[wvafmid]

After power down of our okuma mc-4va, we have put the power back on and tried to start up the control panel. Everthing lights up, but when loading the *.pol files it somehow stops at one of the *.pol files. Does any one have an idea what maybe the problem? Or knows what *.pol files are for, and maybe which *.pol file is used for what?

[Algirdas]

It is not related to system files, most likely. check your power sequence. Circuit breakers, +24V power supplies. It happens faults in OSP power on sequence components (wired to green= PON button).
is it OSP5020M ?

[wvafmid]

Thank you for your reply, by the way it's an osp 5000M control.

I have checked all the circuit breaker I could find and they are all ok
I have also checked the power supply of the okuma power supply and this seems to be ok.
on all the axis drives there are two green lights.

I don't excalty understand what you when with (wired to green= PON button), but if you mean the green light next to the power on button.
this lights up on power up(main switch) and goes off when i press the power on button.

Some more information, the pol file on which the loading stops is ECSPC-0046-3B28.POL

Another odd thing is on the control card rack above the okuma power supply(I believe there are some I/O card in there),the cards starting with an I- have some red leds on and the cards starting with 0-Tr have none of the red lights on.
Maybe these inputs or outputs don't receive a power supply

[Algirdas]

Power supply sequence must be correct if axis drives are powered already.
There is "Power On" sequence devices inside OSP. "Power On" button with light. It's OK from Your words

the cards starting with 0-Tr have none of the red lights on

this could be indication of fault. try just take away some cards out from the rack. Be carefull.

[wvafmid]

Again tank you for your reply,

i have tried taking out the cards, one by one. but this makes no difference.

[OkumaWiz]

The POL files are Parameter On Loading files. They are the files that contain all of your parameter back ups. I believe that specific file has to do with the electrical control specifications, but I'm not the software expert as far as file names go and what they contain. It may be possible for the corrupted file to be replaced without losing too much else, but it may be easier to try a software reload provided you are backed up properly, since the file replacement is rather involved and requires getting past the level 2 protection on the file...

Do you get any errors on the screen when it stops or does it just freeze?

Best regards,

[wvafmid]

We have the orginal disk of the machine, and the machine is equipped with a disk drive but i have never reloaded the software into the machine.
Do you have the instructions of how to reload the software, or to get just the corrupted file replaced.

Futhermore, the machine just stops loading and does not give any errors. We have tried to leave it on for a few hours but this did not work.

[Algirdas]

instructions of how to reload the software

Could be specific for your machine. Read manual. Check if You have a panel (must be under cover for this control) with switches "INIT", "RST", "SW" or something like that? Could be on tape reader panel. So, try that: "SW" on and then power on the machine. Menu with installation, backup choice must appear on screen. Try other tumbler, if not.
You put software diskette into disk drive after "install" choice and that's it generally saying.
It will not be so easy, however, if You don't have access to manual of this control.
Have never seen that software fits to single diskette for this control. It's a paper tape as usual, and that's other story about re-installation from Tape Reader.

[OkumaWiz]

After making sure you have good backup, install new software, because new software initializes memory and all is lost. The manuals do not go into software reload procedures like AL is guessing, so going from my personal carbon based ram with a weak battery, this is what I recall:

In the back of your machine there is an install switch. Put the Disk#1 into the drive, turn on the switch and then push the system reset button. Installation software loads from disk. You can then follow screen prompts walking your way through all the disks. When finished, turn off load switch, remove last disk, and system reset again. Machine will boot with new software and you can start from scratch reloading programs ,tool offsets, fixture offsets, etc.

This may not fix your problem if it is hardware, but if it is software it should take care of it.

If you do not have a good backup, replacing only the file that is corrupt is the better option since you should be able to recover at least some of your data.

Best regards,

[wvafmid]

I have found the load mode switch and also the load start and system reset buttons.
but when I turn on the load switch and press system reset, the screen gives "loading tape wait", but nothing happens.

I have tried to put the original floppy into the machine and the two red led of the floppy drive come up, but still nothing happens.

Together with the floppy disk there are two punched tapes named:
MZMEI-04-D.mlo
ECBKC-0000-3b14.mlo


I don't recall exactly, but don't i need this one of these punched tapes to install the floppy drive?

[underthetire]

Did you press load start at that screen?

[OkumaWiz]

Yikes! Is this an old green screen with the 8 inch floppy drive? If that is the case then I do believe that you need to start with the tapes. I wasn't playing with mills til the 5000m-g so the tapes for software are just b4 my time.

Best regards,

[wvafmid]

Yes it is one with a green screen, so it is an old timer.
Do you have any idea how it works with the tape reader?
Which tape do i have to use?

[wvafmid]

First i have changed the cable from the disk drive from igf to nc, after this I have started the machine in load mode.
Then i was able to use the tape reader and ran both the tapes.
after loading the tapes, it asked for the floppy drive so put in the floppy and it started to load all of the *.pol files
the floppy was loaded, the screen gave that the load was succesful.

Then i have switched the back from load mode and reset the control, but problem still is the same that it stop loading
at ECSPC-0046-3B28.POL

[OkumaWiz]

Congrats on the successful load!

Now that we have proven its not software, it's time to troubleshoot your EC boards. Check them for error indicating lights and if multiple boards compare lights for odd board. If you have another machine with same control, swap it with odd board making sure of dip switch settings. Your maintenance manuals should have indicator descriptions.

[wvafmid]

By EC board you mean the cards inside the CPU?

I have looked at these cards before and i didn't see any strange lights, but i will check again?
We still have an old okuma lr-10 which i believe has the same control system, if the cards have the same code can i swap them?
Do I need to reload the software if i have swaped cards?

Futhermore as i mentioned before in one of my threads, there is something strange that the cards above the power unit.
All cards starting with an I have some red lights on, but cards starting with an 0 don't have any lights on.
i think these cards are I/0 cards where the I stands for input cards and the 0 stand for output cards.

Do you know if these outputscards will be powered up after machine has loaded properly or do they start to work on power up?
If they strat to work on power up, then maybe there is something wrong with the EC board controlling these output cards.

Do you know which EC-board is controlling the outputcards? is this card somehow related to the ECSPC-0046-3B28.POL file?

[underthetire]

Output cards will not initialize until the control comes up. That's normal. Please check the drive units, I believe the control halts if it doesn't see the drives at that file.

[wvafmid]

The X,Y,Z driver cards, all give two green lights. I believe this is normal and ok.
Therefore i think the first thing to check is the cpu board which is connected to the drives.
is there an indication on the spindle if it is OK?

[underthetire]

Depends on what spindle drive you have. Maybe start posting pictures of what you have? I have run in to a similar problem on a old LB with a green screen once. That one had a broken wire wound choke on one of the CPU boards. A little solder and rtv to stick it back down and the machine is still running 10 years later.

[OkumaWiz]

Your lathe boards should work in you mill if controls are the same. You will not need to reload software to test. You must make sure any dip switch settings match old board to new board. Only swapping the main CPU board requires software reload. I would suggest watching lights on power up sequence on working lathe before removing anything to observe status lights and proper operation. Then perform swap one at a time.

Best regards,