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Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
I got my disc today, since I just got my machine up and running last week I figured I'd get the beta disc, but now that I have it , I'm a bit afraid. not that the software wont work, but because that there is no manual and I'm just learning .
Anyone load and use it yet? If so, is It pretty easy to figure out? I am familiar with Mach3 a little bit, but by no means am I proficient at it
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Hi,
I just finished loading on my 1100. It seems to be working OK.
I chose to physically change out the HD, since I had one with the same part number as the one that came with my machine. That worked fine, it booted to the DVD and did the install.
A couple of things that slowed me down, first the system puts up a screen with the size of the partition, then you have to click on where to install it. Wasn't covered in the document, and maybe it's obvious to Linux users and others, but took me a minute to figure out. I picked the first on the list, which I think said something about MachOS.
Another quirk that might be my controller, but I don't recall seeing before, when the install was done, I attempted to eject the DVD from the drive, but it wouldn't work. I ended up powering down the controller and doing the old bent paper clip routine.
But, at the end of the day, it seems to work!
Terry
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
No, Still waiting for my copy to ship....
Robert
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Mine refuses to boot.
Checked that dvd is readable - it is.
Checked boot sequence - dvd drive is first.
Tried F10 set to dvd to force boot from dvd and I get "boot failure"
Sent tormach an email.....we'll see.......
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
widget_maker
Mine refuses to boot.
Checked that dvd is readable - it is.
Checked boot sequence - dvd drive is first.
Tried F10 set to dvd to force boot from dvd and I get "boot failure"
Sent tormach an email.....we'll see.......
Have you tried booting it in another computer to make sure it's not an issue with the DVD from Tormach? If it works in another PC (be careful you don't format your disk!), then you might consider borrowing the DVD drive for your Tormach computer just to load the OS.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Hmmm, starts to boot fine on my old spare desktop. Looks like I have some component substitutions to do.....
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Swapped the dvd drive from the HP to the Tormach MC and it is booting!
How the heck can a dvd be READABLE on a machine yet not boot from it???
Oh well.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
I got mine and loaded it on a new 1 TB hdd.
The disk has some scars on the face of it, probably from bouncing around in a box with the Mesa board with no padding.
First install cycle left me non-functional (flashed to the Tormach screen, than dropped me to a terminal window saying "INIT= ARGUMENT".
So I tried again, and this time went into bios after the install and updated the boot disks to include the new hdd. It worked just fine then. Started out by selecting which machine (1100), and than it flashed the EEPROM on the Mesa 6i25 card, and requested a restart.
No problems, seem to run the machine just fine.
The annoying thing is when you say EXIT, it drops you to a gray screen and never shuts off the computer. Your only choice then is to toggle power off, hopefully not screwing up anything on the HDD in the process.
One other thing is without access to any OS controls you can't chose the resolution of the screen. I have a 1920x1080 screen (as does 70% of the world), and it doesn't look like it is running at native resolution; seems like it is not as crisp as it could be, but I could be wrong; maybe Tormach is scaling the graphics.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...psipw4dt1a.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...ps23krchrq.jpg
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
The Exit screen says something like "it's now safe to turn off your machine". In white text on the mostly white Tormach logo. They said it was safe to power off at that point. If not, I've been lucky hundreds of times (also it doesn't force a fsck at boot, suggesting the OS isn't unhappy about the power off)
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
widget_maker
Swapped the dvd drive from the HP to the Tormach MC and it is booting!
How the heck can a dvd be READABLE on a machine yet not boot from it???
Oh well.
Unfortunately, I have seen the same thing as well in the past. Glad you got it up and going!
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Thanks WTO.
I am now having issue with estop. When I first loaded up the OS, I had the X at the limit switch. The lhs of the screen (alert area?) kept stating X at limit switch and would not respond to the "reset". Rebooted - no luck. To be honest I am not sure WHAT I did to finally get some response. I THINK I held the pendant hard to the left with X selected and continuously hit "reset". After reffing the axes, I have had Z go off to the limit switch once too and hang.
I don't know what the heck I'm doing of course., but Mach was always responsive to a reset once a limit switch was tripped.
The other strange thing, I used the conversational programming to do a facing operation in midair, and everything went as expected except that the spindle never ran despite having s 500 in the G code.
Wish I knew what the heck I was doing.... LOL
edit: Arghhh - spindle was set to manual.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
My software installed from the dvd, I went thru the procedure and tried to remove the dvd, it wouldnt operate?? I used a bent wire to pull it out after power down, rebooted and it came up on the screen, this is as far as I have gotten.
I have a question, is the printer plug supposed to be connected to the new mesa card?
There is no mention of it in the instruction sheet.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
widget_maker
Thanks WTO.
I am now having issue with estop. When I first loaded up the OS, I had the X at the limit switch. The lhs of the screen (alert area?) kept stating X at limit switch and would not respond to the "reset". Rebooted - no luck. To be honest I am not sure WHAT I did to finally get some response. I THINK I held the pendant hard to the left with X selected and continuously hit "reset". After reffing the axes, I have had Z go off to the limit switch once too and hang.
