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Author Topic: Upgrading from MACH3 to MACH4 with a DSPMC/ip V2  (Read 11049 times)

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Upgrading from MACH3 to MACH4 with a DSPMC/ip V2
« on: March 06, 2016, 10:13:41 AM »
Hi Guys and Gals,
I am making the long overdue switch to MACH4.
I have a nice new DSPMC/ip V2 control box and I have it all setup on the bench making sure it all works before I install it. My goal is to have the least amount of downtime possible.

I will also be cleaning up some wiring that was done in haste when I got the machine running.

1. Updated the FPGA and firmware to the latest version.
2. Installed the latest version of MACH4 on a spare computer.
3. Setup the DSPMC, power supplies,breakout boards, terminal strip, and a fuse for the incoming power on a board. I did it this way so that the whole setup is portable, if I need to move off of the work bench I can.
4.Installed the latest DSPMC plugin in the plugins folder. The DSPMC is very particular about the plugin being suited for the firmware and I believe that it will now complain about a mismatch.
5. Deleted any unneeded plugins like Simulator and Modbus.
6. Went to the configure tab and configured the plugin to be active.
7. Deactivated any plugins that weren't needed.
8. Took pictures of my MACH3 config screens so I could transfer all the settings.
9. Configured MACH4 with all of the MACH3 settings.
10. Took a picture of the Brains page so I could duplicate my brains in LUA.
11. Powered everything up and VOILA, no magic smoke!!!!!
12. Lo and behold, MACH is talking to my DSPMC!!!!!!
13. Configure the DSPMC plugin to match my MACH3 DSPMC configure settings including motor tuning and steps/unit.
14. Temporarily wire in the MPG on the control panel that I never wired in MACH3. This is wired to a hard encoder input because I will never us all 8 of them.
15. Spin the MPG and watch the numbers change on the screen. I don't have motor or drives hooked up yet but on the DSPMC diagnostic screen you can see the MPG info come in.
16. I will probably hook up a spare motor and drive prior to installing this on my machine.

More to follow.

Mike
We never have the time or money to do it right the first time, but we somehow manage to do it twice and then spend the money to get it right.
Re: Upgrading from MACH3 to MACH4 with a DSPMC/ip V2
« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2016, 10:22:16 AM »
17. Work on the LUA scripting to make my control panel buttons work.


 ??? This is where the problems start. Could anyone show me how to have a physical button on my console turn on an output?

Not one of the prewired ones like coolant or spindle but just a generic output like a MACH3 OEM

Example.
[mc.mcinsig_input] BLA BLA BLA [mc.mcosig5]




I think that something like this will work for the basic stuff



 
SignalTable = {
 [mc.ISIG_INPUT1] = function (on_off)
 if (on_off == 1) then
mc.mcCntlCycleStart(inst)

 [mc.ISIG_INPUT2] = function (on_off)
if (on_off == 1) then
 mc.mcCntlCycleStop(inst)

[mc.ISIG_INPUT3] = function (on_off)
if (on_off == 1) then
 mc.mcCntlFeedHold(inst)

[mc.ISIG_INPUT4] = function (on_off)
if (on_off == 1) then
 mc.mcCntlEStop(inst)

[mc.ISIG_INPUT5] = function (on_off)
if (on_off == 1) then
 mc.mcCntlCycleStop(inst)
[mc.ISIG_INPUT6] = function (on_off)
if (on_off == 1) then
 mc.mcCntlCycleStop(inst)
 
 end
end
}



TIA

Mike
We never have the time or money to do it right the first time, but we somehow manage to do it twice and then spend the money to get it right.
Re: Upgrading from MACH3 to MACH4 with a DSPMC/ip V2
« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2016, 11:06:17 AM »
Just realized I posted this in the wrong area.
We never have the time or money to do it right the first time, but we somehow manage to do it twice and then spend the money to get it right.

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: Upgrading from MACH3 to MACH4 with a DSPMC/ip V2
« Reply #3 on: March 06, 2016, 11:29:52 AM »
Moved  ;)

Tweakie.
PEACE
Re: Upgrading from MACH3 to MACH4 with a DSPMC/ip V2
« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2016, 03:09:53 PM »
Thanks
Tweakie.

See what happens when you wake up with a cold.

