Copying a PC Cassette (Fanuc 10M)

[1000ee-monarch]

I'm having a hard time getting a Fanuc PC Casette B on a 10M copied.

Sent it out to have it done, and the result was close but not quite.... Basically the ladder is fine, machine powers up and runs OK, but lost all the screens that come after pressing the "PCMDI" soft key in the "PC" screen.

Lost the tool management page, the manual ATC page and the PMC alarm page. Machine does run tho.

It appears that there is more on the PC casette than just the ladder.

Any idea on how to copy the contents completely? Is the only option to un-solder the 4 EPROMS's and copy them directly?

This is on a Mori MV-40 from the late 80's, and Mori wants $5500 for a new programmed PC Cassette which is just not going to happan.

[tc429]

Im not a big fan of how some OEMs do things...we took a mill that had pascal in it, had to add a robot interface-but it had some pascal compiled in it... (if theres pascal, without the source you cannot do anything with it- ANY changes will delete the pascal), we deleted all that stuff and wrote a 20-30 page ladder that was readable and functioned exactly as the original did, except the 1" high text called by the pascal was now called using standard operator messages, so it was smaller print...other than that functionally it was the same...IIRC that original ladder was 298 pages, didnt reuse a single line of it, under 30 pages was where it ended up.

I think youre right about pulling the chips/copying them, but theres copyright issues with that too...theres a reason they make this stuff inaccessible, and its not for the customer/end users benefit in my opinion...its to bend them over later. theres enough machines scrapped out lately,you might email your program number to a few service/repair shops, might be a few on the shelf somewhere that havent been erased.

that $5500 quote would make me shop for other makes from now on...theres quite a few brands that if we get them in, I just beg to be able to rewrite. theres probably a lot of guys that would come to your shop and spend a week to redesign the whole thing for that amount of money, yet all the OEM needs to do is burn the darn thing...its a pathetic business practice in my opinion

[cnc2149]

There are 3 ways to copy the contents of the PMC cassette.

1. unsolder the chips
You run the risk of damage to the chips so this is my least favorite choice. I've only done this when I found that the PMC cassette was bad and we had no other alternative. It is best if you have access to a solder pot that unsolders all the pins simultaneously, at the correct temp and very quickly.


2. Copy the cassette on the CNC
Insert the PMC RAM board (there are 2 different ones) into the master board socket where the PMC Cassette normally resides. Power up and initialize it (2 procedures depending on the PMC RAM board). Plug your PMC Cassette into a PMC Writer that is connected to the CNC via RS232. Read in the ladder/Pascal. Put a blank PMC Cassette into the PMC Writer and write out the ladder/Pascal.


3. Copy the cassette on a PG Mate/PG Mark II
Boot up the PG with the PMC I/J Ladder and appropriate data disk. Mount the PMC Cassette into the side port of the PG Mate or into a PMC Writer connected through RS232 to the PG Mark II. Read the PMC Cassette into the PG memory. You must have the F10 key depressed to read/write the Pascal. Insert the blank PMC Cassette and write out the ladder/Pascal.


I've used all the above methods and recommend methods 2 or 3 above, however; they require special equipment. Even if you had access to the equipment, I've only outlined the basic step. You'll probably end up unsoldering/soldering. If so, I'd use sockets when it is time to remount the chips.

[greenery_fr]

I'm having a hard time getting a Fanuc PC Casette B on a 10M copied.

Sent it out to have it done, and the result was close but not quite.... Basically the ladder is fine, machine powers up and runs OK, but lost all the screens that come after pressing the "PCMDI" soft key in the "PC" screen.

Lost the tool management page, the manual ATC page and the PMC alarm page. Machine does run tho.

It appears that there is more on the PC casette than just the ladder.

Any idea on how to copy the contents completely? Is the only option to un-solder the 4 EPROMS's and copy them directly?

This is on a Mori MV-40 from the late 80's, and Mori wants $5500 for a new programmed PC Cassette which is just not going to happan.

