CNI floppy format

[oldnapalm]

I wrote a program for reading and writing disks in CNI format, and a
simple program editor (see screenshot). My machine is a Biesse Rover
346, if there is someone interested in testing the program with other
RT480 machines please contact me.
I need a postprocessor for the Biesse Rover 346, if anyone can help me
with that I will be very grateful.

[sidskilly]

I would greatly appriciate looking at your program

as right now i cannot work with my rover 325 with rt480 controler

thank you

[oldnapalm]

The program reads a CNI floppy image and shows all programs in it. Double click a program to edit it. To make a floppy image you can use 'dd' command on Linux ("dd if=/dev/fd0 of=floppy.img bs=1440k") or RawWrite on Windows (http://www.chrysocome.net/rawwrite).

My program is written in Java, so you'll need JRE to run it (http://www.java.com/). It's been tested on Linux and Windows.

You can get a demo version here
http://oldnapalm.googlepages.com/CNIFloppy.jar

[oldnapalm]

Originally Posted by sidskilly I would greatly appriciate looking at your program as right now i cannot work with my rover 325 with rt480 controler thank you

This software is intended to transfer programs between a PC and a RT480 controlled CNC machine using floppy disks, so you need a working RT480 controller in order to use it.

[sidskilly]

it's a rt480 and works,
i can get you version of software,
we have none of the original software to the machine, \
i'd like to dump programs to it via the pc to nc link, but
this is a good start, your software is a demo,
what are the restrictions

[oldnapalm]

This demo version is for testing purposes, it will read an image from a floppy disk saved in a RT480 controller, list the programs and allow you to edit them, but will not save a floppy image.

If the editor works with programs saved by your machine, for US$ 400 I will provide you the full version of my software and will make it import from a file format you specify (like files generated by your CAM post processor).

The only alternative to the official CNI software I found costs € 970
http://www.techni-soft.de/html/asc2cni.htm (Google translation)

[battwell]

i have the technisoft software for sale @ £650 sterling.
it works perfectly. original software and dongle. im allowed to sell it in english speaking countries. i also have written postprocessors for bobcad and alphacam so now the old machines make complex parts easily.
i made new vacuum pods for my rover 321 today using it, takes all day by hand writing into machine. approx 1 hour on cad to machine. (ive done it both ways to see)

re sending direct to the machine via serial link. firstly check your controller has the serial card fitted as it costs about £1000 from biesse. just remember, the code you have on pc must be exactly spot on or you will end up doing damage. ie, put a z poz in the code and your milling through your vacuum pods in a jiffy. :-( from experience!!!!!

[oldnapalm]

My program works perfectly too. It has a better interface and supports more options, like transferring drilling tables.

Demo version:
http://oldnapalm.googlepages.com/CNIFloppy.jar

[battwell]

i have run your program. looks interesting but being a trial wont let me do things to test it.
what are the trial restrictions at present? re the full version
i pasted a 300 line program into the editor and it crashed? is that a trial program limit problem?

does it post process or is the editor purely manual?

when writing to the disk does it format the disk to cni format before writing?
is it written purely for 480 controller? as 481 code is different.


at present im using the technisoft program which writes post processed text files, converts them to cni format, formats the disk and writes with just a few clicks. on the 481 controller it wont accept files over 11k size so thats the individual file size limit.

a lot of my programs i write parametrically on pc, import to machine and run them. written parametrically makes them really easy to change in the controller.
others i output from bobcad, postprocessing using the scripts i wrote for my controller and paste as a text file.

[oldnapalm]

The trial version will read a floppy image and let you edit programs, but won't write a floppy image. If you are interested in further testing I can send you a version that writes.
There is no limit in the number of lines, I just tested with a 400 line program and it does not crash. What JRE version are you using? There's a file size limit of 16KB because of the FAT type used by CNI.
The editor does not post process, it does the same Technisoft does. It writes a floppy image in CNI format, so when you raw write the image to a floppy it will be in CNI format. I did it to keep the program cross-platform, but if you decide in which OS you will run it I can make it write directly to the floppy. It's been tested in RT480 machines, but if 481 uses the same floppy format it should work.

Regards.

[battwell]

i would be interested in testing it for you.
i have a 481 controller machine and friends of mine have xnc controllers which i can also test on.
if you want to send me a full writing version to evaluate il check it out and make any improvement suggestions.
if it works as well as the "competition" software id be interested in marketing it for you too. im friendly with a few independant techs who visit lots of cnc owners with biesse machines.
how much do you want for full program for each resale?

most people i know are using windows xp machines so that would be the best platform for a "full package solution"
take into account that users want a quick write to disk solution, not having to open rawrite seperately etc.
also as a file import i would suggest .txt files as these are the quickest to check on pc, as well as saving. programs like bobcad scramble up files when saved as.cnc etc and obviously these cant be read by cni oldie machines!

i have the latest java offline installed on my machine, downloaded to run your program.
the 11k limit i have on controller is all the "working ram" i have. anything more and the machine rejects it. so for big files i split them up and import them, running sections as a worklist. for panel processing 10k is more than enough. i just wanted to be creative and rout pictures etc which i have done, but that was just for my satisfaction that i had cracked my programming and postprocessing correctly. it took me 2 weeks of late nights to write the postprocessor scripts for bobcam and another week to write for alphacam.
has your machine got the serial port card installed? i wanted to find someone with one to test some ideas!

[battwell]

biesse can make parts for biesse!
attatched picture of new pods made today from t6 nylon.
and a picture engraved from a dfx file downloaded from cnc zone forum