I,ve recently purchased a Spectralight mill with controller and old 486 pc. Everything works and is actually brand new(was told it was only set up for the school auction) and indeed looks like it was never used. I got everything hooked up and all works. However this is older software control called Spectramill(all dos). Anyway my question is this, can I take to isa card and move it to a not so old pc and download software such as Turbocnc to control it? Or is it the Spectramill controller propeitery to its own software? Have any other Spectramill owners had any luck with conversions? Any input is appreciated.

I believe TurboCNC is software based through the parallel port. Usually a PC based card has proprietary software to operate, similar to Galil cards, et al.
Is there any thing wrong with the present s/w?
Al.

No its just the pc its on is really old and I,m limited to just the Spectramill software on it as there is a password that won,t let me access the rest of the pc in other words I,m stuck in DOS and can,t access windows. Also I have to set up the order of boot up sequence each time I start it.

Also I have to set up the order of boot up sequence each time I start it.
If this is the MS-DOS boot, could you not write a Bat(ch) file to sequence automatically?
Al.

Well it currently is stuck at startup with a" missing operating system" msg. So do ya think I,m screwed? Can I take this hard drive out and run it as a slave on another pc?

You can move the card to a newer PC with an ISA slot and run it on an Win98 or Win98SE, etc. You will be able to run the software in a DOS window. It won't work with Win2K, XP, or Vista.

You can contact Intelitek tech support and see if they will give you a copy of the windows version of that program and that should work with Win2K and XP as well. It's not "supported" I don't think, unless you upgrade to the PCI card- but it still works, according to their tech support folks.

We had a similar problem with a Prolight mill and lathe and once we made the switch to a newer PC and then installed the Windows version of the basic motion control software it was like night and day.

Hope that helps.

Also, I should add- the DOS software is not bad at all once you get used to it. We also have a Prolight 2000 that is DOS based and we run it from Win98 installed on a laptop and it's great stuff. Of course, for that mill it's also the only stuff so that is a good thing. :D

Thanx I was thinking I could do it. As I have found that most answers for a "missing operating system" message involve reloading the operating system which in turn I believe would wipe out the software. But then again I think if I move the HD to a newer pc(running windows98) it will want to reformat the HD. I,m I right?

Good point. There used to be a page on their website that allowed download of the DOS software versions- you can try Google and see what comes up. I will look around as well because I might have the link somewhere although I can't locate it off hand.

Thanx Snap, I,ve tried almost everything to get it to post to the bios, it has no battery to reset(or least I can,t find it. I pulled the case cover off the pc and its as clean as a whistle on the inside. Well I want to switch it over to the new pc so lets see what happens.

Here is the link but I only see Windows versions of the software. I am sure I have seen the DOS versions for download somewhere but will have to dig around some more.

I would definitely call Intelitek and see if they will give you a link to download the bare bones Windows version of the motion control software though- it's nice stuff.

What link?

Oops...

http://www.lightmachines.com/software/downloads/servicepacks/accept.html

Sorry 'bout that.

SWEET, I tried to find that on their website with no luck, I am able to switch the HD to another pc but the windows system on the hd has a password so now I want to see if I can get this software loaded into the newer pc and see if I can get it to run the mill, if I can get the ISA card to work in the newer pc which has an ISA slot.
Thanx

So I gutted it besides the electronic speed control and added bipolar steppers and a Xylotex 3 axis control board. To do that your looking at about $250-300 for everything you need. Then you can run any of the apps you want to use for the most part while not being stuck with the OEM software and hardware limitations. Updating to whats out there today and you can have a machine with better resolution since you can microstep 1/8s. All depending on what you want to do.

As for moving the card to another machine thats doable as well and if the software works for you use it. Just don't put to much money or effort trying to make a Pinto into a Ferrari.


Good luck with it and remember even if you can find a smokin machine with that old slot type the card is still the bottleneck and anything over a 486 is likely overkill. I run mine using TCNC and a Pentium 200 under DOS.



Mojo

Ahaa the software on that link is just an upgrade. Well I guess I,ll see how much they charge for their software. I,m hoping to contact the school(where I bought it from) on monday and maybe by some stroke of luck locate the teacher who put the password in. Otherwise if worse come to worse I,ll just pick up a new controller and go that route, which what I heard some other Spectralight owners doing.

Hey Bowman , thanx for the input. So if I go with new steppers and the Xylotex 3 axis controller, I can ditch the card,crap pc and the light machines controller?(maybe keep the case and power supply?)

Hey Thanx Snap, called up Intelitek like ya said and they hooked me up with a link for the software. They will only give ya the link if your serial number is the long one( a short one is only 4 digit). Its purring like a kitten now. The hard drive on the old pc took a crap so I transferred the card over to a newer(old nec) with isa slot, adjusted the setting in bios (switched from pci to isa) and loaded the software and all is good. Hopefully will be making chips here after while. Pics coming once I build a table for everything to go on(the wife is disgusted with my office as I have pc guts everywhere)

Thanx again Snap


U da man !!!!!

Glad I could help. Will look forward to seeing your setup when you post the pics.