The following pertains to an Eztrak DX with PC and boot from HDD system assumption:
The PC side of the system is just that - a PC. The machines had a 386 or 486 (some a pentium) motherboard and a floppy/HDD drive card, a HDD, a floppy drive, a video card and a P/S from an AT hung from the side of the cabinet.
Yes, they probably installed a new P/S which is why the cord to P/S is still lying in the cabinet. That's what I did in lieu of hacking up the P/S just to eliminate the cable.
Into one of the ISA slots, BPT plugged in the 14" or so long BMDC card which interfaces the PC to the mill - this is the "industrial controller card" that does all the work. Two 50 pin ribbon cables exit this card and go to external BOB cards.
THe PC merely provides the interface between the BMDC and the opearator via typical "computer type" I/O's (keyboard, keys, switches et al). Conversely, the BMDC, via the external Break Out Boards (BOB's), links up with the external signal and control circuitry between/to the mill and servos, etc.
The PC side of the machine works just like a PC. In the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files, they automatically load the Extrak operating system instead of DOSSHELL or Windows or whatever you'd use for a computer O/S - the machine is, however, running on DOS but the only program you can use is essentially the EZTRAK one - until/unless you exit to DOS and run it like a regular PC.
IF you install a manual keyboard and press the F8 key while booting, you can bypass the autoloading of the Eztrak O/S and boot directly into DOS instead. Simply hit F8 when you turn on the machine and then say "no" to any question that involves AUTOLOAD, EZLOAD, EZTRAK, BMDC or anything that does NOT look like a generic DOS operating command.
If your computer guy is DOS literatate, he can EASILY do this for you. Just tell him it is a regular old 386/486 PC only installed in a real strange case.....
Once you get to DOS, it should be easy to check HDD access capability, floppy operation and the other stuff needed to verify if the PC "front end" is fully operational.
If that's OK and the HDD is not corrupted, you should be able to run SCANDISK (checks and fixes HDD issues if not too bad) and then DEFRAG (unscrambles files on HDD).
You may want to reload the Extrak O/S just to be sure (before you do, save the SYS.BEZ or SYSTEM.BEZ files to a floppy as this is all the "factory backlash comp" settings - you'll want to reload them after you reinstall the O/S)
Hopefully, you do have back-up disks for the machine - if not, you'll need to beg, borrow or steal some. Be sure you know which version of the Eztrak O/S you have as this can cause problems on early machines with Southwest controls and some CIB (computer in box) machines.
Now, if you can't boot from the HDD, chances are the HDD/FDD card is malfunctioning. first clean the contacts with soft eraser and replug it in annother ISA slot - try again. Make sure the ribbon cables are all properly seated and oriented - a slight misalignment will cause boot problems - chased that problem for 1.5 days.
In my case, a new HDD/FDD control card helped - for a while - but the M/B failed shortly thereafter. This is where your 133 table anchor will come in REAL handy. I'd swap it in its entirety.
Once you verify that the PC, monitor, et al are working, whatever issues are probably related to the BMDC or someplace else in the factory wiring. A copy of OEM schematic drawing 1943390 or 1942856 would be invaluable - they have ALL the PC based machine wiring diagrams you'll need to service any 2D or 2.5D version of the machine.
NOTE: If the EZTRAK coordinate system came up on the screen via your HDD bench test, your HDD thankfully is probably not the problem - that's what's supposed to happen.
I'd guess that you're problem is probably in the M/B, P/S (voltmeter check first), HDD-FDD controller and/or VGA card. My best bet would be problems with M/B or HDD-FDD card. Desk top style equipment works, but not forever in the dank, dirty, vibration plagued world of CNC machines.
Eventually, the stuff simply can't hack it anymore and starts to malfunction - especially as stuff ages beyond 5 years or more. If you're having boot problems (might be why you got the machine - the previous owner was scared off from fixing it), plan on doing a M/B retrofit and doing so soon.  |