I posted this a couple days ago in the MACH4 section and got 80 reads but no responses. From that, I gather that there is a lot of interest, but nobody is actually using this controller with MACH4 yet. So I am posting here in hopes of a better response.
This question was asked of CS Labs tech support an a few days have passed with no response. Unimpressive tech support, so far.
I am doing the first of several upgrades to MACH4 and replacing K-flop controllers with the CSMIO/IP-S Ethernet controller. I was warned that the MACH4 plug In was problematic as relates to a servo driven spindle, so I was prepared for that and created a work around and reported the issue to the MACH people because it "seems' to me to be a MACH4 problem. MACH3 looks like it works fine, as expected.
The logic in selecting the CSMIO is that it is widely reported to be bulletproof with MACH3, so that provides a 'back up' plan in the event MACH4 proves to be unuseable. I looked at Vital Systems, but the cost (with all of the needed ala carte add-ons) is hard to justify. However, at this point, if the lack of support from CS Labs continued, I will return this first unit and go with Vital Systems despite the cost. Fighting with problematic equipment with no support from the manuf. is also a cost associated with any device, so the $700 CSMIO is getting more expensive by the day.
A few days ago CS-Labs released a new plug-in for MACH4 and specifically called out this issue and said it was corrected. However, so far I can not get the Servo driven spindle to work AT ALL.
I have reported this to CS-labs and hopefully they will be responsive and produce some kind of installation document. I was surprised to find none available (unless I am looking in the wrong places).
The previous plug-in is functional (with a work around for the spindle issue) and of course the option is always there to rewind all the way back to MACH3, so it's not a critical issue, but I would imagine a lot of MACH4 fans will be interested in the solution.
CS labs claim to have tested the plug-in with MACH4 v 2580, so I'm hoping I'm just doing something wrong. So, does anyone know how to correctly configure a servo drive as the spindle in MACH4