[smithy2167]

A friend recently obtained a Hitachi Seiki 3NE 300 lathe which uses a Fanuc 6T/B controller. He has found several of the manuals for it, but we seem to be missing the vital one on how to download and edit programs.

We've spent several weeks trying to download a program from a PC without success. Through trial and error (getting Alarms 085 and 087), we found what we think are the right comm port settings (4800 / Even / 1 stop).

Then, after one particular aborted download, we got an error saying that program memory was corrupt (Alarm 101) which required a full reset to clear (holding down Delete and Reset while powering up). I'm pretty sure that did not clear the machine parameters, as there's a Protect switch on the motherboard to stop that happening. However, now every time we try to download something, the display brings up ALM without any alarm number, and we have to cycle the power to clear it.

I've tried communicating with it using a terminal program on the PC and manually typing stuff in. If I first press Enter, LSK goes out (OK). The next character, whatever it is, causes the ALM.

Is there something that needs to be done following the Full Reset to get the comms going again?

Anyone have any hints as to what to try next?

Regards,
Dave.

[Dan Fritz]

There is no manual on this that I know of, but here are a few things to try:

First of all, your parameters:
If this is a Fanuc 6T model "A", it will have only one plug under the little "flapper door", and the parameters will only go up to number 160 or so. If it's a 6T-A, these are the parameters to set for 4800 baud, 1 stop-bit:

Parameter 024: Bit on FAR RIGHT must be "0" (all others don't matter)
Parameter 025: 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 (this is the baudrate setting for 4800 baud)
Parameter 026: Bit on the FAR LEFT must be "0" (all others don't matter)

If you have a 6T-B, you will have TWO plugs under the little flapper-door, one of which is a blue plastic Honda plug for the Facit 4070 tape puncher, and the other will be a standard 25-pin female RS232 plug. The 6T-B also has parameters in the 300 and up range.

on a 6T-B:

Parameter 311: 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 (4800 baud, 1 stop-bit)
Parameter 340: 2
Parameter 341: 2
On the SETTING page:
TVON = 0
PUNCH CODE = 1
INPUT DEVICE 1 = 0
INPUT DEVICE 2 = 1

If you have a program in the Fanuc memory, try sending that to a PC first. Get the PC ready to receive data at 4800 baud, 7 data bits, 1 stop-bit, Even parity. Then, go to the Fanuc and put it into EDIT mode, key in the program's O-number, then press the PUNCH key. You should see good data come in on the PC. If you don't then there is something wrong with the cable, the port on the PC, or the port on the Fanuc. You'll have to diagnose this problem further before you will be able to send data the other way.

To go to the Fanuc, set your PCs software to send the file using Xon/Xoff handshaking and get the file ready to go. Then, on the Fanuc, turn the memory protect key switch off, put the control into EDIT mode, key in an O-number (if there isn't one in the file) and press the READ key.

The Fanuc will blink LSK until it sees the first LF (Line-feed) character. If the software on your PC doesn't send the data when you press READ on the Fanuc, you may have to force the software on the PC to send. Not all simple terminal programs begin sending when the Fanuc issues an Xon.

An expected alarm on the Fanuc is 087 (buffer overflow). If you get this, then your software isn't stopping fast enough when the Fanuc's buffer gets full and sends an Xoff. To fix this, you may have to go into the Windows Control panel and make some settings. Let us know what version of Windows you have so we can help you further with this.

Good luck!

[smithy2167]

Thanks for your comprehensive reply, Dan

It's an "A" model (I wrongly said "B" originally).

All the parameters and settings match what you have said.

We managed to manually enter a program. When we try to send it to the PC (set to 4800/7/1/E), nothing happens and the controller has to be power-cycled to get control back. Does the PC need to send XON or anything to start the transfer?

The PC is running Win98 and using HyperTerm to talk to the FANUC. It's set for VT100 emulation, with LF appended to lines. It seems that something is getting to the FANUC because, as I said, I can get LSK to extinguish. However, the next character causes ALM with no alarm number - what does ALM without a number mean?

It seems to be pointing towards a problem with the serial port (or cable). We did remove the serial board at one stage to see if there were any jumpers identifying what baud rate etc. Perhaps something has become dislodged/deranged. Are there any diagnostics for checking the serial port?

Is it possible to get a Service Manual for such an old machine?

Regards,
Dave

[Dan Fritz]

When the Fanuc is trying to send data, only one thing can stop it: The Fanuc can't send data if pin 5 (the Clear to Send signal, or CTS) is not on. Normally, pin 5 from the Fanuc is either wired to the RTS signal on the PC side (pin 7 on a 9-pin PC plug) or pin 5 is just jumpered to pin 4 (RTS) on the Fanuc. Please verify that pin 5 on the Fanuc is either jumpered to pin 4 on the Fanuc, or that it's wired to pin 7 on the PC side.

Make sure that when you're typing characters into the HyperTerm program that you're not entering lower-case letters. The Fanuc can only recognize upper case letters, numbers, and selected punctuation marks, like the decimal point, forward-slash, open/close parentheses, etc.

If this is an early model 6T-A, you may have some pretty buggy Fanuc software. Do you have a CRT ? Some early 6T-As had the old fashoned LED panel instead of a CRT. Also, the software edition and version numbers are displayed for a few seconds on power-up. Let us know what numbers those are. For example: 992 V07 (or) 994 V04 etc. The first number is the series, the second number is the version. If you have a CRT, power up the control and let the CRT warm up. Then, turn it off, then back on within 10 seconds or so. You'll be able to see the software numbers that way. Otherwise, the numbers disappear before the CRT lights up.