Well, I am getting very frustrated trying to figure out how to configure Mach3 to my 1994 Vintage CNC machine with BIPOLAR stepper motors. I purchased a 25 Pin parallel port tester (CableWholesale.com P/N#31D3-422; See attached File) in hopes that it would tell me which parallel port pins are active and driving each axis stepper motor. The only thing I learned was that Pins 4,5,6, & 11 are illuminated prior to activating the port (F5) within CNC Pro, and then they turn off when I start to JOG the CNC machine. There is one Pin/LED that lights up when the AXIS or Spindle is activated, and it is the QM (Green side of Pin 11). The (S)RTS (Green Side of Pin 19) and DTR (Green Side of Pin 20) LED's stay on all of the time.
I have spent 4 hours trying to use the tester, and another 4 hours trying to configure Mach3 by Trial and Error. WTF.......I'm a Mechancial Engineer with 22 years of experience and if I can't even figure out the pin-outs for just the X-Axis with Mach3, How many combinations can their be considering that there aren't that many pins that can be used.....I'm losing faith in my purchase of Mach3. I did not expect it to take this long to install.
If anyone out there can help me solve my configuration issues, I would be very appreciative. Might even foot the bill for a steak dinner....
HELP!!