Thanks,

unfortunately i work a day job, so i probably will not get to it until after 6pm. if the new board does not work i will set up a time to trouble shoot it with you.

Jen

It Worked!!!
it was the board after all. I plugged in the new Breakout Board and it worked perfectly

- THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP -

This has been a positive experience for me, i learned a lot more about the nitty gritty of electro mechanics than i ever wanted, had fun doing it and got to meet a nice supportive community of people. Who could ask for more out of a hobby. Now if i can figure out how to....... well that's another thread
thanks again,
Jen

Jen,

This is the first time I hear someone enjoying having a problem:)  I understand, I have been there.  It feels so good to overcome a challenge.

I appreciate if you can send the board back.  I would really like to take a look at it.  I can refund it, or replace it, or whatever you want.

Please contact me offline: aduncan@cnc4pc.com

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com

thanks for all the help aruturo,
It was weird, i switched back to the old board last night just for fun, it did not work as i expected. Perhaps it has something to do with my parallel port. it only outputs 3.3v on the pins that provide the signals to it. I think that it may be there just was not enough current do drive it. I have two seperate power supplies to run the setup, one 24v for the controllers and a 5v one just to power the BoB. maybe the difference in voltages has an effect. i do not know how the logic detects a "high" status. if it compares the reference 5v to the ports 3.3v to determine if a pin is in a "High" state then it could be the culprit. Any way the problem is solved. I will keep the old board for spare parts, your prices are so reasonable it would cost us both more time and effort then it is worth to return it.
Jen

Jen,

All our boards have buffered signals.  They will take the 3.3v signal and draw from the parallel port less than 0.02mA. So they will work with any parallel port.

From what you say I believe a chip might get damaged on the board.  When this happens usually some of the I/Os do not work, and the ones that work might have problems.  Because if a chip is damaged it can create an internal short that draws power, leaving other chips underpowered.  It is very strange in your case that signals like the driver enable were not working.

I appreciate if you can send me the serial # on the board so can look up the inspection record.  I only found you in our database with the order of the second board.  Where did you get the first one from?

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com

Arturo,
I thought I bought it from CNC4PC.com along with three of the little RJ45 boards, perhaps i am mistaken. It is so easy to order something on-line, a couple clicks and it shows up on your doorstep with no farther thought.
I love the way the RJ45 boards are even labeled with the correct descriptors for the controllers I use. I will get you the serial number when i get home from my day job, unless it was on a sticker, I have a habit of peeling off stickers from stuff i buy.
You would think that i would get enough self abuse being an applications developer let alone messing with a PC during my time off.
Jen
   

Just a thought.  Pin 17 is associated with the charge pump on my board.  In the middle of the BOB is a jumper on the charge pump portion.  Make sure the jumper is between jumper 1-2 for disable.  It is a physical tiny jumper you will need to move.