Hello! i bought a mill with mach 3 cnc software and I'm hoping for some advise. I got the mill running but with an older windows 7 Dell computer. I got the x and y axis set and was working on Z when an ice storm damaged the computer so it won't boot. If the computer ran ok, and assuming it has a corrupted boot file which looks like the case, is there any reason to upgrade the computer? I am planning on buying the software license and also was considering the conversational add on, does it work ok? I can do it all via cad but sometimes i find it a bit faster and easier with simple stuff to do conversational. After i get the computer working, i would like a bit of help setting the soft limits, i watched the video on youtube but it hasn't sunk in. are there any other tutorials about that? Thanks in advance !!  John

Hi,
you don't say what motion control system you are using?.

You might find this a little confusing but in the early days Mach3 was, and still is, the PC application but it would use Mach's parallel port driver as the motion controller.
The motion controller (Machs Parallel Port Driver internal to the PC) takes the numeric trajectory data from Mach (the application) and turns it into pulse streams for the
motors and is communicated to the outside world by a parallel port socket. The downside of using Mach's parallel port was that it requires a 32bit OS Windows 7 or
Windows XP. It was also inclined to stall or stutter if the PC got in anyway overloaded, and quite frequently even decent PC's seemed just to be s****t at it.

In more recent years external motion control boards have become the norm, like the Ethernet SmoothStepper (ESS) ($190) or a UC100 ($120 for a genuine one not a Chinese rip-off)
and various Chinese made boards. They connect by USB or Ethernet to the PC. That means you can use just about any PC including laptops, 64 bit OS's like Windows10.

Do yourself a favor and do not buy a Chinese made motion control board. The Chinese do many things well but Mach3 motion controllers are not one of them! They often supply pirate Mach3
software and will get you kicked off here in a trice. Buy a US or European made motion control. I use an ESS and have done for eight years. Best $180 (at the time) money I ever spent
on my machine.

I use Fusion 360 mostly for CAD/CAM but also paid $75 and use MachMillWizard. The better I get with Fusion the less I use MachMillWizard, but I still use it a lot, very useful conversational
stuff. It has been worth its $75 over and over and over again!

Craig

 Thank you joeaverage,  I appreciate your help!  The computer is a dell with a core 2 duo 2.5 GHZ processor running Windows 7, don't know if its 32 or 64 bit. I have great product logs for the machine and it's using the Warp 9 ethernet smoothstepper. I'm certain it is not a bootleg copy of mach3. The machine is a Bridgeport series 1 cnc. I use bobcad for cad/cam. i presume it is a stepper system but it appears to have resolvers on the back of the motors for position. I'm pretty familiar with Bobcad but i'll get the conversational add on, at that price it is a no brainer. My current concerns are getting the computer back up or getting a new one without losing the Mach 3 setup information on it. It is a paid for version by the previous owner (?) I understand the license is not transferrable and I'll buy a new license for myself after I get it running. the computer suggests that before I bought it, it may not have been used since 2014(?) that based on a windows log file. The machine came with a usb stick with the file MillWizard_Installer_Version_2.0.5 not sure what that is exactly.

Hi,
the most important part of your post is that you have an Ethernet SmoothStepper. That is a very capable external motion control board
and while there is a learning curve the results will come.

Given that you have an ESS then who cares what PC you use? My machine runs on a Dual Core Atom with 3G Ram and on-chip graphics and it runs fine.
It's slow to load a large Gcode file and draw the first toolpath but thereafter its fine. The truth is that Mach is NOT a power hungry application, just about any PC will
do. One of the kids cast-off school laptops will be fine.

If the old PC is giving you s****t then throw it away and get another. The CAD/CAM application will be more demanding than Mach. One suggestion to bear in mind
as it was explained to me many years ago 'A PC which is connected to a machine is NO LONGER a general purpose computing platform but a MACHINE CONTROLLER
that happens to use Windows as an OS.' I would recommend that whatever PC you use that it be connected to the machine and nothing else, including
and specifically the internet. Neither should there be any extraneous software on it, just Mach and those auxiliary programs necessary to run your machine.
That does not cover your CAD/CAM suite, but I have found Mach's Mill Wizard perfectly well behaved and can run on your machine PC.
Mill Wizard is a NFS sponsored conversational Gcode generation program, and attracts a $75 license fee IIRC.

