Hello Sage,
The other versions of Mach3 would look at the Feedrate of the head of the lookahead.. this would reset your feed rate to the lookahead on a feed hold.. This fix was to talke that out, so please be sure that you are on the latest Dev version..
Thanks
Brian

I've also had a problem with the feed rate but in my case I've adjusted it with the FRO +/- buttons. Then somewhere along the way the machine changes speed apparently on it'd own (Perhaps commanded by an F word but not to the extent it changes) and the FRO buttons don't do anything any more. You can adjust them from 0 to the max and press the FRO reset and the speed does not change. You're pretty much stuck with the speed you have unless you start the G-code program again.

Sage

I have the following running

F600
G1 x blablablablablablabla lot's of more G1 blabla

Now I hit feed hold. Screetch. Stop!
Now I hit start cycle. And.... crawl crawl crawl. As I mentioned with a rediculous low speed.

No way to get away from the crawl. I'll try that again and look at the feed speed indicator when it happens. I mean I am sure I did, but can't swear what it reported right now.

I'll post that later.

Lemo

Hello,
post a Gcode file and tell me what you are doing.. I am NOT seeing this trouble here.. I trust that you are seeing it but if I don't see it I will not be able to fix it.
Thanks
Brian

Brian,

1. Machine Coord DRO's don't always zero they will have 0.0013 left in them sometimes.

I think you are setting zero with the Ref command with no home switches .. This is a known problem at this time (I will fix it but it is working with home switches). Also if you are going to set zero you should use the Zero x,y,z buttons... Last what is your steps per unit ?? You may not be able to get to zero (Limitation of your machine) and this is as close as the software can make your machine round the digital steps to zero.

 My steps per unit are 800steps/mm. The machine coords zero properly when I home to my switches but when I try to manually zero them I am getting 0.0013 left in the DRO. By manually zeroing I mean I am clicking a button with the SetMachzero() function in it.

2. Step and Dir pulse lengths on some installs will reduce upon opening and closing the motor tuning window.
       ie.  Step=2  Dir=1    after opening, setting, closing , opening motor tuning will change each by -1   

This is fixed in 3.042.015

I have a computer that still has the step/dir pulse reduction issue and its running ver 3.42.015. This is the only machine that does this other mach installs work fine. What could be the issue? I've uninstalled mach and reinstalled and still no go. This included deleting the mach3 folder that was left after uninstall. Any other ideas? Clearing registry entries too?

3. Program extrema is not being calculated correctly.

Could you please give an example of what is not correct? For example are you running loops with offset shifts and so on in the code? If so it is hard to tell if you are in the correct position when the reference position is changing That is the only time that I know when this is not correct..

I will look for code that was a problem I believe it was when the code had arcs or code with A rotations. I'll find something and get back to you so you can repeat the problem on your end.

4. Mach seems to be having issues saving CV state if you change the CV dist tolerence or turn CV dist on/off.
   Closing and opening the session fixes it, but I've learned mid session changes are risky behavior.

You should close and reopen the software to back up your settings...This is a very good idea

Is there any thing you can do to make changing settings during a session stick better. The problem is when I have to close mach it causes me to need to rehome my machine as some scripts I have written look to see if the machine has been homed for safety reasons.

5.Mach is parses the code pretty slow when you open a file. I'm guessing it parses the code for gcode errors and finds program extrema.
I would like to be able to turn off the program extrema calculation method or see it rewritten using RegEX so that it parses faster.

It is also the calcs for drawing the toolpath that is slowing down the load time... In the diagnostics page please turn off the toolpath and tell me if you like that better.

I run with the toolpath off it has always been a resource hog. IMHO as nice as the features of it are I wish there was some way to reduce its resource requirements.

6. If you jog the machine during tool change M6 (so as to be able to physically get to you spindle and change the tool upon pressing cycle
start mach moves to its previous position with no warning or way to cancel this. This needs to have the same dialog added that you get when using
"run from here".

Please have a look at the M6Start.m1s and M6End.m1s macros and change them to your liking This is the only way to change how the toolchanges are done

I run with the toolpath off it has always been a resource hog. IMHO as nice as the features of it are I wish there was some way to reduce its resource requirements.

7. Machine is always underfeeding. If I set feed rate to 100mm/min and give the machine plenty of room to make a single axis move and get up to speed
it is always under feeding by about 4mm/min, it never reaches the programmed feedrate and my max velocity is 800mm/min. It didn't do this in older mach versions.

This has to do with how the feedrate is now calculated.. in the end are not far off (less then one %) this has to do with the amount that your CPU timing is off from what it should be...

