so my cnc needs some updates. it uses the usb version of the SS. but it seems it has a parallel port for a PLC. the pci card is a PCI-1602UP

does this mean i can't use a 64bit OS?

here are some pics of what is in the machine

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L8-GYhdVdEqF2LxMr-nOM84Gxw4sIEwO/view?usp=share_link


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LD1pz0A5-lLbzRK8HKs3l7hZzsM5Z6Fg/view?usp=share_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LFt7afiaYwIM2KFvzpZ2YXqXtJdJeZfz/view?usp=sharing

so in digging around it seems that pci card is a serial port, is that correct? if so what could i use to replace that card in a computer that doesn't have a pci slot?

Hi,
a USB connected SmoothStepper relieves the PC from having to generate pulse streams and therefore the PC is no longer restricted to
a 32 bit OS. Mach3 itself will run on any well configured PC, 32 bit OR 64 bit. It will run on Windows 10 perfectly happily.

I'd recommend one of the kids cast-off school laptops....that'll do fine.

Mach is not a power hungry application....my machine runs on a dual core Atom single board PC with only 3G RAM and no graphics card.
Other than being a bit slow to load a big file and draw the initial toolpath thereafter it works fine. What Mach needs is a PC that is not burdened
with other software or services.

As it was explained to me years ago 'when you hook a PC to a machine, it is no longer a PC (general purpose computing platform) but a machine controller that
just happens to use Windows as an OS.' It should not have ANY software on it that is not required to run your machine. That includes your CAD/CAM...that should
be on your regular day-to-day PC. Neither should it be hooked to the internet or even a network. Let it control your machine with absolutely no distractions.

Craig

What plc is it connected to?