[Parkgrr]

UCCNC has been a deeply unreliable and unpredictable mistress in the 2.5 years I've been using it. Random movements have cost me hundreds of hours and dollars in damage and have very nearly cost me limb or worse. Random freezes and crashes are increasingly common as updates roll out. The motion controller consistently disconnects from the PC if left on for any sort of extended period with no changes in voltage. Thousands of lines of my profile randomly deleted. All of which and more I have literally begged and pleaded for 2 years for on the UCCNC forums but am consistently told that it's my equipment, which after EXHAUSTIVE troubleshooting it is proven untrue. And then the knee-jerk is that I'm the 'only one this is happening to' when that is demonstrably untrue. Most recently, after describing an issue I'm experiencing with the UCR201 pendant for the umpteenth time, I was told by Balazs that I was the only one experiencing issues, after which 2 others chimed in stating that they were experiencing the same issue, and Balazs has promptly stopped responding to the thread, or any other thread I'm participating in. I'm not unreasonable, but I am more persistent than those that have come before that gave up which seems to be the response for the very real but slightly less common issues with UCCNC.

If I could, I would love to dump this software today and get into something else. However, UCCNC happens to be pretty unique in this space that is occupied by much worse monsters like Mach or less flexible solutions, my workflow is now married to it, and the issues are just inconsistent enough that I can convince myself it's not worth gutting my machine to switch to something else. I run a business and *can* tinker, but am not in machining to tinker. I'm in machining to produce work reliably, but UCCNC seems to really just not be that software.

This might be more of a rant than anything else. If any old timers have some wisdom that isn't "It's just you" I'm here for it. Really not sure what to do except bin this motion control system.

[peteeng]

Hi - What motion controller do you use? I use UCCNC and UC100 and its been pretty good for 5 years. There is a glitch in the CAM side of it if your using that at arc starts it backtracks occasionally. But now I use Fusion360 and import gcode, it has been rock solid on stuff I do. Peter

[Parkgrr]

Hey Pete, I'm on the UC300ETH.

[peteeng]

sorry no experience with the UC300 - Peter

[joeavaerage]

Hi,
I have used Mach4 daily for eight years without the sort of hiccups you are referring to.

A month or two back I found my machine when doing rapid traverses was having an occasional glitch and had been getting worse. It would not lose steps but rather move in a discontinuous path but
still end up at the right location? That's when I recognized that the little PC (Dual core Atom, on chip Graphics, 3MB RAM) has been running continuously for four months. I did a power cycle and the problem
went away. I make it a habit now to turn the PC off once a month or so. Other than that my PC runs for months at a time without ever losing Reference let alone setup or profile data.

My understanding is that UCCNC and Mach4 are similar in terms of look and function. I think Mach4 has an advantage in screen editing and scripting environments which makes it very flexible.
From your description I would guess Mach4 has the better record for stability also.

Craig

[Buoyen]

I have the same problem with UCR201

There should be a fix for it, but I have not tried. Check this: https://forum.cncdrive.com/viewtopic...=3598&start=10

[Parkgrr]

@Joe, thanks for the response. I may need to switch. Cringing at the conversion but... it's either that or sell this machine. I turn off PC after every use, maybe I should keep her on.

@Buoyen, no such luck, the update made no difference to the problem. thank you though. btw they are claiming I'm the only person on earth with this problem. Feel free to post on this thread that you have the same issue
https://forum.cncdrive.com/viewtopic...=3647&start=50

[kingofl337]

I've used the UCCNC on many machines mostly AXBB-E and UC300.
First using a wireless pendant is a poor idea, there is a reason it is frowned upon in industry. Wireless controls are subject to interference that can lead to safety issues. Never mind what you have going on in your homebrew CNC.

If you want to use this type of pendant use a wired one. It may be a pain but it is less likely to hickup.

The other big thing is disabling power management on the PC in the BIOS. Also, set your power management to Maximum Performance in Windows this will prevent the CPU from changing clock speeds while your machine is running. I highly recommend dedicating UCCNC to being the only program installed on the PC. Turn off Windows Defender as it can start running at any time and consume much of the computer's resources.

Good Luck

[joeavaerage]

Hi,

The other big thing is disabling power management on the PC in the BIOS. Also, set your power management to Maximum Performance in Windows this will prevent the CPU from changing clock speeds while your machine is running. I highly recommend dedicating UCCNC to being the only program installed on the PC. Turn off Windows Defender as it can start running at any time and consume much of the computer's resources.

I think this is good advice. CNC software programs like UCCNC and Mach4 are not killer programs, but they do require regular and consistent CPU service. Anything which interrupts
that service will results in glitches at best and failure at worst.

My little dual core Atom single board PC has been loaded with Windows 7 Embedded (Standard) as operating system. It was current about 10 years ago when I bought a license.
The advantage about using an embedded OS is that you can chose and tailor your operating system to your needs. There is a distinct learning curve about choosing all the required
components, as some components require the existence of another. The Windows Embedded installer has a very useful software tool for sorting that out.

There is an option, that if you tick it the installed OS is very similar to the retails Windows 7 install, and that is what I have. The install is about 1.7G, whereas if you lean it out to a
fully functional install but without any frills you can get it down to a little under 1G.

In this mode you can choose to load stuff like security feature, firewall and Windows Defender. If you choose not to load them, they are not installed.....not just installed and turned off, but just
absent altogether. This is what I chose. My little machine PC is never connected to the internet so why bother? I installed the OS about 8 years ago and its never changed since.
OK....so my install does not play CD's or videos......do I care......no, this is for my CNC mill. The last thing I want is any extraneous stuff running....so why bother installing multi-media software
that will never be used? I did not.

Craig

[metalmayhem]

windows embedded is pretty lean . I've used numerous embedded hp thin clients which had mach 3 running great on past mills . I still use one of those mills which runs through the pp for secondary jobs

As far as my experience with ucnc , I didn't like the software and the uc100's were bad for breaking connection . I have one of their ethernet boards I was going to try but plans changed and it got shelved