I have been using Mach 3 on my older Supermax YCM-30 knee with a desktop PC mill for a while, mostly it has worked well. Lately, I hear a beep just as the machine makes an errant move. No beep, move will be OK... I uninstalled/reinstalled Mach 3, same problem.. I can shut it all down, and the next day it's like nothing ever happened. Anyone have an idea?

I would venture a GUESS that somewhere the PC  or MACH3 is throwing an error ( THE BEEP) and is causing a problem for mach3 after that.

when it happens LOOK for an error message, Even window DOWN mach3 and see IF there is one behind the Machscreen.

THE BEEP is a clue.

(;-) TP

 I did get the driver watchdog saying the pulse rate was too high before uninstalling/reinstalling Mach 3. Have not seen that since but still get the beep and bad move sometimes. Of course it's  completely unpredictable...

TURN OFF the watchdog.

(;-) TP

Attach your xml please so I can check config but think its likely a computer issue, whether some programme interfering such as Acrobat Reader or Quicktime or your computer itself is having power issues.
Hood

Also check if it's actually the beep that is causing the move error.

I had an issue where if the PC beeped it caused the steppers to stall. I assume it was an IRQ conflict between the sound card and the Mach3 driver. I disabled the sound card and the problem went away.

Look to see if there is a comment line in the Gcode that you are running. A comment line causes the PC to beep. In my case the beep then caused the steppers to stall.

Alastair

BR549: why turn off watchdog? I got the watchdog message thing before I uninstalled/reinstalled Mach3, but now I don't see  it...
HOOD: How do I send (what is) xml? Where will I find it?
ALCWELL: How would I tell whether the beep causes this?... I'm too busy trying to stop the machine from destroying things when this happens... I don't even have speakers, so how does it beep?... I have always used comment lines before with no beeping... I have my computer optimized as best I know how...

The xml is your config file, if you look at the main screen in Mach you will see at lower right the name of the profile you use. Look in the Mach3 folder for a file with the same name and xml extension. You will likely need to copy that to your desktop and rename it to g_coder.xml as the forum only accepts a file name once so if its a standard named profile you use it would be rejected as it will have been uploaded before. To upload use the additional options button on the reply page.
Hood

I don't even have speakers, so how does it beep?...

If you are hearing a beep without any speakers attached it is probably coming from the on board speaker on the motherboard. If this is the case then it is unlikely that what I suggested is your problem as the PC you are using probably doesn't have a sound card installed, doesn't have the sound card drivers installed or it's soundcard is disabled already.

It affected me and one other user that i know of. In my case it was very easy to reproduce once I realised what was happening. Everytime there was a comment line in the program the PC would beep and the steppers would stall a split second later.

Unfortunately I don't have the knowledge to be of much further help. Random issues can be a real pain to track down but I hope you manage to get sorted.

Alastair

OK thanks guys I'll try to save the .xml file and post it here with my laptop. Meanwhile I'm gonna try to get my other computer ready, it's a P4, the old one is an AMD64... a leftover from the dorm rooms at OU Athens. I've never been completely satisfied with it anyway...