Does anyone know of a particular combination of LAPTOP brand & model, operating system, and Mach version that works ?
No matter what I have tried I either get no output on the printer port or the computer crashes.
Thanks
Al

If they are fairly new laptops then they could be using power saving functions, they could be interfering with Mach. That still wouldnt explain the port problems but it could explain the crashing.
Did you get a printer to work?
Hood

Try checking out your hard drive and system with a registry checker, such as PCTools Registry Mechanic. I had to use it to get my Toshiba Satellite Pro to run Mach3 without crashing.

I have downloaded Mach3 (current version)  to my PC (in the office) and also to my laptop - driving the machine in the workshop and it all works fine.

The laptop is a Toshiba - about 5 years old with a Com1 and LPT1 port. It has 2 USB ports, but they are the earlier slower versions before USB became all the rage. Perhaps a second-hand earlier model would suffice. Voltage outputs on the laptop are 5v

That is all extremely interesting as one of the laptops I have been trying to use is a Toshiba. It is older though, 4010CDT Satellite.
The other one is a Compaq.
I will try a registy mechanic program.
I was going to reformat and reload XP but now I can't get either laptop to boot from a floppy or the cd drive. !!ugh!!
Hood, I thought I had a printer to try but turned out it is setup for usb only.
Thanks
Al

I ran the PCTools registry checker (only the free version) on my Toshiba and it helped. Using Mach2 I was able to get port output. Unfortunately It only outputs 3.95volts so I get no motor movements. I then tried Mach3 and the computer crashes again.
The registry checker did not help any on the Compaq laptop. It still crashes when trying to run Mach2 or 3. Does anyone know of any particular problems with the current lockdown Mach3 version that could be causing this crashing problem ?
This is one of those things I should just let go and give up but it would sure be nice to be able to use a laptop to control this machine.
Thanks
Al

I have given up trying to make either of my laptops work with Mach 3. The Toshiba is out due to low voltage output.
The Compaq is just too old I think. It was originally a Windows 98 machine so it is marginal on running XP anyway.
Also the floppy drive quit working so I think it's going in the parts only stack. I will keep an eye out for a newer laptop
to try again. Thanks for all of your help.
Al

True, I purposely bought a Pentium III laptop with a parallel port on it, The motors only scream but it doesn't move. Maybe what we can do is to use a breakout board with optocoupler to make sure the signals are solid enough to perform CNC operations

The SmoothStepper might be the answer to you LapTop guys prayers, its in Beta testing at the moment but things are going great.
Hood