[wtopace]

Tormach's documentation explicitly says to disable the network interface on the machine controller. It is already getting tedious carrying usb drives back and forth to the machine.

How many of you guys network your machine controllers to make it easier to transfer g-code files back and forth?
Has anyone seen any adverse problems to doing this?

[Kenny Duval]

I haven't seen any.

[slowtwitch]

I have a lathe and my mill networked and haven't had any issues

[ger21]

There used to be a common issue with Mach3 if your network adapter's speed was configured as "Auto". You may need to configure it to a fixed speed, but it should be fine.

[wtopace]

Thanks guys, I'll give it a try tomorrow and see if I can save some time carrying a USB drive back and forth.

[Kenny Duval]

I go as far as to setup the libraries to point to a shared directory so that once I generate code on the machine down in my office it's 2 clicks away being loaded at the mill.

[wtopace]

Great, I was planning on loading an SVN client on it since I source control all of my g-code anyways. Checkout / update also handles synchronization between PCs.

[Steve Seebold]

Tormach's documentation explicitly says to disable the network interface on the machine controller. It is already getting tedious carrying usb drives back and forth to the machine.

How many of you guys network your machine controllers to make it easier to transfer g-code files back and forth?
Has anyone seen any adverse problems to doing this?

I read somewhere shortly after I got my machine that Tormach recommends NOT to network your control computer with anything. I haven't networked mine, and I have had zero problems.

[mountaindew]

Imho networking a control pc is or would be no problem because you can always stop the process while using the computer as a machine controller. The problem I see is networking any machine to other machines opens it to malware and virus - firewall protection is mandatory. These programs often don't work well with other software and cause all kinds of process interrupts. This could cause problems at times and not all the time, making for problems or gremlins that could be very hard to pinpoint.
I have cat 5 wired network connection in shop hooked to a 300$ eepc "cheap and small, about the size of a small book" mounted to the back of a lcd. I use this for all g-code and also screen captures of cam software showing fixture setups at different times of operations. I can review these if required.
Main thing is to isolate the machine controllers to remove or reduce the normal computer problems. I only have 1 and as my shop builds out I will be adding a lathe and router controller and I would like to limit or isolate them also. Normally I would net connect any and all devices, in this case I figured maybe better to isolate them and keep their software stack as simple and efficient as possible.
some methods, ideas and information to consider.
md

[pickled]

I personally don't go there at all. Anything that could sellf-start or run in that kernel without you knowing it can cause bad things to happen with Mach 3. These are very bad to troubleshoot too because when you go to look for the issue the processes of contributory failure mode typically aren't running in the background anymore. I now own 2 Tormach controllers that run the designed Windows Embedded for a simple reason. I tried the cheap external PC route (because I knew better dang-it) that was all locked down and networked and had some issues that SUCKED to troubleshoot. Simple device drivers that you would think have ZERO impact had caused lost steps and glitches. Anytime the windows would get a major security update all my patchwork fixes were undone as well. If you were to network it I would network it to a stand alone that isn't in anyway connected to the WWW or runs updates. As MD indicated the malware and virus issues are extremely real. Good luck and I hate running memory sticks back and forth too, but for me at least the effort has mitigated a known failure mode that is hard to detect before it is an issue. Now I just have to deal with version control and losing the damn stick!

[rockcliff]

I have run a network from a CAD/CAM PC to a Mach PC, with No issues, for many years, both PC's are NOT connected to the internet and are on a separate closed network, with it's own Wi-Fi router

I rarely send anything thru the network while the machine is running, and the mach pc is setup for absolutely no other background network activity, other then the link to the cad/cam pc, if not setup properly your machine is going to have a seriously very bad day

if setup correctly, and if you follow some basic rules, networking works great without any issues, I have even run Mach3 with Windows Remote Desktop , thru the network, (not recommended) , but very entertaining to fully control your machine remotely with the mach3 video camera plug in.