[eartaker]

ok soooo im normally able to figure this **** out but im kinda being lazy right now lol. I installed another parallel port card and now have an address of A800 but mach 3 wont let me put that in as an address... what should I do?

[jalessi]

Eartaker,

This is the way it needs to be entered 0xa800

It will work if the address is correct.


Jeff...

[eartaker]

shall give it a try...

[hoss2006]

Mach automatically enters the 0x, just fyi.
Hoss

[eartaker]

well craps no luck.. any sure way to find the address? I understand that hoss but it seems like the info im getting in device manager is useless.

[aarggh]

Is Windows loading drivers and allocating a port number for it?

Check device manager to make sure you don't have any red signs or exclamation marks against the controller, also, do you also maybe need to play around with the "plug and play OS" settings in the BIOS or disable the onboard port?

If the card is showing up as loaded in the device manager then you should just be able to get the details from the "resources" tab for the properties of the card. If you don't have many devices in your pc then you might be better to set "plug and play OS" to off in the BIOS to force the BIOS to allocate a HEX range.

[jalessi]

Eartaker,

If the device manager is showing the port on a specific address and there are no yellow flags the device manager is correct.

Where you able to set the port address in Mach3?

What is actually happening,

Do you have a instant messenger,

Jeff...

[wildwestpat]

Hi eartaker

Can we assume you have taken the address for the new card from the control pannel - system - hardware - device manager - ports - LPT2 resources page and used that value in your Mach3 configuration? As Hoss has mentioed Mach can be confusing as it enters a default value that has to be altered to suit your individual computer and can not be reliably predicted.

Hope you have the problem solved.

Regards

Pat

[eartaker]

no conflicts on the port, its just different and maybe my drivers are crazy who knows... here is a screen shot of the device manager. I'm going insane... I WANTS MY SPINDLE CONTROL AND NO MORE JOGGING WITH THE KEYBOARD lol... I have ruined 2 keyboards from aluminum shavings. Totally recreating Hoss's control box

[wildwestpat]

Hi eartaker

Ok look at the port settings window as in your screen shot as this is the port address that Mach3 needs to be configured for your LPT3 to work.

Also check that the resources used by your LPT1 and LPT3 are different for IO range. Should be as there is no conflict being reported.

The red cross on your network card and the other devices yellow question mark should be resolved before doing anything serious with Mach3. These issues should not be connected with your current problem but might cause Windows to try and fix these at some later date.

Sorry I gave the wrong last step in the bore down throught the 'control panel' to the 'resources page' which should have been the port detail.

As part of the testing try using your LPT1 to configure as the swich inputs. This will validate your wiring in particular the values of the logic signals. The LPT ports have a restricted range of operation for the logic low and logic high condition.

I assume you are aware that there are keyboards that are impervious to metal chip ingress as well as being waterproof. At the low end these are currently enjoying a revival as roll up keyboards for mobile phone use. For example:- http://www.fullaccessories.com/produ...oducts_id=2051



Regards

Pat

[eartaker]

I think I might have it fixed. The red cross is on the NIC card because I have it disabled and im using wireless... the question mark is the computer thinking my controller box for the CNC is another piece of hardware needing to me installed.

[eartaker]

Well we have some progression but not really.... lol So I can jog on pin 15 but when I try on pins 2-7 I get nothing. I have checked the box in Mach 3 that says to use those pins as input but I get nothing....... any ideas?

[hoss2006]

Are you using a BOB like the C10 for example?
You have to change the jumper on its board to use those pins for inputs, the default is outputs.
Hoss

[wildwestpat]

Hi I hope the numbers you are quoting are not the LPT pin numbers and I am not understanding your problem.

On the LPT port pins 2 through 9 are output pins from the computer and should be driving lamps, motors or relays via suitable interface electronics as the LPT cannot supply much power. Pins 10 through 13 plus 15 are the input pins and should connect to switches.

You may have got away with forcing the out put pins as these are probably buffered. However I would test the card's outputs using a parallel port printer/scanner to see if you can both print and scan using the card. If you cannot use both functions from the new card just test it with the mother board port just to confirm that the printer/scanner if functional. If it is only the new card that does not work then the card may be toast as it looks as if the card is correctly configured. It is worth doing this paragraph even, as I hope, I have misunderstood your use of pin numbers.

