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Messages - tony_m

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1
Hi
Any suggestions welcomed to sort me out on this please.
I am running Mach 3 Mill and suddenly my rapid traverse in continuous mode using shift on the keyboard and up/down or the  arrow keys on the keyboard has stopped working and just works in slow traverse mode. Its as if the Shift Key has not been depressed. It also doesn't work either when I use the arrow keys on the Control Buttons Flyout. I have tried another keyboard so I know it not a keyboard Shift Key problem.
G00 rapid traverse commands in all axis work fine at full speed.

Any thoughts?
Thanks
Tony

2
Hi Craig and Bob
Thanks very much for your replies which look like a way forward for me. Sorry for the delay in my getting back to you but I have been away for a couple of weeks.

I had a feeling I would need to get into some form of coding/scripting and your link to Macro Programers Ref Manual looks like my bedtime reading for a while.

I will have a go at finding the pound variable list first I think as that looks easier to get to grips with. If I cant find the right # codes then then I will have two venture into VB.

Again, thanks for your time on this. If I do find a list of the pound variables I will post them here.

Cheers
Tony

3
General Mach Discussion / Re: Move Mach 3 To Another Computer
« on: March 19, 2017, 06:34:17 PM »
I think that would be the best plan. After that I am out of ideas. I have had all the problems you have had but after sorting the reinstall and getting the port number correct mine started working.
Let me know ho it goes.
T

4
General Mach Discussion / Re: Move Mach 3 To Another Computer
« on: March 19, 2017, 05:12:33 PM »
Hi
First thing to check is that you are addressing the correct parallel port.  Its the value entered in Port Setup and Axis selection and it need to match the LPT ID found in your Device manager. It won't necessarily be the same as on your old computer and that will stop it in its tracks.
If you have a look at Page 5.2 in the mach 3 Mach Turn manual it shows how to find it in your device manager/Control Panel screens on your computer. (Download if you haven't got that as you are using the mill version, but its the same problem. Sorry but I don't know where it is in the Mill manual but you might find it there.)

The other thing I would suggest doing is not moving ALL the files from your old directory, but only the one in your directory which is the .xml file. This one contains all your setups from your old Machmill. You may be overwriting important stuff put in place from the new install if you copy the whole old directory.

See if any of this helps
Cheers
Tony

5
General Mach Discussion / Re: Move Mach 3 To Another Computer
« on: March 19, 2017, 02:47:28 PM »
Hi
It doesn't work to just copy the directories across on a usb stick. You would think it would but it doesn't.
You have to properly reinstall Mach3 from the install file. Download it anew if necessary http://www.machsupport.com/software/

The install program stitches together the necessary DLL files and sets up the connections to your parallel port without which the tool head won't move.

Hope this helps.
Tony

6
Hi
I am trying to switch on and off the voltage on pin 14 on my parallel port from within the g code program run within Mach 3. I need to do this to control an auto tool changer.
I have set up output 14 in the Mach 3 Ports and Pins Output Signals tab to be Enabled on Port 1 (I only have one parallel port on my PC), set Pin No. 14 and set to say Active Low with a red cross.
I can go into the Ports and Pins output screen and set the Active Low from red cross to green tick and I can see the voltage chance on pin 14 on my controller board, but I just can figure out how to change the status from within a G code program.
I suspect I have missed something really easy in the manual but I cant find it. It must be possible as switching on suds pumps etc must be done this way I presume.
Any guidance gratefully received.
Thanks
Tony

7
Thanks to both Gerry and Bob for your replays.

Bob - I couldn't make the link to the XP optimisation guide work, but I googled and found http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=6346.0;wap2 which looks like the same thing. I applied all of the recommendations and the system works fine now. Pulse rate is stable and the driver test program is now saying all is OK.

Gerry - Your suggestion of changing from ACPI to standard mode was contained within the various changes in the link I found.

Back up and running now and in production again. I am not sure which of the steps in the process was the critical one but it has certainly worked.

Many thanks again to you both.
Tony

8
General Mach Discussion / Mach3 XP pulse rate problem
« on: April 20, 2016, 03:55:41 PM »
Hi
I have been running Mach3 for my milling machine for some time under XP and my old computer stopped working. So I have purchased a second hand desktop computer also running XP. I installed Mach 3, rebooted as per the manual and loaded my licence and also loaded the profile I used to use on the previous computer. (luckily I had a backup of the profile)
All works fine for about 10 seconds and then my drive motors go into a very rough mode and make a grumbling noise. If I reboot the computer and try again then the same thing happens. If I just shut down Mach 3 and try again then it dosnt even give me the 10 seconds of smooth running.

I suspect it is a pulse rate problem but I don't know what to do about it. My kernel speed is set to 25000hz and I haven't ever changed that.
Here is what I have done.
I ran the driver test.exe program and this tells me that the system is pulsing too fast and then too slow and the Pulses per Second value in the box at the top of the screen is fluctuating between 2000 and 6000 pulses per second. I also have a lathe controlled by Mach 3 on another computer and I ran the driver test.exe on that computer and it was steady at 25000. (Incidentally if I plug my mill into the computer I usually use to control my lathe and use the mill profile it all works fine so I am fairly sure it is the computer and not the Mach 3 configuration I am using)
So I read the manual and saw that there is an option to revert the computer to use the older i8529 interrupt driver so I ran special driver.bat to do this without success. I then ran OriginalDriver.bat to put it back to the standard driver. I rebooted after doing each of these steps but no luck.
I then loaded the Mach3 driver manually as per 2.4.2 in the Mach3 manual and rebooted but also no success.
I have reloaded Mach3 completely three times to have the install program auto install the drivers  and rebooted each time but the problem persists.

Any ideas or should I buy another computer.
Cheers
tony

 

9
Hi Rich
Thanks for your reply - I will have a look at Dolphin lathe and see if it looks like it will fit the bill.
Great to know it wasnt just me finding Lazycam difficult!
Cheers
Tony

10
Hi
I am looking for a good quality CAM system for turning to go with Mach3 and drive my Denford Orac lathe. I am turning outside profiles only, but they involve complex curves which need to be read from a .DXF file and need to be able to cope with an auto tool changer.
I have tried Lazycam and found it difficult to use and I could not fathom the user interface, and the tool paths it generated were just a nonsense. Budget is not the problem and I am expecting to pay much more than the good old $50 dollar programs which seem to proliferate the internet.
I am new to this whole subject, so any recommendations would be gratefully received.
thanks
Tony M

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