I don't know what the heck I'm doing of course., but Mach was always responsive to a reset once a limit switch was tripped.
The other strange thing, I used the conversational programming to do a facing operation in midair, and everything went as expected except that the spindle never ran despite having s 500 in the G code.
Wish I knew what the heck I was doing.... LOL
I wish I could help you more, but my PathPilot shipment hasn't arrived yet. Hopefully someone else here will chime in and help you.
You can double check the parallel cable to make sure its seated properly at both ends, I would make sure to unplug it and plug it back in. Also, make sure to screw in both screws to keep it seated while the machine is moving.
If that doesn't fix it, check to see if you have a ferrite on the cable and make sure it is at the PC end of the cable (this helps with signal interference).
If you still have problems, you might want to power off and reseat your PCI-e card (remove it, make sure contacts are clean and plug it back in).
Most of your problems sound software-related though, so these suggestions may not fix anything, but they definitely shouldn't hurt anything either.
If you still have problems... you might want to call Tormach =) Keep us posted!
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
popspipes
My software installed from the dvd, I went thru the procedure and tried to remove the dvd, it wouldnt operate?? I used a bent wire to pull it out after power down, rebooted and it came up on the screen, this is as far as I have gotten.
I have a question, is the printer plug supposed to be connected to the new mesa card?
There is no mention of it in the instruction sheet.
I believe the new Mesa FPGA card drives all of the output signals, so I would think the parallel cable would definitely need to be connected to the Mesa card not the onboard parallel port (if there is one).
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
I unplugged the printer cable and connected it to the mesa card, I wanted to ask before a machine reset.
I was under the impression mesa card was a replacement for the motherboard printer port?
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Yes with PathPilot, the Mesa card should be a replacement for the printer port. The card itself buffers and offloads the output to the machine to ensure an even more consistent data flow.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
wtopace
Yes with PathPilot, the Mesa card should be a replacement for the printer port. The card itself buffers and offloads the output to the machine to ensure an even more consistent data flow.
Thats what I thought, I will reset the machine and see what happens........
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
popspipes
I have a question, is the printer plug supposed to be connected to the new mesa card?
yes, it does mention it in the draft manual you can download from Tormach's web site.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
reset the machine, ref ed the axes, seems to work smoother than Mach??
I can load a file OK.
I can run the file OK.
I have a problem with the usb stick, I cant figure how to make it go to a list of the files, it has Icons now, this was a right click in windows which brought up a menu??
Im glad I made the parts I needed before installing the new software, there is going to be a bit of a learning curve!
The stop button does stop the program, but I cant rewind it back to the start position?
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
I did run parts of two different programs in air, seems to work OK.
I need a list of programs in the usb stick rather than icons though.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
I looaded Pathpilot on an old dell and the dvd drive wouldnt work after loading the software, couldnt get the dvd back out of the drive.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
The DVD drive was disabled after loading the software.
MDI doesnt work unless a G00 or a G01 is entered first.
USB flash drive, needs a way to select list on the drive.
There are a few little quirks but overall I think it is going to be GREAT!
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Currently (as of my last beta anyway) all you get in the file picker window is icons. I think they are working on it as the early beta people also requested it, but if you want a listing (and I think there needs to be one), let Tormach know via the beta feedback.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Has anyone noticed the issue I had with the limit switches?
Seems like you can't manually run the axes into the limit switches as you could before, as Pathpilot stops at the ref points once they're set, but if you happen to be beyond the ref stop points(as I was prior to the install of PP) then it's very difficult to get the machine reset and manually off the limit switches which was easy before with Mach III.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Concepts_Design
... I'm a bit afraid. not that the software wont work, but because that there is no manual and I'm just learning
There is a draft copy of the manual that is more than sufficient to get started:
http://www.tormach.com/uploads/897/U...A_5-7-pdf.html
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
widget_maker
Has anyone noticed the issue I had with the limit switches?
Seems like you can't manually run the axes into the limit switches as you could before, as Pathpilot stops at the ref points once they're set, but if you happen to be beyond the ref stop points(as I was prior to the install of PP) then it's very difficult to get the machine reset and manually off the limit switches which was easy before with Mach III.
I havent had the problem that you describe yet, I reference and the machine does its thing. I do like the soft limits though, as I seem to turn the jog wheel the wrong way most of the time, now it just does nothing rather than hits the limit switch again.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
widget_maker
Has anyone noticed the issue I had with the limit switches?
Seems like you can't manually run the axes into the limit switches as you could before, as Pathpilot stops at the ref points once they're set, but if you happen to be beyond the ref stop points(as I was prior to the install of PP) then it's very difficult to get the machine reset and manually off the limit switches which was easy before with Mach III.
