[Lama2]

Hello,

I just bought a Chinese 4 axis CNC mill from SaleCNC. I seem to have a problem with the communication between Mach3 and the USB motion card controller provided by Sale CNC.

I followed the instructions (www.leafboy77.com) carefully and installed Mach3 (download from ArtSoft) and the USB move.dll plugin (from leafboy77). When opening Mach3 the first time I'm supposed to get a message: 'new motion control hardware sensed' and then I should be able to select the 'Xilifeng Mach3 USB motion card'. Yet this pop up never appears and Mach3 status message reads: External movement not connected. The blue Icon of the USB motion card appears in the bottom right of my screen but with the same message: External movement not connected.

I have reinstalled everything several times on a Windows XP 32 bit and now also on a Windows 7, 64 bit. Art soft clearly states Mach 3 will only work on 32 bit yet my contact at Sale CNC (giving very cryptic answers to my questions) says 64 bit should be fine.

When I unplug the USB cable Mach detects this and says: 'Error found Art Code 8877, Attempt recovery , error triggered,
Recovery doesn't work and new message appears 'Mach 3 Application has stopped working', then Mach closes

Any advice for a newbie getting rather frustrated?

[ger21]

Go to Function Cfg's, and select "Reset Device Sel".
Then close and restart Mach3 and it should let you select the device.

With a USB motion controller, a 64 bit OS is fine.

[Lama2]

Thanks for your reply!
I did this (earlier and now again) yet the same problem remains.
I wonder If my port settings are correct under config? First I had Port 1 (0x378), which s I believe the standard set up? I also selected 'Event driven serial control' since the serial monitor didn't work if the latter was not selected.

Is there any other way to find out if the problem is in my Mach3 settings, the leafboy plugin or in the physical external USB card (also from leafboy77)?

[Lama2]

My former reply was maybe not so precise: when i 'reset device selection' i get the message:
'you will be asked on next start up what device to use if plugins are available.'
Yet after restarting there is no pop up asking for this, which might implies Mach3 doesn't find or recognize the plugin (Leafboy77 - Home) that i downloaded and moved into the Mach3 plugin folder.

[ger21]

Did you put the file "USBMove.dll" in the Mach3\plugins\ folder?

[Lama2]

Yes I did and as far as I know there is only one plugin folder?
Here's an image of the plugin folder

[jalessi]

Lama2,

Are there any yellow flags displayed in your Device manager?

Jeff...

[Lama2]

Hi Jeff, Gerry,
Thanx again for your help
But no flagged devices. (see images)

I double checked if the USB cable was in the right USBport, and it is in port 1 hub 4 with the message: this device is working properly
When I unplug it the message 'Error found Error code 8877' appears (see image)

Question: in Mach3 you can only select port 1 or port2 or Max NC code. Which port do I select for my external USB motion control board (from leafboy77)

[jalessi]

Lama2,


Lets try this:

1: Rename the Mach3/Plugins folder to Pluginsold

2: Make a new Plugins folder named Plugins

3: Copy only the USBMove.dll to the newly created Plugins folder

4: Run Mach3

5: Check Config Plugins for Driver Setup (see attached images for example)

Jeff...

[Lama2]

Hi Jeff, Thanx again.

I followed your instructions on making a new folder and the 'Xulifeng motion' does appear under configurations. (see image)
Yet the message 'External movement not connected' remains, also after restarting Mach3

I also added an image of the Controller Card itself where you can see I connected a black cable from my emergency stop ending with the red wire to input 10 and blue wire to 5V output. Any stupid mistakes here?


Attachment 279030
Attachment 279032

[jalessi]

Lama2,

What version of the USBMove.dll are you using?

Jeff...

[Lama2]

Hi Jeff,

I downloaded the plugin (last week) from the Leadboy77 site (as instructed by SaleCNC, the supplier of the machine and controller)
see: Leafboy77 - Home

Scroll down +/- 1 page till you see the link and name of the plugin:

ver2.0.1.9(UsbMove.ZIP) 2013-3-30 NEW[Zip Archive - 205 KB

However in the download itself I cannot find a clear version number.

[jalessi]

Lama2,

USBMove.dll version 2.0.1.9 ok.

What version of Mach3?

Jeff...

[Lama2]

Hi Jeff,

Sorry, seems like your reply only appeared just now, must have overlooked it.
Anyway: it is Mach 3 Version R3.043.066 Just like in your image.
I see you are able to recreate the same message : External movement not connected?!
Which makes me hope you know how to solve this?

Best
Lawrence

[Northlight]

I'm interested in this solution as well. I have the exact same issue with the same card and driver file. I've also tried all of the solutions recommended in the thread (and others) and had no success.

I am however not convinced that this issue is hardware / USB related. I have other implementations of Mach3 with SmoothStepper boards (both USB and Ethernet) and even if the hardware is not connected at all, these boards still appear as an option in the "Motion Control Detected" popup when you launch - it's only if you select one of the disconnected cards that you get a warning that it's not connected.

With this chinese card, it's not even making it to that pop up, although it does appear in the list of plugins on the Config Menu. It's only if you force Mach3 to recognise it in this menu that you then get the Movement Warning at the next startup. It's as if Mach3 does not recognise this as a Motion Control plugin? On my other implementations, with SmoothStepper plugins installed, if I don't select them they still appear in the Config Menu, but are not ticked.

There must be something wrong with how this plugin is being initialised by Mach3 and as I say, I'm not convinced this is down to the hardware. Has anyone had it working with Mach3?

[jalessi]

Lawrence,

I believe either the USB cable is defective or the control needs to be RMA'd.

Jeff...

[Lama2]

Hi Jeff,

Just tried another cable but no luck.
With RMAd I guess you mean return to sender for replacement? And wait a months or 2!
No other suggestions?

Best
Lawrence

[jalessi]

Lawrence,

It may be possible that even though you received the controller recently that it is a older model that is not compatible with the later revision driver.

TryUSBMove.dll version 2.0.1.6 you may get lucky.

See attached zip file.

Jeff...

P.S. make sure you remove the later driver from the plugin folder.

[Lama2]

Jeff,
Unfortunately that didn't help neither
I find the term 'External motion' rather strange though. Is it really about the motion controller?
And how where you able to provoke the message on your screen?

Lawrence

[jalessi]

Lawrence,

The message originates or is generated by the USBMove.dll. Since the developer is Chinese the message is displayed in Chinglish.

When the controller is not connected the message "External Movement Not Connected..." is displayed.

Jeff...