Messages

1

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: new production release of Mach4 now available, version 2.0.5000

« on: November 28, 2022, 12:02:15 PM »

Not that I know about. Our SmartBOBs seem to be happy.

I have not carefully investigated the change log to see if there were any new features that would not work without an update.

Steve Stallings
www.PMDX.com

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Mach4 General Discussion / new production release of Mach4 now available, version 2.0.5000

« on: November 27, 2022, 06:41:12 PM »

On 17 November 2022 the next stable/production release of Mach4 became available. It is version 2.0.5000 and you can download it here:

https://www.machsupport.com/downloads-updates/mach4-downloads/

This replaces the previous 2.0.4612 stable/production version which was issued in February 2021.

There have been many updates made available in beta versions available from the FTP site between these two versions, but many people prefer not to run beta versions.

If you have followed the beta versions you will know that there have been a large number of bug fixes and enhancements issued since the last stable/production release.

The new 2.0.5000 received extensive testing both by public beta versions and by product testing arranged by Mach staff.

While many of the updates may seem minor to most users, there has been one major upgrade in my opinion. The way that the trajectory planner handles look-ahead has been revamped. The old method was based on tracking how many lines of G-code should be considered. The new method is based on how much run time should be considered. This method works around many difficult to handle issues. You can expect improved Feed Hold, Feed Rate Override, and Single Block operation.

Many thanks to the Mach4 team for continuing to improve the system.

Steve Stallings
www.pmdx.com

3

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Editing loaded GCode???

« on: September 28, 2022, 09:08:19 AM »

On the standard screen sets look in the lower right corner for the Ops panel. Select the File Ops tab and select the Edit G-code button in the left column.

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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Question on upgrade

« on: September 17, 2022, 03:54:59 PM »

Version 2 has been out for several years and you almost certainly are running it already.

If you go to >Help >About you will get a screen that shows Version 4.2.0. x x x x where
the 4 means means the product is Mach4, the 2 means version 2 in the Mach4 series,
0 is the sub-version, and x x x x is the build number of the software that you are running.

If you are not having any problems, there is no need to update your software.

There are production releases that are available on the Download page for Mach4, and
also beta versions on a separate FTP server.

There are normally no update charges for Mach software within a product series,
i.e. product 4 for Mach4.

5

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Interact with MACH4 from another running external program

« on: September 15, 2022, 08:22:07 AM »

Note: Mach4GUIR.exe is part of the standard Mach4 install and will be found in the regular Mach4Hobby folder.

6

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mech4 Velocity Calibration

« on: August 29, 2022, 06:40:59 PM »

The Velocity and Acceleration parameters on your Motors page are for adjusting the maximum velocity and acceleration that Mach4 will attempt to utilize while running your motors. Changing these would affect your feed rate only if the maximum allowed here was less than the feed rate requested by your G code. Feedrate also changes dynamically to keep the acceleration within the requested maximum.

Feed rate itself does not need calibration as it is computed automatically using the other parameters provided to Mach4. If you have the steps per unit calibrated correctly, Mach4 will produce accurate feed rates. Before evaluating feed rates, make sure the steps per unit are correct.

There are three other things that can affect the actual feed rate that occurs.

1) G0 commands are "rapid" move commands and ignore the F word in G code for setting feed rate. G1 commands should be used when needing controlled feed rate.

2) The user GUI has a provision for feed rate override. This is in the lower left area of the screens supplied with Mach4 and is labeled "FRO%". If the value is other than 100% the actual feed rate will be affected accordingly.

3) Feed rate control in G code is understood to be the vector sum of the feed rate of the individual axes and can cause the speed of individual axes to be reduced when the vector sum would exceed the requested rate.

Also be sure that your CAM software is inserting meaningful F words in the G code that it produces.

7

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: what is wrong with this g code

« on: August 17, 2022, 08:56:06 AM »

He already did. See the link to a zip file in the first message.

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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: what is wrong with this g code

« on: August 16, 2022, 02:46:09 PM »

I have not figured out what is wrong, but I did get different preview results from you.

For me the Mach4 preview looks to match the Vectric one.

I happen to be running build 4818.

9

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 and/or ESS has my Y AXIS running backward.

« on: August 08, 2022, 09:51:17 AM »

My only issue with the ESS is that their plugin configuration takes over many functions that are normally done in the standard Mach configuration screens. This is, for me, confusing. Overall the ESS is an excellent product and I do not think it is the cause of your problems.

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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 and/or ESS has my Y AXIS running backward.

« on: August 07, 2022, 09:28:29 PM »

Yes, the on screen jog buttons can be modified, but it is far more common to find that users change the keyboard ones without understanding the system. I was trying to find a way to avoid Gcode issues and prove that Mach4 was working correctly. Comparing DRO readouts to observed machine motion was the critical part.