be ? my spindle has min 200 rpm & a max of 2000. I did notice Darwin adjusts the frequency on its own accord. I tried different frequencies, some high numbers where reduced by Darwin. I don't get any notifications in the error history as to setting frequency. When I run M3 S1000 it says set MDI.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 03, 2016, 12:39:43 PM
Hi Ed:

 Heres the deal. In config/Mach , under the spindle tab, you set a minimum and max in RPM. If your spindle goes
8000rpm , fine, set 0 and 8000.

Then, in Darwin, you set a min and max in hz, so you can set 0 and 20000 for example.

 Now, when you do an S4000, mach will see thats 1/2 of your maximum of  8000, Darwin will then send
1/2 of its freq range out as a signal, so 10khz..  Each spindle will take a certain khz and give out a certain rpm.. just
a case of matching them..

  adjust Darwins high until it matches at S8000.. or whatever your max rpm is set to.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: EddieUK on April 07, 2016, 02:47:03 PM
Update - I now have some spindle control but not without issues. I set min & max frequencies in Darwin Diag to 150 & 2000. Darwin output signals pick up on the min frequency and set the output signal Mhz to 150. If I set min to 0 this is picked up too & spindle doesn't work. If I input higher numbers into max Darwin adjusts the Mhz up slightly in output signals, this then dosn't activate the relay correctly and I just get a buzz from my BOB. With my low settings that work my spindle runs smoothly at low revs but doesn't attain maximum speed (I realise I have no calibration at this point) Another clue in the puzzle maybe that unless my spindle rpm slider is in the low position the spindle won't start & I get the buzz once more. Once the slider is down it will start & I can then increase the rpm. I understand your explanation above but the software doesn't let me implement it as you suggest. I don't have any response from spindle commands using MDI but I guess this should come good once I get it working correctly.
Sorry this is becoming a pain.....Eddie
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 07, 2016, 05:13:56 PM
Eddie:

  Mach4 sends a command such as S400, Darwin checks to see what the min and max set in MAch4 for spindle is.
Lets say you have min max set to 0, 1000. Darwin will then decide you wish 40%. ( 400 is 40% of the 1000.).

 So then Darwin will see you have a f min = 0, and fmax is 20,000. ( This is Hz, not Mhz. ).
  It will then take 40% of that range, so 8Khz, and it makes the output signal put that out.

  When it does this, it puts messages in the error log. What is it saying when you enter

M3S4000 for example.?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: daduggan on April 16, 2016, 10:01:20 PM
I'm moving from MACH3 to MACH4. I use 2 Parallel ports for input/output, and the system is running.

Looking for some answers,

If I understand correctly Mach4 sends a axis homing command and Darwin which completes the task on it's own. I read and see the driver applies the homing offset that is setup in Mach4 homing configuration page. Then which is responsible for completing the homing move by moving to the zero point? Unless I'm missing something at this point I don't think either side (Mach4 or Darwin) is excepting the final move as it's responsibility but, someone needs to work out the final move and incorporate. I have a script and button at this point to use.

Next is along the same thing is with the spindle speed being reported to Mach4 and keeping track of the actual rotation speed. I use the Super-PID with PWM input and Indexed spindle output. I have the input PWM speed control working fine. I have the index pulse returning to Mach4 as seen on the diagnostic tab. The Mach4 manual hints to the fact the index input is used for monitoring the speed but I have not found where it actually uses it as feed back to compare the the requested speed. So once again unless I missing something which side is responsible of the task to complete the feedback loop for a closed loop system?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 16, 2016, 10:22:25 PM
>>If I understand correctly Mach4 sends a axis homing command and Darwin which completes the task on it's own. I read and see the driver applies the homing offset that is setup in Mach4 homing configuration page. Then which is responsible for completing the homing move by moving to the zero point? Unless I'm missing something at this point I don't think either side (Mach4 or Darwin) is excepting the final move as it's responsibility but, someone needs to work out the final move and incorporate. I have a script and button at this point to use.

   Neither side accepts responsibility for the final move, you need to press GotoZero after the home offset is applied.  This was the spec when Darwin was designed.

>>Next is along the same thing is with the spindle speed being reported to Mach4 and keeping track of the actual rotation speed. I use the Super-PID with PWM input and Indexed spindle output. I have the input PWM speed control working fine. I have the index pulse returning to Mach4 as seen on the diagnostic tab. The Mach4 manual hints to the fact the index input is used for monitoring the speed but I have not found where it actually uses it as feed back to compare the the requested speed. So once again unless I missing something which side is responsible of the task to complete the feedback loop for a closed loop system?

  Darwin isn't capable of any operations in terms of closed loop. It would of course respond if told to change the speed by a script or other module that
does do closed loop calculations, but its out of Darwin's scope to do anything other than supply the PWM signal to run the spindle as a linear
function of the min/max setup in Mach. Its the only calibration possible for Darwin.

Thx
Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: daduggan on April 16, 2016, 10:49:03 PM
These simple tasks were part of Mach3. Send the pulse to INDEX and it just worked. I have been turned down for a SDK so I've spent a lot of time gathering info from this forum and others who are working out scripts and screens. I've done a lot of programming through the years and much of the screen editing and scripting follows the same method and look just a different language. It's the details that are missing, like a listing of the pound numbers and what there reference to, the internal variable names, etc. I've read the API and understand the functions for the most part but the details just aren't there. I understand the Screen Load and PLC scripts function but there's no info on what needs to happen when. I made a script to auto move the axis to zero after completion of the homing but its like ignoring the code because something not finished or ready at the time it's to be executed. I've worked with checking that all axis are still from movement and a flag is set when the homing process is done and the home switch is active. Some times it works other time it just gets lost and the interface stops working. I guess we will all be testing and looking for answers for some time until Mach4 is actually up to what Mach3 had to offer after years of fixing.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 16, 2016, 11:28:47 PM
Hi:

  Sorry, but I dont have much expertise in using Mach4, but others int eh forum under general Mach4 use may be able to help..
I am not part of Mach4's development, so dont have any knowledge of the various variables and such.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: EddieUK on April 17, 2016, 11:18:02 AM
After spending hours & hours trying to resolve my spindle issue, I have decided to leave Mach4 for now and stick with Mach3. If it aint broke don't try fix it as they say.
Thank you Art for your help and patience I wish you well sir.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 17, 2016, 12:32:19 PM
Eddie:

  Sorry to hear its turned out to be a hassle. It should scale pretty linear between the two ( min and max) and as the last letter showed, his machine did that
fine, but it cannot do any closed loop operations. (though I understand the edict of "If it aint broke.."..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on April 28, 2016, 11:37:46 AM
I purchased Mach4 and the Darwin driver a couple of days ago, with the intention of running on my 4 axis bed mill that currently runs with Mach3.  After running the installers for both and starting Mach4, I get the following popup:

(http://www.pbase.com/kvom/image/163101713/large.jpg)

If I click the OK button then the Darwin plugin does not appear in the configure plugins screen.  In the control panel I can see it in the Device Manager screen:

(http://www.pbase.com/kvom/image/163101714/large.jpg)

Nevertheless I can execute the Darwin test driver program.  I have watched the youtube video several times on configuring Darwin, but am unsure of how to find the port address of the parallel port driver card.  I find this when drilling down into the driver info:

(http://www.pbase.com/kvom/image/163101715/large.jpg)

If this is correct and I enter that as the Darwin port address, should I expect that pressing the Estop switch on my mill to toggle one of the pin indicators in Darwin.  If it's not the correct port address, how do I find it?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 28, 2016, 12:19:27 PM
Hi:
 Select the resources tab on that final photo, youll see something like  0x0c000 as the start of a resource address. Thats the one to use.

