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Messages - caladin

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1
Hi all,

I've got the intermittent pulse frequency issue, it drops down to 5k or so, then when i wiggle the mouse it jumps up to 25k or so.

After asking around about what exactly the issue is, i developed a theory and tested it.

One of the "fixes" that was posited was to increase the size of the tool path window. which ate up more cpu time, stabilizing the pulse frequency.(Thanks Chip!)

So based on the idea that CPU speed was part of the issue and eating up cpu speed to decrease the effective cpu speed was a fix, i set out to do just that as simply as possible.

I downloaded a program of a class that we used to use to slow down old games of fast computers, back before frame limiters were standard technology.
One example of this is the one i used, here;

http://www.cpukiller.com/

It's free and Had the Cnet seal of approval. It also allows you to slow you effective cpu speed as a percentage of your total cpu speed.

So my theory is that mach 3 was tuned for a 1ghz processor, so my 1.5ghs box, needed to be slowed down to 1ghz. a factor of 33%.

I booted CpuKiller, set the slowdown to 33%, ran mach, and my pulse frequency was a steady as a rock above 25k.

I had already done a bunch of the optimization stuff and never got a good pulse frequency. Cpu killer and an effective CPU speed of 1ghz fixed my probelm.

Alternately I believe that EFFECTIVE pulse frequency needs to be 1ghz, or a multiple of 1ghz, i believe that mach can adjust a little, but if you
exceed that limit, bad pulse frequency. But since my test machine was 1.5ghz, I was not able to test this theory out. The more software and interrupts you have running the more your effective cpu speed will differ from your advertised cpu speed.

I hope this helps someone who has the same problem.

If you try it and it does or does not work, try adjusting the slowdown up and down to see if your effective cpu is not your reported cpu speed, find the setting that works for you. Targeting 1ghz should be a safe first guess.

If you want to find out your effective cpu speed, go to a command prompt and type in dxdiag.exe , if you have DirectX installed it will bring up a ton of info about your machine including the advertised CPU speed (on the system tab),

Sorry if this is kind of rambling and disorganized, I'm in a blazing hurry.

Thanks for the help, hope this helps someene else.

Caladin/Eric-

p.s. There are lots of other slowdown programs, they may work too, Mo Slow was good back in the days of Wingcommander, when i last cared about slowign down a
cpu.

2
General Mach Discussion / Re: motors no go in mach 3...
« on: June 14, 2009, 11:27:35 PM »

I don't know but i know that the same xml file was working 6 months ago when i
started building the bigger router, in 3axis mode with the same controller and motor.

I have to assume i did something, but I sure don't remember doing anything.

E-

3
General Mach Discussion / parallel port
« on: June 13, 2009, 05:46:43 PM »
Can anyone explain in more detial what's going on to keep the parellel port pulse frequency bouncing all over the place?

I'm a PC guy, and I'm pretty sure I can figure out what's really going on and the
official terms I can Google and findout more about what's going on.

What exactly is the pusle frequency?

Is it the number of free cycles on  main bus?

Why does mouse movement boost the speed back up?

Do PCI/AGP video cards and the like take up bandwidth? Aren't they on a separate AGP port?

I'm hoping to build a new box that will have better performance, but I want to understand what performance exactly
I'm trying to build for.

Any links or info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Eric-

4
General Mach Discussion / Re: Bar code scanners?
« on: June 13, 2009, 05:38:03 PM »


I used several symbol scanners at my last job,
the nicest one looked like a star trek phaser, but was called the cobra.
(they had on called the phaser, but it was portable and more expensive)

Ir plugged into a USBport, and it had a driver so you could set it up to emulate a keyboard.
You just click on the test box where you want the number to go and scan it, and the driver
types the keys to put the number in for you, no special software needed.

Caladin-

5
General Mach Discussion / Re: motors no go in mach 3...
« on: June 13, 2009, 05:34:50 PM »
Hmm...

Chip had me download the parallel port monitor, here.

http://www.geekhideout.com/parmon.shtml

and see if i was getting activity on my port.

If you think the port is the issue, I'd download this and get the port working,
you can see activity on the port as the "lights" flash on the app.

There is a setting to made it stay on top so you can see it while other applications are running.
I don't' remember where it was exactly but i found it after a few tries.

If you can't find it, let me know.

If you need more info about parallel port stuff and diagnostic tools, I found this site helpful.
I'm a fairly technical PC guy, even if I'm a complete Newby to CNC, but it was useful.

As to my Issue, I figured it out it was an   Id10t Error, my Dir and step pins were reversed in the
port config. all 4 axis are working fine now.

Thanks for the help everyone!

Cal-

6
General Mach Discussion / Re: motors no go in mach 3...
« on: June 13, 2009, 02:04:13 PM »
Yet 14 was set to enable.

If you're having a similar issue, chip recommended to me to start by turning 1/2 pulse mode on, and leave it on till things are working before you try it with it off.
some boards need more time to sense the pulse and Sherline mode makes it go slower.

If you want to see how I set these settings in Mach 3, go here:
(copy and paste the link, the site is not setting it up correctly to just click)
http://mycncprojects.wetpaint.com/page/Motion!+it%27s+(sorta)+alive!

