Switching from Mach3 to UCCNC - a few issues

[The-Meerkat]

I’m revamping my 4X4 plasma table with new electronics & software. The old setup was a Gecko g540 connected to a desktop computer running Windows XP and Mach3. It worked well for me for years. Over time I’ve added Limit Switches, Floating Head and a couple different THC’s. Now I’m using a Price THC. Being limited to 12 pins on the Gecko g540, I’ve run out of options to expand more. I want more. I see vision of a touch & go - ohmic sensor on it soon. I’ve already got the parts for it. So, I re-thought my whole setup. I canabalized the the power supply, Gecko board, cables & stuff from my old setup.

I’ll be running it off a Windows 10 Dell laptop with an ethernet connection. I started with a new, empty tower case enclosure with several fans and lots of space for the power supplies, circuit boards, +-terminal posts, relays, power cords, etc. I had seen a cool YouTube video by Peter Passuello (CNCnutz) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1wqZFhTCVs&t=609s. His setup using a computer enclosure is fantastic. I shamelessly stole his great ideas and incorporated them into my revamp. I now have a lot more real estate to work with inside the enclosure. I also liked Peter’s use of his Gecko g540 and a UC300ETH-5LPT. The one difference Peter has his setup to run a CNC router. It’s a really nice router too. He doesn’t have a need for Limit switches and does not use them. The only additional pin I/O requirements look like mostly for auto-probe height. I love his setup, but for plasma, I need more pins for I/O’s. So, I bought a bundle deal from cncdrive.com to save some money. It includes:

UC300ETH-5LPT
UCBB Breakout Board
Ribbon cables for them and my Gecko
UCCNC license key

After waiting for everything to arrive, I now have the basic components listed all hooked up and powered on. The Ethernet is working. The UCCNC software and the boards are talking to each other. I’ve got motion on all three axises and slave axis. All is starting to come together. The Gecko is connected to port 2 and the UCBB is connected to port 3 respectively on the 5LPT. I’ve double & triple checked my ports & pins settings in the Axis setting screens.

The Axis settings are:
Where p= pin, d=direction pin:
X= p2, d3, port 2, positive direction box checked
Y=p4, d5 port 2, slave=A, positive direction box checked
Z= p6, d7, port 2 positive direction box unchecked
A = p8, d9, port 2, positive direction box checked

Here are my problems:

I want to import my Mach3 profile with all my old settings into UCCNC. I’ve watched the video and tried. The video shows how to do that when Mach3’s files and UCCNC’s files are all on the same computer. The problem is I have to copy the Mach3.xml file from my old XT computer onto a thumb drive, then drop it into the profiles folder in the USCNC folder on my laptop. That little file doesn’t copy & paste well. It appears to lose most of the lines of data in the file when I try. The file also appears to be an old kind of weird Internet Explorer file. I’d like to be able to just import that profile and run with it. I just can’t figure out a way to do it between the two computers without corrupting the file in the process.

I’m getting motion on all three axises. However, it’s ALL backwards. On X, the left arrow sends it right and vice versa. On Y, up arrow brings it to me and down goes away. Same with Z, page up is down and page down is up. Same thing using my MPG remote controller. They’re all arse-backwards. I’ve checked and unchecked the positive direction box and that does nothing useful. This has got to be something simple in the setup I’m missing.

On the Axis setup screens, I can’t change velocity or any other settings on the lower half of the screen. I have my kernel speed set at 400 kHz on the general setting screen. I’ve read lower settings there could be the cause, but it doesn’t make a difference if it’s 200 kHz or 400 kHz. In Mach3 it was 25 kHz.

The sequestering brought about by Covid-19 has me working squarely from home. What was commuting time, is now my CNC improvement time. I’m hoping to get this done before I get back to the daily routine. Any help is truly appreciated.

All the best,

Scott Meer
North County San Diego

[ger21]

Try copying your entire Mach3 folder to the new PC, and import the .xml from there.

To Change direction, toggle the active low setting for the direction pins.

What happens when you try to change the velocity? Are you hitting the ENTER key?

[The-Meerkat]

Thanks Gerry! Your recommendations fixed 2 issues really fast.

Active Low on the direction pins worked like a charm. Of course, after used your fix, I read it in the manual. Somehow I missed that the first time around.

Hitting the enter key instead of clicking on “Apply Settings” never occurred to me. Duh. I kept changing the cell and clicking out of it made it revert. Crazy simple. I’m able to change the velocity and other setting now. All better.

I copied the whole Mach3 folder over to my laptop. That Mach3 profile still gets corrupted in the process. I guess I’ll be building the UCCNC profile the old fashioned way. No worries. Most things I’m putting back together go on different pins on the new breakout board anyway.

I do have one more issue I forgot to mention “A” axis is slaved to the “Y” axis. It’s a typical setup with stepper motors on both sides of the Y gantry. When I up arrow and move the gantry away, both motors are heading in the proper direction. When I down arrow to bring the gantry closer, the Y motor heads the proper direction while the A motor goes in the other direction. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Scott Meer

[ger21]

I would make sure that the direction pins are not assigned to something else, which could be causing a conflict.

If that's not it, then it could be a wiring issue, as it sounds like the A axis direction pin is not changing state, or at least the drive is not seeing it change.

Importing Mach3 .xml is not a perfect setup, because not all settings will necessarily transfer over, because Mach3 and UCCNC are different programs, with different settings.
As an example, Mach3 has more than one way to change direction, which is likely why you needed to change the active low settings.


Copying an .xml file should not be corrupting it. Must be something in your PC causing that.
You could try changing the extension from .xml to .txt, then copy, and then change it back.

The ENTER key requirement is the same way that Mach3 works. But in UCCNC, you have the option to disable the requirement.

[Robertspark]

there is a plugin (installed as default) called "Pin Mapping" which you can enable through

Settings >> Configure Plugins, and click the enabled checkbox....

restart uccnc

then go and click on "show" within Configure Plugins (or you could have enabled "Call Startup" and it would popup at startup and show if you have any pins assigned twice easily

[The-Meerkat]

Gerry & Robert,

I got it running perfectly now. I figured it wasn’t wired wrong because have not changed anything on the Gecko output connections to the motors. I checked the Gecko manual against the Axis screen pin settings for about the 5th time and they’re good. It had to be something else. Turns out it was another really simple thing. On the “A” Axis setup screen I unchecked the Positive Direction box and Bingo, that fixed it. So “Y” Axis is checked and “A” Axis is unchecked. Did a calibration on all 4 motors. All is right in the Plasma Universe.

So far, I’m really liking this UCCNC package. I don’t think the price was outrageous. The build is going smoothly and is straight forward. The software isn’t overly complicated. In fact, it seems more logical in some ways. The forum is turning out to be awesome. I swear in the limited time I’ve been running the motors today, they seem way quieter...smoother than they were. It’s the same gecko driver board so it’s got to be because of the new stuff. I was getting tired of Mach3 and frustrated with severely limited I/O’s. I needed this whole upgrade. The hard part is diving in knowing you’ll hit a snag or two along the way.

Gerry, thanks for your help. You’re a Steely-Eyed Missile Man. I’ve seen lots of your posts on various boards and I’m happy to make your acquaintance.

Robert, same to you. I’ve seen lots of your posts on PlasmaSpider. I think the last time was about installing laser crosshairs which was cool. I’m going to look into the new world of UCCNC Plugins you’ve turned me on to.

So far, this has been much easier than my first build.

Thanks guys.

Scott Meer