 As to why Mach4 wont load the plugin, Im not sure, if the drivertest runs, then the driver and plugin are capable of running. It may be you need
the VC++ Runtime libraries installed for vs2013. Google that and youll find an installer.

Thx
Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on April 28, 2016, 03:59:10 PM
Thanks.  Some progress made today with rather little time to work on it.  I discovered that the address (0xdc00 in my case) is also stored in decimal in the mach3 XML config.  After enabling the port and the eStop input signal I can see the pin status change when I toggle the eStop button on the mill.  So I am getting some communication.

However when I configure motor 0 (x-axis) with the step and dir pins as configured in mach3, the jog box doesn't produce any motion, although the jogging indicator goes from red to green.  That's as far as I got today.

Observations:

1) Any config changes I make go away after I exit the driver test program.  I assume that I'd need to run the configuration via Mach4 to save the info, but if that's not the case then I'll need some info.

2) The frequency slider disappears randomly after switching among other tabs on the driver dialog.

3) I have no idea on configuring the charge pump.  Is that configured somewhere in Mach3?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on April 28, 2016, 04:29:48 PM
Further to the previous:

I discovered a VS redistribution exe file in the Darwin directory and ran it.  Then a Mach4 restart got rid of the popup and allows Darwin configuration within Mach4 including saving the data entered.  Next time I get into the shop I'll try the other motors.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 28, 2016, 05:16:44 PM
Hi:

 Glad to hear..

  You must have your Estop reset before being able to jog in Darwin, there a box to do that on one of the config pages for the port.

Art
,
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on April 29, 2016, 12:13:20 PM
I copied the step/dir pin settings for all 4 axes to the Darwin config.  When I click the jog box for motors 0 and 1 the jogging indicator turns green from red, but motors do not move.  For motor 2 the jogging indicator doesn't change.

I configured the output signals from Mach3 config as pins 1 and 16.

If I exit the Darwin config and enable Mach4 there's an error message in the "history" box saying 'Darwin License Has Failed With -11'.  My license file is in the Licenses dir.  Does it need to be renamed?

Finally, the DarwinHz file is not in the Wizards directory as mentioned in the Darwin instructions file.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 29, 2016, 12:36:07 PM
Did you map the motors in Mach4's config to the motor number and the device?

 Dont worry about hz file, Im not even sure what that is..

   Try importing the license, put it on your desktop and tell m4 to import it..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on April 29, 2016, 02:12:05 PM
Got the license issue cleared.  Seems I needed to go to the Help/About dialog and invoke the 'Load License File" button, which then lets me select the Darwin license file.

I am trying to jog within the Darwin driver dialog, assuming that clicking within the square box would cause the motors to run.  Within M4 I mapped the motor numbers to the axes and enabled the jog keys in the M4 Output Signals page.  Keypresses yield nothing.  

However I have not done any motor tuning and the fields to do so are greyed out.  Thus it seems some important config step is being missed.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 29, 2016, 05:10:25 PM
You have to map the motors to the device in the config/mach4 menus

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 01, 2016, 11:00:52 AM
I have done everything I can think of in the M4 configure screen to map motors, but the motor control tab remains unconvinced.  I am assuming that if I cannot move the motors with the Darwin driver  configurator/test that M4 won't work either.

As a possible clue, I discovered that if I enable M4 and toggle the eStop I get an error message in the log:

(http://www.pbase.com/kvom/image/163124830/large.jpg)

I can easily provide any screen shot needed to solve the motor issue, but right now I'm stymied.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 01, 2016, 03:03:01 PM
Hi :

  Its not unusual not to get motion while configuring Darwin,the Estop has to be reset and such before it will allow motion. Out of bounds is
an error Darwin spits out if it sees a motor try to move too fast. What does your mapping page look like? If M4 wont let you tune the motors
then its not seeing any motors turned on.. What does the motor mapping page look like..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 01, 2016, 03:31:38 PM
Is this the page you want?

(http://www.pbase.com/kvom/image/163126543/large.jpg)
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: bubbah on May 01, 2016, 05:11:44 PM
Not sure if this is even remotely close to the right spot to ask this but... being the extreme noob in this area that I am I figured ive gotta start somewhere.

In the near future I'm acquiring a CNC that uses a RichAuto DSP A11 controller... 50 pin connector to a box that that drives the cnc i assume...

From what I can see there isn't any monitor output to a display that I can see whats going on and where the CNC is in the project... (something to be mildly entertained by at the CNC besides watching the shavings fly all over the place..

Long story short I'm trying to find a way to make a visible representation of my project appear on a monitor so that can be accomplished.

I know for the Axiom AR8 there is going to be a controller change at some point for additional features.. i might have to wait for that.. but is there anything I can do within the Mach4 / Mach3 realm that will let me at least *see* whats going on instead of just relying on the controller?

I picked this posting to semi hijack since I suspect the 50 pin connector might be able to loop out to something.. just not sure how bad of an idea that is.. and if its been done before... or what i'll break (Besides my brain, and my bank account ) by even giving that thought any decent length of time to be considered... Yes i realize parallel ports are 25 pins and the DSP A11 is 50 pins...  (still not 100% sure what the connector type actually is)

I've got enough spare computers and monitors around that throwing some computer at it isn't going to be a problem... but will it work / be useful... thats a whole other question.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 01, 2016, 08:20:46 PM
Kvom:

 Thats where you mapped the axis to the motors, but can you show me the page where you mapped Darwin motor signals to the motors?
I think its under the motors tab?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 01, 2016, 08:21:53 PM
>>. i might have to wait for that.. but is there anything I can do within the Mach4 / Mach3 realm that will let me at least *see* whats going on instead of just relying on the controller?


 Sorry,. no.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 02, 2016, 11:08:50 AM
H
Kvom:

 Thats where you mapped the axis to the motors, but can you show me the page where you mapped Darwin motor signals to the motors?
I think its under the motors tab?

Art


That doesn't sound like this M4 screen:

(http://www.pbase.com/kvom/image/163132792/large.jpg)

Do you want to see the Darwin driver motor page(s)?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 02, 2016, 11:21:09 AM
Here is the Darwin motor0 page:

(http://www.pbase.com/kvom/image/163132806/large.jpg)

Now holding the mouse down in the box.  Index field increments:

(http://www.pbase.com/kvom/image/163132807/large.jpg)
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 02, 2016, 11:34:21 AM
Hi:

 No, that all looks good. I reviewed my settings as compared to yours, and you wouldnt be able to select the motors
in the tuning if they werent available.  Do the DROs move if you jog, but not the motors?

Does it come out of Estop properly?

