Peter:

   this final version of Darwin ( for tonight. ), has driver version 1.17 on the waterfall, its a driver replacement as well. It allows only
8 bit transfers from the port chips, so if Im correct in my guess, your second port will now show the proper data..

Art

Wow! Great catch.  I'll be waiting with bated breath to try it out.

If it is the case, I see a variety of approaches.  One is you change it to an 8 bit transfer for everyone.  Another is you provide an option for compatibility with hardware like mine.  Another is guys like me have to come up with new hardware.  Not to be whiny but my system is one of the ubiquitous Dell Optiplex units with low profile cards.  Given the physical profile and the age of the system, I'd probably be SOL.  I'd bet there would be a few others out there in my boat as well.

Anyway, I'm standing by for your next version.

Thanks for your great work!

Peter

Okay, stand by.  I'm bolting down stairs (2 flights) to try it!

If it works, Ill leave it as is. Its only a few nanoseconds.. I was being anal even attempting using 16 bit fetches from those chips..

Art

YES!!!!!   

I have NO interaction between the different signals!  I have my probe signal, index, and encoders all working as they should.

Wonderful!  Thank you for your great work!

Now to go and start beating up the M4 guys.  LOL

Peter

Peter:

  Thank you for the testing, between you and Sage you've helped me clear a great many weird bugs out of the hay.
All future users of Darwin owe you both a debt of gratitude. Ill let Darwin rest for a few days while you guys figure out
if anything else is nonsensical.  I never would have found that 8-bit chip fetch error without someone unlucky enough to have such a
control chip onboard.  :-)

Art

Wow !!

Excellent work Art. You're the man. I'm glad you found Peter's problem and solved mine. A true talent.

Peter:
Yes I realized that I was probably setting myself up for a disaster by configuring over the original MA4 mill file.

First a question:
I lost my desktop icon.  Which .exe file are we supposed to be running? wxMach4 or Mach4Gui ??  If you run either from the root directory they first ask what configuration you want to run or create. When I used to access M4 through my desktop icon it went right into the program.

So I have an idea how I can create a new configuration without losing anything. Would this do it?

Run one of the EXE programs (mentioned above) which asks if you want to create a new config.
Select the "create a new config from a backup" give it a new name and select the latest backup ini file from the backup list. They're all dated so one should be there from today when it all started working again.

Second question: The "create new config" process asks for a screen set to use. What's the answer?


Hopefully we can get involved in testing M4. Looks like it's going to need a lot  of work.
I'm keeping a list of some minor items already.


Thanks again Art and Peter

Sage

The lesson is:  If your in a store checkout line and you see me ahead of you, pick another line because it's going to stop.  LOL

Where else could I have gotten so much entertainment for the last few days for only $20?

Seriously though, there are some bugs that might well be M4 resulting in freezes.  For example, if I try to set motion device in the M4 configure tab, M4 freezes and the only way out is a system restart, requiring a forced power down.  The next M4 start up is noticeably longer but everything appears okay.  Also, selecting the Spindle CW button in M4 sets the led on.  A second click on the same button causes an M4 freeze again.  Who do I report this stuff to or am I just being impatient?

Peter

Seriously though, there are some bugs that might well be M4 resulting in freezes.  For example, if I try to set motion device in the M4 configure tab, M4 freezes and the only way out is a system restart, requiring a forced power down. 

This was supposed to have been fixed. Are you using 1936?

Hi Peter:

We're probably being impatient.
Let's face it. It looks like the M4 version we're using was just supposed to be a show and tell running a do-nothing demo. They probably left a lot of stuff out of it and never expected Art to make it actually do something by issuing a PP driver to try. THey probably put in only what was required to run the demo.
At least I hope that's the case because if this is an actual indication of where they're at with the program then....
Heck M1 doesn't even work in the original 1914 (never tried 1936). That's a pretty basic thing you would expect to work.

It might be nice to see a more finished "beta" version. Many hands make light work when it comes to finding the bugs.
Look at the progress Art made in the last few days.

P.S.
Any comments on my questions about making another configuration from the one I have. (post 426)


Thanks Guys

Sage