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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    7

    Building a Pathpilot controller

    So, I'm getting ready to order my 770. From what I've been reading it seems very doable to take an existing PC, order the PathPilot upgrade kit (35458), and cobble together my own controller.

    I'm trying to assess the potential pitfalls of going this route. I don't mind fiddling a bit to save some cash. I've used Linux pretty extensively, but I'm no systems administrator. I'd probably use a ~5 year old Dell Optiplex with a Core 2 Duo processor.

    What have your experiences been? Am I dramatically underestimating the amount of work involved? If you decided to build your own, do you now wish you had bought it off the rack? What did you buy with the money you saved? Beer and smokes? I'm thinking a Haimer.

    :cheers:

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Posts
    148

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    yes it can be done , but you'll have some work to do ,
    contact me off list

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    97

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    Check a few posts down, in the FYI: Tormach tested PathPilot Motherboards, theres a link to Newegg with a complete build for $181. I paid $60 for a 10 year old HP D530 SFF to use with PathPilot, worked fine with Mach3 as well. I didn't have to do any specific setup actions except in the BIOS. The only pitfall is no support from Tormach. But if you find a legitimate bug with PP that you think is not computer related still submit it to them. You can fix a lot of computer problems for the several hundred $ that you save.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Posts
    148

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    Thanks for the information ,

    i am if anyone requires it , going to support Path pilot either for fix's or enhancements , commercial or hobbyist ,
    paid work is undertaken ,

    i will have a version for commercal clients , which will have enhancements and extras over time .

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    1538

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    You might have seen my recent thread where I used an old Dell - that was not on the Tormach or Linux CNC list of acceptable PC's - but it still worked out ok.

    Word of warning - I had a lot of trouble installing the Tormach supplied operating and Pathpilot software disc and got seriously stuck a couple of times - somehow I managed to luck my way though - but it could have been a major impasse.

    keen

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    540

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    It is not much effort to give it a try if you have a PC sitting around. I originally attempted to install PP on the IBM small form factor ThinkCentre which I had running Mach3 but for some reason the PP I/O card would not connect with the PP control software. I then installed everything into an 3 year old ASUS homebuilt and everything has been working like a champ. Total time invested maybe 2 hours total.... FWIW: I never had much luck with Dell PC's over the years but you may get lucky.

    As mentioned, if you are buying a new system, I would also go with what someone listed in a post here on the forum which has been proven to work.

    Robert

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    7

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    Thanks for the advice everyone! It's interesting that proprietary boards from Dell and IBM have given people fits, though not terribly surprising. Working with a known motherboard is probably worth the bit of extra cash. I'll keep you posted on the results!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    267

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    I wouldn't sweat it. I have installed PathPilot on a few different types of hardware with no issues, including in a virtualized environment. The virtualized deployment did require custom compiling of kernel-mode drivers for virtual NICs, but otherwise an out of the box deployment worked fine.

    I have had zero issues installing it on bare-metal white box machines. Ask here if you have any issues, no need to hire someone =)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    1538

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    Quote Originally Posted by wtopace View Post
    I wouldn't sweat it. I have installed PathPilot on a few different types of hardware with no issues, including in a virtualized environment. The virtualized deployment did require custom compiling of kernel-mode drivers for virtual NICs, but otherwise an out of the box deployment worked fine.

    I have had zero issues installing it on bare-metal white box machines. Ask here if you have any issues, no need to hire someone =)
    Yes the zone IT guys are great! I am seriously out of my depth s scared doing PC related stuff and it is a huge help having you guys there.

    Keen

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Posts
    334

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    Quote Originally Posted by beunks View Post
    So, I'm getting ready to order my 770. From what I've been reading it seems very doable to take an existing PC, order the PathPilot upgrade kit (35458), and cobble together my own controller.

    I'm trying to assess the potential pitfalls of going this route. I don't mind fiddling a bit to save some cash. I've used Linux pretty extensively, but I'm no systems administrator. I'd probably use a ~5 year old Dell Optiplex with a Core 2 Duo processor.

    What have your experiences been? Am I dramatically underestimating the amount of work involved? If you decided to build your own, do you now wish you had bought it off the rack? What did you buy with the money you saved? Beer and smokes? I'm thinking a Haimer.