Can you verify any iput signals work?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 02, 2016, 12:44:57 PM
Neither DROs nor motors move.

eStop turns the indicator in the Darwin driver and generates the error message in Mach4 history as I showed in a previous port.

Then I did the following for pins using the Darwin driver config.  First, with the machine axes centered I see pins 11-15 on/green

I then stopped M4, started M3, jogged X axis until home switch was activated.  Then stopped M3, restarted M4, and see that pin 11 is not off/red.  This is the proper pin, configured active low for the X axis home.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 02, 2016, 12:59:51 PM
Your photo of Darwin shows a velocoity when you try to jog, that means it was sending pulses out the port..but the motor wasnt moving..

 Are you sure the port number is the same as Mach3? Im not seeing nay reason your not getting a responce. When you tested the home switch ,
di that report mean the switch input DID follow the signal, or DIDNT. Are you getting input switch responce?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 02, 2016, 02:22:03 PM
Port/pin numbers do match M3, and home switch did follow the switch itself, so that input pin and eStop are being seen by the driver.

I'm going to remove the cover on the computer and try to observe the LEDs on the BOB while attempting jogging.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 02, 2016, 02:46:45 PM
It sounds to me like your hooked up fine, things should run. But if the DRO's arent moving, then Auggie isnt trying to jog. If Auggie sends out steps, the DRO's will count, so it has ot be something more basic than that..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 02, 2016, 03:02:18 PM
No BOB led's lit when attempting jogging with Darwin driver.  However, X & Y DROs in M4 update after I close the dialog.

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 02, 2016, 04:05:21 PM
yes, it sounds like either the pins arent right, the home switch works so it must be the right port. Sure you didnt swap dir and step?

If Darwin shows a velocity, then its sending out pulses.. unless a chargepump signal is missing or soemthing, the breakout board
should be flashing..

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 02, 2016, 05:56:15 PM
I set as enabled the 3 output signals as in M3 (pins 1, 16, 17). What's interesting is that motor3 never has the jogging indicator go green, while motor0 and motor1 do so. There's nothing different about it in how it's configured other than pin#s.

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 02, 2016, 09:39:05 PM
So the jog indicator goes green, but the DRO's and the motor wont go? Nothing in the log history?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 02, 2016, 09:46:43 PM
Hi:

  Ive looked in the code, I cant see anything that would stop your motors from running. Seems to me if the driver shows a velocity when you jog,
it should be running...

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 03, 2016, 07:49:03 AM
Another thought now that Ive slept on it..

 Have you tried turning off any charge pump? Or , if you use one, have you set a charge pump frequency?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 03, 2016, 07:53:34 AM
I have  not set a frequency AFAIK.  What value(s) should I set?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 03, 2016, 08:02:27 AM
For most charge pumps, youd need 12500 entered in the box ..

that gives a 12.5Khz pulse,you should see it turn yellow on its darwin led indicator when its putting out..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 03, 2016, 09:14:01 AM
The other aspect I find puzzling is that the M4 motor tuning tab is not allowing entry of tuning parameters.  That tells me that M4 is not seeing the motors as properly configured from the driver.  It would be useful to know what interface aspect causes the motor tuning to be enabled.  I will try the charge pump frequency later this morning.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 03, 2016, 09:42:22 AM
Hi:

 As darwin starts up it registers 4 motors, (if in darwin, you have checked Enabled). After that its all kinda automatic, M4 should
allow you to configure them. This is the latest version I assume of M4?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 03, 2016, 10:09:17 AM
I discovered that in addition to the check marks, I have to click on the motor as well to expose the tuning, so that's not the issue. 

Setting frequency in the charge pump pin configs did nothing, and the frequency indicators there stayed red.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on May 03, 2016, 09:21:55 PM
can you post your profile .ini
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 03, 2016, 09:27:15 PM
OK, so then you can set the tuning for the motor to appropriate settings.

  You have to enable the signal, turn it on before it starts to put out charge pump frequencies. Did you turn it on? Better
yet, can you simply turn on Charge pump on your baord till is all working, best to remove the barriers and then reinstate
them. If Chargepump WAS the problem, your DRO's should still count even if the motors dont move.

 Something pretty basic must be off for the DRO's to not count. Mach4 is coming out of Estop right? Is it possible the EStop
is inverted in Darwin so its going into Estop when MAch4 comes out of it? If you turn on a debug log, does it show Mach4 trying to jog?
Does it show any error when it tries?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on May 03, 2016, 10:28:26 PM
Kvoms profile will help Art it will show all the M4 pin states
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 04, 2016, 07:16:57 AM
True, probably best just to post the profile ....

Thx Dude,
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 04, 2016, 11:44:42 AM
Attached are the M4 .ini. file (added txt)  and the working M3 profile.

The BOB is a C11G from CNC4PC.com.  The current model is newer but apparently is just a repacking, with the electronics being the same.  The web page for the card is http://cnc4pc.com/c11gs-multifunction-cnc-board.html

One "clue" I found is that the card has an EN External Enable pin that if not enabled with +5V causes all the outputs to go to ground.  Apparently the charge pump could be coupled to this, and if so it's being done by M3 and possibly not by M4.  I'll inquire with my machine vendor how that's configured and post up the response.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 04, 2016, 12:06:34 PM
I have jogging

Very mysterious but today I started up M4 and the Darwin configurator and noticed that the charge pump indicators were green.  Then I was able to jog all three axes in the proper directions.   ;D

However, now when I exit the Darwin configurator and click the M4 Enable button, all my BOB pin leds go off, and no keyboard jogging.

Seems like a milestone nevertheless.  Maybe the .ini file will show something I've missed in the M4 config.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 04, 2016, 12:25:30 PM
Sounds like its going into Estop in Darwin, liek the polarity is off.. In Mach4, make sure all Darwin signals in and out  are set to ActiveHi..

 If thats a problem swap them in Darwin, not in Mach4.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 04, 2016, 12:34:20 PM
More progress.  Seems exiting the Darwin Configuration leaves the BOB in a stopped state, with its leds out.  However, pressing enable-disable-enable turns them on again.

I also found that I can jog in M4 with the jog window buttons, so now my next problem is why the keyboard keys don't work.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 04, 2016, 01:25:45 PM
Now I found the Keyboard Enable button on the Jog tab, and I can jog with the keyboard!

If I can get the spindle configured next I may be good to go.  In the meantime I've copied the motor tuning params from M3 and will use a DTI to see if the axis movements are still accurate.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 04, 2016, 01:50:20 PM
I think your on your way..

  Read the spindle posts on the previous posts on this thread.. they explain how a spindle connects

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 04, 2016, 03:40:16 PM
The axis travels seem to match commands, so it is on to the spindle.  After searching this thread and looking at the M3 spindle config, I tried the following.

Set output signals 5-7 as spindle freg, spindle fwd, spindle rev, pins 14, 2, 4 respectively.  Set frequency to 1800 on pin 14.  FWIW, it seems that output signals 1-4 have charge pump locked as their name, and any names specified for others are not saved to the profile until M4 is stopped and restarted.

Set the input signals for Spindle On, Spindle Fwd, and Spindle Rev to device Darwin and the respective signals.

