Drivers operating in erratic way

[the great waldo]

Hi John
Before you get a new graphics card you are going to have to check if your computer takes a half height or a full height card.
Cheers
Andrew
Ps Maybe going to windows 10 or backwards to windows 7 (now obsolete but much easier to work with (at least for an old fart like me)) might solve your driver problem !

[John11668]

Hi again to all!
I was actually wondering that and actually wondered if I should go back to 32 bit. This machine is 32 bit and seems to have decent graghics (sufficient to handle UCCNC anyway)
Am I correct that with 32bit I do not need a controller ? I seem to remember that Mach3 would self set up on certain functions with the simple parallel port connection.
There are reasonable computers on Ebay for £80 or so .
So what is best for this task ? It is primarily to run this CNC function
32 0r 64 bit ?
Win 10 or one of the older versions
What do I look for if I want graphics which UCCNC will be happy with?
It would be dead easy to spend a lot of money and still have troubles.

Simple question is "what works best" ?

[the great waldo]

Hi John

If you haven't got a load of programs on the pc I would reinstall the operating system win 10 or 7 and see if the driver problem sorts itself out. I don't think for UCCNC it matters 32 or 64 bit . By the way did you get the registration on the uccnc forum sorted out.
Cheers
Andrew

[John11668]

So a quick report!
Have loaded a new Mach 3 profile which does not seem to help.
I have checked connections and cant find errors , I have even run a new cable to y axis direct from driver to stepper and no improvement .
Havent yet managed to install UCCNC but working on that.

I am beginning to doubt the quality of kit I have , UC100 was obtained from a trusted source but could it have been spiked by other duff gear?
I have had a couple of dubious Breakout boards , How do I know this one is OK?
I have bought drivers from cheap sources as well as trusted sources but how do I know where even the trusted gear is being sourced ????
I did have a failed motor , but all seem to run sweet now ,
But all this kit seems to come from china so how on earth do I know what I am getting? and it is all so fragile anyway so if I get a failure then it is inevitably my own fault cos i must have shorted it ???
Is it worth paying the extra for gecko say? Should I get new motors too and from where ??
This seems to be a satisfying hobby but more than frustrating if things are going wrong.
Rant over

[John11668]

Hi John

If you haven't got a load of programs on the pc I would reinstall the operating system win 10 or 7 and see if the driver problem sorts itself out. I don't think for UCCNC it matters 32 or 64 bit . By the way did you get the registration on the uccnc forum sorted out.
Cheers
Andrew

Got that sorted Andrew , Thanks for your help on that. . But still need to get the graphics sorted to see UCCNC working

[John11668]

Right so!
Heres the latest... I could still see that Y axis appeared to have a mind of its own . Sometimes would go , then it would stop.
Wired the motor direct to the driver with no plug in the line -- No better.
Found that Z axis would jog up , but not down. So changed the driver and that cured that problem.
And lo I now find that Y axis is working fine too WTF
Since then I have run two cam programs , the second quite a long one , with no fault. So why?????
Why should changing the Z driver cure a problem with the Y motion.
I am beginning to think that CNC is a black art which I have yet to master.
I also wonder if I have got some cr@p drivers .
Which drivers would you guys recommend ?
Is it worth paying for Gecko?? Advice appreciated

[Neale]

Being honest Daz I dont really understand the ins and outs.
I was advised by a chap I met at the Alexander palace model show( member of the society of experimental engineers and I understand he was their CNC guru) that in order to run Mach 3 on a 64 bit machine I needed a UC100 . It would not drive even a single stepper when I first tried .
I took his advice and it then worked.
Same gentleman guided me here so his advice seems sound enough.
He may well be reading this thread !

Probably me, although "guru" is putting it a bit strong. Sorry I can't help with UCCNC issues as I have never used it for real, just had a look at the demo version. I have had graphics card issues myself, although installing the latest graphics driver helped the last time this happened. Glad you found this site - great source of help and sounds as if someone is now guiding you.

[John11668]

Hi Neale , and nice to hear from you again. Sorry if you feel that guru is too strong a term (I did not set out to cause embarrassment) but your colleagues on the stand on that day clearly felt you were their specialist , and therefore the man to advise me . I certainly appreciated your advice . Thanks again

While UCCNC will be an interesting sideline for me, the urgency has abated due to the fact that Mach 3 seems to be working for me at the moment.
I still do not fully understand why but I suspect that the quality of Kit was my main Issue, so am keen to explore that topic
I can see that this thread has now run its course, so maybe i need to start a new one for advice on which kit will give me a robust control system .

[John11668]

The first question to ask is it a genuine UC100 from CNCdrive motion controls or was it bought from eBay.?

Next, I've seen this happen many times with various controllers, and often it's a corrupted Mach3 XML. Either create a new profile using the same settings or go into the XML backup folder and use an old one that you know worked. Personally I'd set up a new one.

Or better still invest in UCCNC as it's now much better than Mach3.

I took your advice on this Jazz and was quite happy with what I got until this week .
I lost my licence as a result of a crash and having to reinstall Windows .
UCCNC license disappeared too . I have asked them to resend email and two days later with much discussion on CNCdrive forum I am no further forward .
As I said there it is like buying a new car and finding yourself calling for help from manufacturer then getting ignored .

I am in no way trying to blame you jazz but just noting that while their software looks good their customer support can be second rate .
This seems to be borne out by some reviews .

[JAZZCNC]

I took your advice on this Jazz and was quite happy with what I got until this week .
I lost my licence as a result of a crash and having to reinstall Windows .
UCCNC license disappeared too . I have asked them to resend email and two days later with much discussion on CNCdrive forum I am no further forward .
As I said there it is like buying a new car and finding yourself calling for help from manufacturer then getting ignored .

I am in no way trying to blame you jazz but just noting that while their software looks good their customer support can be second rate .
This seems to be borne out by some reviews .

If you go to your Email server you may still have the email if you didn't delete it.? . . . But this should serve as a lesson to back up to an external source ie: USB stick or offsite drive like Dropbox.!!