Thanks again guys, and thanks Tweakie for taking the trouble to look at your set up.
My computer does not have an integral parallel port.
The two PCI cards I have tries both have a moss chip, I think identical, I did not realise this when I bought the second one. There has not been any option to change them to EPP in installation and any way to change the configuration eludes me even though their spec says EPP compatible.

I think my best bet is to try yet another PCI card that does not have a moss chip set and preferably a jumper setting for EPP. Hopefully this way I can get to the required set up.

This can't be happening, I must be dreaming.

Cheers Nigel

Hi Nigel,

Sorry that I cannot suggest a solution.
I am sure you will get there in the end but just how complicated can things get ? 

Tweakie.

Hi
Some progress of sorts.
I changed the PCI card but could not find a new one that does not have the moss chip set and no config options presented on installation. Also changed the parallel cable.

With the charge pump disabled I can move the motors using mach3 where as before I could not

In the diagnostics screen the home switch leds operate when I press the switches, before they did not.

The home switches don't stop the motors when presses, I assume that's because the charge pump is disabled.

The emergency stop wired to the gecko drive operates as it should.

However, with the charge pump enabled, the red fault light still lights on the gecko drive and no power to the motors.
The gecko manual is not much help, it just says for this condition that the cnc software is not putting a voltage to the charge pump via pin 16.

What I don't understand is:-
On the diagnostics screen there is a representation of the DB25 connector. Assuming the pin nos are top row right to left pin 1, 2, 3...., bottom row right to left pin 13, 14 .....
The x home switch set to pin 10, but pin 5 lights
The y home switch set to pin 11, but pin 7 lights
The z home switch set to pin 12, but pin 6 lights
Pin 9 is on all the time

All input signals off except when home switch presses, seems OK.
All output signals off, so no signal to the charge pump then?

With the charge pump off, operating the motors does not light up any pin or input/output led's.

So I guess my parallel port is still not correct?

I thought I maybe could use the drive with the charge pump disabled but as the home/limit switches don't stop the motors that's not an option.

Nigel

You mention Home switches but not Limit switches, do you have the Limits enabled? If not then your findings are correct as Home Switches do not trip Mach.

Hood

Hi Hood
Currently I have the limit switches disabled. I will enable them and give it a try.

So all being well I guess I could use it with the charge pump disabled until I can get it sorted.

Cheers
Nigel

I remember issues with Chargepump and G540 but think it was in relation to the SmoothStepper but may be worth a search in case it was not only that.
Hood

Hi Guys
Eureka, I have CNC although with out the charge pump.
I enabled the limit switches and they work fine, also ref home all works fine.
I used a volt meter on the parallel pins to see if I could determine any problem.
One thing I noticed is that in pin 16, the charge pump, the voltage is slightly below 2v, I wonder if this is too low?
The results are as follows:-
Pin  / volts
1 / 0
2 / 0
3/ 2.5
4 / 0
5 / 0
6 / 0
7 / 2.5
8 / 0
9 / 0
10 / 2.5
11 / 2.5
12 / 2.5
13 /2.5
14 /0
15 /2.5
16 /1.9
17/ 0 (e stop)
18 /0
19 /0
20 /0
21 /0
22 /0
23 /0
24/0
25 test ground

I think from 21 to 25 are all ground
I am not sure what to make of the results other than my concern for the voltage on pin 16.
Don't know why it's now working, I changed the PCI board and the cable so could be either, I will try the old cable again later to see if that was the problem.
I would like ti get the charge pump working though.

Well now I can start learning and practicing CNC, just trying to get my head around off sets, hopefully this week end I can build the confidence to cut metal.

Thanks so much for your help, it's given me direction.

hopefully I can get the old driver working with a new breakout board and without blowing computers, that will give me CNC in my Singapore and UK home workshops.

feeling much happier now. Out of failure comes success and knowledge. 

Cheers
Nigel

2.5v seems quite low not trying to be funny but you definitely had your meter on DC volts?
Most decent BOBs can buffer the voltage but 2.5 is low and may cause issues in the future as it will be very susceptible to noise.
Hood

Hi Hood
Yes, I have my meter set to dc volts, actually I miss read the 2.5. All the 2.5 values should read 3v but the 1.9v on pin 16 is correct. I thought these voltages may be of some concern. I was expecting nearer 4 to 5v, would that be a typical value?

My meter is a cheap affair but when I checked my power supply it did give the correct voltage reading so I assumed it's accurate enough.
Well, I will see how it goes for now.
I have joined the gecko forum so can ask questions about the charge pump and voltage on pin 16. At least I can practice a bit, it's all new to me and I am looking forward to the learning.

Cheers

Nigel

Voltage on pin 16 when set to  the Chargepump function will be a pulse so the voltage will show lower as your meter will not be fast enough to see the changes. If you set it up for example as the coolant on pin 16 then you should see a higher voltage.
Lots of onboard ports are now 3.3v but usually PCI ones are nearer the 5v although maybe that is not the case nowadays.

Hood