Tree A2100 service

[krmilton]

We had been using Dan Thorson for our A2100 control problems, but since his passing we have not found anyone to help us with our control. Right now we need to replace the batteries on the motherboards. We did this ourselves last year on another machine and we ended up having to send the boards to Dan to make some bios settings. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions we would like to hear them. Thanks
Kevin Milton

[Sterlingtech]

Call Siemens tech support @ 800-879-8079 x2. You will likely get a call back from Dave Lyle. Siemens may start charging for support of "Legacy" products, although they still sell the Acromatic control line. There are (2) documents which apply to the CMOS settings you are looking for depending on the BIOS of the control motherboard. One is a spreadsheet and one is a word document. Siemens doesn't appear to have any documentation on the Real Time motherboard CMOS settings, but you basically need to disable everything you can and make sure to select stop on "NO" errors (i.e. no keyboard or floppy installed). I'm currently in the middle of helping a customer with a similar problem which includes a hard drive crash. Siemens is the official support vendor for most of the old Vickers Acromatic 2100 software issues. I haven't researched the possibilities for their support of the hardware side of the older Acromatic 2100 product line. Industrial electronics repair is actually what our company specializes in (motor controls/servo amps, motors/encoders, PLCs, industrial computers, etc.). The one part of the A2100 controller software solution they do not support is the "Machine Tool Builder MAI (Machine Application Interface)" software. This is supposed to be supplied by the machine tool builder, in this case - Tree Machine Tool Company, Inc. This is the software component that links the specific servo amps, position feedback devices, and options control I/O used by the machine manufacturer to the base Vicker's control software environment. The MAI software is not to be confused with the machine data backup file, which seems to contain the specific parameter settings for all of the devices used on the machine. Let me know if you need any further help with your specific issue. http://www.sterlingsevices.com (704) 821-3300. I am currently trying to locate a source for any version of the MAI software for a Tree VMC500. Other Tree models may or may not use identical MAI software. This software would likely have been included on a floppy disc with the documentation provided with the machine. As stated earlier, my customer's hard drive crashed. Since then I have been able to obtain the latest version (v2.34) of the A2100 base and NCX software components from Siemens running under Windows NT v4.0 SP 6a. Siemens indicated that they should be able to provide various versions of A2100 hard drive images minus the MIA software and machine data file going back to those released on the NT v3.51 OS. If anyone reading this thread has a copy of any version of the Tree MAI software disc available, please contact me at the number above. Don't have the floppy disc ? You still might be able to help. All of the A2100 mechanical hard drives will eventually fail. If you don't have a backup image of the entire A2100 hard drive (which includes the MAI software, machine data file and software authorizations) that can be restored to a replacement device, you will not be able to return your A2100 control to an operational state should the hard drive fail. If you have a restorable hard drive image file of any Tree machine with a Vicker's/Siemens A2100 control or would like to have one made, please contact me. I have been in contact with Ted Fleis at Eagle Machine Tool Corporation who has announced in this forum that Eagle has recently obtained all rights to the Tree Machine trademark, parts, inventory and IP. As of today, Ted has informed me that he is expecting to be in direct contact with executor of the estate of Dan Thorson (aka Tree Tech) of American Excel Inc. in hopes of making the Tree Machine MAI software available in the future. Until then, any help with obtaining the Tree MAI software disc or hard drive image would be appreciated.

[Sterlingtech]

Looks like a copy of the 93C46 E2PROM found on the small MKEY Printed Circuit Board attached to the bottom of the bridge PCB may also be required if Tree or Vicker's/Siemens used this security/ID device for software or feature authorization. A "backup" copy of this IC would be made available for anyone able to provide the hard drive image if necessary. - A2100 Hard Disks

[krmilton]

Sterling tech
Thanks very much for your information. We had Thorsen duplicate our drives for our machines so we had a spare for both machines. Several months ago we had one fail and Dan told us to install the spare drive and send him the bad drive which we did. Dan was in possesion of the drive when he died. We have not bothered his wife about this so we have lost the extra drive for the one machine. I have been trying to come up with a process for duplicating the drives on our own but I have not had much time to spend on it. I am thinking about putting the drive in another computer and using Acronis True image to create a backup of the drive. If I could get the Acronis True image software on the A2100 drive then I could create a backup image of the drive on a network computer. I am going to run a test on another drive before this is attempted. We called Seimens about our Realtime Processor board and they were able to help us. The batteries were dead and needed to be replaced. If you change the battery out yourself the bios setting will be lost and you end up sending the board to Seimens and they will charge you about $800.00 to fix it. That a lot of money but they were able to get it going. :-)
We should have the Machine Application software on floppys around here somewhere but I have never been able to locate it. I was not here when the machine was new or I would know where it's at. If I can locate it I will let you know.
Kevin Milton

[Sterlingtech]

Kevin,

Check out my reply in the following thread concerning the drive imaging warning: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...143#post625143 . I'm not trying to withhold any information or sell support tokens for Siemens. I'm just recommending people contact Siemens directly for the readily available official support documentation. I'm not sure how much "support" you were asking for that cost you $800, but that sounds about right for a company like Siemens to offer a flat rate repair and a warranty for hardware you send in. Depending on an end user's skill level and comfort with getting enough parts together to setup one of the older ISA motherboards, that repair route may be an easier option. I just asked for and received the setup document and used an old ISA bus video card and an AT style keyboard and power supply to change the settings. All it cost me was a little time. I'm not trying to make you feel bad about the $800. I just thought I'd pass on the info I have. thanks for looking for a copy of the MAI software. I'm hoping that Ted Fleis at Eagle Machine can make the software available soon otherwise.

[sld4121]

I probably have a copy of the MAI software somewhere in my archives.
However, there were several variations of the software over the years.
Release 2, 3, 4. Also, I remember that Tree was using Norton Ghost for drive image backups and that is likely what Dan continued to use as the last man standing at Tree.
If you have to reload software from scratch, you will also need the option activation sheet that was shipped with your machine That should also tell you what version of software you had on the machine.

[Sterlingtech]

Thanks sld4121,

At this point I'd be happy to have access to any version available. Siemens thinks they can provide all combinations of the OS, base, and numeric control software. I can probably use a copy of the MAI compatible with v2.34 of the base and NC extentions without needing to purchase a new drive from Siemens. But I should at least be able to get them to sell a version that is compatible with whatever you may be able to provide. I appreciate your taking the time to look. TIA. I hope you are able to find a copy.