I seem to always have to fight loading my program from the floppy, part of this is due to senility:D or would that be :mad:
I don't know I forget.


Anyway, saving the file from the NC editor as o0009 (example) with no file extension. Is this not correct.
I get file not found alarm from the controller.
Twice tonight I loaded the floppy back into my PC and the disk was trashed.

Not a good sign I am afraid.

(Just to make sure, we'll start with the basics) You enter the EXACT name of the file, with or without an extension, (I use .NCF), then press Disk Read.

Is the floppy in good condition? (If you put them next to electrical current/magnetic fields they will get damaged) The drives on the HAAS seem very particular about the floppies they read. Try a few others.

How old is the drive on the HAAS? Can you save programs or work offsets to the floppy? Is the drive dirty? Does it need to be replaced?

Got an RS232 cable? ;)

Just a few things to consider.

'Rekd

Originally posted by Rekd
[B](Just to make sure, we'll start with the basics) You enter the EXACT name of the file, with or without an extension, (I use .NCF), then press Disk Read. [B]

This Haas controller requireds that the program begin with "O" (not zero) and no letters only numbers. In one place the book says oxxxx and another oxxxxx, neither seems to work .

Is the floppy in good condition? Yes, in appearence at least


The drives on the HAAS seem very particular about the floppies they read. Try a few others. This does seem to be an issue.

How old is the drive on the HAAS? The entire mill is less then a year old.

Can you save programs or work offsets to the floppy? Never tried.

Is the drive dirty? No

Does it need to be replaced? it shouldn't at this point, of course it is man made.

Got an RS232 cable? ;) Been giving this a lot of thought as the drive has always given me trouble.


Thanks for the ideas, I will give another disk a try.

Ken

Ken,

Tried to call but you must be working hard.:D


Try a capital O, not lower case 0. That is in your file header. So O1111 ( Not o1111 )


No period at end , unless you are using an extension.

Call if your need help. Here as always.;)

Ward

Still reads "File not Found"

It is saved on the disk as "O0009" no extension.

Here is part of the file header:
O0009
N10 (PART - )
N20 (FILE - C:\ONECNC-XP\MILL ROFESSIONAL\XFA\SPANNER.XFA)


Do I always need to change the file header default 00000 to the file name?
Don't recall doing that before.

thanks
Ken

Ken,

Is there an % at the top of the file header?
I don't see one in your example.

PMFJI,

As long as the external filename conforms to the 8.3 dos rule the only thing that remains is for a percent sign at the top and the end of the file along with the correct OXXXXX NC name.

When you load the file the list program key will read the internal name and the external name will have been stripped off.


Example:
External name, tape.txt
Internal name, O12345


J

Yes there is, sorry, I cut it short to just show the file number.

Ken

Ken,

Phone call!

Thanks for that information Jaguar.

Ken

Ken,

Did it work?

J

No nothing we tried fixed it so I just shut the thing down in preparation to call Haas service the following morning and see how good the warranty is.

Next morning I booted up the machine and bingo, the file loaded perfect so it must have been a software glitch. If this was a PC based unit I would have re-booted almost automatically but the Haas controller has been so stable I never gave re-booting a thought.

I did, as with all problems, pick up some useful information (Including yours) that has helped me understand the floppy loading better.

Thanks for checking on how it was going Jaguar.


Ken

Ken,

Be very careful not to load corrupt files into the Haas controller. If you do, all sorts of nasty things will occur that will make your life miserable. A Fanuc CNC won't even let you load corrupt files but the Haas will. I recommend Maxell discs only, with the plastic floppy doors.

Put a piece of tape over the floppy slot when not in use.

J

Haas reserves "9" series for other features. O91234 as an example would not load. I was informed by a Haas Service Tech. Have had no problems loading since then. Have different versions of Haas controls/software worked differently?

Umm this may have sliped your mind while doing all fo this but.

Have you tried using another computer?
I work on pc's all the time and i know for a fact that pc floppy drives (not realy made all that well these past few years) Have a tendincy to go out of alinment.....

Think of it like this the drive is loosing steps....

Try using another pc's drive to save the file.
if that dosn't work try Reformating the disk befor hand.
Continuly if a disk is being corupted constently there is defintly somthing rong with the drive on the router.

It may have devolped a bad diod in the secton of the drive that would normly controle the erase/write functions or even in the read sections bleeding curent into the head.
This will erase a disk as the drive tries to read it.

