Problems with Probotix setup

[craigbic]

I hooked up my Probotix RF-Isolated breakout, my Y-axis ProboStep driver, and my Y-axis Green Monster stepper to my PC which is using a PCI parallel port card (MosChip $10 cheapie). I installed and setup Mach3 in the hopes of just jogging the Y-axis around back and forth to the limits to test things out but haven't been able to get it to work. When I fired up the electronics power supply (Probotix 40V, 8.5 Amp model) all the LEDs on the driver boars and the RF breakout board would come on and the stepper would energize but I was never able to get Mach3 to do anything. I quadruple checked the Mach3 Ports & Pins settings paying particular attention to the Port address setting to make sure it matched the base address of the MosChip parallel card. Perhaps it is a problem running Mach3 in Vista but I also tried Mach2, KCam and a couple of others I forget the names of.

More importantly, I noticed after a day or so of trying to get this to work, when I fired up the electronics after taking a break - the driver decides to send the stepper very slowly (barely moving) all the way down to the front of the machine. Turn it off and back on - same thing. Turn the electronics off, reboot PC - same thing. Turned off the electronics, took another break came back and fired them up again and now I hear a lot of noise in the stepper and if you hold the attached leadscrew - you can feel it pulsing back and forth rapidly and very slightly in sync with the noise.

It's note worthy to say that I do have the 40 V power supply also supplying the driver side of the RF Breakout board and a USB cable powering the computer side of it. Could the noise be a result of using the motor power supply to also power the driver-side of the breakout board?

Has anyone seen or heard of this problem before? Any thoughts or tips?

[Boort]

Craig,

I have the same breakout board but different drivers and motors. So far I have not run into the problems that you are describing.

First thing that I would do, If you have not done so, is contact Probotix. They were a great help to me when I was getting setup. The email address that I used was support@probotix.com. They usually got back to me within a few hours.

Let me know how it goes and I can try to help more if they think that it is a PC problem.

Regards
BoorT

[craigbic]

Originally Posted by Boort

I have the same breakout board but different drivers and motors. So far I have not run into the problems that you are describing.

First thing that I would do, If you have not done so, is contact Probotix. They were a great help to me when I was getting setup. The email address that I used was support@probotix.com. They usually got back to me within a few hours.

Let me know how it goes and I can try to help more if they think that it is a PC problem.

Yeah, I emailed them this morning but have not heard back yet. I've had great experience with Probotix support myself on several occasions now so I'm sure it's just an extension of the holiday weekend or something and they'll answer back tomorrow.

[Boort]

Craig,

Have you verified that your LPT port is running in EPP mode? I remembered that that was an issue when I was setting up my system.

You mention that you are running Windows Vista on a PC with a cheepo LPT card. Do you have another PC laying around that you could try? I would suggest an older one with onboard LPT port. I'm using a 1Ghz emachines box that was being thrown out because Windows imploded on itself. It is old but it was basically free and runs Mach3 well enough.

Another Idea would be to download the EMC2 / Lunux Live cd and boot it up on your Vista PC. This would allow you to rule out a Mach3/Vista problem without reformatting your PC.

Regards,
BoorT

[craigbic]

I got it running! Apparently you have to run DriverTest.exe (Mach3) or OCXDriverTest.exe (Mach2) FIRST before trying to run the software proper or at least I had to. I ran DriverTest.exe and it said it had successfully installed the OCX driver and that I would have to reboot the PC. So I did. Once I came back into Windows and loaded up Mach3, I could hear the noise I had been experiencing stop once Mach3 loaded. I was then able to jog the Y-axis back and forth - which doesn't sound like much but when you drive 70 miles one way to work everyday and you have 4 kids and a dog, its a milestone! Incremental progress. Now if I could figure out what all the noise is about before the software has control of the electronics?

[Boort]

Craig,

Great to hear that you got it figured out! That noise (and movement) is probably windows probing the parallel port trying to figure out what is connected. This means that you will want to keep your CNC power supply turned off until Mach3 is loaded (I always do) for your own safety and that of those around you. That way anything that Windows sends down prior to Mach3 taking over control of the LPT port can't make the machine move when you are doing a setup or bit change.

It is a milestone no matter how you look at it! ( have a lengthy commute as well so I have an idea of how much time sitting on the road can suck up. )

Regards
BoorT

[craigbic]

Thanks for the tip Boort! Will keep the electronics switch off until all booted up. If I can devote time each night (yeah, right!) I should have the router finished inside a week. We'll see.