Hi all,

I'm trying to get 5 axes to work on Mach 3.
They are all on the same parallel port.
X, Y, Z and A work fine, B does nothing.
The motor definitely works, because, if I swap the A and B pin assignments, then I can get that motor to move.
I am using the 6 axis screen set.
As far as I can tell, the B axis is enabled.
I have set up hotkeys for the B axis, but it still won't go round.

Please help. Is there something I'm missing?

Many thanks

Hugo Elias  -  Shadow Robot Co Ltd

What pins have you got assisgned to what function/motor/driver?

Graham.

Hi Graham,

When I have pins  9 &  8 assigned to A, and 17 & 16 assigned to B, then A works, and B does not.
When I have pins 17 & 16 assigned to A, and  9 &  8 assigned to B, then A works, and B still does not.

I am using the 6 axis screens.  When I run the command G00A10B10,  the DRO for A changes on the
screen, but the DRO for B stays at 0.000.

The B axis is enabled in the "Ports and Pins" control. And I can tune the B axis. All the lights and controls give the impression that X, Y, Z, A and B are active, and C is inactive.

Is there somewhere else to enable this axis?

Many thanks

Hugo

It sounds more like the B axis driver card is not enabled if mach will drive A from eather pin combination.

Graham.

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you talking about a hardware of software thing?

I'm pretty sure this is not a hardware problem. This is because by changing the pin numbers, I can make either motor move. So all of the hardware is working fine.

Or are you refering to an option within Mach 3?

Hugo

Sorry I misunderstood,

Are you running the demo version?

Graham.

yes.

If you set Mach to offline mode (led will flash) then go to MDI and type G00 B20. dose the DRO move?

Graham.

No, nothing seems to move in offline mode.  None of the axes.
When I type G00A20B20, nothing moves at all.
When I turn off offline mode, then A works again, but not B.

Hugo

I think I got it.  Somehow I had got axis B slaved to axis X.

I discovered this when I jogged the X axis, and found that both of them moved.

Thanks for yout time.

Hugo