    :cheers:

    Benuks I have PathPilot running on a AMD Gizmosphere 1. In the process of reconfiguring PathPilot. I re-programmed and flashed the bios to activate the PCIe bus. In addition I designed a interface, iBOB2, which contains 1 SATA and 1 PCIe x1 interface. The Gizmosphere is open source hardware.
    The configuration is a MESA 6i25 + 7i77 running closed loop +- 10V servos in torque mode.
    See my work here; http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...61754-cnc.html

    Hope this helps,

    Iron-Man

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    201

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    Cool stuff Iron man

    I wish i could do that kinda of stuff. Maybe someday LOL

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    7

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    Just a quick update, here. I got the Gigabyte motherboard listed in this thread and the Tormach Upgrade kit. All told I spent about an hour and a half dumping components into an old case and installing the OS. She runs like a champ. Thanks to everyone for your encouragement.

    I really, highly recommend going this route if you have even a little bit of experience with computer hardware. :cheers:

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    302

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    I installed PathPilot on an old home made system with a 4 or 5 year old Gigabyte mobo. No problems other than those unique to PathPilot.
    Entropy Sucks

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    128

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    I would use components that Tormach has approved in this document

    http://www.cnczone.com/forums/tormac...-software.html

    You also need a Mesa PCI (or PCIe) card for the parallel port that connects to the mill, Tormach says you can't use the one embedded on the MB. Depending on configuration you may also want a USB PCI card for the keyboard/mouse connections.

    I've already built a Mach3 controller and I didn't even exactly follow Tormach's recommendations, I'm using a SSD harddrive. I'm going to build a PathPilot machine also and it will be following the recommended hardware.

    With the DIY Mach3 controller you had to provide your own OP system and configure the software, I think with the Tormach PathPilot CD all that is already done.

    The new manuals with chapters on PathPilot are online here, pages 29,30 of the 770 manual shows the connections on the Tormach PathPilot controller.

    Product Documents | Tormach Inc. providers of personal small CNC machines, CNC tooling, and many more CNC items.

    Also note that although Tormach states the PathPilot upgrade is only for people that previously bought a Tormach controller they will sell it to you anyway if you have one of their machines.

    I saved $400 to $500 on the DIY Mach3 controller and anticipate the same on the DIY PathPilot. The money went to help pay off the 770.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    267

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Duncan View Post
    I would use components that Tormach has approved in this document

    http://www.cnczone.com/forums/tormac...-software.html

    Also when you set up the computer make the software as bare bones as possible. IOW, no internet connection, no other software, nothing. You also have to turn off all sleep modes, screen savers, power savers.

    I didn't even load the video card software, just left the generic vid driver that the machine booted up with.

    When I go to "add delete programs" in Control Panel there's only one program and that is Mach3.

    This machine is flawless and I didn't even exactly follow Tormach's recommendations, I'm using a SSD harddrive. I'm going to build a PathPilot machine also and it will be following the recommended hardware.
    Mach3 is a totally different animal from LinuxCNC. LinuxCNC runs a true real-time OS and runs the LinuxCNC application as a true real-time application... you can fire up as many network connections, Firefox browsers and watch a nice 1080p movie on a shop projector if you want, all while doing some HSM 3D toolpaths. You will not lose any steps.

    Since Mach3 relies so heavily on Windows to schedule it's cycles (as "just another regular application"), trying to do anything else while machining will most definitely result in problems.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    128

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    Quote Originally Posted by wtopace View Post
    Mach3 is a totally different animal from LinuxCNC. LinuxCNC runs a true real-time OS and runs the LinuxCNC application as a true real-time application... you can fire up as many network connections, Firefox browsers and watch a nice 1080p movie on a shop projector if you want, all while doing some HSM 3D toolpaths. You will not lose any steps.

    Since Mach3 relies so heavily on Windows to schedule it's cycles (as "just another regular application"), trying to do anything else while machining will most definitely result in problems.
    Maybe you can run other programs with Linux but if I've already spent 3 hours on a part I'm not going to be watching a movie on the same machine.

    And from what I've read of the PathPilot controller you don't normally even have access to a Linux desktop page, it just opens the controller software on startup and that is all you see.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    267

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Duncan View Post
    Maybe you can run other programs with Linux but if I've already spent 3 hours on a part I'm not going to be watching a movie on the same machine.
    I was just giving a wild example. Once you switch to PathPilot and learn to trust it, you'll be completely blown away (just like everyone else has been). Welcome to the club!

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Posts
    159

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    Just a word of caution to those considering buying the Newegg computer combo referenced elsewhere in this thread, the case supplied with this combo is a flimsy piece of junk, and mine came with a DOA power supply. To add insult to injury, Newegg's return policy on combo items means that it costs more to return the junk than you get back as a refund. Caveat emptor.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    10

    Re: Building a Pathpilot controller

    Anybody know where to download V1. path pilot ? I updated to V2. and now ATC doesn't work, so need to downgrade, but I don't have V1. DVD

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