Everyone,

Sorry I am feeling pretty rookie now.  I have set up 3 machines from scratch with Mach3.  I have been working on another machine for quite some time now.  I first set it up with the trial of SIMcnc.  No punt intended for mach, but I have been using the CSMIO controllers for some time now with great success so when they released there software I thought I would give it a try.  Everything was good but I wasn't happy with the smoothness of some machine movements.  I am quite aware that it could possibly be my lack of knowledge  with there software as documentation is somewhat  limited.  I decided to give Mach4 a try.  Within just a few hours I had all the axis functioning as they should, so I went ahead and moved on from the trial to the purchase.  I am struggling with the most basic commands.  For instance I can run my mach3 machines and through MDI:  type S1500 M03 and I have a spindle running at 1500 rpms.  I can do that in Mach4 and nothing happens.  Keep in mind this is an analog output for spindle control.  However I can set the rpms on the main screen and tap the spindle on command and it works flawlessly.  The voltage is exactly what it should be on the multimeter.  It just doesn't work through g-code or a manual spindle command.  I am running the latest version of Mach4 and I am sure there is something simple that I am missing.  If anyone could direct to a solution I would be grateful!!!!

MDI in Mach4 does not work the same way as MDI in Mach3. In Mach3 you press Enter to execute the single line of code before the Enter key. In Mach4 the MDI screen allows multiple lines of code and pressing Enter just moves you down so you can type another line. To execute the lines shown on the MID screen you must do a Cycle Start which will run all the lines displayed on the MDI screen.

Not sure why you do not get results from running spindle control G-code in a program. Or maybe you only tried G-code in the MDI mode and assumed that the problem you saw would also happen when a program was running.

Later in the night I found another post which made me realize what you have just stated.  After hitting cycle start after MDI command, it turns the spindle on but for some reason has no regard as to the S(value).  I can manually enter it the rpm window and its good.  I haven't connected the spindle yet, but I am monitoring the analog output value with a mutlimeter. So neither MDI or G-code will change default rpm value, but you can type it in the RPM window and output voltage is perfect. 

I have no clue to what is happening when analog voltage changes with GUI action but not G-code.

When you change speed with MDI G-code, does the GUI display box for "PGM RPM" respond, but not the actual analog voltage? That could help determine where the fault is happening.

Also for the benefit of others trying to reproduce your issue, could you state what build version of Mach4 you are running.

Steve,

I just rebooted everything a few minutes ago, and to my amazement now everything is as it should be.  I have not changed anything nor can I make any sense out of it.  I'm actually at a loss on this one!!   I am running build 4612.  I have noticed some issues displaying the toolpath also.  More especially on the rotary axis.  Should I step back a version?

Build 4612 is a stable build and there should be no reason to go back earlier.

Getting sensible previews of 4 axis tool paths may take some work. I suggest that you post a separate thread about this and see if someone can offer advice.