Linux error code on CNC Mill

[utahnorton]

I'm about at wit's end and hope someone out there might have a suggestion.
I retrofitted a Varnamo (Swedish) knee mill-beautiful new old stock (NOS)
with a complete AJAX/Centroid system. DC-310 servo controller. Worked perfect for about a year but a very limited use. It has a dual operating computer running it. Boot up in Windows XP and I use Bob-Cad-then copy g-code to floppy or flash drive. Turn computer off-then power up freq. drive, controller, push ajax flash drive in and it boots up as Ajax/Linux and works great. Lately though after going through maybe 400 lines of code on a job, the screen goes black with a bunch of error messages-it varies-maybe after 3000 lines of code-not consistant. Ajax suggested the easist solution-replace the memory card (512mb) didn't work after that the pc motherboard and processor (about to). In windows it will on occasion shut down and boot itself up and it varies as well. Ajax has been real helpful but of course it is hard to diagnose a system 2000 miles away. The error codes include:
expected keysym, got XF86_Switch_VT_9:line 83 of pc/pc
There are 4 more lines of similar error messages then it goes
Errors from xkbcomp are not fatal to the x server
(EE) xf860penserial: cannot open device /devmouse no such file or directory
(WW) Mouse1: cannot open input device
Fatal server error:
Caught signel 11. Server aborting
xinit: connection to x server lost.
X connection to :0.0) broken (explicit kill or server shutdown)'
/cncroot/c/cnc10>

Should I just replace the motherboard an processor and see if that does it?
Would post a digital photo of screen but don't now how to do that.

Thanks,

Tom

[Michael M]

Tom, if it were my system I'd consider reinstalling the software AND having a dedicated PC to run the control. I don't have any experience running in dual-boot, but Win seems to sometimes have enough trouble running in single boot that I'm not about to get adventuresome.

I have a spare flash drive that has the Centroid OS/software installed on it for "just in case". I've had too many instances of my regular Win XP PC coming up with "warning Will Robinson, we are losing all your dataaaaaaaaaaa . . . ." to trust that things won't just go sour.

Perhaps your Win installation is dieing and is doing its best to take the Linux install down with it. It certainly sounds like the Linux OS is having trouble recognizing system components.

The Centroid/Ajax control doesn't need a super hi-zoot computer with kewl graphics card etc to run on, and if you look around it seems like you could find someone upgrading a 4 year old system that would let you have their old P5 system for a song. Giving your mill a dedicated computer would seem to be an easy way to go, just to reduce the possibility of inter-system conflicts.

It may well be that you do have hardware issues. A dedicated PC for the machine could help to pinpoint them if that is the case.

cheers,
Michael

[MarcL]

Pretty sure from utahnorton's description this isn't really "dual boot". Instead he has Windows on one flash card, Linux/CNC10 on the other, and is swapping cards. Comparable to swapping hard drives, but cleaner and easier.

This might be a temperature issue. Check your CPU fan, system fans, filter covers, etc. to make sure the PC is not overheating.

Then try a different PC as Michael M suggests. Or, if you have a spare memory DIMM around, try swapping that first.

[svenakela]

Tom,

The error code you write is not enough to tell what is happening, it could be a corrupt configuration file for X and it could be the motherboard. If it's possible try to run a diagnose on your disks and see if there are bad areas.
Unfortunately the error code is one of those hard to solve without testing.
If it's possible, try to catch all error lines and ask at a Linux forum.

Best regards,
Sven

[utahnorton]

The computer would normally run on Windows XP. If the AJAX flash card is pushed into the slot (external) before start up-the computer boots up as Linux/Ajax CNC. I was able to download a photo to my memory stick and then attach it for full error codes. What is confusing is that there are references to a mouse. My understanding was that Ajax/Linux didn't suppport a mouse but then found another thread that showed a sequence to "addmouse" which I did just in case it was the mouse in the usb port was causing the problem. Did that-an arrow appeared on the screen but the mouse wouldn't move it.
The thread referenced a ps2 mouse-I'm using a roller ball mouse which is great on a mill because you don't have to move it around-tough to do on a the bed, those pesky slots get in the way-it can actually sit it on the bed or my leg and works great. I'm wondering if there are specific drivers to load with this type of mouse for linux. Of course this may not have anything to do with what is causing it to shut down. Anyway we pulled out the motherboard processor, and ram last night and put in a new one but computer wasn't happy at all-had a very experienced tech help out but he is not familar with Linux. We have may try to find a more similar mother board or bag it all and just buy another computer....So on to plan C-whatever that is.

