Nick
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Post by Nick on Apr 5, 2009 16:06:02 GMT -5
I dont know if thats right or wrong, ron wil have to tell you. but at least it should be doing something.
how about this... when you press F5 on the keyboard, you should hear a relay in the romaxx click, which turns the outlet of the front of the machine on/off. be careful if you have a router plugged in!
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Post by daveteff on Apr 5, 2009 16:08:10 GMT -5
I dont know if thats right or wrong, ron wil have to tell you. but at least it should be doing something. how about this... when you press F5 on the keyboard, you should hear a relay in the romaxx click, which turns the outlet of the front of the machine on/off. be careful if you have a router plugged in! Ron emailed me some screenshots and my Mach matches his exactly. No...I hear nothing from the machine. I see in mach that it be activating the spindle. But nothing from the machine. Knowing that I've tried 2 different PC's both with on board and an installed port with no luck....is it *possible* that it's just a bad parallel cable?
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Nick
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Mr. Wonderful
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Post by Nick on Apr 5, 2009 16:19:36 GMT -5
Wow, youre screwed. Just kidding. This ones got me stumped. If you can 'clear the Reset' [button], as we say, then the machine is in comm with the PC (at least on 1 pin!) But yet, it will not respond to other signals on other pins. Like already said, the only time I had that happen is when I had the parallel port in crooked and only some of the pins were making total contact. Did you try a different parallel port cable?
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Nick
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Mr. Wonderful
Posts: 206
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Post by Nick on Apr 5, 2009 16:20:51 GMT -5
....is it *possible* that it's just a bad parallel cable? Thats funny, i think you added that in at the same time i was asking you if you tried another one.
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Post by romaxxcnc on Apr 5, 2009 16:21:10 GMT -5
Quote" I CAN clear the resets, with all the examples above, HOWEVER, with the new card the port is set to BC07...now...if I go into mach and CHANGE that port to something else, lets say 378...I CANNOT clear the reset!!""
Now it sounds more like the interface is malfunctioning.
I'm emailing you a test to run.
Ron
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Post by daveteff on Apr 5, 2009 16:23:13 GMT -5
....is it *possible* that it's just a bad parallel cable? Thats funny, i think you added that in at the same time i was asking you if you tried another one. Gee thanks Nick! lol I'm gonna give that a try...Gonna run out real quick and see if I can find another cable to try. I just can't give up on stuff like this. I'm determined to find the cause. Even though I say I give up.....I walk away and 5 minutes later I'm back working on it. I'll report what I can get after cable.
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Nick
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Mr. Wonderful
Posts: 206
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Post by Nick on Apr 5, 2009 16:27:19 GMT -5
Gee thanks Nick! lol Pervert. lol.
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Post by daveteff on Apr 5, 2009 16:31:58 GMT -5
Well....we've gotten so close.....lol
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Nick
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Mr. Wonderful
Posts: 206
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Post by Nick on Apr 5, 2009 16:39:35 GMT -5
If you have an ohmmeter or multimeter or whatever, you can just check the cable. Hells bells, you can check the signals at the end of the cable too... the pin #s are molded right into the plastic. The pin #s on the plug are the same pin #s in Mach, i think. Mach gives off 5volts each, so according to your previous post, you should have 5v on pins 2 3 4, when the machine is at a standstill, and the reset is cleared. then, when you press an arrow key to move an axis, you should get 5v on pin 6 7 or 8, otherwise there should be 0 (or very little) at those pins.
If you can check that, then it will for sure tell you whether the machine or the pc is at fault.
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Post by daveteff on Apr 5, 2009 17:01:18 GMT -5
okay....after running rons test I now have power to the drives. We're moving in the right direction here. Still no movement when I try to jog, but at least I have power back there.
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Post by romaxxcnc on Apr 5, 2009 17:59:28 GMT -5
Dave,
One more question. With everything powered up, press the cycle start and feedhold and do you get "Nothing to feedhold" and the Cycle start button screen flashes?
This has to be something silly like a bad comm cable.
Let me know, Ron
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Post by daveteff on Apr 5, 2009 18:06:38 GMT -5
Dave, One more question. With everything powered up, press the cycle start and feedhold and do you get "Nothing to feedhold" and the Cycle start button screen flashes? This has to be something silly like a bad comm cable. Let me know, Ron Yes, when I press those buttons I get the appropriate response in mach. I ran out to look for another cable but finding a male/male cable on a sunday is pretty much a bust.. Mach still shows that the dro's should be moving but I don't get movement from the machine. Dave BTW......that's always been the case even before I ran your test. The buttons would cause a reaction in mach...
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Post by romaxxcnc on Apr 5, 2009 18:53:35 GMT -5
Dave,
Let's try a new cable. It's the only thing we don't test(figures). It's factory sealed. It may have some dead pins?? I'll send you one right out. Yeah, those are a bit hard to find locally.
Ron
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Post by daveteff on Apr 5, 2009 19:14:34 GMT -5
Hold off on sending one until tomorrow. Let me make some calls and see what I can dig up. If I cant fidn anything locally sometime in the am, I'll shoot you and email.
Just so I understand (and maybe help someone in the future)....
By bypassing that relay what exactly did that tell us? Does that show that yes, it's working and there isn't an input being sent through the cable for it to turn on or something else entirely?
Thanks, Dave
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Post by romaxxcnc on Apr 6, 2009 19:19:15 GMT -5
Dave,
""By bypassing that relay what exactly did that tell us?""
Bypassing the relay was essentially bypassing the charge pump circuitry. It energized the drives and then that would allow us to see step and direction inputs, if there were any.
We've shipped a new cable and breakout board via USPS.
I tested both here and both worked perfectly. We'll get those swapped out and see what happens.
Ron
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