Hi,
if the driver test is giving bad results then Mach will not work....at all.
I was unaware that anyone was still using Vista, it was always problematic with Machs parallel port.
Note that there are two distinct parts to Mach, Mach3, the Windows application which is a GUI, a Gcode interpreter and trajectory
planner. The trajectory planner produces numeric PVT (Position & Velocity over Time) data in 1ms slices. The second part is the motion controller,
in this case Machs parallel port is the motion controller, converts that numeric data to pulse streams which are in turn communicated
to the outside world via the parallel printer port.
What most people fail to realise that the 'parallel port' is much MUCH MUCH more than just the parallel printer port.
The code must time pulse streams (using interrupts) very accurately at pulse repetition rates of shorter than 40us. Windows operating systems all but make
that impossible as Windows uses the interrupt system extensively for it own purposes thereby precluding Machs pulse engine access to the interrupt
system.
If you are dead set on using Machs parallel port I would suggest winding back to 32 bit XP or 32 bit Windows 7.
An even better alternative would be to use an external motion controller like an Ethernet SmoothStepper (ESS) or a UC300. Avoid the temptation to buy
cheap Chinese motion controllers, they don't work as they're supposed to and you won't get any help from them. Stick to the well known and respected
European and US manufacturers.
An ESS or UC300 relieves the PC of the necessity to generate pulse streams and therefore is no longer restricted to 32 bit Windows 7 or earlier
nor is it restricted to desktop PC's. With an external controller you can use just about any PC you like, Mach, the Windows app part, is not a difficult
program to run, Machs parallel port engine is.
Craig