Hi all
Having issues. Cannot get any thing to move - do have steppers locked on start up though.
Running Win 7 32bit (PC), parallel port on PCI-E, BOB is HY-JKM5 (Chinese - relatively cheap) drivers are MA860H, Nema 34's.
Ran driver test - all ok.
Have LED's on BOB illuminating with relevant press of X,Y and Z on key board and TAB controller thing.
My question is - on the diagnostic page should i have the Port pins illuminated relative to the axis allocation in the config?
i have :-
X dir - pin 14
X step - pin 2
Y dir - pin 3
Y step - pin 16
Z dir - pin 8
and Z step - pin 7.
All of these have been taken from the random info I can find regarding BOB.
On the diagnostic page I have pins 1-8 illuminated - shouldn't i have illumination on the ones assigned?
I have tried to modify the port address (i.e. - ....d030) through all of the range found in the Msconfig - tools - etc etc. (don't have resources tab - if i go through device manager) and have  found various different pin illumination through the range - with my current setup giving me 1-8. But none that match my pin set up.
Really struggling, feel like I'm going round and round in circles.
Please if anyone can help I would be really grateful.

Hi,

The Port 1 Pins Current State do not always work as intended so they should not be taken as accurate. Best to ignore them alltogether.

Most of the Chinese breakout boards require a 5 Volt TTL standard for all the input pins. Most of the new Parallel Port cards have 3.3 Volt TTL standard outputs. Measure your X axis or Y axis Dir. pins whilst using the keyboard arrow keys and check that the voltage toggles between 0V and 5V.

Report back on your findings.

Tweakie.

Hi Tweakie,
Here is what i measured.
X - step - pin 2 - 3.4v, dropping to 3.2v with keyboard activation.
X - dir - pin 14 - 4.3v, dropping to 0.02v with keyboard activation.
Y - step - pin 16 - 4.3v, dropping to 3.97v with keyboard activation.
Y - dir - pin 3 - 3.4v, dropping to 0.13v with keyboard activation.
Z - step - pin 7 - 3.4v, dropping to 3.27v with keyboard activation.
Z - dir - pin 8 - 3.4v, dropping to 0.12v with keyboard activation.

Had found some info regarding 5v from PCI-e, and had previously checked voltages.
Would have thought that the output v would all be similar on both step and dir for all axis.

My best guess would be that your parallel port PCI-E card needs to be changed for one that outputs the 5 Volt TTL standard and finding one may be difficult but I think that is the way forward.
An alternative is to use an ethernet connected external motion controller instead of using the parallel port.

Tweakie.

Yeah, I was thinking you would say that. Have just seen a 2nd hand mobo that has a parallel port built in, as well as a pci slot which suits 5v output.
May give that a go, would be a cheaper option than an ethernet controller.
Thanks again.

If it's any help the 5 Volt PCI cards can be visually identified and are shown in this thread; https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=34848.0

Tweakie.

Stumbled upon that whilst researching what the problem I had was.
Have just ordered mobo from ebay.
I am hoping I will soon be getting movement and then be able to start working out how to get my spindle and VFD working together.
No doubt this won't be the last you hear from me.😄