fbpx

CS-Lab Support Forum for CNC Community

Help to run this brand-new forum and stay with us.
Ask your questions, we are here to help!ย 

 

Please or Register to create posts and topics.

Problem with CSMIO MPG kit and Mach4

Hope I can get some help with this, struggling to get the MPG kit I purchased from CS-Lab to work consistantly with Mach4.

I have set and re-set multiple times and some times it will work OK but then the next time I come to use it I am getting the errors shown in the images below, the first one I have only had once but the second one multiple times.

Can`t figure out whether it is the CSMIO Plug-in, the CSMIO Hardware or a Mach4 issue, any help would be much appreciated ๐Ÿ™‚

I have sent the error messages to Cs-Labs but not had an answer as yet ๐Ÿ™‚

Thanks in advance

Rob

Uploaded files:
  • CSMIO_IP-M-ERROR-MSG-1.png
  • CSMIO-IP-M-ERROR-MSG-2.jpg

Hello,

You need to provide me with the following information:
- What version of Mach4 are you using?
- What plugin version are you using?
- What controller do you have (CSMIO/IP-M, CSMIO/IP-S, CSMIO/IP-A)?
- Describe step by step how to trigger this error.
- Are you using the hardware MPG support included in the plugin?

Did you know that when using MPG (when we use the hardware MPG support included in the plugin), you can't do anything else in Mach4?
The point is that Mach4 does not have any mechanism to block it while the user is using hardware MPG (hardware support)
As a result, when the user unintentionally moves the axis using MPG and Mach4 at the same time, an e-pid error occurs.
The e-pid error is a result of the activation of the protection placed in the CSMIO/IP controller that detects discrepancies in the movement trajectory.

Regards,

Wojtek

Hello Wojtek

 

Thanks for your quick reply, information listed below.

- What version of Mach4 are you using? Mach4 is 4.2.0.4612

- What plugin version are you using? Plugin version 3.412

- What controller do you have (CSMIO/IP-M, CSMIO/IP-S, CSMIO/IP-A)? CSMIO-IP-M

- Describe step by step how to trigger this error.ย  There are a number of different triggers, one is try to re-home after using the MPG

- Are you using the hardware MPG support included in the plugin? Yes, what I do is enable the hardware and use the MPG, then disable the hardware to run Mach4 normally, I can still get errors after doing this.

I have found a "workaround" that clears the issue, if I re-select the controller the problem is then cleared and Mach4 appears to behave itself, so if I jog to position for example to set a G54 offset and then want to Home all Axis then I need to re-select the Controller, this works even with the the Hardware support enabled or disabled. I have also found that if I leave several minutes before I try to use Mach4 that works too, so it seems that there is some sort of "lag" within either the controller or possibly Mach4, or even the computer resources may not be fast enough ๐Ÿ™‚

Appreciate your thoughts on the above, I can make it work but woud prefer it to work easer/better ๐Ÿ™‚

Thanks again for your valuable time

Regards

Rob

Hello Wojtek

Some more testing results, another workaround, I can leave the MPG Hardware support enabled and if I use the Mach4 MDI to generate G0 G53 Z0 and G0 G53 X0Y0 on two lines of code then Mach4 will work OK again even with the MPG hardware support still enabled.

So, I am able to use the MPG to "touch off" at the stock and then use the G53 lines of code to send the machine back to its safe machine Zero position, this is an easier "workaround" as long as I remember to set the Axis switch to the Off position at the MPG so that it doesnt accidently move an axis.

The big question, is this an internal Mach4 problem or is it a problem with the CS-Lab supplied Mach4 Plug-In ?? ๐Ÿ™‚

Or maybe a combination of both!!

Look forward to your thoughts on any/all the above.

I am not having any issues so far if I am using the CS-Lab simCNC software, this works correctly as I expected, good work ๐Ÿ™‚

Regards

Rob

Quote from rob on 28 February 2023, 12:08

Hello Wojtek

 

Thanks for your quick reply, information listed below.

- What version of Mach4 are you using? Mach4 is 4.2.0.4612

- What plugin version are you using? Plugin version 3.412

- What controller do you have (CSMIO/IP-M, CSMIO/IP-S, CSMIO/IP-A)? CSMIO-IP-M

- Describe step by step how to trigger this error.ย  There are a number of different triggers, one is try to re-home after using the MPG

- Are you using the hardware MPG support included in the plugin? Yes, what I do is enable the hardware and use the MPG, then disable the hardware to run Mach4 normally, I can still get errors after doing this.

