My understanding is that W7 32 bit might run it, but not 64 bit.

This is what turned out to be the root of Peter King's problems if you followed his series in ME.

Neil

Interesting …. do you know whether Mach3 requires the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable? FWIW – maybe not much – this came up in a completely different context and it appears that, if required, it needs to be not only the right year (e.g. 2015) but also the 32/64-bit version has to be that specified by the software – not necessarily the same as the computer.

So a 64 bit version of Windows might need to run the 32-bit version of Visual C++. This magically fixed a difficult problem in the other context.

May I suggest you look at https://cncdrive.com/UCCNC.html they have software that works on win10 back I have it with the uc100 adapter and it was working great til I removed my cnc because of room.

george.

I've looked at it but not used it. But I know someone who does and he's very happy with it on a large Shizuoka knee mill like mine. I've used some of their servo drives and am pretty happy with both the hardware and the associated config software. I'd certainly be very tempted myself.

Murray

Not familiar with using Mach3 myself but reading Artisoft's website reveals a classic problem – the software itself, and the operating system and hardware it's designed to run on are all well beyond effective end of life. Also, compared with other older applications, Mach3 may be particulary platform sensitive because of low-level features introduced to reduce latency. (It fails, for example, if the operating system goes into a power saving mode or gives priority to network activity.) It's a delicate flower deep into the autumn of its existance.

It's already difficult to get Mach3 to run on a new platform and it will only get harder as time passes. Nothing lasts for ever. At some point, rather than messing with old computers, emulators, and tweaked versions it will make more sense to bite the bullet and pay for Mach4. Anyone done that yet, or is there a good free alternative to Mach3?

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 16/10/2018 18:00:26

**LINK**

I run Mach3 on a W7 32bit PC

I had a similar problem(mach 3/XP). with a Taig(?) mill,which isn't very big. Set the job up and press start and the machine sets off and then tries to go into orbit, but not every time.

Turns out that the mach3 is set up in imperial but I tend to do most of my work now in metric.

Start Mach3, go to Settings tab and change units to metric. Go to 'Config' – Safe Z Setup and enter the safe Z height (say 10mm). Proceed to load etc.

It turns out that when I then restart Mach for another session the system reverts to Imperial, I then change the units to metric and when I do that mach changes the safe Z to metric. Unfortunately it still has the previous number (10) in the store so it converts it to metric (254 about 10&quot which is some way above the top of the mill, hence the hurried scramble for the E-Stop button.

Hope this helps

Mick

Mick

You shouldn't be using the settings tab to change between Metric and imperial. The option in the settings tab is for what units the machine is built in and should never be changed once setup. If your motors are setup in step/mm by changing this option you are moving the setting to steps/inch so you will be a big factor out.

To change the units use G20/G21 in MDI, or if you want it permanently to start in a particular units, in the Setting general tab, there is an initiation string with some G-code in it. Add G20 into the line and every time Mach starts up it will switch to inches.