[nevillewilliams]

I have changed computers and now am battling to get Mach 3 to run at all it ran on the old mc but it died last night I have tried to reload the settings a in the instructional videos and have had no luck at all beginning to doubt the boards as I have leds on the parralel port but no power going to the stepper motors Thats to say I see the DRO moving but the motors are stationary.Is there any one who has a 4 axis wing cutter XML file I can crib to try get this running
I don't know if its because I am running windows 7 as I was using XP
Neville

If I close the Mach3 down I get power to my motors and the moment the Program opens it dumps the power from the motors

[plcamp]

I have changed computers and now am battling to get Mach 3 to run at all it ran on the old mc but it died last night I have tried to reload the settings a in the instructional videos and have had no luck at all beginning to doubt the boards as I have leds on the parralel port but no power going to the stepper motors Thats to say I see the DRO moving but the motors are stationary.Is there any one who has a 4 axis wing cutter XML file I can crib to try get this running
I don't know if its because I am running windows 7 as I was using XP
Neville

Mach3 runs on Win7 without problems, did you reload a licensed version or the demo? Mach3 has a demo file called 'road runner' that can be used to test the motor operation.

[nevillewilliams]

Hi plcamp
I loaded a demo copy from the Mach 3 site and the used the licence file I had saved
I can get the system to run but the motors won't run even though there is power to them.
The g code runs fine but there is no out put to the motors.
I must be missing something but just don't seem to see what
I have even gone into the Bios to check the Parrallel port is set to EPP

[Mike 1948]

Maybe your parallel port addresses are not correct???

Mike

[nevillewilliams]

Checked that Not that it is 378 EPP as per the Bios Its got to be something really simple but it has got me stumped
It might be the computer as Not even my Foamworks 3 is working
perhaps there is something in the background that needs to be set or disabled?

[Mike 1948]

You might posting in the Mach Support forum here: Machsupport Forum - Index
Good Luck
Mike

[Stigoe]

If you're running Win7 and using parallell port, are you using Win7 32-bit or 64-bit? As far as I know, Mach3 doesn't work with 64-bit and parallell port.

[nevillewilliams]

Hi Stigoe
Just checked and it's definitly a 32 bit system so I will have to try something else
I have a ad on pci Parallel port that might be worth a try If I can find the driver for it

[plcamp]

Hi Stigoe
Just checked and it's definitly a 32 bit system so I will have to try something else
I have a ad on pci Parallel port that might be worth a try If I can find the driver for it

Neville, have you ran the DriverTest file?

[nevillewilliams]

Hi Plcamp
Yes It was one of the first things I tried I even tried running the older driver what I have found is that by activating the charge pumpp you get power on the motors all the time but still are not able to move them with the Computer If you look at the screen shots I have included you may see where I am at fault the one thing that has got me is that there is only a few of the Led's on the parallel port active even when trying to jog the system

[plcamp]

Hi Plcamp
Yes It was one of the first things I tried I even tried running the older driver what I have found is that by activating the charge pumpp you get power on the motors all the time but still are not able to move them with the Computer If you look at the screen shots I have included you may see where I am at fault the one thing that has got me is that there is only a few of the Led's on the parallel port active even when trying to jog the system

This is indeed a strange situation, as all looks like good for motor operation especially when the driver test returns a favorable result. I do notice that Mach3 has not recognized your license file but I'm not sure if that could be an issue at this point. The motors still turn even in 'demo' mode.

Have you tested the output at your port?

You may need to contact Mach3 support for some additional guidance.

I'm at a lose as to why the motors are still inactive. Please post your solution when you solve the problem so others encountering this problem may resolve their issues also.

Good luck, Paul

[Torchhead]

This may be nothing but ....
1. The Motor Outputs port and pins are defined by the BoB . Not saying it is wrong but the pin sequence is strange. First pair are 2, 3 (which normally follows with 4,5 then 6, 7 then 8,9). Yours reverse order after the X (?)
2. Step Active Low polarity shoes HIGH (red X); that means you are typically SOURCING the signal to the driver (step is a pulse that goes from low to high ) The step polarity DOES matter. The DIR Acirve low defines the DIRECTION the motor turns
3, If you have any inputs you can access on your BoB enable them and see if you can make them show up in the INPUT Status of the Diganostics. The Raw Port Bits indicate MACH sees something at that address. If the parallel port. is working and the address is correct then you should see inputs.You will also see activity on the RAW PORT INPUTS. I don't know your BoB but typically the step signals are too short to show up on LED.s and most cards don't try to monitor the motor pins (2-9) anyway.
4. The moving DRO's indicate MACh is generating pulses and TRYING to send them to a port

[nevillewilliams]

hi Torch
I got the machine to run last night on K cam and Mach 3 I shut down and went to bed and when I woke up and tried the machine this morning I found that I was back to square one only the Foam works and the K cam work
thank you you were right about the step and direction pin settings on Foam works it is 3-2 5-4 7-6 9-8 and on the Mach 3 and the K cam it is 2-3 4-5 6-7 8-9
I am still trying to get the Mach to run again but am not to sure as to why the computer lost the settings in the night Must be one of those Gremlins
It also made me realize that writeing it down would help

[RCaffin]

on Foam works it is 3-2 5-4 7-6 9-8 and on the Mach 3 and the K cam it is 2-3 4-5 6-7 8-9

Well, that is NOT going to work! Not unless you rewire the motor drivers with every changeover!
If the KCAM version works, change the Mach settings.

Have you clicked on 'Save Settings" after making the changes? If you haven't ... bye bye changes.

Cheers
Roger