Problem with Spindle ON/OFF

[John Leyenaar]

I am running Windows 10, MACH 4 with a PMDX-422 to a 3 axis machine on which I can either mount a Router or Laser head.
- To turn the "Spindle" (Router or Laser) ON or OFF, I use M3 and M5 which drives the relay on the PMDX-422.
- When using the Router, there isn't really a problem I think because the I only need one M3 at the beginning of the job and an M5 at the end.
- But when I am using the Laser head, I need several M3/M5's within the job (between letters in a line of text for example).
  ... That is when the problem appears - after running five or six M3/M5's, MACH 4 will crash (program completely stops and won't restart unless I reboot my computer ... not nice!) - Not always in the same spot but always on an M5.
I have done some tests:
- I can turn "Spindle" ON / OFF "manually" from MACH 4 Console as many times and as fast as I want with no problem.
- I have tried M10/M11 configured to Output 1 (without it being tied to any device) - No problem .... but when I then configure that Output 1 to "SmartBOBUSB" Pin 1, I get the problem again, same as using M3/M5.

I haven't been able to determine if this is a MACH4 4 problem (I have asked them but they have no answer) or a problem with the PMDX-422 .... Or maybe a problem with Windows 10 compatibility I guess.

Any help would be appreciated - Thanks

[Bob at PMDX]

I've moved this topic into our "SmartBOB Controllers" forum since this is (most likely) specific to the PMDX-422 and/or Mach4.

We need some additional information, including what version of Mach4 and the SmartBOB plug-in are you running and is your Win10 a 64-bit version (likely) or 32-bit version (rare).

You mention testing using M10/M11 driving "Output1", where Output1 is not assigned to a SmartBOB pin, and then assigning "Output1" to a SmartBOB pin.  Are you using custom macros/Lua scripts to control "Output1"?  I know of no built-in Mach4 function that will do anything with any of the "OutputX" signals.

When you are using the M3/M5 code to control the spindle on/off, what Mach4 output signal do you have mapped/assigned to which SmartBOB pin (for example, is it the "Spindle On" signal mapped to the SmartBOB "Pin1")?

I'd like you to create a plug-in debug log for us.  The steps are outlined here:
http://faq.pmdx.com/content/3/3/en/how-to-capture-a-debug-log-file-and-send-to-pmdx.html
After enabling the debug log, exiting and restarting Mach4, run your GCode file until it (presumably) crashes.  Re-start Mach4, disable the debug log and then create the profile package as described in the FAQ.  Post that here along with your GCode file (if it is OK for you to share it without exposing anything you may see as proprietary).

Bob

[John Leyenaar]

Thanks Bob,

I am running Windows 10 - 64 bit version.
I have attached a pdf with some screen shots to answer you other questions ... thought it would be easier that way.
Also attached the debug package I created with MACH 4.

I created a GCode program (also attached) with a simple line of text to test ..... "- This is a PDMX Laser test -"
It got about half way through and MACH 4 crashed - wouldn't restart - had to reboot computer to to be able to open MACH 4 again.

Thanks, John

[John Leyenaar]

Sorry, forgot these two attachments

[Bob at PMDX]

Thank you for the files.

It got about half way through and MACH 4 crashed - wouldn't restart - had to reboot computer to to be able to open MACH 4 again.

I know this is getting pretty picky, but when you say "crashed - wouldn't restart"...

"crashed" - in your first post you said "completely stops".  When you click on any of the on-screen buttons (like the "Enable/Disable" button), do they "depress" (even if they don't perform their intended function).  Can you display the "File" or "Diagnostics" menus?  What do you have to do in order to shut Mach4 down (i.e. click the red "X" in the upper right corner? right-click on the task bar icon? bring up Task Manager?)?

"wouldn't restart" - what exactly happens when you (I presume) click on the desktop icon to run Mach4 again?  Can you start the "Mach4 Loader"?  Do you see anything?  Do you get warning or error messages when you try to restart Mach4?

Bob

[John Leyenaar]

When I say crashed, I mean there is no MACH4 screen anymore ... it is completely gone, back to my desktop.
So when I then try to start the program again (double clicking the desktop icon), the initial MACH4 window (not the GUI but the initial window) opens but never goes beyond that - so I assume there is some part of MACH4 still running in the background (didn't check the task manager).
That is when I reboot my computer, and then I can start MACH4 normally by double clicking the icon.

Also, I remember in August of this year I had contacted MACH4 about this problem, I was able to get a screen shot just before MACH 4 "crashed". I think I had made a Windows 10 configuration change which would enable a debug screen to appear before shutting a program down. I don't remember now what I did to enable that though - I think the change I made must have gotten reset by the big Windows 10 update maybe, because it doesn't appear now - As I said, MACH4 screen simply disappears.
Anyway, I still have a copy - see attached .jpg

[John Leyenaar]

Bob .... I found some more info using Windows 10 "Event Viewer"
Attached are two screen shots of the event from yesterday when it crashed.

[Bob at PMDX]

I can't yet replicate you issues, though I haven't yet run on our Win10 PC.

Meanwhile, a few things:

(1) Please copy your profile to something other than Mach4Mill.  If/when you install a new version of Mach4, that profile WILL get overwritten with the default Mach4Mill profile.  Open the Mach4 Loader, highlight "Mach4Mill" and then click on the "Copy Profile" button.  Give it some other name.  You can leave the screen set field blank and it will use the current screen set.  Or if you are Windows-saavy you can simply copy to Mach4HobbyProfilesMach4Mill directory to some other name and change your desktop shortcut (if you have one) to use that new directory.

(2) In a similar fashion, if you have made any changes to the default wx4 screen set you should copy the screen set to some other name and use that.  Unfortunately, there is no easy way to merge changes from a new version of the wx4 screen set into your custom version.

(3) You have the SIM plug-in enabled.  Please disable it.  In older versions of Mach4 having SIM and our plug-in enabled at the same time definitely caused problems.  Supposedly in build 2914 that shouldn't happen.  However, unless there is a specific reason you have it enabled (and please let me know why) it is better to disable it.

(4) If you still experience crashes with the SIM plug-in disabled, try also disabling the ShuttlePro plug-in.  I don't really expect that this is a cause or contributor to the problem, but it is a quick and easy test you can run while we try more tests on our end.

(5) If you feel adventurous, and *AFTER* you have renamed your profile and screen set (if you changed it), you can try installing the latest version of Mach4 (build 3206).  Make a copy of your Mach4Hobby directory before installing 3206 so you have an easy fallback in case something goes haywire.

Bob

[John Leyenaar]

Okay thanks ..... I was planning to upgrade to build 3206 anyway, but I want to finish a router project I am working on first.
Don't want to ask for trouble in the middle of a job!
I will keep you updated when I have upgraded and made the changes as you suggest.