Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: matd on December 02, 2007, 10:37:31 AM
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Hello,
Ik have used the demo of mach 3 a while to do some test with my first cnc made of wood. Now that I know that it works, I am building a second cnc which is more expensive, more accurate,...
I used mach 3 on a pc with windows XP intalled standard on it and it worked fine.
Unfortunately, that pc is needed by someone else, so I am forced to use another one. So it took an old pc with windows 98 standard on it and putted windows 2000 on it.
Mach 3 runs on it after running the "special driver", but it won't move the steppers. The configuration in pins and ports is exactly the same as the pc I had before (the one with XP).
There is nothing wrong with te electronics (I just tested them with the XP pc and worked fine with mach 3).
Already checked the device manager and port is located on 0378.
I like mach 3, it is simple and works well, but I do want it to run on the old computer first before I might purchase the license file in the future.
Can someone help me please?
Thank you
Mathias
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Check that the port is putting out the full 5V and also that the port actually works. You can test this by putting a voltmeter between one of your step pins and ground on the port then jog the axis one way then the other. It should toggle between 5v and 0v.
Hood
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Port is putting out 5V, but does not respond on changes.
I've also tried this on the working pc with XP on it, and here it reacts on the 3d pin when I move the X axis.
The pc with windows 2000 does not react on the 3d pin when I move the X-axis. It stays on 5V.
When we first had the pc with windows 98 (the one that has 2000 now) it also had a printer that worked. The printer is gone now so I can't test it anymore.
Regards
Mathias
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kept on trying but still doesn't work.
anyone has answers or suggestions?
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Check and check again that you have the correct port address in, also if you attach your xml file then we can have a look to see if we find anything wrong. One last thing, do you definitly have the Mach engine installed, you will see this in your device manager.
Hood
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I'm only home in the weekends.
I will post the xml file friday or saturday. I'll also check the ports again.
regards
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Hello Hank,
I've put the xml files in a .rar file, did not know which one to send you. I've also putted some creenshots in the file for you to see that the PLT gate is correctly selected.
It is in Dutch, but the device manager says that the devices (PLT gate an mach engine) work correct.
Mathias
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Yes it looks like your port is set up correctly, and although you sent the backup xml files they seem to be ok as well. I think it must just be a bad port, you could try deleting the port from device manager and rebooting so it gets reinstalled. Another thing you could try is when booting the PC measure the voltage on the pins and see if its always 5v.
Hood
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I have removed it from the device manager, rebooted the pc and the LPT gate was back. But mach still did not operate the cnc.
Als checked the 5V during startup: when it is turned on, the plt gate gives 0V untill windows is starting up, when it gives 5V (actually 5.95, but that is not a problem I guess?).
could it be that there is a problem with the program that runs the plt gate, as the windows 2000 is not the original windows 98 that was on the pc?
Mat
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I think you should really see the port toggle Hi/Lo as its booting, it might be that your volt meter is too slow to see the changes but if your voltage is flickering then that is probably what is happening.
I think I would get a PCI Parallel port card and give that a go, here in the UK they are not that expensive and can be had from eBay for £10 and under.
Hood
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Oh and 5.95v is quite high, thats almost 20% higher than it should be which I would think is way out of spec.
Hood
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You mean it should be 5V when I reboot it and toggeling?
So you suggest I buy a new PCI card like this ones: http://www.nextag.com/pci-parallel-port-card/search-html
because mine is probably broken (also because 5.95 ist too much)?
I might ask a friend of mine if he has a card from an older PC.
Another alternative I would like is something like this: http://www.delock.de/produkte/gruppen/Express-Card/Express_Card_to_1x_parallel_66203.html
A express card for my laptop which gives me an parallel port on the laptop. (I've read on the forums that it could be a problem, because these only put out 3V, but my XP comput (on which mach does move the machine) also puts out about 3V, so I don't think the steppercard will have trouble with the 3V)
Do you know if this will work? (laptop is a Dell Inspiron 9400).
Regards
Mathias
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I have not tested it but I would think it be 5V mostly when booting but it should toggle 0v sometimes. As I said your meter may be too slow to show this as digital meters take a while to update, if this is the case then I suspect you may see the reading changing about a bit but staying near the 5v.
Yes the PCI card should be good although I have never tried that exact one.
