Mach3 on Vista

[studysession]

Hi -

I am having trouble running Mach3 on Vista.
I installed it on my laptop at first with Vista and it worked but was very choppy. Then found a lot of posts of people saying have trouble with laptops. So got a brand new PC with Vista - "Home Built but do not had drivers to put XP on it or would of done it instead" - Using same XML file as my laptop.

I did the memoryoveride.reg & drivertest as administrator. All works well.

But when I pressed the arrow keys on my keyboard, the numbers in Mach3 change for X or Y axis but the motors do NOT turn. As said before it turns but very choppy when doing this under Vista on my Laptop. Did all the same things.

Using the new machine - On the DIR output on X axis - I put a volt meter on it. It reads 2.95DC when no keys are pushed. Then when I push a key it then reads 0.00 and goes back to 2.95 when I release the keys. I am not sure if this is normal since I never used the volt meter on this before.

I used this same controller board on my PC in the other room and it worked under XP. That was a few months ago when I first got the controller board and tested it to make sure it worked. That is a dedicated PC for another project though. I really want to use my new PC with Vista since I bought it to be dedicated for use with my router.

Would appreciate some help to diagnose what is wrong so I can get it working. Thanks

[ger21]

Could be your drives need 5V and the parallel port on the new PC is only 3.3V.

Also, did you read the Vista instuctions here?
http://www.artsoftcontrols.com/forum...p?topic=2385.0

[studysession]

Yeah - did the instructions accoding to Art's website. You think if I disable the onboard parallel port and add another via PCI card or something will give me the 5V that I need?

I guess another thing I can do is try the Volt meter when Laptop is hooked up and see what it reads.

Thanks

[studysession]

When I put the Volt Meter on the DIR of the X axis when connected to my Laptop that is running VISTA it reads 3.17 - 3.20V Instead of the 2.95 that reads off the New PC that is running VISTA.

Both parallel port settings in BIOS for both systems are the same.

Port Address 378 -- IRQ 7 -- ECP

[studysession]

I just tried some other settings in the BIOS for the parallel port - Normal and then bi-directional. Neither of them showed any voltage read (0.00) when used. The ECP on both systems are only one that seem to work.

Not sure what else to do other than maybe put another parallel port on it.

[studysession]

I have another stepper controller. This is a 4 axis controller that I bought off EBay, it is an all in one instead of 3 seperate connected through a parallel break out board - This worked perfectly.

I will mess around some more and try to get the other working, bought thought it was interesting that I could swap out my stepper controller and nothing else, even all the software settings are the same and everything worked.

It's always something - Thanks for the help.

[kreutz]

Originally Posted by studysession I have another stepper controller. This is a 4 axis controller that I bought off EBay, it is an all in one instead of 3 seperate connected through a parallel break out board - This worked perfectly. I will mess around some more and try to get the other working, bought thought it was interesting that I could swap out my stepper controller and nothing else, even all the software settings are the same and everything worked. It's always something - Thanks for the help.

The problem is neither Vista nor Mach3, the problem is the PC parallel port with 3.3 volt output and low current capability. The solution is not replacing the drive or the port.

In order to help you, we need to know what controller you are using (the one that is not working) and if you are using a B.O. B. what kind of B.O.B. and schematics.

[studysession]

I was just searching google trying to find documentation to link to but can't.

It is a Mechatronics bi-polar stepper motor drive.
Has a L298N chip on it. Each axis is a seperate controller connected through a parallel break out board.

Thanks for the help.

[kreutz]

Originally Posted by studysession I was just searching google trying to find documentation to link to but can't. It is a Mechatronics bi-polar stepper motor drive. Has a L298N chip on it. Each axis is a seperate controller connected through a parallel break out board. Thanks for the help.

Try using then a buffered B.O.B.

[studysession]

Originally Posted by kreutz Try using then a buffered B.O.B.

OK - But what's a B.O.B.?
Thanks

[kreutz]

Originally Posted by studysession OK - But what's a B.O.B.? Thanks

B.O.B. is a Break Out Board. A buffered B.O.B. will take the output logic levels from your parallel port and convert them to the required levels to drive your controller board. It will need an isolated +5 Volt (regulated) power supply (wall plug type is ok)

If you, or a friend, can build an electronic circuit on a perforated prototype board I can send you a simple schematic diagram. You will need a couple of 25 pin DB25 connectors, cables, one 74HCT245, one 0.1 uF ceramic capacitor, one 10 uf/16 volt capacitor, 8 x 220 ohm 1/8 watt resistors, and some soldering. If you know electronics, then you can take the required 5 volts from the controller board, but I can't tell you from where because i don't have that controller or schematics.

[studysession]

Do you know where I can order one?