Messages

1

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Will MACH3 ever support 64-bit systems? Officially? FYI, it's 2010

« on: January 27, 2010, 06:11:55 PM »

...I think you can get an idea of how hard it can be based on the fact that just about nothing from Microsoft is 64 bit.
Having done some small programs myself in linux and windows, it can go easy, it can be a pain. You never know.

Anyone having a strong opinion on how "easy" the process is should compile hello world in 32 and 64 bit. 
Then do something that talks to hardware and you will begin to get an idea.

Would it be nice, yes.  If it were easy, they would have already done it.

2

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Strange Lockup- Solved

« on: January 27, 2010, 05:15:32 PM »

... I am glad I could post something useful.
These forums are a great source of info, I have spent many hours reading & learning.

One final note on the issue.  I do not see this as a G540 problem at all.
It's just two things doing what they do(G540 & wireless mouse), and they need to do what they do w some physical distance.

If someone really wanted to dig, they could look into shielding the cable and all kinds of good stuff.
I opted to move my usb mouse transmitter, it was a lot easier.

3

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Strange Lockup- Solved

« on: January 27, 2010, 11:25:39 AM »

They only said they had seen this once.  If you think about it, there are alot of powerfull signals going on in that cable. 
My understanding is nothing is happening to the USB bus.
The problem is w interference w the wireless mouse transmitter that is connected to the USB BUS.
Again, the USB Keyboard that was not wireless worked, therefore the USB bus is working fine.

4

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Will MACH3 ever support 64-bit systems? Officially? FYI, it's 2010

« on: January 26, 2010, 09:22:41 PM »

This may sound like heresy(sp?) , but I would not mind paying something for a  64 bit upgrade, new version, plugin...how ever you want to do it.

There is nothing scarier then thinking that the solution you have invested(time and money) in is having a hard time keeping up w the newer operating systems.
My computer does double duty(business apps and Mach 3).  I currently do not have my newest computer at my desk, because Mach will not go 64bit.
I don't have the space to have 2 computers.

I hope we see a 64 bit soon.
Mach 3 is a great product.
Everything that Artsoft has done is greatly appreciated.

5

Mach3 under Vista / Strange Lockup- Solved

« on: January 26, 2010, 08:51:18 PM »

I just shared this w the Gecko drive people and they said they had a similar problem a couple of months ago.
I had a G540, Mach, 3 Vista 32 bit, Parallel Card interface.
Every time I turned the G540 on, as soon as the drives powered up, the computer would lock up.
It did it even when Mach was not running...(that took me  a while to figure out).

To make a long story short, the problem turned out to me my wireless mouse transmitter.
The wireless mouse transmitter was in the back of the computer next to the parallel port cable.

When I moved the transmitter to the front of the computer, everything worked.

Some key points to the problem...
1. the mouse would stop moving as soon as the G540 was turned on..., the mouse would starting working again as soon as the G540 was turned off...it had nothing to do w Mach.
2. I had a wired USB keyboard, even though it looked like the computer was locked up, I found out that the computer was not locked up, the keyboard still worked.
3. Moving the USB transmitter to the front solved the problem.

Hope this helps someone.
It stumped me for a while.
Love my Gecko G540 and Mach 3.

6

Galil / Re: Galil DMC-21x3 help

« on: June 06, 2009, 10:38:48 PM »

ok...Fiirst of all,  MY FAULT!!!  It turns out  there was a problem w the G-code I generated.  I wrote the program and when I was generating points for a curve, I was packing the curve with way too many points(spacing sometimes as small as .0003).  I adjusted the spacing and the machine sounds much better.  With that many points in the curve, the problem wasn't that CV wasn't working, the problem was that the galil controller couldn't load the points fast enough.  Look forward to doing more tests.  So far, So good.

7

Galil / Re: Galil DMC-21x3 help

« on: June 04, 2009, 01:26:12 PM »

Thanks for the reply....I think I may make a Youtube Video to show what I am doing and the settings I am using...
That way someone could see the settings and hear and see what the machine is doing.
Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to show my problem.

8

Galil / Galil DMC-21x3 help

« on: June 03, 2009, 09:20:16 AM »

I have a Galil DMC-21x3 that I need some help w.  The machine is a home made engraver.  I mention this because one of the important issues here is that the files to engrave end up being alot of very short segments.  I originally downloaded the version 1 of the Galil controller. After some tweaking, it sort of worked.  I got CV working and it would run for a while smooth and fast but then it would make some funny motor noises and slow down. If I hit pause and restart, everything would startup ok. My guess is there were some buffer overruns w the info going to the Galil controller.  I moved to the new 4.3 version plugin and now I can't seem to get the CV working which is  must for engraving since there are so many short segments.  I need some help, not sure how to start debugging this.
To recap...
What Works...
I can communicate w the controller, jog no problem, motors sound great.

What doesn't work...
CV.... the machine tries to accel and decel on every segment.

I was using the exact same G-code file when working between the two versions of plugins.

Any help would be appreciated.