Hope this helps

Pat

[GEFR]

Hi I hope the numbers you are quoting are not the LPT pin numbers and I am not understanding your problem.

On the LPT port pins 2 through 9 are output pins from the computer and should be driving lamps, motors or relays via suitable interface electronics as the LPT cannot supply much power. Pins 10 through 13 plus 15 are the input pins and should connect to switches.

You may have got away with forcing the out put pins as these are probably buffered. However I would test the card's outputs using a parallel port printer/scanner to see if you can both print and scan using the card. If you cannot use both functions from the new card just test it with the mother board port just to confirm that the printer/scanner if functional. If it is only the new card that does not work then the card may be toast as it looks as if the card is correctly configured. It is worth doing this paragraph even, as I hope, I have misunderstood your use of pin numbers.

Hope this helps

Pat

Hello Pat
My problem is that while I detest the way in which Windows runs steppers with an overlay of interrupts and stutters I can look see on what it thinks it is doing with ports etc. However I have found no way of doing this on Linux and when reading the 25.4 mm thick EMC2 manual am completely stuffed when asked to dive into for instance the HAL file. Where on earth is it? The manual seems to be written by and for people who are fully competent in these matters. So I confess to having used EMC2 intuitively for a number of years by confining myself to stuff I know. It seems just to difficult to go back to basics and follow through as I have done with windows. So I just need a start and I am happy to dedicate a hard drive to it and if (when) I do something wrong I will just start over. So I need to know how to access these files to check the parallel port settings. Also where is the Linux equivalent of the hardware recourse? Or am I missing something obvious?
Cheers
Ken

[GEFR]

Are you using a BOB like the C10 for example?
You have to change the jumper on its board to use those pins for inputs, the default is outputs.
Hoss

Sorry I don't know what is a BOB and whether I use the PP on the motherboard or an aftermarket PCI card I have never seen jumpers on it. Like I said the whole caboosh works on a hard drive loaded with xp on the same computer. It just won't work on Linux on the Shuttle.
Cheers
Ken

[wildwestpat]

Hi

I can not help re Linux as I have too many programs that are windows based although Linux has a windows routine that will run windows programs I have not tried it. Although the recent run arround caused by the Feb windows update has caused me to think about ditching Microsoft as my ooperating system of choice.

A BOB is a break out board. This sits between the computer port (LPT 1 upto LPT 4 if you have more than one fitted - extra LPT port cards are available is your mother board in the computer accepts expansion cards - not all do - and if going this route make sure any card you get is compatible with the expansion bus). A BOB is used to buffer the input and output pins of the computer. This is desirable on two counts. Firstly there current limits on the amount of power that the outputs can source and sink whilst still obeying the voltage levels for logic - the input pins have constraints on the noise immunity of the signals due to the narrow difference between logic levels. Secondly the BOB can help save the computer from accidental damage.

There are three types of BOB the simplest ones provide no buffering and are designed to provide simple attachment to the LPT port - contain no buffering electronics. The next step is to provide some electronics to buffer both the input and output pins from the terminals connected to the external circuits of what ever mechanism or apparatus is being monitored or controlled. The next step up is to use optical couplers on all LPT pins to provide full protection from accidental high voltage application. Both types of BOB that use electronics may have plug in blocks (IC s) so that repairs after an accidental over load are simply a case of plugging in replacement parts. Plug in parts represent a bit of an uncertainty in terms of long term reliability as all too often the sockets used are low quality and many workshops have times of high humidity.

A top notch BOB will also have LEDs that indicate the logic states as presented to the LPT to aid in quick diagnosis of faults.

I have not had problems with MACH3 and Windows but I do not run or have windows load other applications at the same time. (Use msconfig to turn off any start up things that are not necessay for CNC. Browsing the internet - networking are two types of activity that may cause problems but some people do report that they have no problems.

A BOB is usually necessary with a lap-top computer as these have limited LPT drive capability as do some mother boards used in desk top machines. Suggest you look at web sites such as CNC4PC.

As an after thought I would check that the LPT port on your computer is OK as it looks as this is about the only common feature between Linux/CNC applications and Windows/CNC applications. Your CNC application will have a page that shows the LTP pins and you should see the correct response for the inputs and outputs. This requires a bit of electronics knowledge to make sure the voltage and current conditions are at the limits laid down in the standards. However I have run across LPT ports that lack some of the input pins as well as cables that do not have full pin to pin connectivity.

