Must be a small M4 bug, Darwin knows nothing of inches or mm's, it uses only steps/unit as its inputs. It understands frequencies , not distances.




Art

Thanks Art.

Another issue which is probably just M4 v.1767 related and maybe not of interest here but I am just reporting as I find.

In Imperial mode everything is OK but in Metric mode G00 X1 Y1 Z1 moves X,Y,Z axis 1mm whereas G00 A1 moves the A axis 25.4mm (all DRO’s reflect the correct physical movement).

Tweakie.

Thanks Art.

Another issue which is probably just M4 v.1767 related and maybe not of interest here but I am just reporting as I find.

In Imperial mode everything is OK but in Metric mode G00 X1 Y1 Z1 moves X,Y,Z axis 1mm whereas G00 A1 moves the A axis 25.4mm (all DRO’s reflect the correct physical movement).

Tweakie.

I just tried in the 1817 version and I get the same result when you move the A-axis. Also the feedrate is 2,5 (not 2,54) times larger than the feedrate I have set. This only affects the A-axis.

Hi Art,

I am having troubles running a simple code such as:-

G1 F300
M3
X10
Y10
X0
Y0
M5
%

I had to delete the M3, M5 macros from the Mach4 macros folder on order to get these commands to operate the spindle but now the motion is lumpy (almost single step mode). If I leave out the M5 then it runs just fine (starting the spindle at the M3) but of course the spindle is not stopped at program end.
I have a similar problem if ending a program with M30 (for the last few lines it runs lumpy) and I put this down to my PC being antique but now I am not so sure.

Does using the M3 / M5 combination alter the output stream from Mach4 in some way?

Any advice greatly appreciated as this issue has me stumped at the present.

Tweakie.

Tweaky:

   This sounds like a Mach4 error similar to one M3 has a long while back. The Gcode should stop being interpreted and wait for something like an M3 or M5. It sounds like M4 is doing something strange with macros.

  Heres what I think is happening. When Mach4 sees the M5, it starts a wait thread. This thread wakes up every once in a while to see if all else is done up to that point. If it is, is does the M5, if it isnt, then it goes back to sleep.
For some reason it sounds like this is affecting job performance. Perhaps this thread waking up and going back to sleep doesn't affect external hardware but for screws up the program calling darwin regularly. Id report it to Brian and see what he thinks.. Things are still changing too fast for me to focus on the plugin, Im on other projects till M4 is further along.

Art

   

Hi Art,

Thank you for the information and taking the time to look at the problem.

I have now found that it has nothing to do with the spindle and think I can confirm what you have said. The following runs with rough motion until the M9 is encountered then it runs just fine (so it looks like it's a Mach4 problem).

code
m7
code
m9
code

Tweakie.

Ill ask Brian about that as well, its not seen on his other testing so it maybe a hidden item that affects performance..

Art

Tweaky:

  I cant run latest version, my XP locks up hard. Are you using XP? (Just curious).
Ive spoken to Brian, he'll look into it tomorrow and we'll see why.

Art

Hi Art,

Yes I am using WinXP sp3 -  I can't run v.1817 either 

Tweakie.

I tried 1845 today, it wont run under XP as well...
Ive notified Brian of that..

Art