However spindle does not turn on.   History states that Signal 5 turns ion and off.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 04, 2016, 03:47:16 PM
and you mapped signal 6 to Spindle on in mach4?

(Look in the debug hsitory at turn on, darwin reports all it does when an M3 comes in. Alos, in config/Darwin, you must select frequency spindle and set the min and max frequency..

Art


Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 04, 2016, 04:03:21 PM
I don't see any Darwin pages with min/max frequencies.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 04, 2016, 05:21:32 PM
It used to be in debug/darwin, but I think its in diagnostic/Darwin now..

Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 07, 2016, 07:59:05 PM
I have tried any number of combinations, but no spindle motion has resulted.  Attached is the M3 configuration.  Looking at it I have thought it's a step-dir motor control with pin 2/3 being dir and pin 14 being step.

In M4 I configured these three output pins with 14 having a 12500 frequency, and 2 and 3 w/o frequency, and then the spindle frew/fwd/rev in M4 outputs.  Then in diagnose/darwin window I tried  various frequency ranges.   No motion.  Looking for ideas.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 07, 2016, 09:27:33 PM
Its hard to say without knowing how its wired.. Doesn't look like step/direction to me, looks like you have 2 relays for controlling cw or ccw, so You have to make an output signal in Darwin called SpindleCW at set it to pin 2, make another for SpindleCCW and set it to pin3 . You then make a third output signal Called SpindleFreq.

  In Mach3, turn off that spindle axis. In Mach4's config for output signals, select the SpindleCW, SpindleCCW and SpindleOutput signals and map
them the Darwins new output signals. In Diagnostics/Darwin, set a low freq of 0, and a high freq of 20,000.

  Restart, and command an M3S5000, see what happens...You should get debug messages telling you what Darwin is trying to do with the m3 ....



Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 07, 2016, 09:33:17 PM
That's basically what I did, except I specified a frequency in the output pin definition.  I'll zero that out and only specify frequencies in the diagnostic page.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 10, 2016, 11:28:18 AM
Spent a good amount of time trying things in Mach4, but also comparing with M3.  Some conclusions:

1) The motor relays are required to be activated, but do not themselves control the motor.  Unchecking the box disables the spindle.

2) The spindle is a step-dir motor, but is configured to run only forward, since its dir pin is set to 0.  I never tried to execute a M4 command until now.  Whether a different pin would allow reverse is unknown.  I assume that since pin0 is the dir, the default direction signal is off.  When the spindle is running, the BoB light for pin 14 is on, and off when the spindle is off.

4) M3 has a motor tuning definition for the spindle.  How to replicate this in M4 is a mystery.  I can certainly define motor tuning for motor5 in M4, but how to tell M4 it's the spindle?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: bob_at_pmdx on May 10, 2016, 01:21:38 PM
I don't know the specifics of the Darwin driver, or whether it supports out-of-band motors.  But in general, to config a stepper motor as a spindle motor you need to map one of the motors to an "out of band" asxis (i.e. "OB1" to "OB6") instead of "X", "Y", etc.  For example, map "Motor3" to "OB1".  Then go to the normal motor config screen to set the tuning params for "Motor3".  Then go to the "Spindle" tab.  Down at the bottom select the "Step/Dir Spindle Axis" check box and select "OB1" in the drop-down list.  And make sure to set the min/max RPM values.

Fill in Darwin-specific config stuff as appropriate.

Bob
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 10, 2016, 02:08:46 PM
Tried the above suggestion.  But spindle doesn't move and when I re-enter the M4 config the spindle mapping to OB1 reverts to none.

I think that if the spindle is configured as a step-dir motor in Darwin, then the Darwin jog function would cause the motor to turn.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on May 10, 2016, 03:00:30 PM
>>I think that if the spindle is configured as a step-dir motor in Darwin, then the Darwin jog function would cause the motor to turn.

  No, that would only happen if you mapped the motor to an axis. If using OutOfBand, you need to define a motor in Darwin, then
set its pins appropriately, DIR for CW or CCW, and step for the frequency output. Darwin has been tested with either setup, but
one isnt really superiour to the other. You should be able to get the frequency one working as easily or easier.

 When you select an M3S100, if the spindle is properly configured and mapped as an output signal, Darwin will write entries into the
debug log ( not the normal log, the error log..). If your not getting any messages, such as  "Freq Spindle: 200 hz" , in the error log,
then either Darwin isnt seeing a mapped signal to Darwin for output, or Its not seeing Frequency mode selected in Darwins diagnostics
config. 

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 10, 2016, 05:03:16 PM
I've tried so many combinations my eyes are crossed.   ::)

But I did find out a few things from looking at the working M3 config.  First, the output#for the spindle relays (2 and 4) are not pin#s but references to the output#s defines in the other tab.  output# 2 is pin 16.  output# 4 is not enabled and has no pin#, which explains why m4 doesn't do anything.

Second but of info.  When I turn on the spindle in M3 and go to the diagnostic screen, I seen that output 2 is flashing, and pin 16 led is on on as well as 17, but no others.  17 is the charge pump.  When the spindle is not moving, led 16 is not on.

In M4 if I configure 16 as an output signal and enable it, the led stays on all the time.  In addition, any time 16 is active, the fan motor in the VFD enclosure turns on, so I believe that this pin enables the VFD but doesn't effect the motor.  However, since there are no other leds illuminated, I can't see how pin 14 is being used by M3 even if it's configured as the spindle pin.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on May 10, 2016, 05:06:20 PM
Kvom do you have any pin states set in M4
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: kvom on May 10, 2016, 05:12:55 PM
Kvom do you have any pin states set in M4

Not sure what that means.

I have seen two things that make me suspicious that Darwin and M4 may have some issues playing nice together.

One issue is that on startup, the charge pump led doesn't illuminate.  I have to cycle the disable/enable  button to turn it on.  I see the leds come on briefly at startup,  but then go off as the lua screens load.

Second issue is that none of the indicators in the M4 diagnostic screen change state.

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on May 10, 2016, 05:42:55 PM
pin states is high or low what you don't set in M4
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: woffler on June 17, 2016, 11:15:27 PM
Hello ,i have been reading the posts for about a hour or so and i have tried what i have read but i can not get this thing going .

 So here we go, converting from mach three running several years now, i can go in and out of e stop hit my switch and it e stops, no motor movement ,set charge pump pin 9 to 12.5 HZ enabled it toggled it on,  turned yellow shows 12 htz.

Motors set and enabled plugin ,mapped mach 4 and enabled ,steps set initial vel and acc set to square wave, and nada nothing will move  .

So then i have a extra smooth stepper different pc go thru set up same deal ,i can not get this board to enable with Mach 4 (mach 3 printer port every thing works perfect)
 
 
first pc running xp32 bit and parallel port with external graphics card , second pc windows seven 64 bit mach 4 either net smooth stepper with plugin.

I can not run another B/O board dedicated servo board.

