Messages

581

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Windows 7 32bit and Mach 3

« on: May 28, 2010, 03:21:28 PM »

Hmm...maybe it is not needed on Win7 at all then. Perhaps one of the Mach guys will let us know.

582

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Windows 7 32bit and Mach 3

« on: May 28, 2010, 02:56:28 PM »

I am using Win7 32bit on my laptop and did not install the patch. I am using a SmoothStepper though and as memory serves the patch was needed for the parallel port driver to work properly.

583

General Mach Discussion / Re: have problem with latest version of mach

« on: May 26, 2010, 09:29:43 AM »

I use Mach 3 on Win7 almost every day, no problems at all. I do use a SmoothStepper and not the parallel port driver though. If you are using Win7 32bit I think the parallel port driver will work but you have to do the registry modifications, same as for Vista, which are detailed on the downloads page.

584

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Will MACH3 ever support 64-bit systems? Officially? FYI, it's 2010

« on: May 25, 2010, 11:31:05 AM »

It should, you'll need to clone your current profile and change the motion device to the SmoothStepper. as I mentioned before there are a few configuration items that need to be done that are unique to the SmoothStepper as well.

585

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Will MACH3 ever support 64-bit systems? Officially? FYI, it's 2010

« on: May 25, 2010, 01:18:57 AM »

What you have is a stepper drive with a standard parallel port Stepper and a  LPH26 to DB25 cable and either a short parallel cable or a MM adapter. Take a look at my webpage here: http://soigeneris.com/Warp9.aspx , it shows all the parts in the same place. You'll want to have a good place to mount the SmoothStepepr board as well which will depend on how your 4x483 drive is mounted. (You can of course ge the SS lots of places.)

You hit the data flow diagram right on the head!

586

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Will MACH3 ever support 64-bit systems? Officially? FYI, it's 2010

« on: May 25, 2010, 01:13:09 AM »

While I respect your opinion FXC I have to disagree just a bit...and as I have said before all opinions are biased (that is why I always try to state the reasoning behind my thoughts.) Bear in mind that I sell some of the stuff I talk about but I sell products I believe in, I don't just sell stuff to make a buck. I'm also in the habit of not selling folks a product if I don't think it is the best fir for their needs. I've seen that done in outfits I have worked for in the past and nobody winds up happy in the end.

This quote is just from this evening...

I'm at a standstill at the moment. I've got a $5K router and a $400 PC that don't want to speak to each other.

And I see this same thing all the time. I have a $50 seven year old PC hooked up to a SmoothStepper that works just great. I can hook that same SmoothStepper (I have done so many times) to this brand new laptop and it works EXACTLY the same. The question seems to be of 'value' as opposed to 'price'. Two or three days of anyone's time spent fighting with getting a parallel port to work on are worth a lot more than the price of a SmoothStepper (and a numb er of higher priced options as well.)

I've had some PCs that the parallel port has work fine on and others not so well, it is just pot luck.

Example of that - I've been nosing around the SmoothStepper site for the last half hour and being a noobie I'm still trying to figure out just what it is/does and whether it would help in my situation.

The SmoothStepper is an external motion control card. Mach tells the SmoothStepper what moves it would like all the steppers (or servos) make and the SmoothStepper takes care of generating all the time critical pulses in dedicated hardware. Because the time critical stuff is done in hardware it is super stable and Smooth. To the user the SmoothStepper is pretty much like having two parallel porst worth of I/O and most configuration in Mach is done the same way. There are a few things you have to set that are unique to to the SmoothStepper.

Generally it will work fine on almost any PC, you still want to avoid having programs running that can use up a lot of processor time as it will give Mach fits and stall the communication with the SmoothStepper. I always recommend a separate PC for a CNC control as there is an untold combinations of software that could give Mach fits, you just have to use common sense and only run what you need when using Mach.

587

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Will MACH3 ever support 64-bit systems? Officially? FYI, it's 2010

« on: May 25, 2010, 12:23:50 AM »

Well, they can't list every caveat of every possible configuration of PCs out there, it's just not possible. You can use a 32bit processor IF you use a 32bit OS. The PC is just like everything else in your CNC machine you have to know the ins and outs of what to pick and how to configure it to wind up with a system that works well.

588

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Will MACH3 ever support 64-bit systems? Officially? FYI, it's 2010

« on: May 25, 2010, 12:04:15 AM »

XP mode is a type of 'virtual machine' BUT, and this is a really big BUT 32bit drivers (like Machs parallel port driver) will NOT work on a 64 bit machine. Take a look here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/32-bit-and-64-bit-windows-frequently-asked-questions , under 'Can I run 32-bit programs on a 64-bit computer'.

589

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Will MACH3 ever support 64-bit systems? Officially? FYI, it's 2010

« on: May 24, 2010, 11:36:51 PM »

You just can't run a 64bit OS with Mach's parallel port driver, it will not work at this time.

Parallel ports are OLD technology that keeps getting duct-taped onto more modern PCs. It is kind of like insisting that your new PC have ISA slots because they are Sooooo much better (and yes PCs are available with ISA slots to this day.) When parallel ports were first used for motion control that was all that was available to the average Joe without a fortune to spend. Today for cases where the parallel port can't be used there are low cost motion control cards available that work with Mach. For my money that is the way to go...

I just sent off a SmoothStepper to an outfit that upgraded all of their PCs to Win7 64bit. They are VERY happy with it as they are able to run their router much faster/smoother than before. I'm not trying to sound like a broken record hawking SmoothSteppers but rather to make the point that they are viable alternatives to the parallel port that in many cases will provide improved performance as well.

590

General Mach Discussion / Re: Three LPT Ports

« on: May 20, 2010, 03:33:12 PM »

There are many different types of pendants that do not require Modbus at all, take a look at the one Bob Cambell carries as well as the one from Polabs...