[skware]

Dear Australian CNC people,,

I am having problems with PCI parallel port / cable communicating with Mach3 and my FLA100 router. My motherboard did not have a dedicated parallel port so I purchased a PCI serial and parallel card which claimed to have ECP,SSP and EPP capabilities but I am still having trouble with this I was told that I could alter BIOS to make sure port is dedicated EPP but it turns out this is only possible (Believe) with hard wired parallel ports which are integrated into the motherboard (something which is no longer common) anyway my question is this: Has anyone else had a similar problem and if so how did you fix it? did you; (A) find an old PC with integrated port and use that (B) Find an Australian supplier of dedicated EPP PCI ports that work or (C) Other? Any help would be much appreciated ?

I found this thread from 2007
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/mach-m...port-card.html

"ALERT!!! the card you have is the problem,if it says it supports EPP ECP SSP ect (They even claim to be true printer ports...NOT!!!). then it will be up to windows which mode is active EPP, ECP SSP at any given time (YOU NEED TO HAVE EPP ALL THE TIME!!!)...my motherboard does not have a parallel port so I bought 2 cards like yours (EPP ECP SSP compatible),I could get them to work and even run jobs but I could not get my CNC4PC C3 index pulse card to either work or if it did it was very unstable and in accurate (played with the debounce setting and played to no avail.The problem is that without EPP mode Mach can communicate
but has trouble receiving signals (Index Pulses) "

[Acctek CNC]

Hello Skware
Good day
I advice you buy a new mach3 Motherboard with USB port . It can use for computer and Notebook .

AccTek CNC

[skware]

Hi There AccTek,
Thanks for that, but my machine runs through a gecko G540 stepper driver which has a parallel port built into it and USB converters do not work so not really an option for me.
I am trying to locate an old PC with a built in parallel port which sounds like it will fix things hopefully.
cheers amos.

[Mike_Walls]

Hi There AccTek,
a gecko G540 stepper driver which has a parallel port built into it and USB converters do not work.

cheers amos.

Are you running Win7? If so, that's a known conflict with Mach3 with regard to parallel port communication. You might consider an Ethernet Smooth Stepper. An older computer with a hard wired parallel port might be your most economical solution, though...

[skware]

Are you running Win7? If so, that's a known conflict with Mach3 with regard to parallel port communication. You might consider an Ethernet Smooth Stepper. An older computer with a hard wired parallel port might be your most economical solution, though...

Hi mike thanks for that. Yeah was using windows 7 but have since switched to XP. Just bought a new parellel card which claims to be great for industrial automation so hopefully that will do the trick. Have heard of smooth steppers but hoping won't have to resort to that as I've spent enough cash recently and don't want to wait weeks for it to be posted out. Cheers for your response.

[mactec54]

skware

If you need to use a usb then that is not a problem with windows 7, all you need it a UC100, this will plug into your P / P Breakout Board & then use a USB from your computer, this is very easy

[skware]

Hi Mactec54,
Thanks for that. I originally tied the same set up but no results. Thankfully I just got it to work!!!!! after 3 days of stressing and trawling every forum and related website the bastard is working with a new PCI/E port ! I appreciate you taking the time to help.

[skware]

I finally have my machine up and running yay! for people in future who run into similar problems I ended up going to UMART store and purchasing a new PCI/E card Skymaster E9815 PCI-E RS232 + 2 Parallel Port Card -umart.com.au Skymaster E9815 PCI-E RS232 + 2 Parallel Port Card
Internet Price:$45.00. I first bought the cheaper $19 Astrotek PCI Serial & Parallel Card, 3.3v/5v Multi-I/O Expansion Card but it is not the right port and refused to communcate with mach3.
Attachment 259348 It said on the website that it is ideal for industrial automation applications which turns out is true.

[mactec54]

Hi Mactec54,
Thanks for that. I originally tied the same set up but no results. Thankfully I just got it to work!!!!! after 3 days of stressing and trawling every forum and related website the bastard is working with a new PCI/E port ! I appreciate you taking the time to help.

Good to hear you have it working

I don't think you understand, what the UC100 is, if you had one, your system would of been working, you should check it out, it is better than using a P / P, it has it's own CPU, in that little package, this controls your machine with 100Khz pulse output, it also allows you to use Mach 3 with window 7

[skware]

Good to hear you have it working

I don't think you understand, what the UC100 is, if you had one, your system would of been working, you should check it out, it is better than using a P / P, it has it's own CPU, in that little package, this controls your machine with 100Khz pulse output, it also allows you to use Mach 3 with window 7

Yeah sorry, I didn't mean to sound dismissive, just looked up uc100 it's actually different (better) than the parallel to USB adapter I originally bought which didn't work. I may look into getting a uc100 in future just happy to have this thing finally working at last. Thanks for your help.

[Mike_Walls]

Thankfully I just got it to work!!!!!

:cheers:

[skware]

Yeah cheers for your help mate. Really pleased to see the thing I have been toying with for months and dreaming about for years finally come to life. It was a very Dr Frankenstien moment when it finally came to life