Messages

61

Mach3 and G-Rex / G100 found and runs though Firmware not "Run"

« on: April 25, 2007, 03:06:54 PM »

I am able to launch Mach3 (in Vista) and Mach3 discovers and initializes G100.
It seems some or all functionality is available... Do I need to "Run Firmware" from within G-REX Download Manager web page to use G100 with Mach3?

Mach3 ver: R2.00.065
Plugin ver: 2.00.064
G-Rex Autoboot: 0 (firmware not being auto-loaded)

62

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Getting up and running in Vista

« on: April 25, 2007, 06:57:58 AM »

Vista UAC (User Account Control) is an avoidable hassle:

You know all those popups that nag you to Continue asking you to "Allow" or "Cancel", especially when you've set the property on an application (like Mach3.exe) or it's shortcut to "Run as administrator"?

Well... there's a couple of better ways to go.

1) Log in as "Administrator"; When logged in as Administrator, and beware that logged in with an account that belongs to the "Administrators Group" won't do, you'll never be nagged by UAC again!  To do this you will 1st need to "enable" the Administrator user account as it is defaulted as "disabled", then set it's Password (recommended) and you're ready to log in as Administrator.  Obviously, Administrator is a "local" account so if you're joined to a domain (not using a workgroup) you won't have access to your domain assets until you log back in with domain user account.  Very few of us setup a domain so this should't be a problem.

Or...

2) Disable Admin Approval Mode;  This defeats the feature all together, which is kind of dramatic compared to the above.  The article at this link explains all about it-
http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/0d75f774-8514-4c9e-ac08-4c21f5c6c2d91033.mspx?mfr=true
(Scroll down half the page and look for title "Disable Admin Approval Mode")

What is it? How it works and more is at that link too.

I like to use the 1st one, It has really simplified my use of Vista while running Mach3 and some other software I use while machining.

-Haik

Keywords: Run as administrator, Allow, Cancel

63

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Getting up and running in Vista

« on: April 25, 2007, 05:54:27 AM »

Vista Laptop/Notebook wireless-LAN (WLAN) confuses Grex-Loader.exe and G100 Discovery:

I've discovered that Grex-Loader.exe will not find the G100 that's connected to the (wired) LAN in a laptop that has it's WLAN "enabled."  I've validated this on 2 different laptops running Vista. Apparently, Grex-Loader.exe only polls the 1st network device it finds instead of enumerating the available devices.

The fix is to simply defeat the internal WLAN hardware using the physical ON/OFF switch or button that most laptops have.  If your WLAN hardware is PCMCIA just eject it when connecting to G100 via LAN cable if you're having this problem.

-Haik

Keywords: No G100's found in system, No G100 instances found, Error during DISCOVERY phase, G100 Status

64

Mach3 and G-Rex / Re: Use of Slave Axis feature slows all axises when used

« on: April 13, 2007, 07:08:29 AM »

Yes, you're right to point me there. I had a IPM too low on B which I had set to slave to Y.  The correction fixed my problem.
Thanks!!!

Which do you think is a better setup:  I have 2 screws for Y and want the best performance while also preventing racking.
Should I...
a) "Slave" using G100 axises Y and B for Y?
-or-
b) Connect 2 drives to the one Y axis on the G100?

65

Mach3 and G-Rex / Use of Slave Axis feature slows all axises when used

« on: April 13, 2007, 03:29:04 AM »

I'm using the Config|Slave Axis feature and it slows all other axises down quite a lot, in "units" the difference is from 500 w/o Slave to about 120 w/Slave assigned.  Is there a fix for this?

66

Feature Requests / Re: Multi Monitors and Mach3

« on: March 16, 2007, 02:43:58 AM »

Sounds cool Zealos,  I'd like to give your Flash version a try.  I've grown acustomed to the standard "Program Run" screen in Mach3, so if your version is similar except for gCode and Tool Path and those are on a alternate/seperate window... that would be pretty cool. 

-Haik

67

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Your opinion of Vista ?

« on: February 16, 2007, 03:31:09 AM »

Vista is an important upgrade and for a great many reasons.  The most oustanding being that in the coming 2-3 years support for XP (sp2) will diminish below a point where users may find it not feasible to contend with.
I have this problem with Windows2000.  The HCL (hardware compatability list) just keeps getting shorter and shorter as devices enter the market.
XP is quite a bit faster than 2000. Similarly, the Vista kernel is more advanced and more efficient than XP meaning that it's faster than XP.
Just look at SolidWork's example; they've worked closely with Microsoft over the past 4 years so that they could integrate WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) 3D features into their softwares.
This 3D stuff in Vista is really awesome stuff and helps pave the way 3D object modeling for all. Designers, CAD, and CAM communities are the first to truly benefit from it.
Sure Vista is new and has features that some won't appreciate... but it has been 5 years since the last release and Vista is now the current version.
Good, bad, or indifferent it's time to embrace the future!

