Messages

421

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, Windows and Parallel Port Usage.

« on: January 23, 2022, 02:36:18 AM »

Another approach would be to use a separate pc to generate the gcode file to do the probing and correct you pcb gcode?

422

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3, Windows and Parallel Port Usage.

« on: January 23, 2022, 02:30:02 AM »

I believe that Windows 7 can support the parallel port, but not sure if it supports Java8.  I have just upgraded my shop PC to a mini Win10 machine using UC100 motion controllers and it works fine, requiring very little reconfiguration.

423

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 on Windows 10 Pro 64bit -- Help Please

« on: January 21, 2022, 04:34:52 AM »

Well those all look as expected to me.  What problems are you actually having?  Have you checked that all the port and pin assignments are correct for your BoB?

424

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 on Windows 10 Pro 64bit -- Help Please

« on: January 20, 2022, 04:02:05 AM »

By the way, the UC100 is also from cncdrive but make sure you get a genuine one.

425

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 on Windows 10 Pro 64bit -- Help Please

« on: January 20, 2022, 03:40:03 AM »

I have just upgraded my system to use Mach 3 on a Windows 10 PC.  I just bought a UC100 USB  motion controller, installed the m3 plug in, and it just worked with no reconfiguration needed.  It just replaces the 25 way cable between the pc and BoB, with a USB cable into the back of the UC100 which goes into the 25 way socket on the BoB.  You may still need another USB to power the BoB as you show.

426

General Mach Discussion / Re: Wireless Xbox controller / Win10 / Mach 3

« on: January 19, 2022, 06:15:17 AM »

Answering my own question...

I found a post dating from 2020 here:

https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=12753.140

from Novec.  The problem is that the latest version of DirectX included in the latest version of Win10 doesn't contain components from previous versions that are needed for "old" dlls to work.  These need to be installed.


The fix is:

Download the previous version from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109, preferably into a new folder.

Run the .exe file you find there - this will extract a very long list of files.

About the middle of the list is another .exe file - run that to install all the old files that were removed in the latest version of DX.  This won't apparently affect the running of the later version.

Now copy xbox.dll to the Mach3 plugin folder.

When you open Mach3 you should find the error message has gone, you can enable and configure the plugin, and use it after closing and reopening Mach.

Many thanks to Novec for this solution!   It is buried in the middle of a long thread originally started in 2009, so I hope this will be useful to others.

I was getting resigned to having to use the old shuttle express with my new setup which I find very non-ergonomic, normality is now restored!

427

General Mach Discussion / Wireless Xbox controller / Win10 / Mach 3

« on: January 18, 2022, 09:24:51 AM »

I know that other people have asked about this but I wondered what the latest status is please.

I'm in the process of upgrading to WIN10 on a mini PC with UC100 motion controllers.  It has mainly gone very smoothly and I'm nearly at the stage of connecting to the machines again but I've hit a snag trying to reconnect to my XBox wireless controller.  The "receiver" box connects to the PC OK; and the PC sees the actual controller when that is paired.  However though I have pasted the newly downloaded plugin into the Plugins folder, when I launch Mach3 it gives a "defective plugin, ignored" error message.

The controller was working perfectly in the previous XP installation, with both parallel port and the UC100s, so I'm stumped.  Is there a recommended solution please?

John.

428

General Mach Discussion / Re: rotary axis divisor

« on: January 15, 2022, 05:47:07 PM »

AFAIK / IIRC the a axis dro displays decimal degrees.

429

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 upgrade path - UC100 + WIN10

« on: January 12, 2022, 12:09:52 PM »

Well, in case anyone else has a similar question, I just installed a UC100 on my lathe controller, and it was a doddle.  XP computer seemed to have the .NET SW needed already installed, just ran the UC inslatter, opened Mach3, another couple of steps, and it was working.  Apart from a bit of tweaking to the Z axis speed all is fine - all the port/pin settings  are the same, the X zero, index pulse and probe all work just as before, as do the tool zeroing macros.

The Mill was still connected to the parallel port, so I fired that up, selected the parallel port when the dialogue came up, and it was operating normally.

So the answer to my first question is YES.

The second question though is open but maybe I'll post that in the WIN10 thread.

430

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 upgrade path - UC100 + WIN10

« on: January 10, 2022, 06:36:59 PM »

Thanks for that Craig - I'd seen that there are a lot of ripoffs around.  I have no purpose for any additional i/o so the UC400 and ESS don't really give me anything I need.  What I do need is to replace the control computer and simplify the cabling.