Hi all,

I’m chasing a spindle control quirk with Mach4 + HiCON and would appreciate a sanity check from the community.

Environment

Mach4 Industrial (profile “Neu”, screen wx4.set)

HiCON plugin 2.50.77, HiCON FW 5.90 (from HiCON Status window)

Spindle driven via Step/Dir (not analog)

Encoder feedback on Encoder 0, simulator set to 1000 lines → 4000 CPR

Closed-loop spindle control disabled (for now)

Wiring / Mapping

Enable = Mach Output #7 → HiCON [P12] Output 0

Start/AH = Mach Output #8 → HiCON [P12] Output 1

Optional input “In Motion” on HiCON [P11] Input 3 (or 12), plus Encoder0 feedback available.

Expected vs. observed

Expected:

M3/M4 set Enable+Start (either simultaneously or with a short delay) → spindle runs.

M5 clears Start then Enable (or both at once after the spindle is stopped) → spindle stops, no drive fault.

Observed:

OSIGs flip correctly in Mach4 History.

When enabling both outputs simultaneously, the physical outputs on HiCON sometimes don’t engage as expected (spindle may not start).

If I separate Enable→200 ms→Start, start is reliable.

Stopping: if I first stop motion (wait for “In Motion=0” or Encoder RPM≈0) and then force both outputs LOW at once, the drive stops cleanly (no fault).

Direct mcIoSetState() to those mapped pins appears ignored; unmapped pins react as expected. So I currently stick to OSIG mapping (and optionally mirror to raw IO after).
What I’ve tried

Screen-PLC & PMC disabled during tests (to rule out overrides); full Mach4 restarts after changes.

Verified mapping in Control Config (Output #7/#8 to P12.0/P12.1).

HiCON Status & Register Diagnostics used to confirm OSIG changes and Encoder values.

Using OSIG only (preferred), plus optional “belt & suspenders” direct IO writes after OSIG OFF.

Contacted Vital Systems (sent packaged profile on 29 Aug 2025 + follow-ups) — no reply yet.

Questions

Is there a known caveat with simultaneous ON of two mapped outputs (Enable+Start) via OSIG on HiCON?

Is the 200 ms separation the recommended practice for Step/Dir spindles (Enable first, then Start)?

For M5: any downside to “wait for stop then hard OFF both” as above?

Should mcIoSetState() be expected to affect mapped pins, or is OSIG the only supported path when mapping is active?

I can attach the Packaged Profile and the macro files, plus short logs and HiCON screenshots, if needed.

Thanks a lot for any hints or confirmation!

— Chris (EU/CEST)