[jk677]

Hi,
Can anyone with the latest Tormach machine controller pop the cover off and confirm what the motherboard is?

I believe it is a discontinued intel DG41AN mini-itx, socket 775??

Just wondering what you would do if it failed after warrenty..and you needed to replace it.

[red triangle]

I suppose I would buy another controller from Tormach (who would hopefully be working on a suitable replacement right now). Mach 3 is also going to have to modernize in a couple of years since XP is no longer supported. Not sure how much longer they will offer it for OEM use, or for that matter, how many chip sets and motherboards will run with it.....reliably.....Would be nice to see either a stand alone system; ala, Hurco (which wouldn't be hard) or something that can work without loosing steps while all interrupts are open (allowing us to use the machine reliably while internet browsing or listening to podcasts at the same time). I have 3 computers in the house/shop with dedicated single functions and 3 others for general use........ I am constantly building/rebuilding computers. I purchased Tormach's computer since I remember building a computer from an ancient part pile in the mechanical engineering IT office during university, that had (absolutely had to) run on DOS for a project due to being able to shut off all interrupts except the one concerned with applying platinum to varying degrees to a proton exchange membrane....... anyway. I'm sure Tormach has you covered. I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you buy the controll comp from Tormach, don't run anything else on it, keep it clean and ventilated, It should be good for about 8 to 10 years (not running 24/7).

If you are looking into buying into a Tormach system, just get their controller (unless you are fairly experienced in building antiquated computing platforms). I hear about too many problems from people who roll their own or just use their own setup. I dont even think the modern BIOS platforms allow for the user to shut off interrupts and all the other stuff that can get in the way of running a single function computer (yes, I know XP can not technically be single function, but it does work better for single function than the newest batch of OSs).

Not a computer geek, just live in seattle; and all my neighbors are.....

[bevinp]

Good post. And a nice place to live, even with the geeks.

It is a pity that the terms Geek, Hacker and Nerd are derogatory, when in fact those so labelled can be very logical and more significantly, innovative. It should be their motivation or purpose that should be criticised. Are they being destructive, immoral or illegal? But if computers are anything, it is they are dumbly logical, and the inventiveness is with those who program them.

[BAMCNC.COM]

All you care about is the hard drive and drivers.... Who cares what motherboard it has, mine has been altered with faster and more ram because it (Tormach PC) doesn't come with enough RAM. My previous PC was a souped up gaming PC, its ran fine aswell, playing YouTube Vids and drawing in CAD all while running the mill. Anit-virus equals death, mill or not, don't waste your time they are the culprits to most issues you *might* have.

[jk677]

I have tried several motherboards and all have 3.3v parallel ports; read you need 5v output.

Is anyone willing to confirm the Tormach motherboard and its parallel port voltage?

[Moggot]

I have tried several motherboards and all have 3.3v parallel ports; read you need 5v output.

Is anyone willing to confirm the Tormach motherboard and its parallel port voltage?

I'll be happy to once my mill is done for the day.

Have you considered using a PCI based parallel port add on card? I know nothing about them, but given that the parallel port is going the way of the dinosaur it seems prudent to start learning. I'll be pretty disappointed if in, say 10 years, my mill is out of commission for lack of a controller PC with a specific port and no real options!

[BAMCNC.COM]

I would assume Tormach would eventually come out with a "real" control, atleast take another look at smoothstepper.

[sperman]

My machine is a little over a year old. The motherboard is an Intel DG41AN.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/...rd-dg41an.html

[jk677]

My machine is a little over a year old. The motherboard is an Intel DG41AN.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/...rd-dg41an.html

Thanks for that!

[Moggot]

My machine is a little over a year old. The motherboard is an Intel DG41AN.

Intel® Desktop Board DG41AN

Mine is also a DG41AN. The date code suggests it was made sometime early 2012.

[wwendorf]

All you care about is the hard drive and drivers.... Who cares what motherboard it has, mine has been altered with faster and more ram because it (Tormach PC) doesn't come with enough RAM. My previous PC was a souped up gaming PC, its ran fine aswell, playing YouTube Vids and drawing in CAD all while running the mill. Anit-virus equals death, mill or not, don't waste your time they are the culprits to most issues you *might* have.

Actually, you should care about the motherboard. They are not all created equal. The ram that Tormach provides is more than sufficient if you use the PC as intended, a controller for the Tormach. If you start adding programs to it, then the memory is not sufficient. But, again, their controller is just intended as a controller. And it works very well toward that end even doing full 4th axis machining.

I have a different PC in my shop just for doing that other stuff, and I never connect my controller pc to the internet.

Wade

[BAMCNC.COM]

I know they are not all created equal, I use to build computers... Odds of you finding a PC with a motherboard that won't run Mach are slim now-a-days(with parallel port) which is why I stated it doesn't really matter. I am not putting my personal opinion of "what is best" on here. To many variables with not enough real information, you can believe its enough ram but when you edit things like kernel speed, look ahead, etc etc it *may* still be enough, but why risk something when its cheap and easy to upgrade RAM? I'm not a person to just "live with things" nothing I own is "stock"

[kevinro]

It is a pity that the terms Geek, Hacker and Nerd are derogatory, when in fact those so labelled can be very logical and more significantly, innovative. It should be their motivation or purpose that should be criticised. Are they being destructive, immoral or illegal? But if computers are anything, it is they are dumbly logical, and the inventiveness is with those who program them.

In and around Seattle, being Geek, Nerd, and even Hacker is a term of respect and pride. There are a lot engineers per capita here.

[wwendorf]

I know they are not all created equal, I use to build computers... Odds of you finding a PC with a motherboard that won't run Mach are slim now-a-days(with parallel port) which is why I stated it doesn't really matter. I am not putting my personal opinion of "what is best" on here. To many variables with not enough real information, you can believe its enough ram but when you edit things like kernel speed, look ahead, etc etc it *may* still be enough, but why risk something when its cheap and easy to upgrade RAM? I'm not a person to just "live with things" nothing I own is "stock"

Ah, I understand your comment now. It kind of sounded like any motherboard should work. I was envisioning someone grabbing an ATOM processor computer meant for a kiosk and being po'ed because it wouldn't run Mach3.

I live with things stock if they work as intended, and the Tormach controller has exceeded all my expectations so I have had no need to tweak or upgrade it.

Wade