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 18, 2016, 07:23:46 AM
>>Motors set and enabled plugin ,mapped mach 4 and enabled ,steps set initial vel and acc set to square wave, and nada nothing will move

  Do the DRO's count when you try to move?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: woffler on June 18, 2016, 09:25:30 AM
Hi art,yes they do
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: woffler on June 18, 2016, 09:28:15 AM
I can tell that it is not getting the signal for the charge pump .because it has a relay on it and you can hear it make when the pump goes active.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: woffler on June 18, 2016, 03:30:13 PM
I have done some further investigation of the mach 4 and this is what i am getting , i come out of e stop i have two enable signal's active even though they are not set up , i tried everything to get them to go off.
  However if i try to enable a particular enable pin ,it will not enable.

I have limits working if i hit a switch it shows in mach in diag. page,  however no outputs will work at all or enable pins, that is were i am at so far , and i am stuck and can go no further.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 18, 2016, 06:14:27 PM
Well, if the DRO's count, then M4 "thinks" all is fine, as does Darwin. That leaves only the  charge pump stopping motion really, did you try jumpering it off on the board to see if this enables motion?

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: woffler on June 18, 2016, 08:09:01 PM
Art here is a link to it   http://www.dmm-tech.com/DMB4250-8B_main.html   there is also  mach config screen shots that shows its config , and mine is set up exactly the same .

As i see it there is no exposure to the charge pump pins.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: woffler on June 18, 2016, 08:24:15 PM
I think i can disable the charge pump and run with out it, but i know nothing will run with out a enable signal on pin 14 all drives are daisy chained internally in the board.

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 19, 2016, 06:50:49 AM
Funny, in those docs it tells you the 4th axis is available if the charge pump is turned off.. but doesnt tell you how to turn it off..

  Anyway, if your sure the charge pump isnt happening, then probably best to troubleshoot that.
In darwin, there is a reset on the ports page to put darwin out of any estop it may be in... us that first
so that darwin is not in ready state,m if it wont come out of Estop, then check the Estop input isnt inverted
or something, Reset should work and turn the system green to go.

   Next, check that charge pump, it should as you saw turn yellow if set to a frequency output, test it at 12.5Khz and also at 25Khz..
or a few others... some boards are very sensitive to frequency so maybe its pulsing too fast for it.. or too slow..

See if any of that gets the board to reset properly..

Art
 

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: woffler on June 19, 2016, 04:36:40 PM
I have talked to several others , with this B/O board and they tell me mach 4 is not able to turn on the driver to the e stop relay built into the board and with out that signal nothing will work on the outputs.
  Sooo i think i am screwed at this point ,i will go back to mach 3 on my lathe .

  I abandoned Mach on the mill to another program with a either net board ,and all i had to do was import my mach xml and wang bang i was up and going ,i do not think that Mach 4 is going to work for me right now ,maybe in the future ,at this point i will ask for my money back and go somewhere else for my needs .

Until this system can be proven ,and gets much more easier to configure , because this thing is a night mare.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 19, 2016, 08:58:11 PM
I would have thought the Estop relay was triggered by the ChargePump, Im not sure why it cant trigger it, should be just a matter of finding
the correct frequency for it.. If Mach3 can drive it, I suspect M4 can, but it may be hard tyo figure the exact settings to do so.
Sorry it was so difficult..

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on June 20, 2016, 07:19:22 AM
set the machine enable pin it's under outputs that one got me with the ESS with the bob I have connected to it, for the life of me I could not get it to work then as a stab in the dark I set the machine enable output as the enable (output 1) and bugger me it worked .

so try pin 14 on the machine enable, rember to set it in Darwin with a name you wont forget like machine enable, mine was output 1 what was pin 17 so I named it enable, then in M4 it just was tick (devices) for you Darwin, output name, what you called it in Darwin
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on June 20, 2016, 10:59:48 AM
Yeah, that sounds better. If Mach3 can run a breakout baord, there really isnt any reason I can see why
Mach4 can't. Darwin will turn on any signal thats set. Charge pump is automatic if turned on, so an enable
really makes sense.
  As the Dude says.. thats the correct way to trip an enable signal..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: dude1 on June 20, 2016, 05:10:10 PM
it was a new thing they added Art around 2.294.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Moonchpa on October 26, 2016, 11:51:07 PM
Mach4 has given me this message:
Darwin license has failed with-11
I am trying to configure and get my momus machine working (which I did not build).
What I HAVE done is... receive the licence file from Artsoft.
Copy and paste into license folder.
Darwin shows in the plugin folder in Mach4 and I have configures it.
I have no action from the machine in jogging mode. I have not tried a file yet.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 27, 2016, 08:24:43 AM
Hi:

   Put your license file on the desktop, and ask Mach4 to import the license. See if that helps. Im pretty sure the -11 is a license error..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Moonchpa on October 27, 2016, 02:50:57 PM
Art
do you mean
mach4/config/plugins/add?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: matpeet on December 21, 2016, 04:20:30 PM
hi Art
Since 2005 I use Mach2 for a plasma cutting table 4mtr. at 7 meters it always works

Now I would like to switch to Mach3.
  but mach3 the lpt1 not see.
  the port addres in Mach2 is 0x378 and works
  in Mach3 is also addres 0x378 and does not work
can you help me please ??????
Thank you for your wonderful software
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 21, 2016, 05:21:57 PM
No, I mean put the license file onto your desktop, then , in Mach4, there is a selection under help for "import license file". Use that and point the dialog to the desktop license. It will copy it to the correct spot. That usually fixes a -11 error..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: matpeet on December 22, 2016, 11:25:41 AM
thank you VERY much for your help
Its running 

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on December 22, 2016, 12:46:27 PM
Great!. Merry XMas.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Catslave on January 13, 2017, 03:31:48 PM
Hi,

Can you confirm for me that if I want to go with Darwin rather than an external motion controller I need an external graphics card ?
At the moment I am using the on board graphics on my motherboard.
Forgive my ignorance but why does it make a difference. Does the amount of system memory and main processor have no impact?

When I started building my cnc It seemed simple as I had a Chinese kit with a basic bob and I was only thinking about Mach3.
I can see that Mach4 is better in some ways but the choices about printer port and an older operating system or a external motion controller are giving me a headache.
One moment I seemed on the verge of buying software and seeing if this creation would actually do something useful with a router now I seem a way off again.

Any insightful thoughts would be appreciated.

Steve

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 13, 2017, 03:54:58 PM
Steve:

  Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I havent heard of anyone having trouble with Darwin due to internal graphics, Id run it and see.. It should work OK,
you just have to be in XP or 32 bit win7 for it to work.. Memory doesnt affect Darwin, but it may affect M4..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Catslave on January 13, 2017, 04:06:30 PM
Hi Art

Thanks for the reply

Steve
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 13, 2017, 04:27:49 PM
No problem.. its what I do. :)

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: jtucker7000 on February 22, 2017, 01:08:18 PM
I've been using mach4 and Darwin for a few months on a small plasma table.  Everything  works but the cut quality has been poor or unpredictable. The problem could be any number things but I noticed the pulse stream  in Darwin with a pulse count of 25000 has 4 distinct Blue lines and one with a pink line through it. This looks different than the you tube video I watched? Is this an indicator of something wrong? The interrupt stays below 4. 

