Mach 3 doesnt see UC100 contoller

[Peter BellParticipant @peterbell11509]

[Peter BellParticipant @peterbell11509]

Installed Mach 3 on my windows 7 computer making sure I left the parallel port un ticked and followed the reboot instructions, also intstaled the UC100 driver. successfully.

However the UC100 instructions show a screen when you start Mach so that the UC100 can be selected. This screen doesnt appear and of course the mill doesnt work! Tried re installing everything with the same results.

Anyone had a similar problem when using a UC100 controller?

Peter

[David ColwillParticipant @davidcolwill19261]

What state are the led's in?

I have recently had a problem with my UC300 where on switching the PC and machine on it appeared dead. Powering both machine and PC down and rebooting solved this ( I have no idea why ).

Make sure that the PC is connected to the internet as differences in firmware will prevent it from running, these will be corrected if there is a connection.

Regards.

David.

[Involute CurveParticipant @involutecurve]

No experience of the UC100 but have used CNCdrives other stuff, you probably need to install an add-on for it to work, also be aware there a counterfeit ones of these knocking about apparently, below is a link to the page on there website it includes a download for the setup which presumably contains the add-on.

**LINK**

HTH

Shaun

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

I think you need to open the config menu in Mach, then select configure plugins to enable the various drivers.

[Peter BellParticipant @peterbell11509]

Thanks for the quick replies and prompts. Downloaded the automatic installer, ran it again and Mach came up with the setup screen, selected uc100 controller and the emergency stop now works!

Nothing else works but presume I'll have to configure the outputs manually unless there's a better way of doing that? Fortunatly I kept screen shots of my previous installation.

Peter

[Peter BellParticipant @peterbell11509]

Forgot to say looked in config, plugins and the uc100 box is ticked.

Peter

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

The only comparable experience I have is with the plugin for the XBox wireless controller. With that I find that I need to power up the controller before launching Mach3 for the latter to recognise it's connected. Have you tried powering up the UC100 before opening M3?

[Peter BellParticipant @peterbell11509]

Yes the uc100 is powered up from the usb before I open M3 but it makes no difference.

[ZanParticipant @zan]

The uc100 needs a specific Mach 3 obtainable from their website. I have problems with mine with "uc100 not detected" it's been tracked down to the USB cable not being fully secure in the uc100 dongle it's a poor connection. It gets lost say every 10-15 startups

Check there are two LEDs lit on the dongle itself

Edited By Zan on 03/03/2018 18:34:41

[Peter BellParticipant @peterbell11509]

Thanks for the message.

My UC100 occasionally stops communicating, losing the light, normally about half way through a job.

Perhaps I've got the same problem, I'll have a look.

[Nick HulmeParticipant @nickhulme30114]

Posted by Peter Bell on 03/03/2018 19:00:02:

Thanks for the message.

My UC100 occasionally stops communicating, losing the light, normally about half way through a job.

Perhaps I've got the same problem, I'll have a look.

Have you disabled all power saving for the communication port used?

[ZanParticipant @zan]

No coms port, that's why I went for the uc100 which is fed by USB cable. I tried 3 port cards before splashing out on the uc, non worked due to address conflicts. In anycase coms port is obslete and if my computer gives up the ghost I'd be back to square one.

[Nick HulmeParticipant @nickhulme30114]

Posted by Zan on 07/03/2018 23:56:17:

No coms port, that's why I went for the uc100 which is fed by USB cable. I tried 3 port cards before splashing out on the uc, non worked due to address conflicts. In anycase coms port is obslete and if my computer gives up the ghost I'd be back to square one.

If you haven't dealt with all the power management settings on the USB you are ignoring the major issue with lost Communication on USB devices.

[blowlampParticipant @blowlamp]

Why not use the UCCNC software?

Martin.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Don't have the device or Mach3 but notice the blurb mentions that it installs from disk in the event there's no internet connection. My experience of 'version on disk' installs is that they're often badly out-of-date compared with an internet download. If not already up-to-date, try reinstalling with an internet connection.

May be worth describing the problem again. The first post says 'the mill doesnt work!' implying total failure to launch, which points to an install issue. Later you say 'My UC100 occasionally stops communicating, losing the light, normally about half way through a job'; that sounds more like hardware problem or version mismatch.

Well worth giving all the USB connections a wiggle; some connectors and cables go intermittent. If they misbehave, it's possible to leave the computer / hub / dongle / device combination deadlocked. The cure is to switch everything off and start again. Best to replace any dodgy parts if you can identify them!

Dave

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

As some people with UC100 experience contribute to this thread I thought I would pose my questions here – apologies for hijacking it! You can probably tell I have also posted elsewhere, on mycncuk and cnczone, and asked the supplier, and generally had positive responses.

So, I'm finally upgrading my workhorse office laptop and will have an old but functional Dell Latitude Win 7 machine spare as a result. In the workshop the CNC machines are controlled by an even more venerable Dell WinXP desktop through the parallel port, and I'm wondering about moving the laptop to the workshop and replacing the XP machine, controlling the machines using a USB motion controller. I aim to stick with Mach 3 because it works, I understand it reasonably well, and I've written some useful extra macros for tool setting. I'm interested in people's experience to help with this decision. Another option, though more expensive, would be an Ethernet controller.



1. Will the UC100 work OK with a Win 7 laptop (obviously I'm no longer using a parallel port and would need the appropriate plugins)?



2. Does the UC100 support the probing input properly? That's very important for me for tool setting, for both mill and lathe.



3. If I decide to ditch Mach 3 at some stage, has anyone experience of the UC100 with other CNC packages such as Mach 4?



Thanks in advance for any help.

[GoCreateParticipant @gocreate]

I'm using a uc300 with mach 3 on a windows 7 desktop computer. I had consistent problems with the UC300 disconnecting in the middle of a job and tried all sorts to resolve it. Then i realised the problem only occurred when I had the radio on, never had any problem since having the radio off while the cnc is running.

At first I thought it might be coincidence but after many months of reliable operation it seems to have been the problem. Presumably the radio is putting out some electrical noise.

Probably not related to your problem but thought I'd mention it.

 

Nigel

Edited By tractionengine42 on 07/12/2018 10:49:12

[simon Hewitt 1Participant @simonhewitt1]

John Haine:

I am building a CNC with Mach4 and UC300. So far I have the software installed, with the same problems listed above, you have to tick UC300 plugin before it is visible as a motion controller. No further yet, at present I am soldering up all the cables, should be ready to get an axis to move this weekend.

So far Mach4 looks 'nicer' . My main reason is I hate VB and want to learn Lua!

[Author]

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