Messages

241

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Can't get MSM installed

« on: August 19, 2010, 09:54:23 PM »

Hi Clyde,
We'll figure out  what's happening for you -
FYI - In the following, I'm going to assume your install is to the default c:\mach3\ directory.

I think from what you've said that you can start mach itself - i.e. the mach window opens but the screen area is a blank light grey.
Is this correct?

If so , we know mach is starting, but did not find the screen set called for by the profile you started mach with (so mach shows the blank background).

Let's check the version of mach that is running: menus / help/about - mach should be 3.43.16 - is it?
If mach is not 3.43.16 (I believe that is the version you said you downloaded and installed), the needed mach version did not get installed correctly.

If the mach version is ok, Let's try to load the 1024 screen set -
use view, load screens to go to c:\mach3 and pick 1024.set - does that load and show you the 1024 screen set?

If 1024 loads, we know mach is loading screen sets in general and we need to figure out why it's not loading MachStdMill.set.
Shut down mach - this will update your profile XML so that the next time it is used, 1024 will be loaded.

Look in C:\Mach3\  and see if MachStdMill.set is in the directory. Is it present?

If it is missing, I'm guessing that something happened to the install process and the file is not where it needs to be.  
If MachStdMill.set is present, if could still be the MSM install got clobbered some how (when starting MSM, a bunch of stuff is done in the background to initialize stuff MSM will be doing, if one of those scripts is bad, it could cause a problem).

The easiest thing to do is to uninstall and then reinstall MSM.
Use the start menu: start / all programs / mach3 / MachStdMill / uninstall to uninstall MSM. say yes to questions about uninstalling shared files. This will remove MSM.
Run the MSM installer again - click thru the menus. no need to create yet another profile, just start mach with the one from the last time thru the installer.
Check that c:\mach3\MachStdMill.set now exists.

Start mach with the profile - 1024 will load (as that was what the profile had loaded when mach was shut down).
Use view load screen to load MachStdMill.set - after a pause (MSM takes longer to load than 1024 due to the additional graphics) you should see the MSM load screen.

If MSM does not load, I'll need to scratch my head some more - in that case maybe you could post the contents of c:\mach3\lasterrors.txt for me to look at - that is mach's history file and it might have some clues in it.

Dave

242

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Returning to start of code after tool change!

« on: August 19, 2010, 07:46:10 PM »

Hi all,
An update on this one -
Calum managed to find two separate bugs - one in MSM and one in Mach. (I bet he feels so special   )
He has confirmed that the test revisions we sent him fix the problems and the corrections will be in the next mach and MSM update.

Dave

243

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Probing and touch plates - your MSM experience?

« on: August 18, 2010, 05:59:51 PM »

Yep, same value. I just forgot to change the diagram terminology to match the manual.
Dave

244

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Probing and touch plates - your MSM experience?

« on: August 18, 2010, 04:25:40 PM »

Hi,
please see inserts below -

I'll see if I can't beef up the explanations in the manual for the next release.
(Sorry, after writing the movement code it was real obvious to me....    )

Please also see the update I just made to the "how to get started with MSM probing" post for some pics that are crude but I hope will help.

Dave

Ok... too wierd.  I restarted Mach3 and tried it again today, and it is now working...
I had the XY clearance set to .4

I only have 1 wierdness left, If I understand how edge probing is supposed to work:

If I do a corner probe starting with the probe right over one of the corners.
It does the following:
-- Z- and zero
-- goes to z clearance, moves X+ to XY clearance I believe
[Dave]: please see section 7.1.5.2 b) of the manual - the amount it moves over is "step off width"

-- goes beyond Z zero (not sure how far, I am guessing the probe diameter?)
[Dave]: please see section 7.1.5.3 of the manual for a nice picture of this

-- Probes X- and zero
-- Moves X+ to clearance
-- Moves Y- only XY clearance and never makes it to the Y edge
[Dave]: nope, The issue is that you have step off width < clearance. These two params interact... during the corner probe operations.
Make step of width large just to show what is going on - make it 0.75.
the try again from about the same inset from the corner as before -
I think things will then be come clearer.