Mike
We never have the time or money to do it right the first time, but we somehow manage to do it twice and then spend the money to get it right.
Re: Upgrading from MACH3 to MACH4 with a DSPMC/ip V2
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2016, 10:22:30 PM »
Here is what I have done since the last update.

1. Decided that I needed to put the machine back in its' nook. Have to pull it out to access the cabinet where the DSPMC sits.

2. Decided that I can finish the button scripting when the machine is doing everything and not sticking in the walkway of my shop.

3.Installed Win7 home premium on the computer. (Looks like the DSPMC will not run on XP)

4.Installed the DSPMC and the breakout boards into the machine cabinet.

5. Installed a nice piece of DIN rail to hold a small DB25 BOB to handle the wiring for MPG.

6. Added some nice terminal strip to improve the layout of the wiring and the appearance of it as well.

7. Added wiring for the FRO, RRO, and SRO from the breakout board to the control panel. It is wired to the breakout boards and taped off inside the control panel.

8. Figured out how to make mistakes and then fix them. Mark at Vital System was a great help in figuring out what I did wrong. Thanks Mark!!!!!!!

9. Repaired some iffy wiring that I had made the when I set up the machine.

10. Configured Mach4 and the DSPMC plugin to match how Mach3 was setup.

11. Test Jog the axis, test run the spindle.

So far so good. More to follow.

Mike


We never have the time or money to do it right the first time, but we somehow manage to do it twice and then spend the money to get it right.
Re: Upgrading from MACH3 to MACH4 with a DSPMC/ip V2
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2016, 12:27:40 AM »
More updates.

Well, It is back in its niche and almost ready to run. I was able to make a new page on the screen and figure how to get it to run Gcode.
WOW, is G28 a lot different in Mach4 than it was in Mach3. After reading the Mach4 manual about Gcode I was able to make it work. First I test ran the code in the MDI and then I was able too put it in a button script and it works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow I will buy my license. While test running the road runner it suddenly stopped.I almost panicked and then remembered that in demo mode it just randomly stops running code.

Here's to another great day with Mach tomorrow.

Mike
We never have the time or money to do it right the first time, but we somehow manage to do it twice and then spend the money to get it right.
Re: Upgrading from MACH3 to MACH4 with a DSPMC/ip V2
« Reply #7 on: March 19, 2016, 02:03:45 PM »
Purchased Mach4 today. It took longer to remember my Paypal password than it did to complete the transaction. License file showed up right away. Very painless. I just need to remeber the limits on how many times I can generate a new file. If you like playing with the computer or changing out stuff you could run out of the lifetime number of regenerations. A change of operating system or replacement of the network card can invalidate your license.


Time to figure out why the coolant isn't working.

Mike
We never have the time or money to do it right the first time, but we somehow manage to do it twice and then spend the money to get it right.

Offline ger21

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Re: Upgrading from MACH3 to MACH4 with a DSPMC/ip V2
« Reply #8 on: March 19, 2016, 03:49:09 PM »
Quote
If you like playing with the computer or changing out stuff you could run out of the lifetime number of regenerations.

You supposedly get 7 I think, and then you can call and get more if you need it.

Mach4 has already changed the licensing scheme 3 times I think, which burned 3 licenses. Then I got a new PC, so that's 4. If I were to use it on a machine, that would be another PC and I'd be at 5, to run one machine.
I asked on the Yahoo group if we could delete unused licenses.
I was told that you could, but the last time I checked you could not.
Gerry

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Re: Upgrading from MACH3 to MACH4 with a DSPMC/ip V2
« Reply #9 on: March 19, 2016, 05:03:56 PM »
Recent builds of Mach4 are supposed to be less sensitive to changes in OS or minor hardware
changes on your computer triggering the need for a new license.

The current policy regarding self-issued Mach4 license files for each license purchased is:

>Maximum of 5 active at one time. Old or unused licenses can be deactivated. Commercial
  users running machines to produce product for sale are expected to purchase a license
  for each machine used in production.

>Maximum of 7 license files issued in a single year.

>Lifetime limit of 12 new self-issued license files.

This policy is documented here:

http://www.machsupport.com/my-account/license-maintenance/license-maintenance-instructions/


Steve Stallings
www.PMDX.com