Thanks,

Tom

[MarcL]

utahnorton wrote:

The computer would normally run on Windows XP. If the AJAX flash card is pushed into the slot (external) before start up-the computer boots up as Linux/Ajax CNC.

This sounds a little fishy. Are you sure the flash drive and the XP hard drive can't conflict with each other (e.g. aren't both master drive on the same IDE controller)?

Even if the XP hard drive is set as the slave drive on the controller, you might have trouble. Just for curiosity, try unplugging the XP hard drive from the IDE cable altogether.

Also, if you are using an 80-conductor EIDE cable, try switching to an old 40-conductor one. See http://www.acscontrol.com/knowledgeb...p?CatID=2&ID=2

While the Ajax CF-IDE adapter is not the one from ACS, as I understand it the issue is in the flash cards and motherboards, not the adapter.

[unterhaus]

this isn't as common as it used to be for some reason. Could well be that you are having problem with a hard drive, memory, or your system is getting hotter than it used to get. If the operation has worked in the past, it is most likely to be hardware. If anything has changed, or you are doing something that hasn't been tested before, it could be a software problem.

[svenakela]

If XP also has problems, as you wrote, I would guess for a hardware problem.

Once working at a customer with secured data we had a computer that hardware failed. But we could run it long enough to drain it on files by putting it into a fridge...
You could go for a test, does it run for a longer time when there is better cooling? You have to really cool it down if there's a hardware fault.

[utahnorton]

Have replaced the motherboard with new one recommended by Ajax along with the processor and ram. Using same powersupply, hardrive, (linux) flash card reader, CD/DVD, and floppy drive. Windows comes up fine but when the flashcard is inserted and then booted up in Linux I get (with other stuff):
VFS: Cannot open root device "301" or 03:01
Please append a correct "root=" boot option
Kernal panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 03:01

I'm wondering if somehow the flash drive got corrupted-maybe should send it to Ajax for testing? Meanwhile my only mill in my one man shop has been down for almost two weeks-yikes.....Help!!!

Thanks,

Tom

[svenakela]

This is caused by configuration and your new hardware.
You may check these threads:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=269230
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla....cgi?id=126953
and
http://linuxfromscratch.org/pipermai...er/020609.html

Hope you get it working, good luck!
Sven

[MarcL]

Make sure you have the flash card reader plugged in as the IDE primary master (not secondary master, not a slave drive). I just ran into this in a case where the customer plugged the CDROM drive into the primary IDE, and the hard drive into the secondary. The hard drive (or CF reader) then becomes /dev/hdc instead of /dev/hda, and it won't work.

Also check your CMOS Setup screen and verify that any on-chip SATA controller is Disabled.

During the boot process, Linux tells you what IDE devices it detects, and what device assignments they got. You want to see "hda:" displayed, followed by something you might recognize as your compact flash card (e.g. Sandisk this or Lexar that...). You should probably also see "hdc:" followed by the make/model of your CDROM drive.

[utahnorton]

Reconfigured the set-up with the new motherboard going through the process with Drew at Ajax CNC. I have to tell you, the support I have recieved from Ajax has been fantastic and wouldn't hesitate a minute in buying their system again. The system still had a kernal panic error so we are looking at the possiblity that either the flash card hard drive (Toshiba) or reader somehow failed or got corrupted. Overnited the card and reader to Ajax and they will look at it today. They will also attempt to salvage any CNC mill programs that are still on it. Will post their results as soon as I hear back.

Thanks,

Tom