You should be able to escape this by disabling the limits by in settings, jogging to the middle somewhere, re-enable the limits and then ref all the axis.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Got mine loaded this morning and had the DVD issue. restarted with the disk in and the DVD was working again. Removed the disk and canceled out of an install then restarted. Everything booted fine. I have run it through its paces and the only real issue I've found is it doesn't recognize m98/m99 as a valid m code. Also can't find a place to start a new file.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
I plugged in my memory stick that I normally use to transfer programs, on the second screen it shows up, then click the file you want and copy over to the left window and run it from there, by highlighting the file and click the button that says load file. There is a feature to copy one window to the other, different than windows thats for sure and will take a bit of time to get used to it.
Overall I really like it, especially the fact that it wont, on its own, decide to go down and chew the corners off the vise or some other glorious thing!
It seems to operate more smoothly as well, maybe my imagination??
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Figured out the Subroutine. It's in the draft manual. It looks like they have rewritten the rules. m98/m99 no longer applies although it's still listed in the m codes as an option. CALL, SUB, ENDSUB as well as some others is now the commands. Cutter comp still has a little quirk too. When turning on comp in a straight line movement it still wants to move at an angle to complete the command. If you are dealing with a small area or need to move straight to avoid cutting unwanted material this is a problem.
One good thing is that cutter comp works within subroutines now. A major plus.
Overall I think it's a great improvement from MACH but still a ways to go.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Two little things I noticed.
With Mach when you did a fast jog, by holding down shift, once it started moving you could release shift and it would keep moving at speed until you released the direction key. Don't know if I would call this a fault or not, probably safer this way.
Second one I hope they add in later, on the probing screens I like the new stuff, but I didn't see the routine for squaring your vice. I will miss that one. I hope someone will say it's there, and I just missed it.
Terry
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
popspipes
as I seem to turn the jog wheel the wrong way most of the time, now it just does nothing rather than hits the limit switch again.
I thought I was the only one who had that issue...
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
You can initiate the cutter comp above the part too.. (If that solves the issue)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bryanoates
Cutter comp still has a little quirk too. When turning on comp in a straight line movement it still wants to move at an angle to complete the command. If you are dealing with a small area or need to move straight to avoid cutting unwanted material this is a problem.
Overall I think it's a great improvement from MACH but still a ways to go.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
samco
You can initiate the cutter comp above the part too.. (If that solves the issue)
Yes, this would work in most cases. One place it wouldn't work is if you are working in a T-slot type cut. I've been playing around with it and you can counter act the angle move by adding a movement in that direction with the g41
Example:
G1 G41 Y.5F10.
X-.5
this results in the tool moving in the y direction as well as the x- direction within the first line. To counter act the unwanted x movement I used
G1 G41 Y.5 X.3
X-.5
I just played with the x in the first line until I had a straight Y movement. Sure doesn't act like my HAAS:rolleyes:
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
So far I'm bummed that the file selection from my thumb drive is alphabetical with no way to choose from date. I guess I'll have to get better at placing files in relivent folders. Or maybe these Unix guys have a way.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Dumb question here. I just got my disk today. Does the old mach 3 post i have in Sprut work just fine or do we need an updated post processor?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
tmallard450
Dumb question here. I just got my disk today. Does the old mach 3 post i have in Sprut work just fine or do we need an updated post processor?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I haven't tried to post any code yet but it should work just fine as far as I can see by the code I've written.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
choppero
So far I'm bummed that the file selection from my thumb drive is alphabetical with no way to choose from date. I guess I'll have to get better at placing files in relivent folders. Or maybe these Unix guys have a way.
mine shows up as icons and I prefer a list, the icons take up too much room in the window.
I am looking for cheap small thumb drives and use one for every part or few parts.
I ran an air cut on a long contour part, and no hiccup in the contour that I saw, Mach would stop and start at certain points during the long contour in a random fashion, each time it makes a small hickey in the finish of the part.
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
widget_maker
Swapped the dvd drive from the HP to the Tormach MC and it is booting!
How the heck can a dvd be READABLE on a machine yet not boot from it???
Oh well.
Mine did the same thing. Sounds like you fixed it but there is another solution as well. It isn't that the disk is bad, the problem is that your DVD drive can't read the brand of disk Tormach used to burn the DVDs. This was a fairly common problem in the early days of DVD readers and questionable DVD media. My main computer could read the disk fine, so I created an .ISO image with ImgBurn and then re-wrote it to a new disk. My controller had no problem reading that disk and I was up and running quickly, which was lucky since I didn't have a spare DVD drive handy.
I learn that trick a couple months ago when I needed to use the Tormach recovery disk after a hard drive failure. Same issue - I could read the disk but not boot from it.
Kent
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Re: Anyone Load PathPilot yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
popspipes
mine shows up as icons and I prefer a list, the icons take up too much room in the window.
I am looking for cheap small thumb drives and use one for every part or few parts.
I ran an air cut on a long contour part, and no hiccup in the contour that I saw, Mach would stop and start at certain points during the long contour in a random fashion, each time it makes a small hickey in the finish of the part.
I am going to make new folders on my big thumb drive for the parts I'm going to run and won't have to keep track of a bunch of little drives. And label them alphabetic like a a1 a2 a3