[mbm]

Hey guys have had my lathe for about two yrs now, and have been successfuly transferring files since we got everything set correctly. The lathe is 1990 LB 15 with a 5020L controller, I came in saturday to get things set up to run parts Monday morning and now Im getting a 2561 Time Out Error when i try to send from desk top to lathe. I can send from lathe to desk top with no problems, we did all the obvious (cut everything off and restart, unplugged and replugged in transfer cable, and checked cable continuity). Is there anything else I can try or any ideas what might be going on to give me this error. Any help would greatly be apprciated, and thanks in advance!

[mbm]

Help!!!! I verified my baud rate and all settings are correct to what they were. We reseated the plug from serial port to power supply and can still only punch but its not reading. Anyone have any input on my problem?

[dcoupar]

Sounds like the PC isn't sending anything. What are you using for Comm software? Is it set up to wait for the XON from the machine before it sends? How is the cable connected to the PC? (DB9 serial port or USB to serial adapter or ??). Sometimes USB to serial adapters can give you headaches.

If you don't have an RS232 tester, go to Radio Shack and get one. Plug it in to the machine end of the cable but don't plug it into the machine. Send the program from the PC and see if the led on the tester flickers.

[mbm]

Awesome, didnt know about the tester thanks. We are using Cimco software and a DB9 serial connection to PC, as far as the XON before it sends I cant honestly answer that one, just dont know. But i can tell ya we have two machines machines we transfer to,we can still succesfully transfer to the mill. Thats all done from the same PC,Last nite I tried my lathe plug in the PC port the mill uses to transfer and same results. I can punch but not read, and up until saturday I had probably transferred 100 times to my lathe with no troubles.If the tester says its getting to the machine end of the plug then it has to be in the machine correct?

[dcoupar]

You don't plug/unplug the RS232 cable while the machine's powered up do you? I've heard Okumas don't like that.

[OkumaWiz]

Sounds like the PC isn't sending anything. What are you using for Comm software? Is it set up to wait for the XON from the machine before it sends? How is the cable connected to the PC? (DB9 serial port or USB to serial adapter or ??). Sometimes USB to serial adapters can give you headaches.

If you don't have an RS232 tester, go to Radio Shack and get one. Plug it in to the machine end of the cable but don't plug it into the machine. Send the program from the PC and see if the led on the tester flickers.

He's right, if you get a timeout error, the machine is looking for data, but not getting any. I suspect that a setting changed on your PC side and that it is not being triggered to send by the XON/XOFF. This can also occur if you hit send on the PC before the machine has had the READ button pressed.

Some PC software can have the echo turned on to see if the data is being sent. You may want to try that as well as the tester, but the tester is better.

Best regards,

[mbm]

Going to try to get a tester today and no I made sure the machine was off when i reseated the plug. Also Okumawiz i checked all my communication settings, They all checked correctly to what I originally copied down when I first got machine to communicate. Hope this isnt a stupid ? but is there anything on the PC itself that could change. Something besides communication software settings.

[OkumaWiz]

Going to try to get a tester today and no I made sure the machine was off when i reseated the plug. Also Okumawiz i checked all my communication settings, They all checked correctly to what I originally copied down when I first got machine to communicate. Hope this isnt a stupid ? but is there anything on the PC itself that could change. Something besides communication software settings.

Not a stupid question at all. There are lots of things in PC's that can screw up your communications. Are you using a special board for communicating? Are there drivers for the board that have been updated or replaced? Have you done any software updates recently that may have affected your output ports? Have you added any other peripherals that are using the output ports? Any of these could screw you up.

PC's are PC's they are typically less reliable than your Okumas are. Try talking to your Okumas with a different PC that you know works - say a friends laptop for example. That would at least get you pointed in the right direction. (which is what the tester will do as well).

I've had plenty of shops claim their machine didn't work that I plugged my laptop into and had the machine work perfectly. Not much doubt at that point where the problem is.

Best of luck troubleshooting,

[mbm]

Ok, got my tester this morning and heres what i can tell ya. When I READ the received lite on tester came on and went off, plugs at machine end of cable. However when i PUNCH the Transmit Data,Clear to send,Data Terminal ready lites come on and stays on. I was thinking the lites should go out when transmission is over,but the file is tranfered to PC. Even if I unplug tester and plug back in they stay lit, Its almost like the okuma is hung up in PUNCH mode. But then again that is just a guess on my part, any ideas on this?

[Superman]

Silly question, but it should be asked...

Is there a % on the last line in the file to tell the control to close the file and to stop recieving any more transmission data ?

Some software can add this "break" code at the end just in case it is missing in the file

[mbm]

Yes got my % symbol in place. Really nothing has changed, no added software or updates of any kind.