Not sure on the PCMIA card as I dont have a laptop so have never tried one. However I have seen a few posts in this forum regarding them so it might be worth your while doing a search for PCMIA
If you are in no real rush it might be worth your while waiting until the Beta testing of the SmoothStepper board is done, this will do away with you needing a parallel port as it is a USB device.
Hood
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went to my friend today.
He gave me two cards like these: http://images.google.be/imgres?imgurl=http://www.picco.nl/images/A89136.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.picco.nl/index.php%3Fmanufacturers_id%3D13%26sort%3D2a%26page%3D3%26osCsid%3Dc78a096f36deff4c991886ab90a29d11&h=430&w=600&sz=85&hl=nl&start=6&um=1&tbnid=qfRQvceO-9rEHM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3DPCI%2BParallel%2Bport%2Bcard%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dnl%26rlz%3D1B2GGGL_nlBE205BE205%26sa%3DN
I've fitted one into the pc but it detects iet automaticaly as a COM port.
When Install it manually, choose it as an LPT, uninstall the LPT1 on the motherbord and give the fitted port the LPT 1 and the correct adress, the port still does not respond to changes in mach.
Do you know the procedure to install it correctly (original PLT1 port is permanently fitted onto motherbord)
Regards
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You wont be able to uninstall LPT1 unless there is a means in the BIOS to disable it, you could disable within Windows but best not to confuse things.
It doesnt matter whether the new port is seen as LPT3, LPT4 or whatever as all you are concerned with is looking at the address for it and putting that into Mach as Port 1 address.
Hood
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I've also installed it as LPT2 with adress 03BC. I've putted that adress in mach, but that did not work either. I cant give iet the standard 0378 adress as this is occupied by LPT1. So it would help if I unistalled the LPT1 in the bios and install the new port as LPT1 with the 0378 adress.
Will this be allright? Because when the pc chooses a standard adress for the port it is 03BC.
I will try the thiing with the bios tomorrow
Regards
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Not sure I asked before but have you run the DriveTest? Do you have the Mach3 Pulse engine in Device manager?
Hood
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I've disabled the fixed LPT port in the BIOS. Then I've installed the new port as LPT1 and gave it the 0378 adress. Mach still does not respond on the pins.
I've included a screenshot of the driver test an screenshot showing the mach 3 engine.
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Well this one has got me beat, maybe someone else can chime in with some ideas?
Hood
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I hope so.
Thanks a lot Hood for trying to help me all this time. It's a pitty it still doesn't work.
Anyhow, thank you!
It's a good thing that it is not urgent (still have to design my new cnc, and at this time I rarely use the old one), so I have some time left.
If anyone has suggestions, please tell me.
Mathias
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I have had a similar issue with my setup (newbie... ;) ). I have been testing a 4axis stepper machine using turbocnc...it verified that signals can be sent through the parallel port...turbocnc gives a message at startup that it is only going to work on LTP2 with address 03bc..??. In the settings of turbo, I did indeed have to use this 03bc address to getting the steppers moving. The PC I am using is very old, but runs on win2000 and the parallel port is on the motherboard. When I installed mach2 as a test, it would not run. I ran the test program and it seemed o.k. I installed the special batch file, then mach2 would run...however, I did notice that in the bottom of the mach2 window there was a message that said "bad driver..." I went into the setup window for the ports and pins and tried using 03bc both on LPT1, then LPT2...no luck. If I re-run the test program for mach, it automatically installs the standard driver over the special batch file driver. Then of course, the mach software won't startup..locks up the pc...
I will have another old, pc availabe this week (450mhz). I figure this a good place to start as the PC I have now is questionable at best. I was planning to install a clean hard drive and stuff all the ram it can take on the next pc with 2000 on it. My question now is...if it were up to one of you experienced guys, what operating system would you use..xp or 2000?
I'm really looking forward to getting this thing going. I have a fair amount of cnc experience. I got the 4 axis machine for a song...it has gecko drives with a cyber cnc board.
Thanks in advance.
www.insightrc.com
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flyintexan
On an old PC with only a 450MHz CPU it would be best with Windows 2000 as XP is a lot more hungry with the resources. Really you should be using a 1Gig CPU or more but I have run Mach3 on a P3 450 so I know it can work although it wasnt the best.
Hood
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Hood,
Thank you for the quick reply. If I can, I will try getting a faster pc for the job. I don't plan to anything other than add to my hobby with this machine....so hopefully I can get by with the 450 if I have to.
Thanks again,
-mark