Hi

I already copy 4 Eprom. if you need it I will send

[underthetire]

TC, yes thats a lot of money, but at least Mori is still willing to support a 25 year old machine! All the Fanucs were using PMC cassettes back then. I would send it to Uptime and have them do it.
Uptime Electronics, Inc. - Retrofits

[tc429]

did you ever find a solution yet?

if not, whats the edition/program on your title page- slim chance we might have one- we scrapped a 10M mori last year...

CNC2149- thanks for the info on the pascal- question: could the ladder part be edited on a PGMKII/Mate and recompiled without losing the Pascal? I was always told no...so never even tried.

Underthetire- true- at least Mori supports it still- but these days Ive seen whole machines go for 5500 bucks, so its to me kinda like if Ford still sold spark plugs for a model-T at 1000.00 apiece
the biggest thing I dont like about the moris/makinos/some others is the way they make the machine proprietary...weve had machines that dont toolchange go down for unused parts of the machine, and pretty much the only way to get them running is to repair the parts you arent using and let it complete its cycles...then theres the kinda odd things-weve got a bunch of mori lathes, MV25s I think, the goofy procedure required to realign the turrets is kinda bizzarre...just think there could have been a much more maintenance friendly way to do it.
Makino used to offer good support, last time I called you had to buy the service- that was when we just decided to quit fighting the 'black box' pascal/hidden logic of the 'MPC2' controller, throw it out and write a standard cassette to replace it...took a week of my time, but those machines have been reconfigured a half dozen different ways that would have been impossible- the story I got on those was the original author had retired or died, and makino refused to modify logic at any cost...not my idea of a good way to control a machine...

[cnc2149]

Yes, the ladder can be edited on the PG system and the Pascal will be retained. Also, with the PG system the PMC + Pascal can also be saved to a floppy for archival purposes. In the event the PMC Cassette dies, a new one can be programmed with the backed up file.

[1000ee-monarch]

Well we finally got the PC cassette copied!

Ended up having to get the EPROM's un-soldered and copied directly. But it works!

[nikonie]

2. Copy the cassette on the CNC
Insert the PMC RAM board (there are 2 different ones) into the master board socket where the PMC Cassette normally resides. Power up and initialize it (2 procedures depending on the PMC RAM board). Plug your PMC Cassette into a PMC Writer that is connected to the CNC via RS232. Read in the ladder/Pascal. Put a blank PMC Cassette into the PMC Writer and write out the ladder/Pascal.

I'm planning to copy PC Cassette. Do you know is this procedure possible on Fanuc 11TE? Could you tell more precisely what equipements is required to perform this operation?

[cnc2149]

The 11TE was intended for COCOM countries so you will have cassette A/B. If you have the BMI interface, these are the parts that could be used with the CNC to copy the PMC cassette.

1. A16B-1210-0340 PC RAM Board
2. 1 set of 4002 PMC exec series EPROMs (4 EPROMs with FANUC S/W)
3. A13B-0126-B001 or -B002 PC Writer + data cable


I'm not sure how you would copy this on the CNC if you have the FS3/FS6 interface. It may require a PG system and that involves several other PN. Using the any of these methods is not for beginners. I suggest you find someone that says they have experience copying a PMC cassette and they have the necessary equipment.

[gbowne1]

I have an empty Cassette for my 10TF/TEF (not completely sure which it is). It would be nice to have a decent ladder from a 10T lathe.

[vladnik]

We have the problem with the FANUC PC CASSETE B A02B-0076-K002. CNC FANUC 10 M machining center MORI SEIKI M300A1 produced in 1988.
When we turn the machine on the main board A16B-1010-0321/03A there appears mistake "J". After taking from another machine we found that the cassette is faulty. Probably the memory EPROM is affected and all 4 microchips are sealed. We do not know what is written there. May be you can send us your firmware and we will try to solder out (demount) our microchips.
We do not want to risk and stop the machine, demount and read faulty EPROM.
What else can we do? Should we contact MORI?
The full name of the cassette: FANUC PC CASSETTE B PART J6 A02 - 076 - K002 SERIAL № 42793 DATE 88-1116
Thanks a lot in advance for your help.