Mach 3 on laptop?

[chadwiggan]

Im having trouble with mach 3 running on my laptop. I set up the program exactly the same as the desktop. desktop runs fine. laptop wont push the motors. Is it possible to run mach with laptop?

[ger21]

It'll work with some, usually older ones, but it's not recommended.

[Tweakie]

Most laptops do not output the full 5 Volts on the parallel port output pins so the step and direction signals are not seen by the BOB etc. There are however some break out boards that will accept 3 Volt incoming signals but as Ger21 has said 'laptops are not recommended for use with Mach'.

Tweakie.

[chadwiggan]

it does say on their website that laptops are supported with an external motion controller. is this something that i can put inline with my original setup and does anyone know of a cheap solution or external motion controller

[BobWarfield]

Smoothstepper is probably the most popular external motion controller.

I'm running one with my laptop. They're not cheap, and not without some drawbacks. Support has been minimal, and there is no backlash compensation last time I checked.

However, they do work well if you can ignore those pitfalls. $165. I would call Arturo at CNC4PC. He can either sell you a Smoothstepper or a breakout board that works on less than 5V.

Best,

BW

[Tweakie]

Info on the Smooth Stepper can be found at their website :- http://www.warp9td.com/

There are additional issues with using a laptop, not least their energy saving features and multitasking preferences.

Tweakie.

[chadwiggan]

Thanks guys. I sent a message to cnc4pc to see what he thinks. I have no problem using my desktop but i would really like to get away from it if you know what i mean. After all the looking around and reading threads i think imk not the only one. But like you said there are problems with laptops. ill keep checking it out. thanks for all your help