Hi DTG,
don't have a router at home, I have a Tstick which plugs into USB.

Will try to cobble something up over next few days.

Craig

Hi All,
bit of an update. Been getting really good support from Andy at Warp9 and based on his input and my own research I can now ping
the ESS from the Atom.

Still can't run M4/ESS, my guess at the moment is lack of bandwidth but still working on that....

Craig

Hi All,
another update...SUCCESS!!!

Turns out to be faulty firewall settings. I didn't have notification active and consequently didn't know that the
firewall was blocking ops.

All in all I've had great support from Andy and Jeff at Warp9, our very own Smurph and interest and suggestions from you guys. Makes a huge
difference when on several occasions I've wanted to throw the whole bloody lot out the window!

On to the next issue....probing.

Craig

I used a  Gigabyte GA-J1800N-D2H  but just testing out, never ran a machine with it though I can't see that being a problem. I now have it on the plasma so it is running Mach3.

Hi Hood,
the only real problem I've had is trying to get the SmoothStepper to run. The Warp9 setup utility for whatever reason did not work
and so I had to do it manually. I don't know s....t (that's 'squat' I assure you..) about computer networking.

I persevered and got there on the back of forum support, both professional and private.

Craig

Nice to see that you got it sorted Joe.
Hood,
My concern is that I have some SFF Dells with a 2GHz+ processor and 2Gig ram but the onboard video seems to kill me. They run Mach3 very well. They run Mach4 but not as well as I would like. This is why I am looking for actual real world examples of working computers. Part numbers and the like.

Mike

Hi Mike,
I learned along time ago with M3: Don't fiddle with the toolpath display when a job is running.

Haven't tried breaking the rule with either this platform or with M4, it is after all my own rule, why would I do such a thing?.
Don't answer that, I can hear you from here! LOL

I have a workaround for the Autoleveller utility that I use which is being cranky under M4. The toolpath takes about 4 hour to run
just one side of the circuit board so I won't be breaking my little rule today.

Craig

Hi All,
had an interesting PM conversation with Smurph. He has used Atom platforms but needed to massage the settinsg to get good results.
I have tried a few of the settings but they are on the limit of my knowledge at this time and more often than not break the Ethernet connection
rather than improving it. Hopefully as my knowledge grows so will my accuracy at determining the optimal settings.

He did have one comment that I should share for any other folk looking to go the 'bare bones' single board computer direction. He said that
when Atoms were popular they used Realtek Ethernet chips which were optimised for receive rather than transmit. Given their intended use
as netbooks and thin client net boxes it makes sense. He recommended searching for a board which uses Intel Ethernet chips as they could
handle more transmit without offloading processing to the CPU. He did give an example chip number which I've forgotten offhand but I think
that referred to a PCIe plugin card. Will come back when I learn more.

All I can say is that M4 and ESS is going great guns on the Atom albeit with the Realtek Ethernet chip.

Craig

Smurph is the man when it comes to all things Mach4. If only he had time to come outof his cave once in awhile. (grin)


 I have been doing some research and so far have not come up with anything promising. Hopefully I iwll have time this weekend to do some more in depth searching. Hopefully some else has some info. At this point I would even like some info on MATX boards since I have several empty cases and might wind up going that route.

Hi,
he certainly is that. Rereading the PM he mentioned 'Intel on board Ehternet' rather than a specific chip.

If you can install a slot based card, I would suggest an Intel Pro-1000e.  This is a server style Ethernet card that is setup to handle lots of transmitting with minimal processor use.

Craig