Also make dam sure your not formating the disks in fat32....
Format the disk in a Real dos drive make a txt file with the file extinshens and then bring it over to your windows pc.

Open your work file in notepad hilight the whole bloddy thing and click on edit then copy (or ctrl-c)
Now close that file or open a new notepad ... Open the dummy txt file on the disk
Hilight everything (CTRL-A) then past (CTRL-V) or click on edit and click on past in the drop down.

then click on file and SAVE (i'd tell ya the shortcut if i could remember it i just ALT-F then hit S )

This will keep the orginal names formating on the disk to the old dos 8+3 standerd.
Windows has proven not to save in this format nativly for a long time even on flopies.
A windows formated flopy dosnt even truly suport the dos 8+3 standerd building a side catalog for xp 255char headers.

This could definitly muck up the works.

I've seen this alot in electric typewriters/Wordprosessors where a file saved on an xp michene (or a disk formated in 2000/XP wont read on the typewriter.

From your frindly nabourhood tech guy. :) good luck i hope somthing works for ya

PS RS232 cable
You may also need a nul modem or a nul cable check your manuial. and check and see what kind of UART the mill has. you may have to throtle down the speed on the pc
This from experince with old equipment conecting to New equipment.

OKOK. my friend here who was roodly reading over my sholder demands i put this in

His keyboard *The music kind* Wont read XP formated disks eather....

This is just a sort of a follow up to what workalone has mentioned earlier, with a little extra info added for "anyones" benefit should they find it helpful.

The Haas setting page #23 74 & 75 (on my mill version) are only to be used by folks that "know how to use it". It should remain as "lock on" if you are not sure "you can really mess up your mill". I had to use it one time when I was installing software in my mill but I had Hass on the phone directing me what to do on every button that I pushed. The program with a 9 may be loaded but you are not allowed to see it because of this and other features that Haas uses to protect its software and set up.

One other thing I want to mention is that I was told this by another Haas owner that he started having trouble with his control and was told by a repairman not to have more than 70% full in the program memory to get full function capabilities. That would be seen in the list program page and would translate as having 30% free as a minimum as I understand it. He told me he hasn't had any problem since he started following that advice.

SRT, you can download all your settings/offsets just like the programs. Go to List Programs then go to the page you want to download, (settings/offsets etc) and hit SEND or use the floppy option.

'Rekd

Thanks 'Rekd,
I just saw your message so I went back and edited into my post the 1st line that is now written, for clarity (I hope).

I have done what you mentioned in the past and it is very helpful, for example, when I use my Haas rotary table for all the mutiple set-up offsets. Maybe you could mention other good times to use it that I haven't even thought of.

Have you heard anything lately on how MasterCam X(10) is progressing.

I realize this is an old post, but I'm new here and I had this problem recently.
A buddy came over one day and wrote a program with his FeatureMill software, which we have used before. No matter what we did we could not get the program to load, we were chasing any possibility, little oxxxx,
big Oxxxx, rewriting and reloading, back and forth to the manual. After several hours we had to call it quits, the parts had to be made somewhere else. Later that evening I tried loading some old programs from some floppys I had around, they loaded just fine. I wrote a small sample program with my BobCad 17, same as the old programs. Would not load !!!
So just for the hell of it, I reformatted my floppy, reloaded the sample program and sure enough it loaded just fine.
I don't know why, but when this happened again, I reformatted the floppy, reloaded, and all was well.
The End

I realize this is an old post, but I'm new here and I had this problem recently.
A buddy came over one day and wrote a program with his FeatureMill software, which we have used before. No matter what we did we could not get the program to load, we were chasing any possibility, little oxxxx,
big Oxxxx, rewriting and reloading, back and forth to the manual. After several hours we had to call it quits, the parts had to be made somewhere else. Later that evening I tried loading some old programs from some floppys I had around, they loaded just fine. I wrote a small sample program with my BobCad 17, same as the old programs. Would not load !!!
So just for the hell of it, I reformatted my floppy, reloaded the sample program and sure enough it loaded just fine.
I don't know why, but when this happened again, I reformatted the floppy, reloaded, and all was well.
The End

Loading off of the Floppy is easy even with Featurecam which I use all the time. Make sure you use a Dos File name, 8.3 convention. Test.txt will work fine. The internal name has to conform to Fanuc convention, hence, Oxxxxx. The control will pick up the internal Oxxxxx name and use it in the Haas directory.

