Messages

331

General Mach Discussion / Re: Newest ver 3.42.12 running without cycle start.

« on: August 01, 2010, 12:56:33 AM »

This was a bug in versions of mach 3.43.x before .10 - we held up the start of MSM beta until the fix was available in 3.43.10. 

Am I correct in assuming that you are using the standard 1024 screen set when this happens?

It would be real helpful if you would please see if 3.43.10 does this for you - it's avail form the archive section of the download page.

Dave

332

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

« on: July 31, 2010, 04:17:27 PM »

Hi,
1) The "X/Y face not found" is what you get if you probe and the max probe distance is reached w/o the probe triggering.
Are you sure the probe is triggering?
Does it end up at the start point after the message? If no face is found, the probe is put back to the start position. If a face is found, the probe backs off by the clearance amount. This should let you identify which case has really happened.

2) this I can help explain (I hope).
Do you indeed have both a TP and a probe connected and interfaced to the probe input?

You have the Gage block configured to be a touch plate (on the settings common page) - AND you attempted to do a Z Zero probe with the probe tool. MSM won't allow that.

For those curious, the reason this combination is not allowed has to do with how tip comp is done for probing operations.
MSM forces this to be and XOR situation, i.e., it wants to see a probe event from either the probe XOR the GBlk=TP.  This is because the Gblk case has to use a probe radius = 0, but the probe tool is mounted and we are using the probe to hit the GBlk TP.... we need to account for the Probe tip radius when using the probe tool....  MSM can't use both a zero and non-zero radius amount at the same time.

It is OK to have a GBlk be a TP - and you can use a probe also - but you can't use the probe to "touch the GBLK TP" (which won't happen electrically anyhow since all the probe tips I've seen are electrically isolated form the spindle).

You can use the GBLK TP with any tool other than the tool number you have told MSM is the probe tool.
For probing to set Z Zero:
    Gage blk (which is not TP) + non-probe tool = OK
    Gage blk (which is TP) + non-probe tool = OK
    Probe tool mounted + regular Gage BLK (not a TP) = OK
    
    Probe tool mounted AND Gage blk (which is TP) AND Z Zero probe = NOT OK

Dave


 

Dave,

Well, I'm still learning the settings to make everything work correctly. X and Y axes seems to work as they are supposed to, but after touching and pulling back the message "X/Y + face not found" appears in the error box.

I also haven't been able to get any Z axis motion. I get a "G-BLK with probe tool Z Zero probe, Probe op cancelled" when I activate the Z probe function.

Usually I wouldn't post without spending a little more time working to figure out what I'm doing wrong (the usual problem!), but since you asked...

Mach 3.043.010
MSM Beta 2
PP
Homebuilt Probe

333

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Tooling issues

« on: July 31, 2010, 11:13:37 AM »

Hi Calum,
Here is some more info re your questions:

1)   Tool panel updates
When MSM initializes it starts up a background task that is responsible for a lot of screen control updates. Controls that the process updates include:
    Probing page probe result DROs
    Current, Next and Browse panels on the tooling page
    Parallel port input signals on the hardware page.
If the background process stops, these controls stop responding. Conversely, if these controls are not responding, the background process probably died.

I have seen 3 reports of “controls not responding” – so I suspect there is an occasional  problem somewhere. The interface that MSM uses in mach is supposed to start a periodic script that runs forever – MSM never shuts down the back ground process.
Of course, I never see this happen on my machines (Isn't software fun?)
Restarting Mach (and therefore MSM) causes MSM to re-init which also starts up the background process again.

I’m planning to add some diagnostics and maybe watch dog code to the next release to try to see if the background script has stopped – but the only tool to do a watch dog is another background process… so I’m not sure if it will tell us anything.

2) Set TCP TP TP MCz
Please refer to manual section 8.3.1.3.
The process to set the TCP TP MCz has to start **exactly** from the Tool change position. If you are trying to jog to that location, you’ll never to the **exact** location precisely enough to satisfy the condition that is being tested for.
The way to get to exactly the TCP is to use the “GoTC Pos’n” button on the tooling page.

Please also see this thread I posted this morning:
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,15521.msg104118.html#msg104118

Dave

334

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

« on: July 31, 2010, 11:07:39 AM »

Hi,

I need some feedback from MSM Probing/touch plate users.

