[Gareth52]

Hi,
Having got my machine working well, I decided to replace the old computer, which was subject to ill-timed crashes with a new 1. The only things running on this PC are WinXP and Mach3.

When I run the driver test, the pulsing is all over the place. It varies between "too slow", "excellent" and "too fast".
I have tried every possible settig/combinaton for the parallel port in the bios, but the results are the same.

Does anyone have any suggestions please?

Regards
Gareth

[ger21]

What kind of processor is it?

You need to turn off all power saving features.
Also, disable all hardware in the bios that isn't being used.
You also might need to disable ACPI in the bios, which may require re-installing windows.

There's an XP optimization guide on the machsupport site. http://www.machsupport.com/downloads...timization.txt

[neilw20]

And even when you fix the ACPI, DMA interrupts have priority and can still interfere with Mach3 operation.

Is it using Virtual ACPI. Timing latency now can be an issue.

Do you have file indexing on? Disk drive light blinks a lot?

IDE drives, can cause problems. Include DC/DVD even when not being used.
Can you try a SCSI drive?

Some things explained. If nothing, read the last paragraph.
Time

[Gareth52]

Thanks Gerry & Neil,
When I turned off ACPI in the bios the PC would not boot up. I had already disabled all power saving features. I have just printed the optimisation guide that Gerry popinted me to. I'll follow those steps and let you know how Iget on.
One other suggestion that has been made on the Mach3 forum is to employ a secondary parallel port (PCI type). Do you think this might help?

Gareth

[HorridHenry]

This only applys to laptops but you never know?

I heard that Mach3 didn't work properly on lappys because of the low 5volt rail on the parallel port for the BOB.

Do a test of the Parrallel ports 5v rail or try as you said employ a secondary parallel port (PCI type) to see if it cures the problem?

[neilw20]

Want to know how it works, and why. Art is brilliant!

[Gareth52]

Solved it !!!
Thanks for all your help here. I followed the optimisation guide that Gerry put a link to. When I changed the driver from ACPI to standard PC, everything worked fine. Also disabled the sound and interrupt controllers for good measure.
The driver test now reports excellent pulsing.

Thanks again,

Regards,
Gareth

[stonix]

Hi, can you tell me is this ok:
Proc 1,8 GHz
RAM 1 GB

[ger21]

Not sure. At the top, where it says pulses per second, does this vary a lot?
AS mentioned above, try installing windows as standard PC.

[stonix]

Thanx,
Variations are going from 25014,25015, 25016, 25033, 25032... The most frequent are 25015/25032. The oscilations on grapf are uniform, but its not STRAIGHT line?!

I use PC , windows XP, just for cnc, and just essential processes are running.
If its necessary I can attach a video (tomorow)...

[stonix]

I reinstaled XP as standard PC , but "grapf" has not improved, so I purchase another PC and everything is going well.

[Omorali]

Hello Gareth.

I am trying to solve a similar problem but just cannot find the optimization text file; are you able to share please?

Many thanks in advance.