Some one told me that Mach freezing up because I hit cycle stop in teh middle of an axis move is a ESS problem.  I can't calculate when I hit cycle stop , I hit it before it seems like I am about to crash a cutter.  Then I can't acces teh virtual jog pendant or command any move.  for example hit go to zero and nothing.  I need to power everything down and power everything back up.     

"Cycle stop" tells Mach to cease all stepper outputs immediately. There is no deceleration so if the machine is moving you will loose your position. If you need to stop the machine while running the best thing to do is press 'feed hold' wait until the machine stops then press 'cycle stop'. The ESS has an option in its configuration screen that will let the SmoothStepper handle feed holds so you will get faster response.

so If I let the SS handle cycle stop I don't have to press feed hold first.  I would like to thank you all, for helping me to step by step iron all the kinks out.  I think its pathetic that manufacturers make stuff and expect you to find the solutions to your problems on a forum isntead of including well documented instructions.   

How 'Feed Hold' and 'Cycle Stop' work is a function of Mach3. It works the same no matter what motion device you are using. It is also described very clearly on the Mach3 manual. Please take a look at the Mach3 manual and read how these functions work.

can cycle stop macro be changed so that it stops according to your acceleration/decceleration value?  Anybody have the code for that?   

That is EXACTLY what 'Feed Hold' does. The 'stop' button is for when you need things to stop now no matters what. Because of the way Mach works you may see a bit of a delay with a Feed Hold, if you are in a subroutine or a custom M code it will finish those things, generally, before coming to a halt. The SmoothStepper plugin can take over the feed hold if you tell it to. The SmoothStepper just slows down how fast it consumes data from Mach and brings the machine to a controlled halt.

The Mach manual does a great job of explaining how Mach works, it is essential that you understand how it works before you try to go about changing things. It will save you much time and frustration to have a peek at the manual.

so mach freezing up after cycle stop half teh time is something I will just have to live with?  Got a link to that manual because my setup and installation manula doesn't cover that. 

I missed the part where you mentioned Mach was hanging up, that it not normal. What version of Mach and the SmoothStepper plugin are you using? There have been numerous reports of problems with .066. I have been suggesting .062 as it seems to be the most stable.

I was just out in the shop running some sample parts for a customer and used both Feed Hold and Stop several times without any problems so I'm sure we can get your machine working fine.

How do I  find out?  downloaded teh latest stuff out there about 9 months ago.  basically my jogging via the lat button is unavailable and so is go to zero. 

In Mach3 go to Help-> About to get Mach version, then go to the SmoothStepper configuration to get plugin version.