port cable check

[cook]

cant find why motors just lock but wont turn when jogged.is there a way i can test the pins in the parallell port cable to see if its getting to the breakout board with a multimeter.should there be a voltage and if so how high on the pins.thanks for any help

[ger21]

You can measure the voltage on the direction pins. As you jog back and forth, the pin should toggle between 0V and 5V when you change direction.

[cook]

ive tested the voltage at the end of the cable from the computer on direction pin when i jog x and the volt is 3.3 is this high enough,also wen i test the step for x its .10 is this normal.is there any way i can put a 5 volt supply to the x direction pin on the breakout board to see if this gets the motor turning.i dont know if its the driver i bought or the software but ive set the ports pins and im getting a voltage(i got the 3 axis driver ready built).thanks for the help its much apprieciated

[ger21]

You can't really measure the step pins, because the steps are too fast. I don't know about supplying 5V to the pin, it may damage something. Someone else may be able to give you more info. What kind of drives are these?

Are you sure each pin is assigned to port1, and that port 1 has the correct address?

[cook]

the 3 axis controller is from www.marchantdice.com.ive checked the ports and pins there ok the address is 0x387 same as mach 3.i can get a voltage of 3.3 from the cable on the dir pin and earth wen i jog.

[keebler303]

the address should be 0x278 or 0x378, not 387.

Matt