407 wont configure after upgrade

[neilD321]

Hi Folks,

I've been CNCing reliably for several years now using your PMDX-422 with a 407 on top for spindle control.
But several times recently the 422 has thrown an over run error and given up on a job.

So I thought I'd upgrade to Mach4_Hobby_4.2.0.4300 and the SmartBob-USB plugin to Ver 0.53.263.
The laptop is running Windows 7 64bit.

But now 2 things have gone awry.

1. The z limit switch seems jammed on. I have to unconfigure it completely for the motor to run in either direction.
2. I get an error saying "PMDX: Unable to configure device. error 'PMDX-407 unavailable'. Consequently the spindle doesn't start anymore.

Both of these things were working immediately before the upgrade.

If I swap to the supplied PMDX Sample config and enable the spindle I get the same error.

I have gone through the forums and tried a bunch of stuff but given it has all been running for years I'm stumped.

Any ideas??

Please help - I miss my CNC :-(

[12strings]

Just a software upgrade, no hardware changes, right?

The first time you ran Mach4 after installing the newer plug-in, did it download new firmware into the PMDX-422?

Do you remember what version plug-in you were running before?  If so,what version was it?

If you still have the installer for the older plug-in, try installing that (again) and see if the 422 recognizes the 407.  You (most likely) don't need to down-grade Mach4, just the plug-in.  Unless you were running a really really really old version (i.e. the Mach4 version was 4.0.x.x instead of 4.2.x.x, and  you installed it before July 2015).

[neilD321]

Yep, just a software upgrade. Didn't touch anything else.

Yes, after starting up Mach4 it downloaded the new firmware and asked for a Mach4 restart.

Don't remember the old version to be honest. I'll download the last few and try them.

It wasn't a really old version of Mach4. I was on 4.2 3402 (I think)

[12strings]

I wouldn't THINK the Mach4 version would be the issue, at least not for recent versions like you think you were using.  But you never know.  I would, however, try the previous version(s) of the PMDX plug-in, going back 1 release at a time for a couple of releases and see if that changes the behavior.

[neilD321]

Yep - I installed release Ver 0.52.254 and my machine works perfectly again.

Does beg the question why would the newer version break it??

Haven't done a longish run yet so yet to know if the buffer over run issue is fixed.

Thanks for the help.

[12strings]

Which revision model 422 to do you have?  If recall correctly, the rev A boards were slightly different than rev B or later.  I'm away from my PCs but I am pretty sure the board revision shows up in the PMDX plugin config dialog (Configure->plugins->PMDX.....).  When I get home tonight I'll see if I can dig up a 407 to throw on my 422 and see if I can replicate this.  If so, that will be 2 data points for PMDX.

[neilD321]

PMDX-422 (Rev B PCB) on COM3
Serial Number: SN327720 (B1)

[12strings]

Well, I'm not sure I am any help.  I've got a rev A PMDX-422 (hazards of being an early adopter, I guess).  Seems to work fine for me.  Can you post your profile?   Open your profile in Mach4, then go the Help menu and select "Support->Package Current Profile".  It will create a file that contains all of your Mach4 profile data.  You should then be able to post that here.  Then FWIW I will try it on my board just to see what happens.