You could try this method:

http://xkcd.com/627/

:whistling:

School had a Roland PNC2300A, but after I'd gone the stepper driver (as you described - lots of menus) broke, so they just dismantled it for parts ... such a waste as it could easily have ran from a cheap Chinese board and mach3. Was a very useful machine ... my friend even cut Titanium on it!