Hi Folks

I in the middle of ordering the CNC machine from Foam Linx. But I have a question. I am use XP as operating system. Are there in programs that work under this.

Ron

I'm using Rhino V2 to draw up my parts in 3D, and I will be using MasterCAM V9 to make toolpaths. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to use to output my CNC controls yet, although DeskAM is looking promising... My 2 cents..

CG

The cnc programs that drive stepper motors all talk directly to the parallel port. This is something Windows XP does not allow. Windows 95, 98 is ok.

You need the computer right beside the Cnc machine anyways, so why not find an old beater just for the cnc. I use an old pentium 166 for my cnc router and it works great. They can be had for free sometimes. I ran a network cable up to the garage so I do my designing in my office where it's comfortable, then send the file up to the garage where I cut my parts.

Eric

Nighthawk,


Try turbocnc, available at www.dakeng.com. Very good software and almost free at $20.00. It's shareware.

Also CNCPro is nice but costs $200.00

Kcam costs $100.00 but its windows software and steppers run really bad in windows.

Very interesting up and coming software can be found here http://www.cnctechnik.de/

I downloaded it but have not tried it yet. It actually needs two computers, one windows, one dos to run the cnc. The dos one just needs dos, no monitor, keyboard, or anything else. A motherboard and floppy drive is all you need. Interesting.

Eric

balsaman-Have you ever run a CNC program through Windows, or have you just heard others say this? How does the finished part compare to that of one made using DOS run programs?

I am definitely no computer expert but my MaxNC controlled router setup needs to run in a DOS environment. I can run it in a Windoze DOS shell but the steppers sound sorta "gravelly" and seem to skip at random. Smart folks have told me that the Windoze "interrupts" and the plethora of "stuff" going on in the background causes this. Who knows! I just restart in the DOS mode, do my cutting and go back to Windoze when I'm done. No big deal.

Looks to me that Windows XP is not for anyone interested in operating on a commercial basis or with commercially available machinery. To run my equipment, I initially went to a local swapmeet and bought an old 486x66 for $35 and loaded on good ol' DOS 6.2 With a cheap second hand computer, you can do your design work inside the house, and then run the computerized machines in the garage and use a common floppy disk to make the file transfers.

Later on, I got fancy and purchased a $100 laptop and installed System Commander. This enabled me to run software and machines in their originally designed environment, and do this on a portable basis with the use of an umbilical cord. Besides running the things in the garage, once per month the laptop gets loaded with a converted program from Autocad. Then it is a drive of a couple miles to friend's place and plug in there and run the CNC mill he has. I bring my own umbilical cord, steel, end mills and then start cutting and cussing. My version of Compufoil refuses to run on anything other than Windows 95, and thus is the only item on the boot up list and menu. and the work converted from Autocad to G-code to run the CNC will only run under Windows 3.1

I subscribe to a couple of the internet CAD forums, and the XP question is brought up about every other day. None of the readers want to invest in XP compatible equipment, and the manufacturers for the better part do not want to develop drivers for such a limited market. Most subscribers are holding onto their Windows 98 based software and equipment. They found it much simplier to go without the bells and whistles, than to spend a whole bunch of time consulting experts as to compatibility or work arounds. Thus there is a trend present of those running dual, or tripple operating systems on one computer, and not bothering to look for compatible drivers.



Wm.

I have run my cnc thru windows and like DickeyBird says its sounds bad and misses steps etc. Very rough. Also you need to run much slower to get the same reliability. I can run my cnc at 35" per minute in dos mode. I can go maybe 15-20 in a dos window running the same software (turboCNC). Kcam3 (www.kellyware.com) is windows based cnc software and it very nice software but suffers the same windows roughness problem as running my dos software in a window. If you run slowly the parts look fine when run in windows with kcam3 or Turbocnc.

I think the foam cutting software does run in windows only but the foam cutters tend to run very slowly (4" per minute max?)so I imagine it's fine.

I run with a old pentium 166 MMX in my garage. I ran a network cable up there so I can do my Autocad, mastercam, etc. in my office and when I have a Gcode file I just send it up to the garage over the network. From there I restart to DOS mode and fire up Turbocnc.

Eric

Let me jump in here and give my dime's worth from a computer prespective.

If you are running Windows NT 3.5, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows XP there is a little trick you can try:

Start up your CNC program in Windows. Open up the task manager (CTRL-ALT-DEL), and find the CNC program in the Applications tab. Right click on the application and select "Go To Process". This will take you to the processes tab and highlight a process for you. Right-click on this process and then select High or Realtime from the Priority sub-menu. A word of caution, only use Realtime if you are only running the CNC program. No web surfing while you cut with this priority. You will be prompted with a dialog window stating the following:
"WARNING: Changing the priority class ...". Select the Yes button, and you're done. Now go back to your CNC program and try it.

Let me know if this works (it should be a lot better than what you currently experience). Maybe even, dare I say it, "acceptable".

Remeber to close down your CNC program once you are done, especially if you selected the Realtime priority. Then you can go about your business, as usual.

-Q.

I think tho, that the reason the cnc programs don't work in 3.5, 4.0, 2000, XP is because none of those versions allow the program to access the parallel port directly. It is not a matter of the software running rough in those versions. It doesn't run at all. Windows 95, 98, allows the software to control the cnc via the parallel port, but its rough.

I think with NT, XP etc. the software designer would need to write a device driver. None has done that that I know of.

Eric

Try Master 5 at http://www.artofcnc.ca/

I'm using it with Windows 98 on my Taig CNC mill conversion. It is a Windows program . Have a look !

747,

I downloaded it a while back and looked it over. I never hooked it to my CNC. Does it work smoothly? Have you tried any of the DOS software to compare? Perhaps I should try it sometime. Thanks for the reminder!

Eric

I looked at master5 again and now I remember why I didn't try it to run my machine. My computer in the garage that runs my cnc is only a P 166 MMX. Master5 needs min 300 mhz if you go by the FAQ. Perhaps if I ever round up a faster PC in there I will give it a go.

Eric

Hi Eric,

It seems to work smoothly although I haven't used any other programs. I tried it on my P133 and it wouldn't run so I bought a P2 450 and it works fine.