[jort68]

Hello everyone! I have been lurking the forums for the last week or so and wanted to bring my situation up to hopefully get some advice.

I got a free 3040 Z-DQ CNC from a neighbor and am seeking to fix it up and hopefully use it for art projects. So pretty much only casual usage.
Computer wise all I have available is my Mac laptop USB. In my research I've noticed people saying that it's impossible to operate a CNC via USB to parallel port adapter because you lose data. However, in this video a user appears to operate the 3040 via USB and a program called "CNC USB Controller":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zoUV3XBFak

Would it work if I got an adapter and used this program?

Thank you very much for reading.

- Justin

This is my model:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32668223694.html

[joeavaerage]

Hi,
USB-to-parallel adaptors completely fail for CNC use.

The parallel port, as used in CNC, is very much more than just the parallel port itself, its a motion controller.

The parallel port driver accepts numeric data from the trajectory planner, and converts that numeric data to high speed pulse streams required
for motor driver devices. The parallel port is just the communication port at the end, the bulk of the work, and certainly the most demanding part of the work,
is the generation of the high speed pulse streams.

A USB-to-parallel adaptor cannot begin to generate pulse streams.

There are devices like a UC100 which are USB connected to a PC. The PC provides the same numeric data and the FPGA or microcontroller within the UC100
converts that numeric data to pulse streams and outputs those pulse streams via a parallel port. To call such a device a USB-to-parallel device severely
underrates the smart nature of the UC100, it is a true motion controller.

There are a number of low cost USB motion controllers, the RnR USB motion board is particularly famous as cheap junk. It works, usually with pirated software,
in minimal fashion only.

If you want a decent USB motion controller then a UC100, and not one of the fake Chinese ripoff ones, is a good bet.

USB is falling into disuse for CNC purposes, its too noise prone and has too much latency. Most motion control manufacturers use Ethernet which is faster, less latency
and way more effective in an electrically noisy environment.

Craig

[Pokeman1]

Your video shows it working from a USB port, has your machine not got a USB as well as Parallel.

Options are
Buy a good quality USB to 25 pin parallel adaptor lead one that does the proper IBM PC EPP/ECP conversion.

OR get basic desktop PC and fit a PCI card with proper IBM PC parallel port.

[joeavaerage]

Hi,

Buy a good quality USB to 25 pin parallel adaptor lead one that does the proper IBM PC EPP/ECP conversion.

Does not work for CNC. By all means try it, but don't spend too much money for otherwise it might be wasted.

Craig

[Pokeman1]

The question is why does it not work.?
Do the drivers install correctly and show up as LPT port in Device manager at 0x378

Does the software install correctly on Mac Laptop.??

Mach3 website shows on for Windows up win 10

What errors show up.??

[Dec0y]

If you are using Mach3 just use this card.
google "Mach3 Green USB"
So CHEAP

[Pokeman1]

Read these pages
https://rckeith.co.uk/mach3-parallel-port/

[joeavaerage]

Hi Pokeman1,

The question is why does it not work.?

Mach3's trajectory planner and Gcode interpreter produces numeric data, blocks of 32 bit integers, called P(osition),V(elocity) over T(ime) data.
A motion controller consumes that data and produces pulse streams from it.

The age-old Mach parallel port driver is such a motion controller. Machs parallel port driver will ONLY ever install on a 32 bit XP or Windows 7 PCs. No 64 bit
or Windows 10 machines will install and run the parallel port driver. You can install Mach3....just not the parallel port driver on such PCs.

I'm not aware of any way to install Mach3 on a Mac laptop or in fact any Mac product....but who knows.

Lets say that you do have a PC for which you can install Mach's parallel port driver and it succeeds in producing pulse streams. How would six, eight, ten or
more simultaneous pulse streams get squeezed through a USB port without loss of simultaneitity? It can't.

Ok, lets assume that Mach outputs PVT data from the USB port, and Mach can and does do that. Can an USB-Parallel adapter take blocks of numeric data and
produce six, eight, ten simultaneous pulse streams? No, a USB-Parallel adapter cannot generate pulse steams at all.

Look at the pic posted by Dec0y. It has a USB input but note that it has a microcontroller, and its that microcontroller that accepts numeric PVT data and generates
pulse streams, and that classifies itself as a motion controller not a USB-Parallel adapter. It a cheap Chinese board, not what I would recommend to OP, but it probably
works, even if it is with pirate software.

I used Mach3 up to seven years ago, mainly with a parallel port. Since then I have used Mach4, light years ahead of Mach3, and an Ethernet SmoothStepper, an Ethernet connected
motion controller by Warp9TD, light years ahead of a parallel port.

