Hi all I'm having trouble with the Smooth Stepper communicating with Mach....Basically the SS just stops for no specific reason I can see.
It always seems to happen in the middle of a large GCode run, the last time was yesterday on line 11,297 of a 23,300 line GCode run.
I can't say it happens during a simple short run........is there an issue that the SS just isn't capable of long runs??

I get a "time out" pop up window and within this it tells me to generate an EStop condition, close the pop-up window by selecting OK and everything will return to normal.
AH ha, but if only things were that simple.....

nope the only way I can get every thing to work again is to unplug the SS USB cable, shut down Mach, reconnect the SS USB cable, and then restart Mach.....but then running the risk of trying to restart a programme in it's exact position but alas for me I end up ruining a beautiful mould and cursing the day I ever decided to buy the SS .....

I would really appreciate some advice here guys.

My PC running Mach has no conflicting software as a matter of fact I uninstalled all other software apart from Mach as I use the PC solely as my CNC controller.
In the Mach "DRIVERTEST.EXE" I have as near a straight line as is possible and even the Mach tutorial videos have spikes in their driver test....


Eoin

ahhhhhh,

You found the Evil "Ground Loop" bug............
The only "solution" that seams to work, on that issue is:

1). Make SURE that the SS's ground and power supply come from the
Power supply of the computer it is attached to. It is best to attach the
SS inside the PC case it runs from, or as close as possible. (BTW: the USB isolation
cable does NOT solve the issue, been there done that).
2). IF 1 above fails, then check with Greg of SS, or Jeff of Solaris for further recommendations.
3). If 1&2 fail, buy the new SS Ether card and POOF no more ground loop issues.....

Scott

A 'time out', 'ran out of data' pop up is usually a sign that your configuration is not correct so Mach is not feeding information to the SmoothStepper fast enough. Look in the SmoothStepper section here for the 'Installation Tips' document: http://www.soigeneris.com/Documentation-content.aspx. It will help you get your PC settings correct and show you how to figure out the SmoothStepper settings.

I was running some test file which had over 750,000 lines a few weeks ago for a customer and had no issues at all.

ahhhhhh,

You found the Evil "Ground Loop" bug............
The only "solution" that seams to work, on that issue is:

1). Make SURE that the SS's ground and power supply come from the
Power supply of the computer it is attached to. It is best to attach the
SS inside the PC case it runs from, or as close as possible. (BTW: the USB isolation
cable does NOT solve the issue, been there done that).
2). IF 1 above fails, then check with Greg of SS, or Jeff of Solaris for further recommendations.
3). If 1&2 fail, buy the new SS Ether card and POOF no more ground loop issues.....

Scott

Thanks for the reply
and I'm using the USB cable to power the SS so I assume this rules out any grounding issues.
I have contacted Greg too but I suppose he's so busy he hasn't seen my query yet, that's why I posted here.....
and I had also downloaded the http://www.soigeneris.com/Documentation-content.aspx doc before installation of the SS driver and Plugin bout 3 or so months ago.
the funny thing was I've been using the SS happily since about October last and had no issues......only since my programmes have exceeded 10,000 or so lines of GCode.
I was thinking about the Eithernet SS route but wasn't very enthusiastic after this performance.



Eoin

A 'time out', 'ran out of data' pop up is usually a sign that your configuration is not correct so Mach is not feeding information to the SmoothStepper fast enough. Look in the SmoothStepper section here for the 'Installation Tips' document: http://www.soigeneris.com/Documentation-content.aspx. It will help you get your PC settings correct and show you how to figure out the SmoothStepper settings.

I was running some test file which had over 750,000 lines a few weeks ago for a customer and had no issues at all.

Thanks for the reply Jeff, but funny thing is I had followed your documentation to the letter when I installed the SS software.
If you remember too I was already in contact with you late last year looking for advice from you as my first SS wasn't working.
But thanks to Greg and an exhaustive series of checks the problem was troubleshooted and isolated as a faulty power supply's ground that fried the SS's chip.
And apparently had the supplier at that time told both Greg and me that he had to recall a batch of power supplies my first SS would still be working.
Now none of that's relevant to the issue presently but I was just recapping your memory....


I had no issues running small simple GCode runs and have been using the SS merrily away for the past three months.
And since my first introduction to the SS wasn't so good, I have used the USB cable to power the SS board.

The time out "crashes" only seem to happen during longer GCode programmes, it's like as if the SS isn't capable of maintaining contact for large programmes...??
If you have any other suggestions other than to read the doc I'd sure appreciate it.


Eoin

As I mentioned the SS has no issue with large files. Mach sometimes can have issues with large files for a few different reasons. The biggest trouble maker is the tool path display, sometimes keeping up with a large toolpath display slows Mach down too much. This is primarily a problem with very large files. Also make sure that your file is on the hard drive of your PC. Mach can have problems with running a file from a network share or a thumb-drive.

Also look out for anything that might have changed on your system. Programs like Acrobat Reader, ITunes, etch can interfere with Mach.

thanks for that Jeff , that's the first time I heard Mach having trouble with tool path display....but then again I'm only a newbie with only one CNC conversion build to my name and only using Mach for three months...and regarding my PC having conflicting software issues I had mentioned that in my first post above that apart from Windows XP and Mach there are no other programmes installed on the PC running Mach....and yup I always transfer the GCode from the memory stick to the desktop prior to loading GCode from the Mach screenset.

I just got a reply from Greg too as I'm typing this that the newer version of SS plugin may solve the Time Out issue..

I'll post here after updating the plugin and after a few trial runs, thanks again Jeff.




Eoin

Updated the SS plug-in and as Greg told me also to update my Lockdown version of Mach to the development version ***056, (as a personal preference though I much preferred the Lockdown version screen size better.. as the development versions screen window is smaller and square pity..)

But oh dear brutal.... Mach couldn't even idle for more than 15 or so Min's before a SS time out crash.. at least my previous version wouldn't time out that quick.....does this mean that I have serious noise issues within my wiring setup??

So reinstalled my previous SS plug-in, and turned off the toolpath in Mach and hey presto ran a GCode of 47,000 or so lines and Yeppee no time out issues even threw in a few long duration Feed Holds and left my machine on all day and nope not one time out

So in summary which is the problem here guy's..?? Mach's Tool Path or the SS..??


Eoin

The problem is that your PC is spending so much time drawing the tool path that it can't feed data to the SmoothStepper fast enough. The only solutions are to turn off the toolpath, or put in a video card that has its own RAM, or upgrade your PC. I have heard that Mach 3 V4 should have an improved way it does the video so it will eliminate these types of problems.

Cheers Jeff  thanks for that.
I'm at a loss when I read some of the threads when ye talk all technical and electronics but at least a sponge brain like me   can understand that explanation...



Eoin