Topics

1

General Discussion / WPMDX-SmartBOB-USB DEVICE ERROR: SYSTEM ERROR(7): Motion Underrun

« on: March 15, 2017, 06:48:15 PM »

What does this mean (above)?  I can't see anything about the job that would explaifun this. The job was running smoothly until this happened.  I was about 20 minutes into a 32 minute job

Win 7 sp 1
Mach4hobby 3233
PMDX 411
G5490
gcode from Fusion 360.

Thanks
Charlie     

2

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / What post configuration should I be using.

« on: March 11, 2017, 04:21:24 PM »

I am using pmdx 411, g540 and mach4hobby (3233 and Win 7) on the cutting end and fusion 360 on the design end.   Something weird happened today and everything stopped working as it has been (Jogging with keyboard now slams into the end of it's travel every time I touch the arrow or pgup,pgdn keys, and when I start a job, it seems to go off in the wrong direction until it hits hard metal)  In trying to figure out what happened, I noticed that post production setting in fusion 360 is pointing to my old motion controller (tinyG) and most of my successful prints up to now seem to have used that setting.  After this even, it was set to the first configuration in the drop down.  I looked for something that might be more in line with the 411 but found nothing.  I tried selecting Mach3 (there is no mack4 in the list) and that was even worse.

What is recommended to use for fusion post configuration when producing gcode for the 411 and g540.

Just FYI, this all started when kind of out of the blue, my monitor screen started flashing on and off, the image turned up side down.  I shut everything down, and it still came up upside down.  I turned it back as it should be but after that, the jog keys no longer worked as they did.  Nothing else on the computer seems to show any abnormal behavior once I inverted the screen again.  A cold restart seemed to fix the keyboard jogging, but the cnc still acts wierd on startep (as above)) weird , huh?


Thanks

3

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / What do I need to be able to probe Z.with 411 and g540

« on: March 04, 2017, 07:20:10 PM »

I want to be able to set Z zero with a probe using the PMDX 411 and gecko g540.  Can someone point me in the right direction for something that won't break the bank?

4

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / 411 has stopped working

« on: March 04, 2017, 11:23:52 AM »

Windows 7 32bit sp1
4gb ram
Mach4hobby build 3233
gecko g540
PDMX 411

Just got everything setup on the 411 and gecko g540 and had one successful job (small one).  This morning, I started my second job (a little larger) and all was well for about the first 1 or 2 minutes of the run.  Then it just stopped, the enable buttons was flashing, and I got a message saying that the smartBob could not be found.  I tried rebooting and rerunning, but when I went into Mach4 I got the message that the autoscan could not find the device.  I tried another USB extension cable (both good quality) and another USB port.

The driver being used is below.  Is that the right driver?

As it sits now, the  red light on the 411 is solid on and the green light is flashing every two seconds, but Mach4 still can not find the device.

I just started two weeks vacation and my whole plan was to get everything working perfectly on my CNC, but ran into this right at the start.  Please tell me how to diagnose this

the driver being used is below.  Is that the right driver?  If not, why would it work fine for a while and then just quite.

5

General Discussion / touch plate support?

« on: February 28, 2017, 04:10:35 PM »

I have Mach4hobby, PMDX 411, and g540.  I had seen on a promo for the 411 that it would be supporting the touch plate "very soon".  I think that promo was over a year old. Is the touch plate supported with 411 and g540?

6

General Discussion / setting up limity switches and homing.

« on: February 25, 2017, 06:00:15 PM »

I have pulling my hair out trying to understand how to setup limit switches and homing.  Seems that everything i find wants to address this as if I have a ESS instead of the gecko g540 and the PMDX 411.  Did I screw up and buy the wrong combination of components?  Is there any docs out there that explain this process in terms of g540 and 411?   I try to extrapolate what I should do from the  ESS stuff I am finding but it's just not working.  I try to setup the limit switches for  X, Y and Z and the e-stop, but when I run diagnostics in Mach4, what I am seeing is not remotely what I am trying to do.  I've learned a good bit from Daz"s videos but again, he has the ESS and that is of no help on this problem.

For instance..
I have set E-Stop enabled, SmartBOBUSB, and Pin10.   On the g549, I have the Estop connected between connector 10  and ground
I have motor0--(x) enabled, smartbob, pin11  and on connector 1 on the g540
I have motor1-- (y) enabled, smartbob,pin12  and on connector 2 on the g540
I have motor2++(z) enabled,smartbob,pin13  and on connector 3 on the g540

but in m4 diagnostics...
when I trigger X min switch Emergancy lights up
when I trigger Y min switch X- limit (output) and m0- limit (input) ilghts up
when I trigger Z max switch, Y-limit (output) and M1-limit (input) lights up
(the e-stop is working in that it must be untriggered for anything to work but just reflects wrongly in diagnostics)

What the heck am I doing wrong and where can I find docs to show me how to do it right?  At this point,  Mach4 docs and vids seem to all think I have Mach3 and/or ESS

Charlie Chisholm
when I trigger y min switch,

7

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / screen set missing after installing PMDX SmartBOB for the 411 controller

« on: February 20, 2017, 05:55:12 PM »

I followed the directions, downloaded the smartbob plugin.  Two icons were installed on my desktop...PMDX Simple and PMDX 424 Simple.  I went for the former and and got an error message saying there was a problem loading the "Screens/wx4.set"  and then nothing but a blank white screen.  This every time I use the icon installed by PMDX.  There is fact no wx4.set in the Screens folder.

Admittedly, I am new to both Mach4 and to PMDX, so no problem believing I screwed something up.

I also plugged in the 411 usb cable before realizing I wasn't suppose to, but I never did get a message indicating it was new hardware.  Not sure if that has anything to do with the problem above.

Windows 7
Mach4 version 4.2.0.3233