Troubleshooting non responsive machine- Mach3/Syil x4

[paulus.v]

You said in your first post that
you have:
-replaced the pc (was on it way out anyway)
-checked the ports configured

Did you actually checked that the Port Address of your new pc parallel port matches the one you set in Mach3 (0x378)?

[JAZZCNC]

Don't know if this as been asked but did you install Mach3 and the parallel port driver or just copy across your old Mach3 folder.?

[IhateDoug]

Don't know if this as been asked but did you install Mach3 and the parallel port driver or just copy across your old Mach3 folder.?

I bought the pc off a computer guy, he set it up with Mach 3 before giving it to me so I’m unsure - in saying that Mach3 shows up in the device manager if that’s an indication of the driver being installed- I mite reinstall Mach 3 just to be sure


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[Doddy]

Don't know if this as been asked but did you install Mach3 and the parallel port driver or just copy across your old Mach3 folder.?

Wow. Jazz may have just jumped back in from obscurity to save the day.

OP/Mitch. For information. I was playing this morning with an old XP machine that I'd been previously using with Mach3 and an ethernet motion controller. I was having exactly the behaviour that you described during my diatribe yesterday - no response from Mach3 to any of the parallel port settings. Using both a DMM and oscilloscope I could get no joy from the parallel port, even though Mach3 was configured for parallel port interface.

I've now re-installed Mach3, ensuring that I included the parallel port driver. Immediately there's life in the system. I can measure the X-DIR signal alternating between 0 and 3.3V (note, not 5V.... I'd turned the printer port from Bi-Directional to EPP mode in the computer BIOS, in doing so the signal level on the parallel port changed from 5V logic to 3.3V logic).

Ignoring the e-stop (as OP described - it can't be obviously disabled - but you can set the port# to 0 which looks to effectively disable it) - I can short pin 17 to pin 11 (configure that for e.g. X-Home) and confirm on diagnostic page that I can toggle this with left/right control.

To summarise - even though the parallel port may be selected within Mach3, unless you install the parallel port driver - my experience is that you're on a hiding to nothing.

[IhateDoug]

Wow. Jazz may have just jumped back in from obscurity to save the day.

OP/Mitch. For information. I was playing this morning with an old XP machine that I'd been previously using with Mach3 and an ethernet motion controller. I was having exactly the behaviour that you described during my diatribe yesterday - no response from Mach3 to any of the parallel port settings. Using both a DMM and oscilloscope I could get no joy from the parallel port, even though Mach3 was configured for parallel port interface.

I've now re-installed Mach3, ensuring that I included the parallel port driver. Immediately there's life in the system. I can measure the X-DIR signal alternating between 0 and 3.3V (note, not 5V.... I'd turned the printer port from Bi-Directional to EPP mode in the computer BIOS, in doing so the signal level on the parallel port changed from 5V logic to 3.3V logic).

Ignoring the e-stop (as OP described - it can't be obviously disabled - but you can set the port# to 0 which looks to effectively disable it) - I can short pin 17 to pin 11 (configure that for e.g. X-Home) and confirm on diagnostic page that I can toggle this with left/right control.

To summarise - even though the parallel port may be selected within Mach3, unless you install the parallel port driver - my experience is that you're on a hiding to nothing.

So I uninstalled then reinstalled Mach 3 and installed the parallel driver.

When I started Mach 3 and pressed the rest button - the warning appeared that basically says you estop is on - I pressed ok then pressed the reset button again and the warning appeared again.
I then went into ports and pins and and changed the estop from active low.
Then pressed reset again and no warning appeared however the machine still has no life nor does estop in the diagnostics screen


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[Doddy]

Let's test that the inputs into the parallel port are being read correctly by Mach3.

Use a jumper to short from pin 25 (GND) to pin 10 - on the PC's parallel port...



On the diagnostic page...



Move to 25->11



25->12:-



25->13:-



25->15 (NOTE: skip 14 - that's an output!, not input):-



Confirm that behaviour then we're confident that the parallel port inputs are able to be monitored by Mach3.

[Doddy]

If that works, short the X-DIR pin to one of the inputs, for example I shorted 17 to 13...



Now, by using the cursor left/right and verifying the change in the "X Pos" on the diagnostic screen, I can toggle the state of the pin 13 LED. This verifies that the Mach3 X-Axis Direction output can be set correctly by Mach3. Note, I'm ignoring the X-Step signal because this is a very short duration pulse that won't be shown on the LED status on the diagnostic page.

Ignoring the Step signal - which is critical to this, but noting the difficulty in measuring it. If the X-DIR signal and X-Step signal work then the X-Axis of the machine when plugged in should work and should be under user control with the Cursor Keys. If not, then we move to the Syil.

[IhateDoug]

If that works, short the X-DIR pin to one of the inputs, for example I shorted 17 to 13...



Now, by using the cursor left/right and verifying the change in the "X Pos" on the diagnostic screen, I can toggle the state of the pin 13 LED. This verifies that the Mach3 X-Axis Direction output can be set correctly by Mach3. Note, I'm ignoring the X-Step signal because this is a very short duration pulse that won't be shown on the LED status on the diagnostic page.

Ignoring the Step signal - which is critical to this, but noting the difficulty in measuring it. If the X-DIR signal and X-Step signal work then the X-Axis of the machine when plugged in should work and should be under user control with the Cursor Keys. If not, then we move to the Syil.

The ‘m2Home’ led turns on and off


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[IhateDoug]

Let's test that the inputs into the parallel port are being read correctly by Mach3.

Use a jumper to short from pin 25 (GND) to pin 10 - on the PC's parallel port...



On the diagnostic page...



Move to 25->11



25->12:-



25->13:-



25->15 (NOTE: skip 14 - that's an output!, not input):-



Confirm that behaviour then we're confident that the parallel port inputs are able to be monitored by Mach3.

Normal


10


11


12


13


15



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[m_c]

You said in your first post that
you have:
-replaced the pc (was on it way out anyway)
-checked the ports configured

Did you actually checked that the Port Address of your new pc parallel port matches the one you set in Mach3 (0x378)?

What OS does the new PC run?

Anything newer than Win7, (aka 8.x or 10), and anything 64bit, won't work with the parallel port.