For many months I have been trying to debug Mach3 freezing while I manually control the X, Y, Z, or A axes. Never a problem using the keyboard arrow keys and never a problem when executing gcode. I replaced Mach3, the .dll related to xbox controller, and directX software. Still got random failures. Cleaned the xbox controller of swarf I found inside but still got random failures. Bought a new xbox controller and still got random failures.
Today I discovered that if I pulsed the X axis with the xbox controller I could get Mach3 to freeze in about 3 quick pulses (around 1/2 sec pulse). Power cycled, and repeated the test. Did this a total of 3 times. In all 3 test cycles, I got Mach3 to freeze in about 3 pulses.
They I tried something out of desperation: disconnected my ps2 keyboard and usb mouse. I pulsed the X axis about 30 times and no failures. Power cycled and plugged the keyboard back in. Got failure after 3 pulses.
Although not a 100% reliable test, it does imply that the keyboard causes the Xbox controller to lock up Mach3.
Has anyone else had this experience? Does anyone have a theory on how this could happen?
I took the keyboard apart and did not find any swarf inside. I'm in the process of soaking the plastic parts in soapy water right now just to be safe. I will rinse and dry before reassembling. I know these keyboards are low cost but want to learn as much as possible about the root cause and not just swap parts.
A side issue is that I found if I pulsed the x axis and pulsed the XZero button, I would eventually not be able to zero any axis. Easy to avoid this case but did see it as odd and possibly related to the main problem. However, I get this fault even with the keyboard removed.
All insights and wild speculation welcome.
Thanks,
Rick