When you post code in FCam you have to change the name of the CNC file in the editor window prior to posting the code. If you don't do this you are screwed. Haas doesn't read windows filenames. You must manually change the Oxxxxx name prior to posting.

TM

Look at the disk from your computer...the file name is most likely not the "O" file name and it will have a file extenstion (most likely .NC)
type in that DOS file name complete with the file extension and hit F3...Works a treat
Jim

My 96 Haas seemed to give me a lot of trouble with disk read errors. I replaced the floppy drive in my computer and in the Haas with Sony floppy drives, and switched to Sony disks as well. The number of disk read error problems decreased dramatically.

FWIW, Windows introduces its own disk write errors on occasion, whenever a file is written to a floppy. This shows up in graphics mode on the Haas, as "multiple codes" error. You can check the file on your pc's hard drive (with a Hex editor) and it will be fine. Save the file to the floppy, and recheck it, it will have the error. You might seldom see this error if your filesize is small, but anything larger than 100k has a significant chance of having this error, in several places.

The nature of the error is this: a line of text on screen ends with invisible machine characters, a carriage return and a line feed character. In hexadecimal, these characters can be seached for, using the search string:
0D 0A

What happens, is the windows disk write turns the 0A into a 0D, so to the Haas, the line ends with 0D 0D, which is missing the line feed character, and so the Haas does not insert the semicolon, which is the visible substitute for 0D 0A.

So, what I do, is save the file to the floppy. Then, start up my favourite freeware Hexeditor, and open the file from its floppy location. I then search and replace the file, searching for every instance of 0D 0D (which should never, ever occur in a text file), and replacing it with 0D 0A.

Save the file over top of itself on the floppy disk, if this error is detected and fixed. Then, take the disk to the Haas, and load in with confidence! :)

Easy Peasy Floppy to Controller Pgm Loading Key Strokes:

Edit-F1-Left Arrow over to "I/O" menu-arrow down to "Disk Directory"-Write/Enter-arrow down to pgm-Write/Enter

Program naming tip: Name your program anything you want (my program.nc or whatever makes it easy for you to find on the floppy).....the first line in your program after the % will be Oxxxxx (example:O01001, O10000 etc.)

I went thru a lot of pain until someone showed me that little bit of info...lazza

On older Haas machines when you load from a floppy it will overwrite an existing program with the same Onnnnn. With several people using the same machine we standardize that every load uses O00000 and is then renumbered on the machine. If someone does not renumber their program and it gets overwritten that is their fault not the person doing the load.

Newer Haas machines prompt you and don't automatically overwrite

Well one our 3 Haas Mills we dont use the O to load. If we number the program 1121.nc, the to load it is

list Prgm
1121.nc
F3

I didn't read ALL the replies so forgive me if this has already been said... The Haas controller looks at the first line inside the file for the file name. Look below... See the O95111.... Well, you can name the file Cat.cnc, Dog.ncd, Cow.txt.... The controller doesn't care. BUT...... make SURE the first line after the % is an "O", not zero... and that there are 5 digits after it. ... If not, the controller simply says... "Bad File Name". No matter what you name the file, the controller will bring it in as this number... I just spent about an hour learning this lesson a few days ago on a new Haas. Hope this helps! Jack. :cheers:

%
O95111
T1 M06
( TOOL: Spherical H0.5 C0.0625 D0.125 )

On my Haas controller it will happily load the file O4004
but does auto insert a leading zero i.e O04004.

This difference may be how the controller is setup in the with in the CAD/CAM posting configuration.

Ken

050917-1123 EST USA

On older HAAS machines a 5 digit O-number will not load. On these you must use 4 digit O-numbers.

As Ken said on newer machines either a 4 digit or 5 digit O-number will load.

But there is a problem. If you load a program with a 4 digit number into a newer machine, then it is converted to a 5 digit number. Now save this program to a file. Load that new file to an old machine and it won't load. You must first edit the program and change the 5 digit number to a 4 digit number. Also a file comparison will fail because HAAS modified the program.

Between Fanuc and HAAS there are little problems relating to the printing and non-printing characters that preceed and follow the first %. One has to structure this area precisely to load on both machines. The details I do not remember at the moment.

Also note that a % within a comment is not ignored by HAAS, as it should be, but terminates loading. Anything should be allowed in a comment except the trailing ) and there are ways to solve this problem. One way is a double ) meaning treat as a comment ). Possibly a better way is a look-ahead method to balance parens.

.