Its more than one percent. For me its more like 5%-10%.

Also could you add "CV FeedRate" from the settings screen to the General Config dialog with the other CV options.

Thanks.

Brian

Hello,
1.) 1/800 = .00125 or if you round the DRO .0013.. If you would like a machine that can zero you need to have a greater number of steps per unit...

2.) I would like to see the XML that you are working with... if you look for the PulseWidth and DirPulse I would like to know if it is getting saved to the XML.. also exit the software as soon as you make the change to back up the XML

3.) NA

4.) What are you doing that you need to change all the settings of you machine as you are running.. the stuff that you are talking about should be set one time. If you are going to change the settings one time I don't see that there is a problem with shutting down and restarting.

5.) There is no way to lower the resource's... The Driver is taking 50% of the CPU power to make the P Port a motion controller.

6.) I see you have the same reply as 5.) ... So tell me if you have changed your macro..

7.) 800 - 4 = 796 796/800 = .995 so it is 99.5% on so it is .5% off in speed... I think that is less then 1 %
I could add this to the doalig at some point but this change will make the new manual incorrect... So at this time I am going to wait.

Thanks
Brian

1. Can you not force SetMachZero() to set the DRO to zero at its current position? I'm not understanding why this needs to be calculated I just want to push 0 to the DRO.

2. I'll get it for you and look at this some more. I'm out of the office today.

4. One job I'm running is 0.25" in size with features as small as 0.005" the next job is 12" in size with very few small features. I find CV dist tolerance to be a nice feature but an appropriate distance is different if you part is large or small.

5. I was referring to mach's toolpath display not mach itself. I find myself turing the toolpath on and off. On so I can look and off so I can run cause mach runs better with toolpath off on large gcodes. I'm guessing without a major rewrite of the viewport there's not much that can be done.

6. Copy and pasting stupidity. Sorry. Not yet  I'll try this on Friday when I'm back at the shop and post my result.

7. Given 100mm/min is program feed, it is a single axis move, actual feed is 96mm/min, and there is plenty of distance to accelerate to that velocity and the max velocity of the machine is >100 100- 4 = 96/100 = 96% = 4% off in speed.

Brian, appreciate your interest.  I have already deleted the latest version of Mach and reverted to 3.041.  It works fine.  In the past, in order to stay current,  I have upgraded to the most recent issue of Mach.  Since I encountered problems with the last two upgrades, I think I will just sit back and wait for a final release of 3.42.

Thanks again for what you have developed and delivered so far.  Mach3 and LCAM are still my programs of choice for making new parts.

Bob @BobsShop - still cutting

Hello Bob,
This is fine but know that with out examples you are not going to see any fix for that bug.. part of the low cost of the software is that fact that we need your help to make it better.. I can not fix what I can't see  .

So it will get fixed if an other reports the problem and makes it so I can see it.. (Crystal ball is broken)

Thanks
Brian

1. Can you not force SetMachZero() to set the DRO to zero at its current position? I'm not understanding why this needs to be calculated I just want to push 0 to the DRO.

It is a digital signal.. that is as close as you can set it ... It is so close that I would think it is okay
Just to help people there is NO SetMachZero()  call. in VB.. there is an OEM button ...

4. One job I'm running is 0.25" in size with features as small as 0.005" the next job is 12" in size with very few small features. I find CV dist tolerance to be a nice feature but an appropriate distance is different if you part is large or small.

If you are going to be doing parts like that you NEED to have more steps per unit..

5. I was referring to mach's toolpath display not mach itself. I find myself turing the toolpath on and off. On so I can look and off so I can run cause mach runs better with toolpath off on large gcodes. I'm guessing without a major rewrite of the viewport there's not much that can be done.

I am looking to change the display code in the next major update... this is a large job and need to have a good release of what we have now before I start )

6. Copy and pasting stupidity. Sorry. Not yet  I'll try this on Friday when I'm back at the shop and post my result.

I understand!

7. Given 100mm/min is program feed, it is a single axis move, actual feed is 96mm/min, and there is plenty of distance to accelerate to that velocity and the max velocity of the machine is >100 100- 4 = 96/100 = 96% = 4% off in speed.

No fair... you can't change the numbers on me... that is not what you posted! The problem is that we are reporting what it IS doing.. this is something that we will look into more in the next large rev.. for now it is what it is  ..

Thanks
Brian

Brian, trying again to attach screen shots.

Bob @ BobsShop (Technology is wonderful!!  Wish I understood some of it)