-Haik
btw - I've been using Vista (Ultimate) on a Desktop machine and a laptop with great results.

68

Feature Requests / Re: Multi Monitors and Mach3

« on: February 16, 2007, 02:55:24 AM »

To, at least, have the tool path window undockable and resizable would be a great asset to me.

Plus, the space previously used for the tool path could be used for other features.

Just a thought. 

-Haik

69

General Mach Discussion / Re: Manual tool change w/ Settings from Mach3 : Code review needed

« on: February 16, 2007, 02:44:47 AM »

Got it, though I do need to learn more about the "Offsets" page, I am trying to keep the end-to-end process automated and at some point I will have auto tool changing.
I use CAD and then CAM. My CAM exports to GCode that has complete tool info and changes within.

Is there a use for the "Settings|Tool Change Location" feature or is that just a legacy item?

Thank so much for the detailed reply!

-Haik

70

General Mach Discussion / Manual tool change w/ Settings from Mach3 : Code review needed

« on: February 14, 2007, 04:31:05 PM »

I'm a little new to Mach3 and though I searched profusely I could not find code that supported the native "Tool Change Location" feature that's in Mach3's "Settings" area.

I just need to do simple manual tool changing without loosing coords and ruining my stock.
Will my code below do the trick?

Thanks in advance!

-Hbaba

':::::::::::::::::::
'::: M6Start.m1s ::: Allows use of Mach3's "Settings"|"Tool Change Information" to
'::::::::::::::::::: assist manual tool changes and return to tool coords to continue machining.

 toolChangeX = GetOEMDRO(1200)
 toolChangeY = GetOEMDRO(1201)
 toolChangeZ = GetOEMDRO(1202)

 currX = GetOEMDRO(83)
 currY = GetOEMDRO(84)
 currZ = GetOEMDRO(85)

 currTool = GetOEMDRO(824) 'Tool Information:Tool# in Mach3 from GCode

 Declare Sub Sleep Lib "Kernel32" (ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long)

 '::: Move up (from stock) then over to Tool Change Location
 Code "G0Z" & toolChangeZ
 Code "G0X" & toolChangeX & "Y" & toolChangeY

 '::: While the machine is in motion lets slow our app down to conserve CPU cycles
 While IsMoving()
  Sleep(10)
 Wend

 '::: Stop process, alert operator, provide next tool #, allow operator to continue
 MsgBox("   Change current tool to new tool #" & GetOEMDRO(824) & Chr(13) & Chr(10) & Chr(13) & Chr(10) & "Click ""OK"" after tool change is complete" & "   ")

 '::: Move back (to stock) and then down to work coordinance
 Code "G0X" & currX & "Y" & currY
 Code "G0Z" & currZ

 '::: While the machine is in motion lets slow our app down to conserve CPU cycles
 While IsMoving()
  Sleep(10)
 Wend


'::: DEBUG and reference...

'::: Show Tool Change Location>
' MsgBox("Tool Change Location ::: GetOEMDRO(n)" & Chr(13) & Chr(10) & Chr(13) & Chr(10) & _
'    "X  n=1200:  " & GetOEMDRO(1200) & _
'   Chr(13) & Chr(10) & _
'   "Y  n=1201:  " & GetOEMDRO(1201) & _
'   Chr(13) & Chr(10) & _
'   "Z  n=1202:  " & GetOEMDRO(1202))

':::Show Current DRO values
' MsgBox("Current DROs {Machine Coords} ::: GetOEMDRO(n)" & Chr(13) & Chr(10) & Chr(13) & Chr(10) & _
'    "X  n=83:  " & GetOEMDRO(83) & _
'   Chr(13) & Chr(10) & _
'   "Y  n=84:  " & GetOEMDRO(84) & _
'   Chr(13) & Chr(10) & _
'   "Z  n=85:  " & GetOEMDRO(85) & _
'   Chr(13) & Chr(10) & _
'   "A  n=86:  " & GetOEMDRO(86) & _
'   Chr(13) & Chr(10) & _
'   "B  n=87:  " & GetOEMDRO(87) & _
'   Chr(13) & Chr(10) & _
'   "C  n=88:  " & GetOEMDRO(88))