Thanks,

James
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 22, 2017, 02:37:59 PM
Hi James:

  It doesnt sound bad, the pink in the line means the vast majority of interrupts are coinciding with expected intervals.
If you can post a snapshot Ill tell you what I think, but it sounds correct, just different from mine in the video. If the blue
lines are very prominent, then you could have something intefering.. hard to say, but generally I found Darwin to be less
susceptable to noise than Mach3's driver.

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: jtucker7000 on February 22, 2017, 02:48:16 PM
I sent the snapshot by email hopefully that works I didn't find a way to post the picture here
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 22, 2017, 04:04:24 PM
The photo does seem to show a noisy waveform, but it has no puilse number showing, which is very odd.
Does it ever show a number?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: jtucker7000 on February 22, 2017, 04:16:19 PM
It has shown a pulse number before but I don't remember the circumstances. I believe while adjusting it will appear periodically but it doesn't stay. When it does show up it corresponds to what the slider shows.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 22, 2017, 07:54:56 PM
Its odd that happens, it should display a number if its pulsing, though the waveform seems to indicate at least partially stable operation..
Does it sound odd when jogging one axis? Smooth or rough?

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 23, 2017, 09:26:28 AM
Archive Purpose:

    In offlist emails it seems Jame's machine is returning to start but the job has strange scallops and profiles in it.
Best to mention here for archival use, if any machine can run a job and return to its start, then there is no issue with pulsing.
Pulseing either works, or doesnt in terms of being good enough to work. A machien that returns to home has lost no pulses,
it has received all of them so they cancel out to get it home.

   The problem on this system is yet to be determined, but I suspect slow acceleration on axis. Plasma machines are the most
affected by this as they tend to have slow accelerations, which can cause CV systems to have bad artifacting. Best rule is use as fast an
acceleration as you can, and keep axis as close to each other in accel as possible. If one is slow to accel and the other is fast to accel
artifacting is maximized.

Thx, Just a note.
Art

     
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Curious_George on February 23, 2017, 07:31:48 PM
Hi Art,

I have a quick (hopefully) question about M4 and Darwin. I have built myself a reasonably simple cnc router that I had running ok with a trial version of M3. As a way of future proofing, I hoped to trial M4 with Darwin. I have been able to get the inputs and outputs to work ok, but can't get the steppers to jog from either Darwin or M4.  The DRO's within either program will show that there is movement, but nothing physical.

At this stage I am only using the trial versions of both Darwin and M4.  I am seeing an error in M4 about "failed to license M4_darwin" and a -11 error.  Is there a trial license file for Darwin that I have missed somewhere? There isn't one in the M4 license directory, so I am unsure if my issue is due to that or something else.

Thanks

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 23, 2017, 09:24:01 PM
Hi George:

  As I recall, the license only enables outputs, the step/dir should work fine even with no license.
If the DROs are moving, and the axis arent, make sure Darwins step/dir outputs are setup properly,
they should run even with the trial. Dos the pulse engine test show proper pulsing? You should be
able to jog from there as long as your Estop is reset..

Art
 
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Curious_George on February 26, 2017, 04:07:57 AM
Hi Art,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. After a little more tinkering, I have been able to get the motors to jog correctly - I didn't have the step negated in Darwin which turned out to be the issue.

Now the next thing to work through is why homing all axes produces no movement but causes M4 to crash, requiring a reboot to start again = although I don't necessarily think that is a Darwin issue.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 26, 2017, 07:34:07 AM
Make sure that the axis settings have the proper "home pin" selected in Darwins setup mask, as well as polarity
of the switch. Mach4 is only set to recognize the home switch input for display so enable the home inputs in Mach4, but also make sure on the
motor selections in Darwin that the proper input is selected for each axis..

  If you press them manually and have it setup, the LED's in Mach4 should light up when their pressed. Leave all home/Limit switch inputs
in Mach4 as "High Active", only use Darwin Inputs mask to set the actually polarity of the switch.

Art

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: woffler on February 26, 2017, 03:20:31 PM
Hi all i am having some issues with the parallel port plug in and mach current lock down version mach 4 and parallel port plugin.

 The issue is that i can not get the Z axis to move in mach 4 turn it is grey-ed out in the software. at the jog panel

I have checked that all licenses are present and correct Mach 4 and Darwin , the motor is enabled and set up in Darwin and mach 4 .

The x axis worked ok no problem but no z axis as it is grey-ed out in the jog panel, the E stop is working correctly and i can jog my motors in the Darwin plug in.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 26, 2017, 05:15:30 PM
Hi Wofler,

  Cant think of why if its turned on in m4 config, Id check with them to see what turns on the jog button, as long as its mapped it should
at least enable the button. Doesnt sound like an Darwin issue..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: woffler on February 26, 2017, 06:13:33 PM
It was in  the motor enable panel i am setting up a lathe and i used motor 0 and motor 1 and i should of used motor 2 for the Z axis motor.

I could not get the drives to enable and the charge pump to work before .i had tried before about 9 months ago an just kept waiting for something new to come along .

I finally figured out i had to put a 5khz signal out to the charge pump pin and then invert the signal to the drives enable pin to get the thing going.

I want to ask is there some docs somewhere on the spindle set up for Darwin and Mach 4?
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 26, 2017, 09:05:01 PM
Woffler:

   I dont think there is. However, you basically select from the menu config of Darwin the method of spindle control
you wish to use. 

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: woffler on February 27, 2017, 11:25:12 AM
I am having a problem with Darwin arbitrarily changing the frequency on its own after i input a frequency on a out put pin to the spindle pin .

I am trying to set the spindle pwm frequency on pin 1 port 1 and i set to say (50) i enter it, close out Darwin plugin, go into mach  toggle the spindle forward .

I come back into Darwin plugin and it has set out put frequency to ( 2) on pin 1 port 1.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 27, 2017, 11:37:45 AM
Its probably Darwin changing it to the S word frequency. In the config you set a min and a max Spindle speed, and Darwin will set
the PWM to the correct % based on the current S word. Make sure the min and max are set properly. Try a higher S word, does the PWM change?
Darwin wont remember that PWM from its config, its assuming it will be set by the Spindle ON command.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: woffler on February 27, 2017, 03:59:43 PM
Hi Art, i finally got it working and doing what it is supposed to do ,and the spindle works.

 The other thing i found is that if you do not enable home - in the motors tab in Darwin it will not allow you to jog in the Axis + direction in Mach 4 and gives you a error ( can not jog toward X or Z + limit switch).

And it does disable your M03 commands from the Mdi line , if you check the the ( home -) in Darwin you get your Spindle back crazy!

I am not sure at this point as to how to get it to home in Mach 4 i need to home in the + direction and it will not as of yet.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 27, 2017, 04:38:13 PM
Hi:

  Hmm, seems to me you can specify in Darwin the direction of the home in the motor config..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: jdparden on April 21, 2017, 06:44:45 PM
Art the Great et all,

I have a 4 axis CNC machine with X, Y, Z, and axial functionality.  I have a 2.2 kw 220 volt spindle controlled by a 2.2 kw / 220 volt spindle mounted on the z position along with a CO2 laser.  I have a printer port break out board that i am trying to control the machine with.  I am currently on my 3rd break out board.  The first break out board i thought had a malfunctioning relay switch.  The second I thought I had fried.  Currently on the third.