-- Probes Y+ and misses.  It also seems to only probe XY clearance distance rather than the max XY distance.

I have the following settings:
XY Distance: 2.000
Z Distance: 2.000
Step off width 0.26
XY Clearance: 0.4
Z Clearance: 0.2
Edge width, tried: 0, 0.2, 0.4, etc

Thanks,

Denzil

245

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Probing and touch plates - your MSM experience?

« on: August 18, 2010, 02:27:09 AM »

Hi,
Sounds perhaps as if the probe is already triggered when the  2nd G31 is issued to mach.
What value do you have XY Clearance set to?

I'm wondering if the XY clearance is set so small that the probe back off far enough to become un-triggered before doing the 2nd probe.

Dave

Hi Dave,

I am having some wierd issues with probing.
It doesn't matter which direction that I probe in.

It starts the probe, touches, and then pauses for a second, and then starts stepping the opposite direction forever until I hit estop.

Here is the error log:
Tue - 21:38:43 ---
Tue - 21:38:44 ---Calling PLC to Probe toward X- ...
Tue - 21:38:48 ---Probe Ignore, activated at call for probe.
Tue - 21:38:57 ---EStop Button Pressed.

I am running:
Mach 3: Version R3.043.016
MSM: 0.3.2
PP

Thanks,

Denzil

Forgot to add that this only happens when I have a "Probe Slow FR" set to something other than 0.

Thanks

246

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Returning to start of code after tool change!

« on: August 16, 2010, 01:32:21 PM »

Calum,
I think I found the ATLO problem you are seeing.
I'm a tad embarrassed to say that it was a 2nd instance of the bug I had fixed before where a value was not corrected for metric machines vs imperial machines.
(The code was only insisting that for Auto-TLO that the position at the TCP be within 0.0001mm...    )

I've emailed you directly a revised version of the probing library.
Please try the MTM Auto-TLO again with this probing library - I think this should fix the problem - If it does, please let me know that it is fixed.
 
Dave

247

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Tool Change

« on: August 15, 2010, 01:29:06 PM »

Alan,
BTW - I believe you are the first confirmed person to use the M6ATC hook to control a tool changer!

The hook was designed and added after the CNC workshop to make interfacing ATCs easy with MSM.
Brian was going to use it to interface the changer on the router he had at the workshop - but I believe he never got around to doing that after he got back. I tested the software hook, but don't have an ATC -

So you are the first to put all the pieces together and have it work - thanks for letting me know about it.

Dave

248

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Tool Change

« on: August 15, 2010, 01:23:09 PM »

OK -
let me know if it happens again and we'll look some more.
Dave

Hi Dave
not sure why but have just rebooted computer and my machine and the tool changer seems to be working fine now so I am sorry to have bothered you will keep an eye on things to see it goes
Many thanks for your time
Alan

249

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Tool Change

« on: August 15, 2010, 01:21:48 PM »

Here is what happens for a tool change in ATC mode:

1) mach calls M6start when it executes an M6

2) M6start determines the tool change mode

3) for ATC mode, m6start calls two internal subroutines:
        M6ATCWrapper - this is what is calling the M6ATC script you supplied
        M6EndBodyWrapper - this uses RunScript to effectively make a subroutine call of M6EndBody
        (M6EndBody.m1s is also found in the profile macro dir)
Unless you have MasterTooMode and AutoTLO both turned on, M6End just sets some screen leds to show that
the Tool change is all done and exits.

4) M6Start exits and mach resu,es running the loaded gcode

The M6 sequence script files can be found in your profile's macros directory.

Dave

250

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Tool Change

« on: August 15, 2010, 01:02:04 PM »

well, scrap that idea - I should have checked the code before quessing...   
the code that calls M6ATC sets G00 mode before calling M6ATC

Dave

Can you send me your M6ATC script to look at?

Here is one idea:
Does your script do G01 or G00 moves?
If you don't specify the movement type, a movement will use whatever the movement mode is when M6 is called.....
perhaps you are getting Feed rate moves when you expected rapid rate moves?

Dave