Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Still stymied by my LPTs

« on: January 13, 2011, 07:24:08 PM »

Ha!  Couldn't resist one more try.  I had discovered earlier that I did not have Windows Interrupts enabled for LPT2 and LPT3 (the PCI ports).  I changed that, and connected the output cable to the 2nd port on the PCI card.  Now, I get movement on the X and Z axes, but not the Y.  I'll figure that out later.

Charley

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: Still stymied by my LPTs

« on: January 13, 2011, 07:16:32 PM »

I'm getting called for dinner, so I'll have to break this off and return later with a fresh outlook.  I'm not sure what else to try (my original condition).  The problem seems to be logical, i.e., some sort of misalignment between Mach3 and the port.

I went to Rosewill's site to check for a newer driver, only to find their downloadable version is an earlier one than I have installed.  Just an added bit of confusion.  Too bad I don't have any other parallel port devices, e.g., a printer, to try.

Many thanks for your help.

Charley

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: Still stymied by my LPTs

« on: January 13, 2011, 06:17:28 PM »

Tried that, as I mentioned in my first post.  That was the point at which I gave up trying on my own and asked for help.

I don't understand what the port number in Ports & Pins refers to.  How does it relate to LPT1, LPT2, LPT3?

BTW, yes, I did try downloading & installing another version of Mach3, but maybe I've got to start from scratch once again.

Charley

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Still stymied by my LPTs

« on: January 13, 2011, 06:05:40 PM »

Yes.  I just went through all combinations: Port=1, 2 then 3;  Address= 0xdd00, 0xdc00, 0xde00, 0xdf00.  No go on any.

Charley

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: Still stymied by my LPTs

« on: January 13, 2011, 05:54:27 PM »

I appreciate your patience.  My confusion is an indication of the number of repetitions I've gone through.  I had half a dozen xml files.  I've deleted them all, and reconfigured using Mach3Mill.xml.

The Diagnostics Tab, BTW, now shows some lit LEDs, but I'm not sure what that indicates.  On the top row, the first 3 are dim, the next 5 are green, the last 4 are dim.  I tried changing the Port values to 2 and 3, but still get changing DROs with no motor movement.

I'm trying to attach Mach3Mill.xml, but the forum software isn't cooperating, saying that there's already an attachment by that name.  I'll try changing its name and attaching.

Charley

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Still stymied by my LPTs

« on: January 13, 2011, 05:19:40 PM »

My bad.  Shoulda done that already.

Charley

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: Still stymied by my LPTs

« on: January 13, 2011, 05:06:12 PM »

BTW, I can't remember if I ever got this setup to work with LPT1, the PP on the motherboard.  I tried again this time, with no success.  The BIOS choices for the port are: SPP and EPP1.9+SPP.  Should either of those work?

Charley

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: Still stymied by my LPTs

« on: January 13, 2011, 04:58:37 PM »

Well, a search on this forum turned up a Rosewill reference which stated that the connector on the board (the other connector is on a cable) is assigned LPT3.  This was the address I used first (dd00 Hex).

Never believing anything I read on the Internet, I've tried all addresses shown through Device Manager (dc00, de00, df00).  No go on any of them.

Charley

9

General Mach Discussion / Still stymied by my LPTs

« on: January 13, 2011, 02:35:00 PM »

I had been using my Mach3, WINXP, Zylotex, Sherline 5400 mill setup for some time when, just after Christmas, I started having harddrive problems.  I've switched to another HD, but can't get the setup working again, apparently because of LPT problems.  I recall I had problems there initially, too.

I'm using a Rosewill PCI board with 2 additional PPs.

Checking Device Manager, I see LPT3 as being at 0xDD00, and set Mach3 Port1 equal to that value (enabled).  Incidentally, when I change the port address in Ports and Pins, I have to force the Apply button to become active.  Subsequent checking confirms the new address.

Motor Outputs are enabled for X, Y and Z.  With the cable connected, I get DRO values to change, but no motor movement.

Checking with a multimeter, I see unchanging +4.90v on pins 2 through 7, which are the assigned Dir and Step pins.

I've run DriverTest, and get Excelllent results.

What else shall I try?

Charley

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: Error msg loading G-code

« on: December 17, 2010, 12:00:10 AM »

Gerry:

You got me thinking about my high school geometry.  The intersection of the straight side and the arc'd side occurs at 1 radius (1.1111") and at Y=0.9675" - that's two sides of a right triangle.  No problem.  They intersect at X=0.5463".

Thanks, again.

Charley