My issues, more numerous than the Sears catalog, stem from being able to jog the machine reliably.  On the first break out board I was able to initiate g code, the famous road runner.  I turned on the laser and let it scar a piece of plywood with success; however, anytime I would try and jog the machine manually be with on screen controls in Mach4 or on a keyboard I would get erratic/unpredictable behavior to which axis would move and in what direction.  I found the support number to newfangled solutions and talked to some really professional guys and they helped negate a few signals in Darwin and I was on my way to being able to jog the machine reliably--every time!! Well I wanted to tie the spindle controls in on the break out board and followed the suggested guidance from buildyourcnc.com; however, I could never get the relay to respond.  So I thought I had a bad relay on my break out board.  The guys at buildyourcnc.com sent a new break out board to try--Turns out I had to power the break out board with a type A male to type A male usb cable--I just figured this out yesterday while on my third break out board. 

My problems began when I took the digital communications port and the speed direction from the VFD terminal interface and wired them to two different outputs on the second breakout board.  Once I did that I lost the ability to jog the machine or have the machine--stepper motors--respond to any g code at all.  So now thinking that I fried the break out board and talking with the folks at buildyourcnc.com I ordered a third break out board.  I didn't hook up the spindle, just wanted to get the stepper motors to move.  No luck what so ever in getting them to move.  I have uninstalled Mach4 and Darwin--deleted files off the hard drive and reinstalled with all the latest software to date 4-1-2017.

I am at a severe loss in understanding a path forward.  I don't know if somehow the stepper motors are bad now or what?  I have read and watched youtube videos from Art F. in regards to Mach 4 and Darwin setups.  I am thinking about ordering the 700 USD HICON board and getting away from printer port all together.

It is just so odd to me that after setting up the break out board and having it function to hooking up the vfd to a couple of outputs on a card or so back and now not having any functionality--my mind is just boggled.

Has anyone had this kind of difficulty?  Is this a sign from the CNC gods??  What would you guys do?

Thanks!
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 21, 2017, 11:17:45 PM
Not knowing what the vfd is like its hard to say what got crossed in the wiring to short things out..which is what it sounds like..

 However, witha new bb it should go.. I doubt very much you fried the motor drivers.. Id start small myself, test a motor, using a wire from 5 volts, Id touch many times the step pin to simulate a move.. ( Disconnecting wire from breakout board first..). If motor moves, then your OK on the motors.. then you just need to figure out why darwin wont put out..

 If the DRO is moving, then darwin thinks all is ok and is sending out, so maybe the charge pump isnt set right if the board needs one.. Check that with a meter , see if it goes to 5 volts when you hit reset.. those would be the first tests Id do. When you get no motion on a new board, its usually the chrage pump or a setting... and vfd's can have a weird suplies and grounds, so its not unknown for that to blow things up..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: jdparden on April 24, 2017, 03:06:59 PM
So I took a 5 Volt wire and tapped on the step side on the micro step driver and got some action out of the motor!  I consider this a success.  But what is odd to me now is that when I initiate a step I see a differential in voltage on the input side of the micro step driver, but on the output side of the driver I see no change at all; when initiated by the Mach4 GUI.  I do see DRO change, so Darwin is sending the signal, but I see no evidence on the output side of the micro step driver.  I am leaning towards a replacement on the micro step driver side.

On another note however, I am looking at the spindle setup through Darwin.  I'm setting it up on the relay side of the break out board and I am using the DCM and FOR signals from the VFD.  In my breakout board the pin that should be doing the talking to the spindle is pin 16.  So I have all of this setup and enabled in Darwin as well as setup on the Mach settings output tab.  I also have the freq range set on the Darwin Configuration screen for a range 0 to 400 Hz per specification of the spindle and vfd settings.  When I click start I see the DRO go to the minimum setting that I supplied for the signal.  The status bar in the bottom says Signal 5 set to 1; however, the relay fails to close the connection to initiate the spindle from turning on.

Maybe I should just get rid of all this and take up basketweaving???

Curious as to your thoughts.

Thanks again for your time and consideration.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 24, 2017, 05:13:07 PM
 I consider this a success. 

   >>That woudl seem to prove your driver is fine..

But what is odd to me now is that when I initiate a step I see a differential in voltage on the input side of the micro step driver, but on the output side of the driver I see no change at all; when initiated by the Mach4 GUI.  I do see DRO change, so Darwin is sending the signal, but I see no evidence on the output side of the micro step driver.  I am leaning towards a replacement on the micro step driver side.

 >> How much change do you see? It coudl be a charge pump setting is killing the ground or something.. Hard to say..but iot sounds like the driver is fine.

On another note however, I am looking at the spindle setup through Darwin.  I'm setting it up on the relay side of the break out board and I am using the DCM and FOR signals from the VFD.  In my breakout board the pin that should be doing the talking to the spindle is pin 16.  So I have all of this setup and enabled in Darwin as well as setup on the Mach settings output tab.  I also have the freq range set on the Darwin Configuration screen for a range 0 to 400 Hz per specification of the spindle and vfd settings.  When I click start I see the DRO go to the minimum setting that I supplied for the signal.  The status bar in the bottom says Signal 5 set to 1; however, the relay fails to close the connection to initiate the spindle from turning on.

   That too coudl be charge pump...

Art


Maybe I should just get rid of all this and take up basketweaving???
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: jdparden on April 24, 2017, 08:42:21 PM
So I have a confession to make.  I have no charge pump(s) on my system... ...at least I don't think I do.  I plan on contacting the guys that made the control system tomorrow when they get back in to verify, but this is the system that I'm using.

https://buildyourcnc.com/item/cnc-computer-system-redLeaf#prettyPhoto

Really all it has is motherboard to break out board to x / y / z / a micro step drive.  I'm thinking I need charge pumps setup throughout this system.

Everything appears to be grounded and secured.

Thanks again for you responses.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on April 25, 2017, 07:06:32 AM
Looks like it has an enable pin that needs to be hooked up..
 Might wanna ask someone with one if there is some setting that affects the
breakout board.. Im thinking you have a setting bad is all..

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: HenryB on June 27, 2017, 03:03:33 PM
I am trying to evaluate Mach4 to determine whether to purchase Mach3 or Mach4.  My machine is a Windows 7 Pro OS w/SP1, on a Dual Core 3GHz CPU with 8Gb RAM PC  My system uses a parallel port.

