Losing steps/position, again

STUMPED!
Have installed a Startech PCI Ethernet Network Card and crossover cable direct to the AXBB.
It sometimes connects but often wont.
Utility V1.8 also sometimes does not see the AXBB and when it does it all is OK when I test the connection.
UCCNC V1.2111 sometimes connects to the machine and sometimes doesn't and sometimes it wants to start in demo mode.
No anti virus installed and Firewall turned off.
Have tried with onboard network card enabled and disabled and have tried with both my Windows 7 PC (crossover cable only) and with my windows 10 laptop (straight and crossover cable)
Turning off the AXBB for 5 minutes and/or rebooting either PC does not help.
During all the attempts pinging the AXBB does not lose any packets

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doddy

If these are wired in a unipolar manner - which is sounds as though they are... you will need to isolate the centre taps. I appreciate the buggeration that comes with this - and recognise that at this time you're probably trying to keep the machine in a recoverable format (normally I'd just cut/isolate the cable at the stepper), but I understand you may want to be a bit more circumspect. the centre tap will be either to ground or to +V and it'll be causing problems for the driver - certainly your described behaviour I can imagine with the centre taps connected.

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So just to recap the X Axis stepper now uses the 2 pairs of wires that have the highest resistance.

Today I thought while I would do the same with the other two steppers starting with the Y axis. Disconnected the 4 leads from the driver and the resistance on each pair is 2.4 ohm. Opened up the cover at the stepper end and to my surprise there were 6 wires connected (X Axis only had 4) I measured the resitance to find the correct two pairs to use and am now lost. Two pairs (brown/orange and red/yellow) have a resistance of 1.8 ohm and the two purple have a resistance of 0.4. I should say at this point the manufacturer of the stepper is unknown. I don't yet know where the purple wires go but all the unused wires that go to the control cabinet from the umbilical have been disconnected and isolated (at least I thought they had). I will trace the 2 purple wires tomorrow or Saturday.

Two PCs, starting to sound more like a AXBB issue - but that's a very very premature conclusion.

Can you post the results of "ipconfig" from a dos prompt? And are you familiar with Wireshark? - it would be useful to know if the comms to the board is bring routed onto the correct interface... but it's not something that you can pick up in 2 minutes.

I'm hesitant but thinking I could pull my UC300ETH so that you can test your PC against that as a known quantity - just for consistent comms.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ngwagwa

So just to recap the X Axis stepper now uses the 2 pairs of wires that have the highest resistance.

Today I thought while I would do the same with the other two steppers starting with the Y axis. Disconnected the 4 leads from the driver and the resistance on each pair is 2.4 ohm. Opened up the cover at the stepper end and to my surprise there were 6 wires connected (X Axis only had 4) I measured the resitance to find the correct two pairs to use and am now lost. Two pairs (brown/orange and red/yellow) have a resistance of 1.8 ohm and the two purple have a resistance of 0.4. I should say at this point the manufacturer of the stepper is unknown. I don't yet know where the purple wires go but all the unused wires that go to the control cabinet from the umbilical have been disconnected and isolated (at least I thought they had). I will trace the 2 purple wires tomorrow or Saturday.

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...Are you not just measuring the loom resistance in series with the coil resistance?, or have I misunderstood?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doddy

Two PCs, starting to sound more like a AXBB issue - but that's a very very premature conclusion.

Can you post the results of "ipconfig" from a dos prompt? And are you familiar with Wireshark? - it would be useful to know if the comms to the board is bring routed onto the correct interface... but it's not something that you can pick up in 2 minutes.

I'm hesitant but thinking I could pull my UC300ETH so that you can test your PC against that as a known quantity - just for consistent comms.

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Attachment 27942

I disabled the onboard ethernet.

Okay, nothing sinister from the ipconfig, and you've already said that you've rebooted both PC and AXBB. And different cables, and different PCs. I, for one, am running out of ideas.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doddy

Okay, nothing sinister from the ipconfig, and you've already said that you've rebooted both PC and AXBB. And different cables, and different PCs. I, for one, am running out of ideas.

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Doddy are you using a cncdrive motion controller? If so (and providing it's convenient) can you tell me what the activity light does on the controller when the PC is powered up but no software is running? Mine (most of the time) is inactive which I don't think it should be as cncdrive tell me the AXBB broadcasts itself on the network.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doddy

...Are you not just measuring the loom resistance in series with the coil resistance?, or have I misunderstood?