If you or OP really want to fiddle about with Mach3 and a parallel port driver motion control get a 32 bit Windows 7 or 32 bit XP PC. Such PCs commonly had a parallel port built in,
but there are a number of PCI cards that you can plug in also. Just be aware that only a handful of those cards sticks to the original parallel port spec and work whereas all the
others do not and don't work.

Craig

[Pokeman1]

Yes, all very good advice, but to go back to jort68 original post.....

jort68 was given a cnc 3040 Z DQ that has only a parallel port input. This is meant to be plugged into a parallel port of a computer with a 25pin to 25 pin straight through lead all pins connected.

jort68 has only a Mac laptop with a USB. I dont think mach3 will install on a mac except by using some virtual windows installed on it first.??. so using mach3 on Mac and this USB is not an option.??

My next suggestion was to get a "friend" to give an old basic PC that would run mach3 (windows 7 desktop) and hopefully have an inbuilt parallel port or install a good PCI card parallel port.

That way you would be running on hardware and software as per described in the user guide and using a "real" port that is part of the machine. In the manual it says to set the parallel port up as EPP in the bios. Next reboot and install the software, windows driver and setup as per the manual and it should work. It should at least move at low speeds probably OK for art work.
If it is misbehaving then investigate further what it is actually doing.

[joeavaerage]

Hi,
it may be possible to run Mach3 in some sort of emulated Widonws mode on a Mac and have it produce PVT data via USB.
What it almost certainly true is that the Mach3 parallel port driver WILL NOT work on a Mac.

I personally would recommend a Windows PC, any one pretty much, it does not need to be new or even powerful, and install Mach3
and get a USB or Ethernet motion controller. A UC100 is USB connected to one parallel port output. Note don't buy a ripoff Chinese knock-off UC100 from Amazon or Ebay,
they are not a patch on a genuine UC100. Another alternative is an Ethernet SmoothStepper. Or as has been posted earlier one of the many Chinese
USB boards, not that I would recommend them.

Craig

[Pokeman1]

That is why in Post #7 above I posted the link to the Windows PC options, but it must not have been read yet, and also read the user manual......RTFM.

[RCaffin]

The PC parallel port was based on an old MOSTEK chip. The chip was designed as a General purpose I/O device, and it has far more features inside it than just a 'printer driver'. Mach3 used those extra features.
A typical add-in card for a printer port will (probably) drive a printer, but it will NOT have the extra features needed for 'intelligent' I/O.
But that technology is decades out of date and not supported any more. The only mainstream technology used these days is Ethernet.
(Yes, older proprietary buses exist still, they are also dinosaurs.)

Cheers
Roger

[asuratman]

Default Re: USB adapter for my 3040CNC?

If you are using Mach3 just use this card.
google "Mach3 Green USB"
So CHEAP

the usb card doe not work as expected ... it does not support axis slave ...

[joeavaerage]

Hi,
yeah, but everyone buys cheap....right?

I've already made my recommendation, either a SmoothStepper, or to save a few dollars a genuine UC100.

Craig

[RCaffin]

the usb card doe not work as expected .
Oh yes it does.
Exactly as expected.

Cheers
Roger

[asuratman]

I've already made my recommendation, either a SmoothStepper, or to save a few dollars a genuine UC100.

If you want to buy cheap, you can buy stv2, the one with db25. But if you want to buy usb or ethernet cnc that work, buy ess or cnc drive ... good support ...

[Dec0y]

This topic should be shut locked!

You can find Core 2 Duo PC/s on the side of the road that come with a WIN7 Lic and worst case you can buy one for $50 to set up as a dedicated CNC PC.
Hell its cheaper then trying to buy Parallel to USB adapters.

MAC's pfft

[mactec54]

If you are using Mach3 just use this card.
google "Mach3 Green USB"
So CHEAP

That would be a bad choice of Breakout Board to use, it does not have a built-in relay, for spindle support which most need

[Dec0y]

That would be a bad choice of Breakout Board to use, it does not have a built-in relay, for spindle support which most need

No it doesnt, but many start spindle manualy and dont need the feature, afterall it is intended to replace a parrallel BOB that woulld not have one also.
For a sub $20 controller its a good option for USB control

[mactec54]

No it doesnt, but many start spindle manualy and dont need the feature, afterall it is intended to replace a parrallel BOB that woulld not have one also.
For a sub $20 controller its a good option for USB control

There would be very few that could use this board, the OP needed a solution that will do everything, it is cheap, just remember you get what you pay for, there are those that know and those that pretend to know, the Op has a 3040 cnc machine so will need spindle control Relay plus PWM to analog 0-10v for his spindle control, this could be done with an add on board, all in one is always the best solution.