If you have tried Probing and/or touch plate features of MSM, I would appreciate it if you would post in this thread and let me know if all is well or if you are having a problem (and if so what the problem is).
Please include in the post:
    Mach version
    MSM version
   PP or SS or ?
         if SS, the plugin version in use
   Probe brand

I'm asking for this feedback because I'm aware of multiple people that are using these abilities w/o any problem – on both parallel ports and Smooth Steppers.

Yet there is one fellow for whom probing won't work. In fact he sees the spindle move in direction opposite of what the code commanded. The trace logs show one thing and his video shows another.
We'll figure it out eventually, but I'm stumped at the moment.

I would really like to know if he is the only one seeing this type of major problem or not. If there are others, more information may help find a pattern that will point us to what is happening.

Given this one repeatable (for him, I can't make it happen) major bug report, I have to say that there appears there may be a gremlin hiding someplace in the MSM probing library.  So please be careful when trying out the probing or TP facilities.

I suggest using very slow probe feed rates to start.
For TP stuff Perhaps try a mobile TP with a set Z Zero operation to make sure that all is operating fine, before you send a sharp toll headed toward the TCP TP rigidly mounted to the table…..
For Probing operations, do your first probing operations in air - use a stick (don't put your hands into the area of a moving spindle!) to trigger the probe and see that what happens is what you would expect.

Dave

335

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Feed and Speed Missing from Run screen?

« on: July 30, 2010, 06:54:37 PM »

He He.
Yes, there is a small "Catch-22" situation there... the section of the user manual for the reference page explains what the user manual button does....  

Dave

336

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: error on line:393 Internal error

« on: July 30, 2010, 02:13:23 PM »

Thanks for letting me know.
I'll have this fixed in the next release.
Dave

337

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: G54

« on: July 30, 2010, 12:37:53 PM »

My apologies, but I can not tell from your question which X,Y,Z numbers you are referring to.

The top panel of the WC Offset pages displays the current Work Coordinate position. The panel also displays (in columns) the Machine coordinates, WC Offsets and G92 offsets which mach uses to calculate the current WC position from the machine coordinate position.
Within this panel only the values in the WC offset and G92 columns can be changed by the user (See section 2.1.3.3 of the manual)

The values of the WC offsets show are the offsets for the currently active work coordinate system. Mach defaults to using G54. The currently active WC system is shown within,  and can be changed from, the Work Coordinate offset panel.

If you are looking for more information about the controls on the WC Offset page, please see section 4 of the user manual.

If you are looking to learn about work coordinate systems and what they are, I suggest a good book about GCode. One example is “CNC Programming Handbook” by Peter Smid.

Dave

338

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Pendant plugin

« on: July 30, 2010, 12:14:15 PM »

While I have no personal experience with that particular pendant, I don't know of a reason it should not work.

In general:
1) Hardware that uses a plugin should work fine. MSM has no knowledge of plugins and doesn't even know they exist.
2) 99.9% of Hardware that uses macros/scripts should be OK also.
What about that other 0.1%?
If a script (of any type, be it hardware related or not) uses resources in the 1700 or 1800 ranges, it will conflict with MSM. See chapter 13 of the user manual.

Dave
 

339

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: error on line:393 Internal error

« on: July 30, 2010, 12:02:27 PM »

Sorry, you seem to have found a bug.
I think that the PDF reader path is set to an .exe  file that does not really exist.

Please do this:
1) On the settings-common page, use the "Set Utility Paths" button - this will bring up two dialog boxes in sequence. The first is for the non-Gcode editor path - you can ok, or cancel this dialog since we don't need to change that path.
The second dialog will be for the PDF reader path. Make sure the PDF reader path is correct.
I suggest browsing to the pdf reader exe file rather than typing in the path manually as that will prevent a typo from causing the problem you are seeing.
2) after the PDF reader file path is corrected, click OK to save the path info.
3) then try to open a manual again - if this was the problem, manuals should now open when their buttons are clicked.

If this does fix the problem for you, please let me know that this was the situation.

I will add a path/filename error check to the next release to fix this bug.

Dave

I got this message : error on line:393 Internal error

What I did, I press the reference label , I choose User manual or anythings other (nothing happens)

and when I return on other label I got this message.

Do you have any suggestion ?

340

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Re: Feed and Speed Missing from Run screen?

« on: July 29, 2010, 05:55:29 PM »

This is a difference in the run pages between the 10x7 and 12x9 resolutions  - please see user manual section 3.1.6.
For 10x7 the overrides are located on the fly out page.

Dave