EZ-TRAK DX help please

[doctordemo]

hi all, i jumped on another thd. last week and learned that i have a lot to learn.
that being said, here goes, i have an ez-trak dx with operating problems;
1. i did not get any soft ware with the mach or any manuals .
2.it had a bad power sply. that i changed then discovered leaking battery on motherboard. starting some corrosion issues.
3. i dumpster dove and found a dell 75 mhz clock speed antique but now i don't know if i should chance making the change.
before i go any further in any direction i would like some sound advice.
thanks in advance,
steve

[machintek]

The 75MHz board should work as long as the board fits the cabinet. Based upon what you said, I do not believe you have the "control in a box" version. I do not know how much RAM it has, on board video, ISA slots, etc.
If the battery leaks it typically takes out the 12 VDC traces on the board so it becomes useless.
Everything should plug in. You will have to set the CMOS. Try machinemanuals.net for some manuals on your machine. Runs on DOS 6.20 so you will need those disks, if you hard drive is bad, and the machine software.

George

[doctordemo]

Originally Posted by machintek The 75MHz board should work as long as the board fits the cabinet. Based upon what you said, I do not believe you have the "control in a box" version. I do not know how much RAM it has, on board video, ISA slots, etc. If the battery leaks it typically takes out the 12 VDC traces on the board so it becomes useless. Everything should plug in. You will have to set the CMOS. Try machinemanuals.net for some manuals on your machine. Runs on DOS 6.20 so you will need those disks, if you hard drive is bad, and the machine software. George

the 75 mhz. bd. has 3 isa slots ,so i should be ok in that respect, but it also has a (mini) board where the monitor plugs in instead of the larger isa slot board that the ez uses, i'm thinking of leaving it in and using it instead of the original.

it also has a3.5" disc drive that i could leave connected instead of changing to the larger floppy. my thinking is the fewer things i change from the original dell setup the happier the board will be. and i'm going to check on the manuals ,thanks!




steve

[doctordemo]

QUOTE=machintek;367806]The 75MHz board should work as long as the board fits the cabinet. Based upon what you said, I do not believe you have the "control in a box" version. I do not know how much RAM it has, on board video, ISA slots, etc.
If the battery leaks it typically takes out the 12 VDC traces on the board so it becomes useless.
Everything should plug in. You will have to set the CMOS. Try machinemanuals.net for some manuals on your machine. Runs on DOS 6.20 so you will need those disks, if you hard drive is bad, and the machine software.

George[/QUOTE]

hi george,
i just ordered a manual from your sugested source 2nd. day deliv so i should have it in time to look over while i'm waiting for the turkey to cook
i installed the new (old) dell mother board with out too much trouble almost looks like it was allways there. the time and date are there on screen and it detects my key bd. but itis telling me that a paralel port resource conflict exists. i have'nt figured that one out yet . when i exit setup it wants me to insert my bootable media[that i do not have] so i'm not sure what my next move is maybe to replace motors with cranks
steve

[machintek]

The DX controls had a mass storage media (hard drive). A good hard drive has a boot sector to it that allows it to boot. Of course, you have to have that set up in CMOS. That the first thing to boot from is the C drive and what the parameters are for that drive. Also turn off the keyboard test. The half size keyboard fails and causes an error. The parallel port is not used on an EZTRAK. This issue may also be corrected in CMOS.

George

[9 1/2]

Originally Posted by doctordemo 1. i did not get any soft ware with the mach or any manuals . steve

Hey Steve, just wanted to mention that I posted up the DX32 software from my 1999 V2XT. Its linked in a thread bellow. Maybe some one can confirm if it would work for you?

good luck.
Owen

[machintek]

V2XT is a G and M code machine. The EZTRAK is a conversational. One has 3 axis only. One can have 2 or 3 driven axis, etc.
Will not work.

George

[doctordemo]

Originally Posted by 9 1/2 Hey Steve, just wanted to mention that I posted up the DX32 software from my 1999 V2XT. Its linked in a thread bellow. Maybe some one can confirm if it would work for you? good luck. Owen

Owen, thanks for the heads up on the other thd. and link, i'm still working on getting the new bd. introduced to the old stuff i guess they are a little shy of one another
if that software is what i need, i have to figure out how to get it from my laptop cd to a 5.5'' floppy
you know what they say about teaching old dogs new tricks.

steve
still can't find the dial on my new cell phone!

[doctordemo]

Originally Posted by machintek V2XT is a G and M code machine. The EZTRAK is a conversational. One has 3 axis only. One can have 2 or 3 driven axis, etc. Will not work. George

thanks for the info george ,i was repling to owen when you put this up
steve

[doctordemo]

Originally Posted by machintek The DX controls had a mass storage media (hard drive). A good hard drive has a boot sector to it that allows it to boot. Of course, you have to have that set up in CMOS. That the first thing to boot from is the C drive and what the parameters are for that drive. Also turn off the keyboard test. The half size keyboard fails and causes an error. The parallel port is not used on an EZTRAK. This issue may also be corrected in CMOS. George

George thanks for all your help, i got the conflicts taken care of by (trial & error) and now have only the bmdc card in the isa slot, i'm using the video mini card that was originaly on the dell bd. and am driving the hard drive off the board instead of the card that bp used. apparently the 5" floppy was bad so i reconfigured and put the dell 3.5"in .
on start up it automaticly virus scanchecks programs and then loads ez trak !! it drives the drivers ,it homes, it has x y and z readouts , but it doesn't run any of the programs that are in the files.
i recieved the manual on cd today but it does not have any programing tutorials or operating instructions, only wiring, leveling , maint. etc.
but at least i have a mill again that can be used , and with dro. i'm sure the rest will fall into place in time.
once again, thanks for all of your help, this is my first cnc experiance i am a manual guy with almost no computer traning or skills (and didn't even take typing in high school) what was i thinking when i made the trade up from my old mill?

happy thanksgiving! and thank you!
steve

[machintek]

You have accomplished a lot. machinemanuals.net has a EZTRAK programming manual on CDROM. It does not matter which one. Just make sure it is a for a DX.It gives you the basics of how to program it and run it.
You may not be able to run existing programs because the part program zero needs to be set and the Tool Length Offsets need to be set.
Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.

George