Need Help!- Mach 3 Crashing PC

[Bob La Londe]

I have not fired up my mini mill for a couple weeks, but I need to engrave some replacement number chips for a club I help run. Anyway, turned on the PC and started my controller the other day, and I have been dinking with it off and on for about a week now.

Nothing seems to be wrong with the PC. All other software works. AVAST says it has a clean bill of health. Memory tests are ok, but when I start Mach 3 the PC reboots. Not always instantly, but everytime. Usually prety quickly.

Following diagnostics were done.

Memory test
Re-install Mach 3
Install latest version of Mach 3
Unplug controller from LPT port
Start Mach 3 with different setup file.

Still crashes. I can run multiple other aps... no crash.

HELP!!!

I'll try another PC when I have more time to set one up, but this one is driving me nuts.

[Juka]

Vista or XP ?

"Bslater
try this,reboot-go to the mach directory look for a file called special driver double click ,you will see a quick dos screen come
and go.then reboot.i believe that will get it.

bill " http://www.machsupport.com/forum/ind...ic,4201.0.html

Try that...

[Bob La Londe]

XP Pro

[Bob La Londe]

Originally Posted by Juka Vista or XP ? "Bslater try this,reboot-go to the mach directory look for a file called special driver double click ,you will see a quick dos screen come and go.then reboot.i believe that will get it. bill " http://www.machsupport.com/forum/ind...ic,4201.0.html Try that...

I tried this and the software no-longer causes the machine to reboot, but now it doesn't control my machine.

[ger21]

Did it work OK before? Try removing the anti -virus software.

[Bob La Londe]

Yes it worked fine from the when I first set it up for over a year. I did a bunch pf projects with the machine. Then I haven't started it for a month or so, and last week I booted it up to make some replacement parts and everytime I started Mach 3 the PC would reboot.

[Torchhead]

Does this occur when you call up your Profile (via the Load Profile) or from a profile you have customized (changed settings)? See if you can get it to load the generic Mach Mill (copy your XML profiles off to another folder before you bring any new ones in).

Use a generic Mach Mill and if it runs then you can suspect it's something in your profile. Typically a hardware problem (incompatibility) shows up at the first not a year later. A hardware (PC) failure would evidence itself in other applications or your tests.

Run the DriverTest.exe in the Mach folder and see if it complains about anything.

If you have added or enabled any hardware or services since it was setup (i.e. network cards, wireless networking, etc) then disable that and see if it makes any difference.


TOM Caudle
www.CandCNC.com

[Bob La Londe]

I have one question. What is the best pulse time for the deepgroove1 controller and the 280oz motors?

I shut down everything except critical services necessary to keep Windows running, and the darn thing still reboots. Its not as bad at 25000, but I was running 35000 before. I can sometimes load a small file and execute it before it boots, but I started noticing glitches in the file loads now too.

I was able to run the software and controller just fine, using my accounting machine (exact same computer) without disabling anything.

I think this PC has established itself in a new mammaries elevated dispostion.

The Taig1 profile seems to work better than the deepgroove1 profile or maybe its just that I finally isolated it to the PC itself. I think its having processor issues. The LPT port diagnostics show no errors.

I guess I need to buy a new computer to run this. Maybe from one of those guys who provides them ready to go for CNC stuff, and then just plug in my license files and machine profile.

[ger21]

How fast is this PC?

Generally, you want to use the lowest Kernel Frequency that'll give you the speed you need. For most, that's 25Khz.

[Bob La Londe]

FOUND IT!

There are a whole bunch of caps on the MB right next to the CPU. 2 of them are leaking. Blown power filtration cap will certainly cause a CPU to act flaky. Dang. Oh, well. I had already ordered a couple cheap PCs in for spares anyway. I'll be back up and running in a couple days.

Thanks for all your help. It didn't solve the problem, but did help set the whole setup more firmly in my mind to make any future trouble shooting a lot easier.