Multicam MT22 DNC

[forhire]

I am working on a Multicam MT22 with the M23 control board. I can see the machine boot up in terminal ,so the communication appears to be correct (see below).

{17} uCito M2000 V1.77a
4M RAM installed.
Chan0: 1064960, Chan1: 384

MCIF V3.36c-GL-CNC-KN, DSP V1.03 MFG V21, KDM V3.36c (c) 1997 ETC.
Loading User INIT file.
Motion Buffer = 5000

>
>
>
> ack {6}A1{6}
> hpgl

When I select DNC from the control pendant and press enter I do not get a list of my files. If I have the terminal open I see {6}D0{6} each time I press DNC on the pendant. The MX32 isn't responding to the DNC request. The MX32 manual states to DNC I need V3.4 or later. The pendant displays Machine Automation v3.36c m23 i3.47 0 . I assume the 3.47 indicates it should support DNC. I have tried with both MX32 and PSS software with no response to the DNC request.

Is MX32 the correct software to be using with this machine? I also have a MT44-Plus and it uses the PSS software so I tried it first. So far I'm stumped. When I select DNC from the menu do I need to press ENTER or some other key to pull it up?

I've attached a few photos.



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[forhire]

I've been reading through an old thread started by Frode1 and it appears I need to use WinDNC.
https://www.cnczone.com/forums/comme...tml#post873725

I found a version by Greco Systems. Is this the correct software? I suppose I'll need to contact them for pricing.
https://grecosystems.com//products/windnc/

I did find the software listed for download elsewhere. Not sure if it's the same or not. Anyone familiar with WinDNC?

[NSchlee]

I believe that's a different version of WinDNC. I have attached WinDNC with instructions, but be aware I believe this version of WinDNC only runs on Win98..

[forhire]

I believe that's a different version of WinDNC. I have attached WinDNC with instructions, but be aware I believe this version of WinDNC only runs on Win98..

Thanks for the file! Keeping old machines like this running would be impossible without the help of the forum.

I installed Win98DNC on my WinXP machine. The WinDNC activates when I press DNC on the control. I can also RESET the control from within WinDNC. It appears to communicating properly. Unfortunately when I press DNC on the control it does not give me a list of files in my c:\dncfiles\ folder. This folder has the structure that MX32/PSS generated with Capture, Convert, Jobs1 folders. I placed a file named 1001.cnc in the root as well as the Jobs1 folder but still doesn't see anything on the control. It is creating the MULTICAM.LOG file in the dncfiles folder. The log is null and not logging anything. The software chimes on startup, I'm not sure it that's normal or a background error that isn't displaying.

Assuming my dncfiles folder structure is correct there must be a difference in how Win98 and WinXP handle files. I would have assumed the Win98 limitation would have been on the serial side but it's appearing to be a file read/write problem in XP. I'll need to try it on a Win98 machine unless someone knows a fix.

[NSchlee]

Try Win98

[forhire]

Try Win98

I loaded up an old win98 machine. After encountering the same issue with win98 I started changing settings and quickly discovered changing the pendant from serial to parallel solved the problem. I can now get a file listing and run files. After running a test file several times with win98, I put the WinXP panel PC back on and changed the the settings to match. It appeared to work. I ran a program and it made it through fine, in XP. I was pretty excited. On the second run it failed, evidently the serial buffer was over running. I'm using a FTDI USB serial adapter on the WinXP machine. The FTDI USB serial adapter doesn't have a uart buffer setting in the diver advanced settings. Just a USB chip buffer that is obviously too large, even when turned down to 64. I have the same panel PC on my MT44 using a Prolific USB to serial device. The Prolific driver advanced settings has the typical uart buffer slider and has worked well with the TX buffer is lowered to 1, as suggested in the manual. Anyone familiar with FTDI drivers know how to lower the TX buffer? I'm thinking I should be able to do it at the OS level in the registry.

In any event, I have it working and I'm very close to making chips. Thank you again for your help.

[forhire]

I'm going to play around with these keys. They appear in several places... I'm thinking I just need to find the ones that relate to the FTDI USB serial device when I'm at the machine.
"ForceFifoEnable"=dword:00000001
"RxFIFO"=dword:00000008
"TxFIFO"=dword:00000001

Of course I may just change to a Prolific based device like my other machine.

[NSchlee]

I had the same problem when running DNC on XP, controller would hang when running files.

Since DNC drip feeds the controller, if you encounter a problem always re-start your file from the HD. I've found it's best to run DNC on a stripped Win98 machine with all background sh#t killed off. I use a thumb drive to tranfser files to Win98 machine.

I've attached Job Previewer, it will let you view your saved DNC Files, it's kinda primitive but show tool paths etc.

[forhire]

I had the same problem when running DNC on XP, controller would hang when running files.

Since DNC drip feeds the controller, if you encounter a problem always re-start your file from the HD. I've found it's best to run DNC on a stripped Win98 machine with all background **** killed off. I use a thumb drive to tranfser files to Win98 machine.

Good to know I may be beating a dead horse trying to sort out XP. I have a bare bones Win98 that appears work fine.

[forhire]

I ran about 30 jobs successfully using Win98 machine today. No faults. Worked as it should.

I did mess around with WinXP and lowered the TXFIFO in the registry with some improvement, but it still reset after running one program. The virtual port uses a service named FTSER2K. I changed the FIFO settings under FTSER2K in the registry. I took a few screenshots in case anyone is interested. Kinda thin to find this information on the FTDI website.

[NSchlee]

Which MT22 do you have, if I remember they produced a couple of them? I'm running a 1999 MC Pro 5x10 w/vac table with 2 - Z's, 7.5 hp Colombo's. The machine's work horse for sure. Still using MX32, when the controller dies I'll most likely go with a Masso G3 since they now support multiple heads. I run a Masso G2 on the plasma table I built, no complaints.

[forhire]

Which MT22 do you have, if I remember they produced a couple of them? I'm running a 1999 MC Pro 5x10 w/vac table with 2 - Z's, 7.5 hp Colombo's. The machine's work horse for sure. Still using MX32, when the controller dies I'll most likely go with a Masso G3 since they now support multiple heads. I run a Masso G2 on the plasma table I built, no complaints.

I found a photo on my cell phone. This was during the initial power up on the RPC. The machine has since been taken off the blocks, leveled, and cleaned. It has a 24x24 t-slot bed. I've since removed the RPC and switched it to single phase. Basically all I did was remove L2 on the VFD and move L3 to L2. Obviously, the rest of the machine is single phase already. The VFD is oversized a bit so I doubt I'll have any real derating issuing.

I converted a Shopbot to Dynamotion a few years ago. It wasn't too difficult. I really like the Masso. It on the top of my list for my next conversion. The Masso G3 Touch isn't very expensive and super feature rich. I like that it has a conversational language. Sometimes it's just handy to plunk out a quick job at the machine.

I'd be interested to learn more about using the Masso on a plasma table. I have an old Dynatorch. The company is long gone. Fortunately I've been able to keep it running. Never been terribly happy with the stepper drives they use. Getting spares is getting tough. About a year ago I had to re-cap the main board. When it finally dies I will definitely look at Masso for it. I'll need to read up more on their THC. I assume they support ohmic touch?