I have found a "workaround" that clears the issue, if I re-select the controller the problem is then cleared and Mach4 appears to behave itself, so if I jog to position for example to set a G54 offset and then want to Home all Axis then I need to re-select the Controller, this works even with the the Hardware support enabled or disabled. I have also found that if I leave several minutes before I try to use Mach4 that works too, so it seems that there is some sort of "lag" within either the controller or possibly Mach4, or even the computer resources may not be fast enough ๐Ÿ™‚

Appreciate your thoughts on the above, I can make it work but woud prefer it to work easer/better ๐Ÿ™‚

Thanks again for your valuable time

Regards

Rob

You included the name "MPG Kit" in the title of your post.
The "MPG Kit" includes the CSMIO-MPG module and a manual handwheel equipped with an ENABLE button and an axis selection selector with the OFF position.
When you want to use JOG or MDI or Gcode, the ENABLE button on the hand-held joystick must be released (not pressed).
Only in this way, there is no conflict between Mach4 and the hardware support of the CSMIO-MPG module.

There is a way to make Mach4 support (software) the CSMIO-MPG module but believe me, you don't want to try it.
In this situation, in my opinion, the quality of MPG work is unsatisfactory and even a little dangerous.
In addition, this requires writing a macro to handle the axis selection and pitch selectors.

>>> The big question, is this an internal Mach4 problem or is it a problem with the CS-Lab supplied Mach4 Plug-In ?? ๐Ÿ™‚

The matter is very simple. In the case of Mach4 there is no function blocking it for the time when a motion controller performs autonomous activities, e.g. hardware MPG support.

My final advice is:
Use the ENABLE button on the handwheel and don't touch Mach4 during this time, and everything will work properly ๐Ÿ˜‰

rob has reacted to this post.
rob

Hello Wojtek

Thanks for your reply, however that does not resolve the problems, I do know how to use the MPG enable button.

After a lot (I do mean a lot) more testing I found that even with the MPG completely disconnected I was still getting CSMIO errors after using some areas of Mach4 !

The good news is that I have now resolved the problems and my initial thoughts that the issue was with the CSMIO MPG Kit were completely wrong so I have to apologise for sending anyone in the wrong direction.

Problems have been resolved by installing the latest stable version of Mach4 and some re-configuration of the setup at the CNC that was causing a conflict with the CSMIO-IP-M controller and also help from some other Mach4 users ๐Ÿ™‚

All now appears to be well with the CSMIO-IP-M and Mach4 Build 4.2.0.5036 working together, hopefully it will stay that way from now on ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚

Apologies once again for the initial mis-direction !! Doh!!

Regards

Rob

>> After a lot (I do mean a lot) more testing I found that even with the MPG completely disconnected I was still getting CSMIO errors after using some areas of Mach4 !

In general, if you use the Mach4 4612 version and remember to use the Enable button on the manual manipulator, you should not have any problems related to MPG.

It is possible that the problem affected a completely different area of Mach4.

Do you have pictures of these errors or are you able to describe them?

I know it's a little too late for that now, but maybe you'll remember something.

>> All now appears to be well with the CSMIO-IP-M and Mach4 Build 4.2.0.5036 working together, hopefully it will stay that way from now on ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚

 

 

This is good, I'll check for myself tomorrow.

Some of the solutions used in the Mach4 5000 came from its earlier versions, which surprised our developers.

It is possible that the 5000 release was just a mistake and the 5036 fixes it.

This would mean that our developers wasted time adapting the plugin to the Mach4 5000 version.

 

Regards

Hello Wojtek

Thanks for the response, it is not the MPG Module or Handset that was the problem, as I explained above it was my mistake to describe the issue as an MPG problem.

With the MPG Module completely unplugged from the CSMIO-IP-M controller I still had errors, images of the errors are in my earlier post, the pid error number changed each time so the image shown is just one example.

One example of a Mach4 use that produced an error was for me to use the Mach4 jogging buttons to a position (Setting an Offset for example) and then use the "Homing" function to return all axis to their Home positions (Machine Zero) that caused an error.

If I went into the configuration to make a change and again if I tried to Home the machine it would produce an error.

My "workaround" for those errors was to set the MDI to G0G53Z0, G0G53X0, G0G53Y0 on three separate lines to send all the axis to their Machine Zero (Home) position, after doing that the "Reference all Axis" (Home) worked correctly again.

I have never used the Mach4 5000 build so I have no information on that for you, I went straight from the 4162 to the 5036 which seems to work fine.

As everything is now working good with the Mach4 and the current CSMIO hardware/Software all the above is only for your information and hopefully it is of some help towards the next version of your Plug-in/Firmware as applicable ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚

Thanks again for your interest

Regards

Rob

We will analyze it.
Thank you for the information.

PARTNERS:

ย 

USA

Germany

Slovenia / Bosnia

Spain

South Africa

UNI-CAM

The Netherlands

Portugal

Greece

ย ย Distrib milionis logo

Hungary

Distrib logot

Bulgaria

Master

Kenya

Proteq Automation

Egypt

Germanelectronix

China

Jun Ma

Serbia

ALCO

Italy

LVL tech r

Denmark

Varntoft Dania

Finland

×

Hello!

Click one of our contacts below to chat on WhatsApp

× How can I help you?