So, I made myself a hobby CNC (Momus 2, router as a spindle) last year. It runs a MACH3 controller card with a PMDX-411 plugged into the parallel connector on the card. Spindle is controlled with a SuperPID. computer is a Lenovo Laptop running Windows 10 64bit and Mach 4 Hobby. Setup worked great for over a year.
I then decided to buy a CX601 (Grizzly 0704 clone). I made it into a CNC. Bought a PMDX-424 for the controller. I used the same laptop to run the mill (just setup a different profile). The mill works great.
Now, I went to run a project back on the Momus-router. I picked the router profile I always used, but I get nothing from Mach4. No x-y-z movement, no spindle, nothing......
Swapped out the MACH3 controller with a new spare.....same, nothing.
1. PMDX-411 turns on, Windows recognizes it on the USB bus. Both LED's turn on, and red one goes out when MACH4 starts. Green one flashes 1 pulse per sec.
2. Mach 4 Communication status after loading the Momus-router profile is "PMDX: Communication status 'Sync'd to Device".
3. From Mach4, I run the PMDX diagnostics GUI (Diagnostics > PMDX-SmartBOB-USB Diagnostics > Show Real-Time Input/Output Status). It looks like the driver is picking up input and output signals properly. Limit switches, e-stop, etc. are showing activity when manually triggering them.
4. Mach 4 machine diagnostics only show my 3 stepper motor controllers outputs as green. The rest of the inputs and outputs are all dark. No activity if I trip limits or e-stop.
So I thought that maybe the 411 was the problem, or the driver for windows (driver and MACH4 are the latest BTw. Firmware for 411 up to date). But i'm ruling it out for now because of the activity on the diagnostic for the SmartBOB. That leaves me with MACH 4 on the computer. Now I'm thinking that may not be the problem because the Mill still works.
Can Mach 4 be used with multiple profiles for 2 different PMDX controllers? I'm thinking that might be the problem. Only real way to check is to use a different computer with a new Mach4 setup to see. Any ideas? Is my troubleshooting valid?
Thanks
Ed
