Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => Mach4 General Discussion => Topic started by: JB-Tech on October 30, 2017, 11:49:49 AM
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Hey everyone. I finally upgraded my whole control system. Now running an Intel NUC with a celeron 2.2g processor. 8g of ram and a 60gig SSD.
I have Installed and licensed the latest 3481 Mach 4 build
I also installed ESS plugin 193 with MB2 profile as I am running Weerasaks Mach Bob 2 board which is a very nice piece.
Im having an issue where I can load G-code, setup my tool, hit cycle start, it jumps into the first line of code then the machine just sits there. In the bottom left it displays "Do cycle start".
The DROs do not show any movement changes, machine does not move, just freezes up. I can click cycle stop, then manually jog around, cycle start, still nothing.
Heres the kicker, if I close out Mach4 and re-open it, reload the exact same g-code, hit cycle start and off it goes, doing its job.
Sometimes if I hit "Cycle Stop" mid way through, it will not allow me to re-start, other times it will.
I've also had issues upon tripping a limit switch which despite clicking axis over-ride, it will not allow me to move the axis off the switch. If I simply restart Mach4, it allows me to jog off the switch.
Any help is greatly appreciated. I would attach a machine profile ect, but I'm on my work computer over an hour away from my machine. :P
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Hi,
no one is sticking their hand up....hope I don't put you wrong!
Daz has explained that Mach has two 'states' or chunks, the GUI and the Gcode interpreter. It sounds like program execution is not passing from the GUI to
the interpreter but may well do later in the session.
In the PLC script there is a bunch of code that runs only on the first pass of the script. I'm thinking that something in that code is preventing it from finishing
and not therefore passing execution control to the interpreter. Proving and finding that may be a different matter.
May I suggest running and saving a log file. It may disprove my theory but you may notice differences in the log entries between those occasions that it works
vs those occasions where it doesn't.
Craig
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jb tech
your ESS plug in is way out of date current release is 210 but 213 works well
now I am not saying that this will sort you out but
have you tried with the default wx profile yes it will not be correct but it would eliminate your prof.
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Being as I'm using the Mach Bob 2, the newest profile he has built is for 193, I originally tried 210 and couldnt get any movement at all. I'm assuming this is due to his profile not matching up. I have contacted Weerasak to create a new profile. He said he would begin working on one.
Tonight when I get home from work, I'll see if I can just drop in the newer pluggin and see if the profile will still work.
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Hi,
whats wrong with creating your own profile using one of the standard screen sets, they have one advantage over others....they work. I'm happy with wx4.set
The ESS plugin set up does a lot of the donkey work, much of Machs setup is actually done at the same time as you setup the ESS.
Craig
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The MB2 profile is based off the wx6.set. Again its an intermittent issue. I dont think it has anything to do with the screen set.
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Hi,
your probably right but your profile is more than just a screenset, it includes all the ESS plugin settings and
Machs settings. I understand that you imported the lot wholesale and are now dependent on some one else
to maintain your profile.
Craig
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Being as there seems to be back door settings for things like CP and and "connection OK" signals, not sure there really is a way to just set up a new profile and go blindly into the ESS plugging and try setting it up.
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Hi,
not quite sure what you mean. When I started with Mach4 and the ESS I started with a blank page. The ESS has very well developed set up features, Warp9
maintain extensive instructions and videos plus the forum. I used all to create my own profile, I won't say no trouble because there were a few stumbling blocks,
as there always is with computers.
Is there something special about the MB2 that requires a special profile? Its just a BoB and doesn't require a profile at all AFAIK.
Craig
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Hi,
back door settings for things like CP and and "connection OK" signals
if I'm not mistaken those features/indicators are part of the plugin, you don't set them or have any control over them, Warp9 put them there and there
they will stay irrespective of what you try to screw up in your profile!
Craig
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Do some research on the Mach Bob 2.
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http://www.cncroom.com/break-out-board/smooth-stepper?zenid=vgpp7u8c54m21sto5t2c8spot7
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Hi,
by virtue of the large numbers of IO and that the manufacturer has been careful to label them all it makes sense to use their profile, it saves you having to type
in all those pin names. There is nothing magic about it though. I use MB-02V6 BoBs from Homan Desgins in Austrailia and they don't have a ready made profile,
you make your own. You could do the same thing.
Craig
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I managed to update the pluggin. Still has a few issues that cause me restarts. And again, if you looked through an actual MB2 profile, you would see certain pins are linked to ready signals and such, so creating a profile from scratch isnt as straight forward as you think. I appreciate you trying to help, but please, do look into the subject further.
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Hi,
yes it is.
Craig
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Let me know when you get a MB2 then and let me know how easy it is to set up. I'm sure you'll figure out the ready signal input thats linked to one of the pins from just reading the manual right. SMH
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Hi,
yes, some of the predefined signals in Mach require specific termination by ESS and the BoB beyond it. Probe inputs
are the most obvious example. That remains the same irrespective of the Bob. The BoB including the MB2 is not
intellegent, that is to say there is fixed relationship between input and output. Provided you take care to associate
functional inputs of Mach via the ESS to an appropriate pin on the BoB, no problem.
As I have two working BoBs at the current time I won't be buying any more.
Craig