I has already tested out Mach3 and everything was working fine with the hardware setup I have.   I backed up my files and uninstalled Mach3 and have proceeded with installing Mach4 Demo.  I have installed mach4 and also installed a licensed copy of the Legacy Parallel port plugin.  What I saw upon the install of the plugin is that it would not install the 2008 redistributables.  They were then installed separately, as administrator.  The plugin install was then restarted and it installed successfully.  I then added the license to Mach4...Restarted the machine...Tested Darwintest and it runs fine.  Now Mach 4 is run and during the initialization of the program it displays a dialog box; which states -  

Darwin Error
    
       An error has occured. No Admin Rights?.  Contact support

I have installed all software as an administrator.  What is causing this problem? ???  
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: knitehawk on October 19, 2017, 04:33:20 PM
Hi, just testing darwin on my system, my motors are choppy and seem to lag a bit.

my old mach3 system died so i had to build another one. it's a 3 axis router table running IM804 stepper drivers 4-6 amp.

i can turn them when the systems off with my fingers and i'm not feeling any binding but when running it just seems slow and you can hear the steppers hesitate at times.

the darwin control and status water fall is showing 2 lines not one. Img attached.

why is that? and could that be causing my issue?

pentium 3ghz with 2g ram
windows xp
using PCI parallel port drivers loaded fine
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on October 19, 2017, 05:06:53 PM
Hi:

  The waveform doesnt look bad really, it basically shows a jitter of about 10us happening every few cycles of the driver.
Hard to say what it is, some process thats dependent on interrupts by the look of it. Id try tweaking your tuning, the
steppers should be driving OK with that waveform I think.

Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on November 04, 2017, 07:56:18 AM
Does anyone have the parallel port working with Mach4. Specifically with the charge pump activated? I'd be interested in comparing configurations.
I have been in contact (for several months) with NFS support and they have confirmed that (as I observed) the charge pump signal from Darwin initially comes up and then fails just after Mach4 startup. It requires a toggle of the enable / disable screen button to get it going again. This would not be a big problem except that when if fails the DRO's still change but the axis' do not move because the lack of charge pump signal has disabled the drives. So then the disable/enable trick has to be done and a re-calibrate is required.
 In my latest exchange with support they have indicated that they have no (financial) interest in working further to correct the issue and suggest I purchase a motion controller instead. Fair enough I guess but it makes me wonder why they continue to sell the parallel port plug-in (Darwin) when it has this bug. Then it makes me wonder - if they have sold more than the one I have - what have others done to make it work. Maybe I've missed something.
 So, Is the parallel port finally dead?

Sage

Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Azalin on November 17, 2017, 03:31:35 AM
@ART

Should we wait for a new version of the Darwin plugin or is the project finalized?

I'm asking because I don't want to use my hardware without safety charge pump and the Darwin in my system works very unstable with SCHP enabled.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Azalin on November 17, 2017, 03:46:09 AM
I finally figured out i had to put a 5khz signal out to the charge pump pin and then invert the signal to the drives enable pin to get the thing going.

What was your base frequency? And how do you invert the SCHP signal to the drives "enable" pin?

Thanks.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on November 17, 2017, 07:44:21 AM
Hi Guys:

   Sorry I missed this thread till now. Darwin is no longer is development, it basically IS what it IS. It seems to work on
most installations using it, I have very few complaints over time. The Charge pump shoudl work fine, but osme have had to
set a different frequency, I have heard requested 2.5Khz works well on some baords for some reason.


Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Sage on November 17, 2017, 08:35:08 AM
I won't beat a dead horse. If your done with it then so be it. The frequency is not the issue for me. When the signal is issued it works. (read previous post for full explanation) The problem is Darwin starts sending the signal out just until the screen is fully up then it quits. It requires a toggle of the enable / disable screen button to get it going again then it's fine. But if you hit a limit or something it drops out and requires the toggle again to get it going.
 I've concluded you are probably not receiving any complaints because nobody is using it. A shame really because except for this problem it works really well and got me going trying Mach4 well before any of the external motion controllers were working. But I needed to switch between 3/4 because of all the bugs (initially) with Mach4. But the charge pump was not acceptable. So I've just stuck with Mach3. It's been a couple of years now and I guess there are bug free (?) solutions available but...
 I wasn't expecting any more development. Just a bug fix.
Enough said. Back to work with Mach3.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: alcwell on January 13, 2018, 06:31:32 AM
I previously posted the below as a separate post but want to add it here as I suspect that the extra deceleration when probing may be caused by Darwin. Does anyone know if this is the case?

Quote
I am setting up Mach4 for probing and have found that the axis takes a longer time to decelerate to a stop after a probe strike than it does normally (as setup in motor configuration), this is very obvious as you can hear the difference.

I do some milling of circuit boards and want to probe the board with the actual cutter for height mapping. I have done this in Mach3 and it works well but due to the extra deceleration in Mach4 the feedrate needs to be a lot lower to prevent the cutter pushing into the board.

I am using the latest version of Mach4 and the Darwin printer port plugin and have been looking in both Mach4 and Darwin but cannot find any settings that affect this. Does anyone know if there is a separate setting anywhere for the deceleration when probing?

Alastair
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on January 13, 2018, 08:51:15 AM
Hi:

  Checking the source I see its hardwired to .25 seconds. Probing wasnt used much in Darwins time.
Ive attached a build I just did today.  My development system has changed alot since last build of
darwin and I no longer run XP so I cant test this. Can you let us know if this plugin

a) works
b) fixes the probe to a faster stop.

Thanks,
Art


Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: alcwell on February 05, 2018, 02:47:32 PM
Hi Art

Sorry for the delay replying, life got busy for a while. Thank you for posting the version to try, I was only hoping for confirmation as I know you are no longer actively developing Darwin.

Unfortunately the version you posted does not load. There are two dialogs when Mach4 is loading.

1) Message dialog that is blank.
2) Error dialog - Failed to load shared library 'mcDarwin.m4pw' (error 0; the operation completed successfully.)
 
Now that I know it is hard coded I will try to find a way to live with it for the time being.

Thanks again for taking the time.

Regards
Alastair
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on February 24, 2018, 02:59:01 PM
Hi Alister:

  I happened to be in XP this week, and recompiled Darwin for a probe stop time of .1 seconds instead of .25

 Cant promise this runs, as the other attempt didnt, but was in Win7, but this was compiled under XP in the MAch4 system, so it should. If yourstill trying to speed up probing, you may want to try this plugin..

Thx
Art
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: alcwell on March 02, 2018, 10:15:02 AM
Hi Art

I just had a change to test and this version works. The response to the probe strike is now much better.

Thank you very much for taking the time to compile and post this version.

Alastair
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: ART on March 02, 2018, 10:38:29 AM
No Problem, glad it helped.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: hashimstp on December 04, 2018, 08:41:43 AM
I bought Mach 4 recently and has installed it on my new laptop running Windows 10. How do I connect my laptop USB 3 to my gecko 540 DB25 LPT connector? Do I need to buy UC 100 and purchase any plugin for Mach 4? Thanks to provide the same on.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: Steve Stallings on December 04, 2018, 08:49:00 AM
Since your laptop does not have a parallel port, you will need an external
device to interface to the G540. The UC100 and other devices such as
the PoKeys57CNCd25  and the PMDX-411 serve this purpose. You do
not need the Legacy Parallel Port software plugin for Mach4. Each of
the devices listed above will include its own plugin for Mach4.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: cd_edwards on December 04, 2018, 08:52:11 AM
or a smoothstepper. basically any board that is supported with Mach4 drivers that will convert a USB/ethernet signal into a LPT signal. Personally I use Warp9TD's smoothstepper. Do try and stay away from the cheap chinese stuff. Tends to not be as supported and buggy as well.
Title: Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
Post by: hashimstp on December 04, 2018, 09:01:28 AM
Thank you so much Steve for the unexpected super quick response. I will purchase the PDMX-411 directly from their website. All the best.