You are correct Mach licenses are not transferable. That you purchase a new license is therefore both courteous and correct. The problem is that all development
on Mach3 ceased eight years ago, notwithstanding that it works it is well and truly superseded by Mach4. If you're going to purchase a license then Mach4 is the
recommendation.

https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=42891.msg278176#msg278176

I would suggest use Mach3 with your existing license file and get your machine running but then plan to upgrade to Mach4. Note that Mach4 has quite a learning
curve so is not as easy as you might imagine.

Craig

 Mach 4 cost wise is essentially the same. It also appears to be a version of the tormach controller software which has worked very well for me in the past. I'm assuming i can't just load mach 4 on the same computer and start making chips. Is there some backwards compatibility? Do the machine specific settings transfer? The cost is nothing, but the switching has, in other posts, been likened to be difficult. What is the gain for the pain of transferring? Other than my inability to get the soft stops programmed, mach 3 has worked pretty well so far? BTW I have Bobcad on my laptop and have been transferring to the controlled via usb stick. The mach 3 controller is a dedicated computer. I'm supposed to get the repair disc sun. so that will likely decide if the current computer stays or goes. buying a new computer is also pretty small potatoes if it is necessary. The base machine, series 1 interact has no manual handles so it isn't much use without a controller system.

Hi,

Mach 4 cost wise is essentially the same.

Correct.

It also appears to be a version of the tormach controller software which has worked very well for me in the past.

Incorrect. Tormach, in the early days used a version of Mach3. More recently they use PathPilot which is a version on LinuxCNC. Having said that
in practice using Mach3 is very similar to running Mach4, they both make chips. Its when you 'get under the hood' thatMach4 shines.

Is there some backwards compatibility? Do the machine specific settings transfer?

No, Mach4 is a new product from the ground up which requires new settings.

but the switching has, in other posts, been likened to be difficult. What is the gain for the pain of transferring?

Yes, it is a challenge, you'll come to hate Mach4 BEFORE you get a handle on it and come to love it. As to the gains you'll have to read the thread I linked too.

Other than my inability to get the soft stops programmed, mach 3 has worked pretty well so far?

Yes, if you had a Model T you could still use it to go shopping but there are better cars. Do you want a better car or are you going to spend good
money on keeping the Model T going?

Craig

 Well, I got the computer working! I guess I'm gonna have to decide on 3 or 4 soon. Can you send the 3 vs 4 thread link, i can't seem to find it. I will need to get the soft limits working soon and do the z axis calibration. I gotta hot job coming up... i need to make a replacement lid for my coffee cup... lol

Hi,

https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=42891.msg278176#msg278176

Do you have Homes switches installed and do you use them? SoftLimits only work and make any sense IF the machine has been
Homed or Referenced using Home switches.

Craig

 Sorry... lost power again....  I have home switches and i do home it to them. the soft limits don't appear to have ever been set in the program, but its as if there are soft limits in the stepper hardware or resolver? I say that because in the program it has what appears to be default numbers 0-100,000 for all limits but I've hit a y+ soft limit far from the hardware limit switch. if I shut the program off the soft overlimit stays, and it isn't at a limit switch. The soft limit numbers are what? inches? counts? it has dg4s servo drives and cui resolvers i believe. (in docs.) I'm getting the feeling i got this midway through some upgrades/modifications that haven't been thoroughly fleshed out. there is a resolver for spindle speed but I'm not sure it works. I'm not sure it is using electrical pulse counts or resolver counts.

Hi,
the SoftLimits within Mach are in machine units. Thus if your X,Y Home switches are at the lower left-hand corner, say 10mm in from the boundary the
Softlimits would be  X-=-10, X+=490, Y-=-10, Y+=490. This assumes a machine of 500mm x 500mm and mm units.

I have not heard of any servos that have soft limits built into them. It's not uncommon for Limit switches to be direct connected to the servo drive, but I've not heard
of SoftLimits being applied that way. I would assume that they would have to e in encoder/resolver counts. Either way that is beyond Mach's control.

Craig