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The 2 readings of 2.4 were pairs from the stepper disconnected from everything else. The 0.4 on the purples I am not sure now as I only disconnected 1 of them so I knew which was which - I will double check the purples and try and trace then tomorrow providing UPS deliver in the morning otherwise it will be Saturday.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ngwagwa

Doddy are you using a cncdrive motion controller? If so (and providing it's convenient) can you tell me what the activity light does on the controller when the PC is powered up but no software is running? Mine (most of the time) is inactive which I don't think it should be as cncdrive tell me the AXBB broadcasts itself on the network.

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Will check later tonight (I've lots of things in bits in the shed that I need to recover before taking more bits apart. But, I have a plan to get the controller out of the bench any way to slave a second machine control cable to it - so will check as you ask.

I have a video, but it's fuzzy and noisy... but if it helps I'll throw it onto YouTube. But, I think I can describe it easily enough:

No comms: Green power light on board, green carrier light as one of the two integrated LEDs on the RJ45 socket.
UCCNC starting up: Blue light on board illuminates. Orange activity light in RJ45 flashes 3-4 times a second, continuously.
UCCNC operating: As above.
UCCNC shutdown: Blue light, and orange light extinguish.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doddy

I have a video, but it's fuzzy and noisy... but if it helps I'll throw it onto YouTube. But, I think I can describe it easily enough:

No comms: Green power light on board, green carrier light as one of the two integrated LEDs on the RJ45 socket.
UCCNC starting up: Blue light on board illuminates. Orange activity light in RJ45 flashes 3-4 times a second, continuously.
UCCNC operating: As above.
UCCNC shutdown: Blue light, and orange light extinguish.

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Thanks so there is a light on next to the RJ45 socket with no comms but it goes off after running and exiting UCCNC?

Sorry, the green light on the board remains on throughout, comms or no comms.

The blue light on the board is on only whilst connected to the software.

This is a UC300ETH, btw, not an AXBB.

Thanks. I have just re-RTFM and found:
The green LED in the RJ45 connector is the 'Link' Led which lights when there is an active
connection to the computer or switch/router. If the green LED is off when the LAN cable is
connected to the computer and the AXBB-E board is powered then there is a physical
connection problem, the cable might be broken or has the wrong pinout.
The orange LED is the 'Activity' LED which lights when packets being received or
transmitted by the device.

And the green light goes off on mine. My parcel is due before 11am tomorrow so I will have another look as I can't say I have seen an orange light BUT probably not looked at it when it has connencted. I have also now got another spare hub to try.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ngwagwa

The 2 readings of 2.4 were pairs from the stepper disconnected from everything else. The 0.4 on the purples I am not sure now as I only disconnected 1 of them so I knew which was which - I will double check the purples and try and trace then tomorrow providing UPS deliver in the morning otherwise it will be Saturday.

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So out of stepper I have 6 wires 2 pairs each with a resistance of 2.4 and two purple wires with a resistance 0.4. The 2 pairs are connected to the drivers and i have (so far) been unable to trace the purple inside the cabinet but they are not connected together and there is no connection between the 2 puple and the other 2 pairs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ngwagwa

So out of stepper I have 6 wires 2 pairs each with a resistance of 2.4 and two purple wires with a resistance 0.4. The 2 pairs are connected to the drivers and i have (so far) been unable to trace the purple inside the cabinet but they are not connected together and there is no connection between the 2 puple and the other 2 pairs.

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I've tried reading around while I'm bored and didn't get very far. All I've got is:
6 wire steppers can be wired Unipolar or Bipolar(series).
My guess is it's in series and NC means not connected?
Attachment 27954

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dazp1976

I've tried reading around while I'm bored and didn't get very far. All I've got is:
6 wire steppers can be wired Unipolar or Bipolar(series).
My guess is it's in series and NC means not connected?
Attachment 27954

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That's the configuration on my X Axis (I found out thanks to JAZZNC and Doddy) it was originally wired A+ to COM and B+ to COM so we changed it as per your diagram.

Thinking the Y and Z axis would be the same I was examining the wires on the Z axis (typo earlier) but all I could find were two pairs with a resistance of 2.4 and the 2 purple with a resistance of 0.4,

Many thanks to everyone especially Doddy and JAZZCNC for all the assistance given and my Denford Router is now much improved with a new 65V power supply, digital drivers, AXBB motion controller with UCCNC at the front end. Along the way I have been introduced and educated in many of the intricacies of CNC control that prior to this were black magic. I am now cutting metal and have only one more piece of the black art to come to grips with which I have posted in the UCCNC section of the Machine Control Software section.

You'll be back! <manical snigger>