M400 with Windows

[shop teacher]

I have an older Centroid M400 that does not have a HD. I paid a Centroid rep to upgrade it to read from my network but it still doesn't work. I was told that it was possible to load windows on it but I am afraid I don't know how it can be done. Can someone explain the process for me?

[Shizzlemah]

... not sure what to say about the network thing. should be doable in 10 minutes with the patches from centroid... i'll withhold my comments on your rep.

loading windows? that will be a chore and for no benefit. if you are running a linux system, the control sw will not work under windows.

if you have no hard drive, you can make additional flash drives to boot to windows, but dont plan on using windows while machining anything !!

[MarcL]

shop teacher wrote:

I have an older Centroid M400 that does not have a HD. I paid a Centroid rep to upgrade it to read from my network but it still doesn't work. I was told that it was possible to load windows on it but I am afraid I don't know how it can be done. Can someone explain the process for me?

Shizzlemah is right, that installing Windows would be far more trouble than it would be worth, just to get a network connection working.

What is your M400 control serial number? It should be on the side or back of your console, and will be in the 5000-series, 6000-series, 10000-series, or 20000-series.

What is your control software version? It is displayed on the F7/Utility screen, and also (except on very old controls) on the F1/Setup screen.

I presume you are trying to connect to a Windows-based PC. What edition of Windows is it using? How extensive is your network?

I have gotten many DOS-based controls networked to various editions of Windows. The only one I never got to work was to an XP machine in a corporate environment with domain authentication (though I have since gotten other similar ones to behave).

On a couple occasions, the connection did not work until I uninstalled, then reinstalled, the NETBEUI protocol on the Windows XP machine (theoretically not changing a thing -- go figure).

Anyway, if you let me know a little about your particular M400, I can probably give you some guidance for getting the network connection going without having to install Windows.

- Marc

[Shizzlemah]

Yeah give us more info and we may be able to help.

I've got a T39 -> W2K net connection going. It's kind of funky as you have to push or pull from the control (cant' push/pull files from the windows box)

Gets the job done though.