Hi Jazz,

Thank you for the detailed reply. I really appreciate it.

I did wonder why the BoB was so bare. When I turned it over to look at the pins a lot of them were not connected to anything. My only concern was that the BoB I have does not have any protection (from what I can see) for the PC. I think all it does it makes connection easier. And some of them look to need a 5V power supply which threw me off!

My problem with the software is probably due to my work running all sorts of virus/network software which causes conflicts often. But hopefully I will have a dedicated Win 7 machine running all the software for the gantry. But I will look into Linux as it might be easier to integrate with some of our other software.

My other question was with the stepper driver device. I have powered it from the main power supply and then connected the motor. Remaining on the controller was Pul +, Pul -, Dir +, Dir -, and En +, En -. Do you happen to have a good source of info I could look at regarding how to wire this end of the system up? This evening I have ended up reading all about the input signals for a stepper motor but I fear I might be going into more detail that I need. And then you end up feeling lost!

Again, thank you for the help, it's really nice of you.

Rob