Mach2/3 will send pulses all the time

[Konstantin]

Hi.
I was beginning to use TurboCNC but its unresponsiveness made me look to Mach2. My steppers run fine with Tcnc.
I configured Mach2 6.11 on my Win2000 box and apparently the config were fine but the software continuously sends pulses to my driver board.
ANyone have experienced this?
My puter is a bit slow 450Mhz and I run the software on the default freq of 25000.
Mach3 did teh same.


Any ideas?
Konstantin.

[ger21]

Did you run the driver test, and if so what are the results?

[HayTay]

Sounds like something is running in the background and interfering with the Mach2/3 pulse. I'd try disabling all of those eco-friendly power options and set them all to "never". Screen saver kicking in? Disable it! How about A/V and firewall apps? How about all of those monitors (printer, video, audio, DVD, etc.) that launch on start-up and appear in the systray?

Check out the Optimization File at Mach Support for other tips, tweaks and suggestions. As with anything that deals with Windows system files and the registry proceed at your own risk, make backups, and don't do anything beyond your "comfort level".

I tried running Mach2/3 on a laptop running MS Windows 2000 Pro and spent over 10 hours fiddling around with it. Never did get it to deliver a steady enough pulse. It turned out that the hard drive had some kind of self-monitoring feature that had 3 different settings (similar to low, medium and high) none of which were OFF. Finally cut my losses, installed Mach3 on my Win2k desktop PC and never looked back.

HayTay

[Konstantin]

Originally Posted by ger21 Did you run the driver test, and if so what are the results?

I forgot to mention that I needed to use the other driver because after initial Mach2/3 install and mandated reboot my system will reboot itself everytime, so I used the alternative driver.

Ran the DriverTest for both Mach2 and 3 and it runs and ends with "Mach1 test complete"
Frequency is about 24 398 , ApicPresent is lit, Interrupt used '00', Shortest time vary from 31-37 and from 0722-7000 , longest time is about 41-44 with the other set of nymbers also variing.
In the Mach2 version there is Apic Timing Constant which shows nothing.

HayTay I am using Windows 2000, I ve checked the file and the optimizations are for the WinXp mostly tho I do remove all the unneeded tasks.

Any ideas?

Konstantin.


EDIT:
In diagnostics mode my limit switches are registered and in jog mode I cannot jog.

[HayTay]

I did a screen capture of my Mach driver test results (see attachment). How does that compare with yours? The greater the timing variation, the more "issues/problems" your going to have.

Most of the items cited in the Optimization File also apply to, and will work in, Windows 2000. Only change one or two items at a time (otherwise you won't know what affected the issue) and document the changes so you can undo them if there is no change or something else stops working.

Are there any unnecessary items in your "Startup" folder. If so, remove them. After making any changes make sure to reboot the PC.

Have you checked your cabling and connectors? Are you using shielded cable? How long is the cable from your parallel port to your controller? Is the printer cable shielded? What mode is your parallel port interface configured for: SPP, BPP, EPP, ECP? This is usually configured in the BIOS setup screen for your motherboard. What is the BIOS version of the motherboard? Is there a BIOS update available? Are you using the most current Win2k Service Pack? Are there updated drivers available for your motherboard?

Too many "things" affect the performance of your PC and peripherals.

HayTay

[Konstantin]

The problems I ve mentioned developed on the onboard PP.
I switched to another PP old ISA board and it runs fine from there.
Thank you for the help
Maybe something is wrong with my onboard PP or maybe its in the BIOS settings, havent checked up on it.


Konstantin.