I've been mystified for some time as to why Mach4 occasionally fails to pause and call my M6 macro when a tool is selected within a gcode program. At other times Mach behaves as expected, even using the same gcode file.
I eventually tracked this down to the toolpath display. My (customized) screen set ordinarily hides the toolpath displays on background tabs. When no toolpath is visible, the pause for toolchange and the M6 macro call are skipped. If any of the toolpaths are displayed, even briefly, prior to gcode execution, all works as expected: the program pauses and M6 is called. This is the case both for the simulator and my CSMIO/IP-A controller.
My personal feeling is that this behaviour is a bug: the user should be free to rearrange a screen set without disrupting core operations. Has anyone else seen this behaviour and found a solution other than always having a toolpath on display?
I haven't noticed any effect other than skipping of the tool change action: the gcode otherwise seens to run normally.
Allan