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Installing M4 plugin for UC100

PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 12:19 pm
by deckel11668
Hi folks
I am engaged in a lathe project. I have had this running on Mach 3 with a UC100 controller but a couple of functions did not work successfully and i was advised to go to Mach 4 .

I downloaded and installed Mach 4 hobby and installed the plugin for UC100 in M4 but when I try to run Mach 4 I get an error message to say that the file is not found. (It is clearly there there in the plugins file of M4 though)

error message.PNG
(I am testing this on my office computer but there is no UC100 device connected .)

On the workshop machine with UC100 connected I do not get the error message but when I select configure / select motion device UC100 does not appear as an option, so I have nothing to configure .

What might I be doing wrong ?

Re: Installing M4 plugin for UC100

PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 6:04 pm
by cncdrive
Something is missing for the plugin to run.
Unfortunately MAch4 just like MAch3 is not telling anything about what issue it encountered to. :(
It can be missing USB drivers or prerequirements for the plugin which is the C++ redistributable package, if I recall the version 2007,
but if you ran the UCx00 automatic installer it installs the prerequirements as well as the USB drivers and the plugin too.

Re: Installing M4 plugin for UC100

PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 6:15 pm
by deckel11668
cncdrive wrote:Something is missing for the plugin to run.
Unfortunately MAch4 just like MAch3 is not telling anything about what issue it encountered to. :(
It can be missing USB drivers or prerequirements for the plugin which is the C++ redistributable package, if I recall the version 2007,
but if you ran the UCx00 automatic installer it installs the prerequirements as well as the USB drivers and the plugin too.


So what do I have to do to get Mach 4 running .
They There seem to be instances on Youtube of Mach 4 running with an ethernet motion controller, but i would like to see mach 4 running on my lathe before I go to the expense of that, plus of course a Mach 4 licence .

Re: Installing M4 plugin for UC100

PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 7:48 pm
by cncdrive
MAke sure the .net framework 3.5 is installed (enabled in the Windows features on Win 10.)
Run the UCx00 automatic installer application, select MAch4 and select the UC100 if you using that.
Make sure to plug in the UC100 to the computer's USB port. (You can also verify that the USB drivers were installed properly with checking the Windows device manager.)
Run Mach4
Enable the plugin in MAch4.
Select the UC100 as motion control device in MAch4.
Enjoy.

Re: Installing M4 plugin for UC100

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 12:46 am
by deckel11668
Will have a look in the morning.

John

Re: Installing M4 plugin for UC100

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 4:39 pm
by deckel11668
So did all the above , in various orders , just in case order matters, restarted a number of times .( Mach 4 tells me there is another instance of mach 4 already running although no evidence of that on my screen, but the only way to get rid of that message is to restart)
I check with windows explorer to ensure that the plugins are there in the plugin file and they are ,
Device manager shows me a UC100 usb driver but despite all that no luck

Configure / select motion device only leads me to a window where the only option is a simulation routine

Screenshot slect motion device .png


Opening plugins gives me no option to enable a plugin for this device.

So as things stand your offer to "enjoy " is not an option open to me

Re: Installing M4 plugin for UC100

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 5:21 pm
by ger21
You can use Task Manager to kill instance of Mach4 running in the background.

If it's not showing up in Mach4, then Mach4 is not seeing the plugin.
Post a screenshot of your Mach4\Plugins\ folder.

Re: Installing M4 plugin for UC100

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 5:53 pm
by cncdrive
Yes, thats a Mach4 thing that the process often stucks and you have to kill the process.
You still getting that "failed to load library" which you showed printscreen about?
If you do then you will not see the plugin in the MAch4 plugins, because that message means that for some reason MAch4 cannot run the plugin.

If you did all the things I listed before (enabled .NET 3.5, ran the autoinstaller, verified the USB drivers) and all is OK then I don't know why is it not working for you. :(

Re: Installing M4 plugin for UC100

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 9:03 pm
by deckel11668
When I went to enable .net 3.5 I found it part enabled .( click on the black square button)
Clicked on the wee black button and another pair of options appeared . Enabled them and the whole lot appeared as enabled

The failed to load library snip is appearing on a Win 7 machine .
the machine I am trying to get working is Win 10

So here is the M4 plugins file

Mach4plugins .png


This is becoming painful , surely getting a a bit of software installed should not be so hard

Re: Installing M4 plugin for UC100

PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 12:58 am
by ger21
Have you asked Artsoft why their software is not recognizing the plugin?