stepper motors glitching

[Lee Roberts]

Hi,

It dose say on the MACH website:

Minimum Requirements:

• Non-integrated Video Card with 32MB RAM

However I think this is from the old days and providing you have got enough RAM in the box shouldn’t give you a problem after all it is the minimum specs.


Something that maybe worth trying (as you can leave them running and come back) is some system stress test software's. This will max the PC out for hours and report back to you how it did, I think if you are running an integrated graphics card then I would look at running a memory testing program just to be sure the RAM is ok, memtest86+ I use here on new builds and with it being an older system....let me know if you need a download link for this. The system stress test software i use is called Prime.

I would consider removing AVG as well, if your other system has got an antivirus on it then you could just use a USB pen drive to move files about, I understand though as internet access/ local LAN is handy to have if everything is working ok.

[routercnc]

Hi Lee,

I did some more testing last night, and got the PC spec.

Processor AMD Athlon XP 2600
RAM 1.5Gb
Graphics card FX5200 128MB ram (i.e. not built-in)
MB Asus A7N8X Deluxe Gold
Windows XP SP3

A few years old, but plenty good enough!

Checked the output of the Parallel port directly and still got glitches on the scope.

Then disabled the PCI parallel port and got clean pulses from the main port! Quickly hooked up the steppers and got clean runs - for about 20 seconds, then the glitches came back. The allegro chips all got quite warm on the drivers, even though the current is limited to 1A. System3 is an all in one board, and for these tests it is out in the open. Shouldn't be overheating surely? Thinking about heatsinks and direct fans on chips to see if this helps (case has general exit fan).

I might need to remove AVG to see if that helps, but the chip heating needs to be checked out a bit more first.

Thanks
Barry

[John S]

Try this.

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/system...cAnalyzer.aspx

and check the BIOS is set to EPP

[routercnc]

Hi irving2008,

Looks like I did not create an ISO. Am reading about those so I can try again.

John,
Downloaded the analyser and tried it briefly. The graphical output showed some red pulses, but they were all in a block. I need to play with that a bit more, but my Wife is getting upset with the amount of hours (days!) I'm putting into this.

Started again with a clean install this morning, following the Mach3 windows optimisation steps. Disabled everything on the list (sound, gone back to classic, switched off auto updates etc.etc.). Switched to 'standard PC' in hardware.
Still glitches.

In BIOS have disabled: game port, midi port, AC97 audio controller, onboard lan (nvidia), onboard lan (3com) 1394, serial port1, serial port2
Parallel port is set to: 378/IRQ7
Still glitches.

Then went through all the parallel port options in BIOS: ECP+EPP DMA3, EPP, ECP DMA1, ECP DMA3, SPP, ECP+EPP.
Still glitches.

Then in Mach3 traversed at various speeds (since I noticed that 1500mm/min did not glitch since this fresh install). Noticed that: 50,300,500,700 mm/min all glitched. 1200 mm/minute occasionally glitched. 1500mm/min never glitches, nor does 2500mm/min. 3500mm/minute makes the motor sound unhappy (but not glitching). Cutting at 1500mm/minute is not possible, so this is not a solution but may point to the answer.

I hooked up the scope to the system3 boards whilst it was running, onto pin3 and earth. At 1500mm/min (when there is no glitching), the scope does not give a steady spacing between pulses and is very inconsistant. I can no longer rely on the scope and need to use the motors as a glitch guide.

I'm beginning to think there is a fault with the MB (or parallel port). Even used on ebay this spec of board (ASUS A7N8X) still is quite expensive. What MB are people successfully using Mach3 with?

Thanks for your patience !!
Barry

[routercnc]

Update,

Installed ISO recorder into windows xp, and created a proper boot disc for Ubuntu and EMC2. Installed this onto a reformatted second HDD. I ran the latency test and got max jitter servo thread of 6983, and max jitter base thread of 7541. These are similar to the results in the EMC2 manual, so assume are OK.

I then ran EMC2 using the 'stepper mm' profile. Unfortunately this also glitched the motors!

I then tried the profile which sends the stepper pulses to the speaker (nice feature). This also glitched. I attempted to record this into another computer using 'windows sound recorder', so I could post this and do some analysis on it, but got the windows error about not enough memory. Microsoft say this is a problem on machines with more than 2GB (this other machine has 4GB), but do not offer a fix.

Anyway, later today I switched on the CNC PC and tried Linux again, but system will not get past POST with 'NTLDR is missing' error. Tried lots of things but can't get past this. PC obviously thinks there is a problem with the boot or root directory of the Linux HDD.

Went back to Windows XP and added a PCI parallel port, added the driver, and configured Mach3 to this port. Motor rotated, but still glitched. Glitches are still happening at <900mm/min or so, but not >1500mm/min. This test probably means the built-in parallel port is OK.

So in summary:
Fresh install XP, optimised computer (all drivers updated, standard PC, minimal hardware enabled etc.): this helped and glitches only occur <1500mm/min
Brand new replacement driver system3 board from Roy - glitches
Mach3 using PCI parallel port (Moschip) instead of built in port - glitches

Fresh install on reformatted HDD of Linux and EMC2 - glitches
Linux and EMC2 output to speaker - glitches

This all suggests it is the motherboard (ASUS A7N8X Deluxe Gold), or MB chipset. I would welcome information on successful MB & chipset combinations which work with Mach3 (or EMC2), what are other people using?

Also, been reading about smoothstepper. Since this takes the timing away from the PC, do you think this would help?

Thanks
Barry

[irving2008]

Update,

Installed ISO recorder into windows xp, and created a proper boot disc for Ubuntu and EMC2. Installed this onto a reformatted second HDD. I ran the latency test and got max jitter servo thread of 6983, and max jitter base thread of 7541. These are similar to the results in the EMC2 manual, so assume are OK....

Anyway, later today I switched on the CNC PC and tried Linux again, but system will not get past POST with 'NTLDR is missing' error. Tried lots of things but can't get past this. PC obviously thinks there is a problem with the boot or root directory of the Linux HDD.

Barry

NTLDR missing is a Windows boot error, means that the PC has a Windows master boot sector trying to find NTLDR on the disc... suggests your dual boot setup is not right, or corrupted