Where I'm keeping track of progress lately. It's not fancy it's most there so i can keep track of what I've changed
So that if i have these troubles again, kind of like a diary.

It includes pics of the screen and where to set the settings I've mentioned so far.

Re my slaved axis issues, I checked the manual, as I remembered (2pp) there was only a master enable, which is on (now)
and I've set the slaving, so I'm still fiddling with it hoping to get the A axis working and slaved to the X axis.

I turned it off Sherline 1/2 step mode and everything (else)  seemed to run fine.


7
General Mach Discussion / Re: motors no go in mach 3...
« on: June 12, 2009, 01:20:05 AM »

Thanks for the help again Chip!

I've got motors turning.

After I hung up, i noticed that my 4th axis was not turning though.(it was behind me and i didn't see it just heard each axis move)

I RTFM and found the Slaving panel and set it to be slaved to my x axis,
as its supposed to. but when I Jogged the X and the 4 buttons no motion.
The pins are correct, and the rest is set up just like the other 3 axis.

The 4th axis moved under the test software.

I'll dig into the board manul and see if there is a separate disable/enable for the 4th axis,
but anyone has any other hints I'd love to hear them.

Thanks,

cal-

8
General Mach Discussion / Re: motors no go in mach 3...
« on: June 10, 2009, 08:23:57 PM »
Sorry, I was rushing to get it posted before bed :)

My Controller board is one of these,with the dynamo motors he sells.
http://www.stepperworld.com/fet3.htm#FET4target
IT connects over the printer port.

Here's the process I followed to get to my current position.(Sorry it's long winded, hopefully it'll bring us up to speed)

Built a baby $100 router, installed electronics & motors got them working and moving over parallel port with supplied testing software from electronics vendor (stepper world).
Installed mach 3, got it working and cutting virtually.
Purchased copy of Mach 3.

Had "no motor movement issue" (just like now), tried to diagnose with website help (from here), didn't' work.
One of the guys offered to call me and walk me through fixing it, and it started working after the first or second thing he tried (Thanks again Chip!).
I sat amazed at how quickly it was fixed, watching it twitch and whir.
It was now cutting, real shapes out of wood, but because I used cheap all thread and nuts, I had tons of problem getting it to run smoothly.
About this time the the parts started arriving for "the big router" that used real 5 start acme screws & anti backlash nuts, so I stopped working on the little one.
Started building "the Big one".
Alas thrust washers are totally on back order! Doh!
Winter is over before they arrive, no time to finish.

Frame with no motion installed sits in garage staring sullenly at me for months on end.

After a long hiatus, I finally got back and finished "the big router" that uses the same electronics and motors as the little one, except with a 4th axis used to double the x.
I got the electronics all wired up and got it working with the supplied testing software from www.stepperworld.com. I had motion on all 4 axis' in both directions.
Running all software on the same computer I had working from before.
I then loaded my old Mach 3 xml file, set the ports and pins for the 4th axis and the the limit switches and expected to be finished.
All Limit switched currently set to inactive to simplify debugging.
Started it carving the roadrunner with the z to high to cut, and got nothing... not a twitch.

The motors all work over the same parallel port using the simple testing software, so it's clearly something that I've failed to do properly in setting up Mach 3.
My reset has to be toggled each time I start mach 3 and I do this before loading a G-code file.
Mach 3 behaves as if it is cutting, I can see the movement on the position monitors and watch the cut path being followed.
My machine has crappy scores in Drivertest.exe but Chip said it just means the router will slow down and speed up with mouse movement and I can put off replacing the Box till later.
On the diagnosis screen I have numbers for pulse frequency, though they bounce all over the place 4- 5 digits.


I loaded the diagnostics, or trouble shooting screen, and watched the Parallel port Pins indicator 'lights' to see if Mach 3 thought it was sending data over the parallel port. No lights are flashing.

Mach 3 is set up on the same port that the StepperWorld.com software is functioning correctly over.(0x378)

Any help or hints are greatly appreciated.

Caladin-

9
General Mach Discussion / motors no go in mach 3...
« on: June 10, 2009, 12:45:02 AM »
Hi all,

I've got my cnc router working, it's my 2nd one, but I only used the first to get the
software working with my electronics & motors.. it was a terrible $100 design, and by then all the parts for the "good" one has arrived.:)

so I wired everything up,  took the setup that worked with the same electronics & motors, activated the 4th axis (x2), set the pins * ports, accel etc.

The test app that came with the board gets movement just fine, but mach 3 no movement. i go to the diagnostic screen, and
It shows no traffic over the port.

the port is the same as the tool that works is using.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Eric-

10

Grabbed the free coy of cam bam to start off with, thanks for the recommendations.


Can anyone point me to a reference on the different file types for Gcode, Silly me I assumed there was just one, but I noticed
Mach3 opens *.tap files, and CamBam exports *.nc files... As heinlein said, 2 is the sillys number, if there are two ther are lots...

so I guess that means i have a new bucket of learning to soak up.

Is there a good place to learn about all these and the differences and how to transform form one to another?

Thanks,

Eric-

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