[keystoneprec]

I'm hoping someone can help me with a serial issue on a Fanuc OT-C (it may be an 18t) that controls a mid-1990s Hardinge CS-GT. We are having trouble with the serial comm, in that we can pull programs off the lathe, but can't write to the controller, and the controller issues a number of errors.

The Hardinge manual doesn't have much in the way of Fanuc debug instructions. I'm trying to get a Fanuc manual.

A couple of questions:

Does anyone have experience with serial errors?
Does anyone have any good sources for older Fanuc manuals?

Thanks

Thanks for the responses. I reealy appreciate the help. I was able to lay hands on the device and it is an OT-C. And after searching piles of boxes we found the manual. I will check out the suggestions.

[Al_The_Man]

There is alot of difference between a 0 & a 18T,
I have the Fanuc RS232 manual for the 0 up to the 12 if you send me a PM I can send you it in PDF, it is too large to include here.
Al.

[Dan Fritz]

We see a variety of serial port errors all the time. Tell us what errors you're getting, and maybe we can help.

The Fanuc 0TC and the 18i controls both require these things:

1) The baudrate and stop-bits settings in the CNC parameters must match your DNC software. You can use 19,200 baud or 9600 baud, or you can use 1 or 2 stop-bits. The actual setting won't matter much, but the CNC must match the DNC software or it won't work

2) The Fanuc requires a Line-Feed character, or LF before the first block of the program. This cancels the LSK, or "Label Skip" function on the control.

3) Each block must end with an LF character. Carriage-return, or CR characters are OK, but the Fanuc just ignores them

4) Your program should end with a percent sign, or "%". This tells the Fanuc that it's reached the end of the program when it's reading data.

5) Your DNC software should be configured to send ASCII Even parity, or ISO 840 tape code. The software should also be set to handshake using "Xon/Xoff" protocol, sometimes called "DC codes"

6) Your cable should be wired like shown below. Several different cable configurations will work, but this one DOES work, and it only requires 4 wires:

CNC side -25 pin male ------------PC side - 9-pin female
pin 2 ------------------------------ pin 2
pin 3 ------------------------------ pin 3
pin 5 ------------------------------ pin 7
pin 7 ------------------------------ pin 5
pin 6 ----
pin 8 ---- <--jumper these 3 pins together
pin 20 ---

7) Your DNC software needs to be able to handshake fast enough. If your software responds to the Fanuc's Xoff signal too slowly, you'll get a "Buffer overflow" alarm on the Fanuc.

Good luck!

[dcoupar]

Well, let me think. "The control issues a number of errors." Hmmm... could be almost anything. Why not let us in on what the errors are? Here are 3 of the most popular:

085 COMMUNICATION ERROR When entering data in the memory by using Reader / Puncher interface, an overrun, parity or framing error was generated. The number of bits of input data or setting of baud rate or specification No. of I/O unit is incorrect.

086 DR SIGNAL OFF When entering data in the memory by using Reader / Puncher interface, the ready signal (DR) of reader / puncher was turned off. Power supply of I/O unit is off or cable is not connected or a P.C.B. is defective.

087 BUFFER OVERFLOW When entering data in the memory by using Reader / Puncher interface, though the read terminate command is specified, input is not interrupted after 10 characters read. I/O unit or P.C.B. is defective.

[keystoneprec]

Thanks for the information and I will check out suggestions and post again.

We appreciate the help.

Well, let me think. "The control issues a number of errors." Hmmm... could be almost anything. Why not let us in on what the errors are? Here are 3 of the most popular:

085 COMMUNICATION ERROR When entering data in the memory by using Reader / Puncher interface, an overrun, parity or framing error was generated. The number of bits of input data or setting of baud rate or specification No. of I/O unit is incorrect.

086 DR SIGNAL OFF When entering data in the memory by using Reader / Puncher interface, the ready signal (DR) of reader / puncher was turned off. Power supply of I/O unit is off or cable is not connected or a P.C.B. is defective.

087 BUFFER OVERFLOW When entering data in the memory by using Reader / Puncher interface, though the read terminate command is specified, input is not interrupted after 10 characters read. I/O unit or P.C.B. is defective.

[keystoneprec]

Thanks for the great advice. I have some work to do.

Best Regards.

[keystoneprec]

Hello Chip Sweeper:

Here are the errors we experienced while trying to run down the error.

002 (not enough memory?)
085 (bad setup, baud, etc?)
087 failure to complete – perhaps bad protocol or download software

002 happened at first, but when we freed Conquest system memory, we no longer received

085 can be fixed by choosing correct baud rate, etc – the below chat helps greatly

087 may be related to the ‘pcin’ software in use – perhaps the Conquest needs different software to act as interface for download. We can try some of the things this doc talks about as well.

The next round of debug will hopefully be this weekend when the tool is idle. The software "PCin" will be looked at carefully.

Thanks.

[keystoneprec]

Dear Dan:

We created the cable and did some additional debugging trying to assess what's going on. Using the DOS print command, we are convinced the controller is receiving the unload program, but is expecting a termination character. We used the % sign. Are there any other termination protocols you know of.

Also, do you know of any transfer programs besides PCin that might be used? We are going to try hyper terminal and we might try writing a VB app to complete the transfer with some feedback.

Thanks again for your help.

Regards,
-Gary

We see a variety of serial port errors all the time. Tell us what errors you're getting, and maybe we can help.

The Fanuc 0TC and the 18i controls both require these things:

1) The baudrate and stop-bits settings in the CNC parameters must match your DNC software. You can use 19,200 baud or 9600 baud, or you can use 1 or 2 stop-bits. The actual setting won't matter much, but the CNC must match the DNC software or it won't work

2) The Fanuc requires a Line-Feed character, or LF before the first block of the program. This cancels the LSK, or "Label Skip" function on the control.

3) Each block must end with an LF character. Carriage-return, or CR characters are OK, but the Fanuc just ignores them

4) Your program should end with a percent sign, or "%". This tells the Fanuc that it's reached the end of the program when it's reading data.

5) Your DNC software should be configured to send ASCII Even parity, or ISO 840 tape code. The software should also be set to handshake using "Xon/Xoff" protocol, sometimes called "DC codes"

6) Your cable should be wired like shown below. Several different cable configurations will work, but this one DOES work, and it only requires 4 wires:

CNC side -25 pin male ------------PC side - 9-pin female
pin 2 ------------------------------ pin 2
pin 3 ------------------------------ pin 3
pin 5 ------------------------------ pin 7
pin 7 ------------------------------ pin 5
pin 6 ----
pin 8 ---- <--jumper these 3 pins together
pin 20 ---

7) Your DNC software needs to be able to handshake fast enough. If your software responds to the Fanuc's Xoff signal too slowly, you'll get a "Buffer overflow" alarm on the Fanuc.

Good luck!

Well, let me think. "The control issues a number of errors." Hmmm... could be almost anything. Why not let us in on what the errors are? Here are 3 of the most popular:

085 COMMUNICATION ERROR When entering data in the memory by using Reader / Puncher interface, an overrun, parity or framing error was generated. The number of bits of input data or setting of baud rate or specification No. of I/O unit is incorrect.

086 DR SIGNAL OFF When entering data in the memory by using Reader / Puncher interface, the ready signal (DR) of reader / puncher was turned off. Power supply of I/O unit is off or cable is not connected or a P.C.B. is defective.

087 BUFFER OVERFLOW When entering data in the memory by using Reader / Puncher interface, though the read terminate command is specified, input is not interrupted after 10 characters read. I/O unit or P.C.B. is defective.