A friend gave me 3 XP Dell laptops  that I would like to run my cnc machines with.

The laptops do not have 25 pin printer port but has a couple of USB ports and an Ethernet port.

What is the best way to connect one of these laptops to a CNC machine?.

I have heard this can all be done with wih a "Smooth Stepper" and the Ethernet port is best.    Are these smooth steppers easy to set up and where should I buy one?.

I also heard Mach4 will address these issues.    Should I wait for Mach4 to be released and just use it?.

Right now I'm running my CNC machines with Mach3 from desktop computers and one machine with a WIN8  computer running Turbocnc
Jim

Mach4 will require the Smoothstepper as well, and you might be waiting another year to use it.
Although I've never used one, the Smoothstepper should be pretty easy to set up. You can either buy them direct from Warp9. or from any of the many hobby cnc suppliers out there..

Smoothstepper was designed as a fairly painless plug n play replacement for the parallel port, in other words it mimics the basics setup you would have for the PP in respect to pin and port numbers, it does however have an extra port (6 ins on USB and full port on ESS)
 I would say definitely go for the Ethernet SS (ESS) as the USB one can be susceptible to electrical noise.
Theoretically you should be able to use the same profile you are using with the PP and just opt to use the SS rather than the PP, some users however found they had issues with that and thus had to make a new profile. I never had that problem and during the Beta testing of the SS I regularly changed back and forth between PP and SS just by simply telling Mach which to use.

Hood

Thanks  for the info.    Sounds like smooth stepper should work.

Will I need to change the laptop itself to run Mach3?     I tried a laptop years ago and just could not get it to work.   I have heard the power saving features of the laptop need to
be turned off in order to work rightl.

Thanks,
Jim

If it is plugged into the mains it should default to a desktop type profile but best to check and also a good idea, no matter whether laptop or desktop, that you switch off screen saver and any of the screen or hard drive power features.
Hood

I have my Warp9 smooth stepper.   Does someone have instruction for setting up a computer with an XP op system.   The Warp9 instructions are more for
WIN 7 op systems.

I find myself not knowing what to do.    I need to setup IP address.   Somehow I managed to shut off my eithernet port altogether.

Thanks Jim

 More info
 The WIN7 instructions say to to "Network and Sharing"  then go to "Change Adapter Settings" then to "wired network adapter"  Then "properties" then
"local area connection properties" .   This where I set the IP address.

Can someone convert this to XP language because I'm lost
Jim

Start >Settings >Network Connections.

Under LAN or High Speed Internet, you should see Local Connection. Right Click and choose Properties.

There's a window with a list of items with checkboxes. Click on Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) and  then click the Properties button below it. You should see a window where you can set the IP address.

OK,  that was helpful.

My Ethernet port seems dead.   It was working yestday.    No lights on today.   Is it burned out or turned off?

Jim

Under Start > Settings > Network Connections, what does it say under status?

If you right click on Local Area Connection, do you have an option to Disable it or Enable it? If it says Enable, then it's turned off. If it says Disable, then it should be on.