1991 VF1 RS232 Problems

[lovell110]

Hello all,
I'm sure this is simple enough to fix however I am failing miserably. I have made a RS232 cable to the following.(taken from another thread)

Pin 2 to 2, 3 to 3, 7 on HAAS to 5 on PC, connect 4 to 5 at HAAS, connect 7 to 8 at PC.

Use exactly the same parameter settings at both ends, and use XO/XOFF.

When I try to send a program to the machine it takes about ten lines then jumps to somewhere in the middle of my program. I can upload prgrams with ease which tells me the cable is fine at least in one direction. I have tried using MultiDNC/ MasterCam/ and my PDA that has a DNC package. I have all the parameters set the same.

I have noticed one thing! I used my PDA as the machine and had the same result. I think it has someting to do with my laptop(Dell Insirion 1150) and its com port configuration? Help while I still have some hair left.

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[gar]

051120-2127 EST USA

lovell110:

You need to supply more information.

What are your parameter settings at HAAS?
What are the parameter settings at Computer?
How long is your RS232 cable, and what kind of cable?
Does the AC plug to the Dell have 3 prongs?
Is so what happens if you run on battery with the AC cord disconnected?
From the Computer is the sending FIFO set to minium? I do not think it will make a difference on HAAS, but in general it is a good idea.

How large is the file you are sending?
What operating system are you using?

Is the communication program in Mastercam from Cimco? This Cimco program should work well. However, on my Sony FX140 laptop using XP Pro it creates an unexpected break signal and HAAS faults on this. On our desktops using XP Pro the Mastercam Cimco program works fine.

If you run at a low baud rate like 1200 to 4800 does the problem occur?
Does HAAS produce an error message? If so what is it?

Have you used the PDA to send files to the HAAS? Does it work or not? Your comments were not clear on what all you tried with the PDA.

As described your cable appears to be correct.

What seems very strange is the loss of data with no error message. I am assuming no error message because you did not mention one.

Certain kinds of errors HAAS puts into comments. Others HAAS simply aborts the receive function with no useful information provided, for example they do not let you see the program up to the error.

For no HAAS error it implies that whole lines were dropped (delimited by CR LF) and this is an unlikely situation. It takes something other than a random noise error to drop exactly N lines.

.

[lovell110]

Gar,
Wow! I guess I left out too much information. I did a little digging and found my com port was set to: Baud 9600, Parity None, Stop Bits 1, Data bits 8.

I changed these settings to match my Haas and DNC and everything is working now. Thanks for the help. I'll be more descriptive on my next problem.

[gar]

051121-0756 EST USA

lovell110:

I would suggest that you or anyone else use 7 data bits, EVEN parity, 1 stop bit, and the highest baud rate that works reliably. However, you must use 8 data bits for XMODEM mode.

7 data bits vs 8 gives you about 10% greater thruput. EVEN parity catches many noise errors, but there is no correction, HAAS just aborts. 1 stop bit vs 2 is about 10% greater thruput. Admittedly EVEN or ODD parity vs NONE costs 10% in thruput, but the increased value of detecting many errors is worth the loss in thruput.

If you want high baud rate, long cable length, and electrical isolation simultaneously see our I232 System at www.beta-a2.com .

[DesMato]

I know this is an OLD post but it has become very relevant to me. We are moving the same year (91) VF-1 and need to download/copy all of the 96 programs currently loaded in the memory. These were all hand entered throughout the years and no backups are around, that we know of. (not my idea or way of doing things) I have been pulling my hair out trying to communicate with it, based on the antiquated directions in the original manual (DCE vs DTE etc.) The question I have is this... in the manual, it states that controllers made after 11-89 use DTE but there is no way I can find when this controller was made. I've tried a standard DCE-DTE cable and no worky (Pin 1 ground goes to pin 8) so, I ordered a standard DB25 - DB9 serial adapter which would have all the pins connected per the RS232 standard. Do the pins above need jumpered to each other for it to work (4-5 & 7-8 RTS/CTS), or would the standard DB25 - DB9 serial cable be ok ? we have a tight schedule, as always, and I want these backed up before anything is touched. I can solder up a cable like above but am leery of smoking this controller for obvious reasons.

please help if you can.

Thanks, Todd

[DesMato]

I have a few of the cat-5 to DB9-25 adapters that you connect the pins yourself. I'm going to wire them up as above and wait for input from you guys

[machinehop5]

I have a few of the cat-5 to DB9-25 adapters that you connect the pins yourself. I'm going to wire them up as above and wait for input from you guys

...this might help ya...
https://www.cnczone.com/forums/machi...65320-cnc.html

Be sure to turn off machine before connecting Cable....or you might fry the Com Port
use Xon Xoff
DJ

[Machineit]

Send them to the floppy drive?

[DesMato]

Too old, No floppy !

Well, I made a cable using the pinout from dcoupar on the thread linked above, and it worked like a champ. I also bought a DB9 - DB25 serial null modem cable (Startech SCNM925FM) That worked as well. Initially, I had an issue with receiving all the lines. I found that I had to set the EOB pattern (line 25) to CR LF as just a carriage return was clipping all but the last line.

Settings are:
9600 Baud
8 data bits
1 stop bit
no parity
xon/xoff
EOB - CR LF

For XON/XOFF, use this:

DB25 <--------------> DB9

1 <-------shield------ n/c
2 <-------------------> 2
3 <-------------------> 3
7 <-------------------> 5


So far, I have noticed zero errors in the lines I've parsed through. One happy dude right here !

Thanks for all the help !

[DesMato]

Here's a snapshot from sharpcam.co.uk that has it all in a nice package.

[Machineit]

If you have any additional trouble with skipping lines you might want to drop the baud rate to 4800.

[Machineit]

Also, I bought a new VF-1 in 1991 and it had a floppy.