Hoping an expert can help with this problem that seems to have developed, been running mach3 on a windows 7 32bit computer using a parallel port connection for a couple of years now without any issues, the computer has been optimised from info I have read on forum, not connected to internet, no other programs other than mach3 installed, never shuts down or sleeps & doesn't run background tasks to the best of my knowledge. I have ran jobs lasting up to 7 or 8 hours without problem on the machine & its been fine with every job I have cut.
Over the last week or so i seem to have developed a problem I haven't been able to identify.

Mach3 seems slow to respond when I do anything like try to change speed or feed rates & it seems to freeze/stop for no apparent reason, today while cutting some moulding all 3 axis stopped moving, the code wouldn't advance but the spindle didn't stop & it didn't cause an emergency stop to the program.

I have checked the computer & can't find anything wrong with it, it is also clean inside. I haven't made any changes to the machine or the mach3 program that I am aware of so at a bit of a lose just now, am going to try uninstalling mach3 & installing again but work just now isn't giving me much time to investigate further

Any help or advice would be much appreciated   

At a guess hard drive going south or the heat sink on the processor has come unseated and or the thermal compound is dried out

Just a thought

I would back up everything reformat the hard drive and reinstall the so and Mach .but that's me

Hi,
another thing you might try is turning off the toolpath display, graphics can consume a huge amount of CPU
time hence the recommendation to use a dedicated graphics card.
Don't know what might have changed but it is a simple test.

Craig

Martin... I am having the same problem of computer shutting down... did you ever find a solution on this problem

bob

Bob, not had a chance to look at it further yet, pesky work keeps getting in the way, my computer doesn't shut down though, mach3 freezes or seems slow to respond.
If your computer is shutting down then that could well be an overheating problem, first thing to do is take the side panel off & give the inside of the case a good clean, you would be surprised just how much dirt & dust they suck in over time. Make sure you also clean between the fins of any heatsinks. Leave the side panel off & start it up, check all the fans are running. Is this a new set up or a problem that has started on a machine that was previously been running OK Bob ?

Thanks for the replies people, don't think it's processor problem but will check the HDD, will also run a memory test to make sure its not caused by failing memory, computer has a dedicated graphics card & everything has been fine for a couple of years but will turn off display just as a quick check.