dedicated computer help

[rockfish]

hello. need a little computer help. wondering if anyone is running their design software and mach3 on one computer. dynacnc is currently building a router table for me and they say i have to have a mach3 dedicated computer. i have a tech friend that is currently upgrading my existing computer. he has questioned why it has to be dedicated and i do not know. he said why not use one of the new duo processors (64-bit) ,put a gig of ram in and use one computer for design software and mach3. he said he could even put in a second hard drive for the mach3 software if needed. i should mention that my shop is in a metal building where summer temps can reach 110+. i have an airconditioned office adjacent to the shop and i want to run 15ft cables to the router and keep the computer in the office. i can monitor the router from the office. i do understand that there is a lot info passing back and forth but its hard to believe that todays processors couldn't handle design and milling simultaneously.
hopefully someone has tried and can enlighten me.
thanx
jeff

[ger21]

Mach3 does some very tricky things with windows in order to do what it does. While I'm sure that some people do other things while Mach is running their machines, they do so at their own risk. What if the design or CAD program crashes while Mach3 is running? Pretty good chance it will ruin your parts, or worse.

[rockfish]

thanks for the reply gerry. hadn't thought about crashing it. but if i don't do design work while it's running mach3 i'm ok?
jeff

[--colin--]

You can cerrtainly use a Mach computer for other tasks when Mach is not running. I have Solidworks installed on my Mach control computer and it works fine. Ideally, you should use a dedicated computer and remove all the services that aren't needed. That will give you the most stable CNC control. Running other applications while Mach is driving a machine tool is very risky as you don't want the controller to loose steps while cutting.

[rockfish]

thanx for the reply colin. i started the thread because there was a delay getting info from the tech at dynacnc. just needed to finalize my decision so i could go ahead with the computer upgrades or buy a second one. the tech agrees with you. tech also agreed that if you try to start another application while your routing it might loose steps.
thanx again for the info.
question has been answered!

[CrashMasterKev]

Hey there Rockfish, I’m looking to set up pretty much the same thing, what table/options did you get and how is the purchase going so far? I’d really like to know how Dyna is taking care of you.

I just bought a new computer for mine.
Intel duo core running at 2.66ghz ea. with 1024 ram, I think that should do it.

Thanks,
Crash Master Kev

[drmosh]

I'm not sure about the 15 feet thing... I know run lengths can get really weird. But here's what you can do about the computer.

Tell your computer friend to make the computer dual-boot. The issue about needing a second computer isn't so much what else is installed, or how fast the computer is, how many cpu cores there are or whatever, it's all about how Windows is configured and running. For a controller, you want a bare-bones OS install with every feature, service, etc. turned off. This makes for a great and stable controller, but it's pretty bad to work on for anything else.

Create two boot partitions. On one (the primary) install full Windows, all your design and productivity software, etc. Use it like normal.

On the second partition install the bare Windows environment configured and optimized using the advice from the Mach3 website. Strip everything off - network drivers and TCPIP stack, ACPI (the power stuff), auto-update, KILL IT ALL. Then, when you need to drive your machine, reboot the machine and select the second partition. Mach3 will run fine.

The only problem to this is that while the machine is cutting you can't use any of the software that's on the primary partition. You have to wait for it to complete in order to reboot it back over.

This is not a science-fair experiment. If your friend is good enough to build you a machine they should be familiar with this concept. It's not as good as a separate, dedicated controller, but that's only because it's a single-tasking device. Functionally, Mach3 nor the machine will be able to tell the difference.

Good Luck!
mt

[ger21]

Originally Posted by drmosh On the second partition install the bare Windows environment configured and optimized using the advice from the Mach3 website. Strip everything off - network drivers and TCPIP stack, ACPI (the power stuff), auto-update, KILL IT ALL. Then, when you need to drive your machine, reboot the machine and select the second partition. Mach3 will run fine.

Quoted from the Mach3 Optimisation list:

NOTE: ***** Before doing ANY optimising, run MAch3 first, odds are you dont need to optimise. ***** and before optimising, use msconfig to shut off all Startup Items, then reboot. Killing stratup Items fixed 90% of computers having any troubel with MAch3. Optimising should NEVER be done priot to knowing a problem exists.

[Torchhead]

I think running one machine for design, layout AND cutting is a false sense of economy. A dedicated controller for your CNC table will add a few hundred dollars to the cost of a several thousand dollar machine. As stated, it's about timing from the Windows environment while putting out precisely timed pulses for multiple axis of drive. I also think that having the PC closer to the machine will simplify the hookup. You need access to some form of machine control when you load material and do setups. If your PC control is in a room 15 ft away you will have to do a lot of running back and forth. Since the power and motor drive for the DynaCNC table are out on the table and the interface electronics are not in the same case and the signals are isolated and buffered from the PC port, you can run 15 ft without a lot of problems if you keep the control head close to the PC. Running long cables from the PC ports to the control head is discouraged.

This is like having two users share one PC. No matter how fast it is you can't have two people using different programs and one CPU (even dual core). Back when PC's cost $4500 (the one with a 5 m harddrive and DUAL floppies) (:-) sharing multiple users on one machine was tried...it was an exercise in frustration!

The good news is that you don't need a tricked out machine to run as a dedicated controller. I just built one with a 2.4 G processor and 256M ram using an older case and drives for about $100.00. You only need about 1G of drive (counting storing a years worth of cut files). The new card had Ethernet built in and a simple UTP cable connects my design computer in the AC office out to the table.

There WILL be a learning curve (especially if it's plasma) and you will have to spend a lot of time close to the table until experience cuts in and you are comfortable to walk off and let the table cut.

Having a machine to work on the next job while the current one cuts, doubles productivity.

A few years ago your choices were to buy a machine with a dedicated controller for six figures and transfer one program at a time or from a floppy.

In this case one tricked out machine is not better than two average machines.

Tom Caudle
www.CandCNC.com