Regards

Pat

[Fastest1]

I believe Hoss was responding to Eartaker.
A BOB, is a breakout board. This allows the pins of your parallel port to be accessed and allocated. On some models it provides a form of electrical isolation (optoisolation) to protect your computer from electrical interference, backfeeding, etc.

Sorry I don't know what is a BOB and whether I use the PP on the motherboard or an aftermarket PCI card I have never seen jumpers on it. Like I said the whole caboosh works on a hard drive loaded with xp on the same computer. It just won't work on Linux on the Shuttle.
Cheers
Ken

[GEFR]

Thanks for that Pat maybe I should explain myself better:
I run a Foam cutter on Foamworks software which uses Windows and outputs via the parallel port. Up until my old IBM desktop died I was swapping hard drive cassettes between Windows XP and Linux EMC2. But when I tried the same set up on the Shuttle XP drove the parallel port fine but the port was dead on Linux. Reading a thread on this or similar topics found that the way the port is configured is set up in the HAL file.Also on the forum there is instructions as to how the HAL file should be edited. But Lord only knows how one gets into that! Reading in the EMC2 manual there is a page with two versions of the parallel port set up. One is for outpit and the other is for input. As the port works when the XP cassette is plugged in but not when the Linux cassette is plugged in I assume that when Linux see's a Shuttle it sets the port up differently to the way widows sets it up. I have now located another IBM PC but the shuttle is so neat and compact that I will revisit the problem when I get space in my head for it. Thanks again.
KIen

[wildwestpat]

Hi Ken
Just re read your post numbered 15 and now have a question or two. A lot of time has elapsed since 2009 when you posted again in earlier today.

Firstly can you use the machine under Windows with the base configuration of Mach3 + the pre config files if required by your version of Windows. Mach3 inserts itself high up the priority order for use of the CPU so as to avoid being pre-empted for resource by other programs. It is possible that any system restore or other Windows process may have removed this priority claim on resources. (This is a particular problem on Vista I think but look at the Mach3 site for confirmation.) I would suggest a fresh install after removing Mach3 from the machine.

Secondly the LPT card which you installed way back in 2009 would not have links for configuring the "extra pins" as this is done in two places. Firstly at the actual input pin to the card and secondly in the software configuration page of Mach3. Can we assume that this resulted in a system that runs. (There are other reasons that might cause the motors on the axis to stall or fail to move but those are driver and mechanical matching issues and are nothing to do with the software or operating system assuming the same acceleration and speeds are set. ) Also do the limit switches or other switched inputs work correctly all the time? (Again these are configured in the Mach3 setup window for the port.)

Jumpers on some BOB cards permit the logic to be inverted and also to use some of the pins to be used as inputs. These settings will be in the application information for the card. Look at the CNC4PC web site
CNC4PC
and you will see a typical range of BOB cards and their associated application notes pin connections and link settings.

Unreliable operation might have other cause not related to the PC's operating system. These would include:-

1. A duff parallel port.
2. A port with a low power chip set ie the logic zero and one levels are very close in terms of voltage and the power available to drive each output may be very limited.
3. The signals are being subject to interference - earth loops - motor spikes etc. I strongly recommend opto isolated boards if you can afford one. When the bugs are ironed out and you are comfortable with the hardware configuration direct connection has its attractions unless you are using a laptop. Mother boards for desk top PCs are cheap and still available and likely to remain so as these are used in a lot of industrial computing systems along with their associated ISA slots.

My reason for asking these simple questions is that you should be able to operate with a Windows operating system that Mach3 supports. If you have faults running the Windows based Mach3 then changing the operating system and not the hardware will run the risk of experiencing similar problems as it is the hardware or interface not the operating system / software that is the cause of your bugs. I have no axe to grind about Microsoft vv Linux or Mach3 vv EMC2.

The Linux configuration is a little different from that adopted by Windows as there is a separate hardware interface block the HAL file (hardware application level configuration file.) It is the HAL that makes a Linux operating system hardware platform independent as the interface to the actual hardware is separately configured. In Windows there is a load of baggage from the earlier operating systems.

Hope this helps as I have a gut feeling that this is a hardware - interference - or drive levels problem from what you have posted and the steps you have taken.

Regards - Pat