Messages

1

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

« on: May 25, 2010, 02:19:04 PM »

Yep, you got that right - it is a misunderstanding on my part because I didn't know (and may never really understand) the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit operating systems. It sure isn't obvious to a non-computer person that they are totally different and one is not a super set of the other (the min/max conundrum). The point is I shouldn't have to as a customer. You ever heard of the KISS method?

So stop being so stubborn and add a statement that Mach will not run on a 64 bit system and all the others out here will have no doubt about it. It's obviously not as cut and dry as you make it sound or this thread (one of many on the Internet) wouldn't be on the fifth page before the facts came out.

Thanks,

Dennis

Well, I wish I knew that before I bought my PC.

Of course, with the missleading information in the misslabeled "minumum requirements" section of the ArtSoft home page, how was I to know that "32 bit version" is actually a maximum unlike the other things listed like Ghz and RAM that are truly minimums.

If I only knew then what I knew now...........

No offense, but this is a misunderstanding on your part about how PC's work. 32bit and 64 bit are completely different systems. They aren't thought of in terms of minimum and maximum. Software is either 32 bit or 64 bit. When it says 32 bit Windows is required, it is. And, you can't run 64 bit software on 32 bit windows either.

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

« on: May 25, 2010, 12:54:29 AM »

So biased or not, can one of you guys give me the text version of a block diagram?

My router came with a Testra 4s483 motion controller (http://testra.com/Motion/4x483/specs-4x.html).

If I were to use a SmoothStepper how does it fit in? Is the data flow something like this:

Win 7 64 bit PC USB port to ---> USB cable ---> Smoothstepper ---> parallel cable ---> Testra controller ---> steppers



Thanks

Dennis

3

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

« on: May 25, 2010, 12:36:47 AM »

[/quote]

I know it is my own fault for not reading more carefully about the Windows 7 *32bit* requirement before buying the replacement PC.

Steve
[/quote]

Why is it your fault? It's listed as a minimum requirement. If you took it literally you'd need to build a PC with a 1Ghz CPU and 512 RAM too.

4

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

« on: May 25, 2010, 12:33:30 AM »

I'm not buying that. With so many PC's now coming with W7 64bit it would be so simple to warn people that it's a no go. Look down a few lines - they do it for laptops. Any good businessman knows it's better in the long run to dumb it down  - it pays big dividends on the back end with less customer service issues. Or in this paradigm where there is no actual customer service, less forum searching for up to date answers.

Example of that - I've been nosing around the SmoothStepper site for the last half hour and being a noobie I'm still trying to figure out just what it is/does and whether it would help in my situation.

Dennis

Well, they can't list every caveat of every possible configuration of PCs out there, it's just not possible. You can use a 32bit processor IF you use a 32bit OS. The PC is just like everything else in your CNC machine you have to know the ins and outs of what to pick and how to configure it to wind up with a system that works well.

5

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

« on: May 25, 2010, 12:14:20 AM »

Well, I wish I knew that before I bought my PC.

Of course, with the missleading information in the misslabeled "minumum requirements" section of the ArtSoft home page, how was I to know that "32 bit version" is actually a maximum unlike the other things listed like Ghz and RAM that are truly minimums.

If I only knew then what I knew now...........

XP mode is a type of 'virtual machine' BUT, and this is a really big BUT 32bit drivers (like Machs parallel port driver) will NOT work on a 64 bit machine. Take a look here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/32-bit-and-64-bit-windows-frequently-asked-questions , under 'Can I run 32-bit programs on a 64-bit computer'.

6

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

« on: May 24, 2010, 11:44:48 PM »

I know that Mach3 / parallel port / 64bit are a no-no. 

But.... I was led to believe that Win 7 Pro compatability mode gave you a VM whereby you ran XP 32 bit "within" Win 7 64 bit so in that case you are not trying to run MACH3 at 64 bit.

7

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

« on: May 24, 2010, 11:33:00 PM »

I'm running Windows 7 Professional 64 bit which allows you to run things in "compatability mode" i.e. something less than that - ideally running the parallel card driver in XP 32bit mode. I don't know how to check that.

We changed the port setting to 0xD800

8

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

« on: May 24, 2010, 10:29:04 PM »

I'm at a standstill at the moment. I've got a $5K router and a $400 PC that don't want to speak to each other. I downloaded the 32 bit XP driver for my BYTECC Serial Card 2 Port  CNT-COM-BY-BT-P2S1P + 1 Parallel Port PCI Controller Card that I got to add to the PC. I upgraded my Win 7 to Win 7 Pro to give me access to XP compatibility mode. I did what I knew how to (including changing a few dozen settings in MACH3 per my router manufacturer) and still no go. Seems like the only work around is the ridiculous situation of having two PC's in the shop with the router so I can do work with a current PC while I'm not routing and using the new dinosaur with XP/Parallel/32 bit when I'm routing. Looks like I'll be shopping for a KVM switch so I don't need a new keyboard/monitor/mouse too. Someone pinch me, I thought it was 2010

What are you planning to do Steve?
Dennis

9

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

« on: May 19, 2010, 12:33:04 AM »

But my router controller box has this 25 pin connector on it................

10

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

« on: May 18, 2010, 05:58:41 PM »

My 2 cents:

I could buy a Pinto just to get to work and back but I want/can buy a new car with the latest bells and whistles with warranty and support.

I don't have / want to support two cars so that I can also take long trips.

I want to have one PC that I use for CNC sometimes (my CNC work will not be a 24/7 thing) and then use for surfing, design work (heavy graphics0, gaming or whatever when I'm not making dust.

As mentioned before - it is 2010.

Dennis (who bought a PCI card last week and just went to Staples to get a Windows 7 upgrade so I can run old software and use my new CNC router)

end of rant