Machsupport Forum

Mach Discussion => Mach4 General Discussion => Topic started by: thosj on March 26, 2017, 11:00:08 AM

Title: Mach 4 M6
Post by: thosj on March 26, 2017, 11:00:08 AM
So I'm pretty new to Mach4. I have both an industrial license and a Hobby license. I have Industrial all setup on my machine and for two weeks have worked thru getting everything all setup, motors, limits, soft limits, screen, PoKeys buttons and analog pots, on and on. Never tried a tool change!! Now I think, time to figure out how tools work. Did T1 M6 in MDI, NOTHING except the dialog telling me to change tool and hit cycle start. Nothing. I have Hobby installed on another PC also, licensed, running Sim Mode. T1 M6 works there. Hmmm....started digging around, read configuration manual, operation manual, forum, and discovered the Macros directory in my profile has nothing but mcLua.mcc. This profile was originally created by packaging a Hobby profile and loading it into Industrial. Apparently the Macros folder for that profile, or at least all the stuff, didn't make it.

I've added two screenshots of the folder contents of my profile/macros folder and the default. Do I copy all the stuff that's in there over to my profile? I imagine so, but what is all that stuff other than m6.lua?

I guess one just has to KNOW to look in all these locations, plugins, profiles, profiles/macros, screens, others (?), and make sure they made the trip!! And yes, I watched the video about updating Mach4, but that's all manual copying, which in the end, might be a better way than packaging.

Like someone told me long ago, it's all intuitive if you know how to do it!!!

Tom
Title: Re: Mach 4 M6
Post by: royce on March 27, 2017, 09:10:06 PM
You need M6.mcs in your macro folder for that profile, at least for Hobby, insure about Industrial. Also, how do you know what M6 is doing? Most of everyone has to configure this themselves. Open up that file in a text editor. Daz has some good videos on youtube on how to script tool changes.
Title: Re: Mach 4 M6
Post by: thosj on March 28, 2017, 01:18:02 PM
I guess I know what M6.mcs does because I do T1 M6, it stops and waits for me to change the tool and hit Cycle Start. That must be the default action for M6.mcs that's included with Mach4 Hobby!! Reading the code in M6.mcs seems to do that!!

I think Industrial doesn't include this because with most Industrial installations, the OEM machine builder has to write an M6 macro for their machine/tool changer.  For the average hobby user, the default M6 macro is what we want, stop and wait. This was a Config setting in Mach3, I think.

Anyway, all seems good, I was just confused when Industrial M6 did NOTHING. I'm back to using Hobby anyway, and think I will stick with Hobby. I really don't need anything Industrial offers and it's too confusing switching back and forth trying to learn the quirks!!

Thanks,

Tom
Title: Re: Mach 4 M6
Post by: royce on March 28, 2017, 01:21:38 PM
It's been noticed that the main screenset in hobby isn't actually displaying the tool after its loaded, though it is changing. Read this thread. http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,34335.0.html
Title: Re: Mach 4 M6
Post by: thosj on March 28, 2017, 04:34:38 PM
Mine had that stuff in the M6.mcs. It might have been mill had it, lathe didn't. Ref'd thread was talking lathe. I'm all good!!
Title: Re: Mach 4 M6
Post by: Soxfan963 on July 04, 2017, 09:30:35 AM
This post helped me a lot too..  without trying to hijack the thread, it doesn't appear that the standard m6 macro allows for touching off the new tool (obviously I don't have a tool changer).  is this possible?