Denford Software & Machines

Hi,
I have a (new to me) Starturn lathe with desktop tutor and fanucsld s/ware. Initially, the software loaded, but not all the time and often needed a reboot of PC or machine to work again. When not working, I would get the "error 50" Mirac slave controller disconnnected and "128" BUT NOW I get these errors every time I execute "fanucsld".

Note I have tried my fixed overlay tutor and also the changable overlay tutor I have (and edited the .GO file accordingly each time). Note also the fanucsld.go reflect the comm ports IRQ's etc. I have also swapped comm port plugs around (and changed .GO file each time) to see if a comm port is faulty. Still not working. By the way, note FANUCMD (OK, I know it is Milling) will software load OK.

Question: is there anything else to check? I have not looked inside the machine box.......are there any error LED's to check, or resets there? Is there any other Denford software that is not just simulation?

The other question I have is that the motors are fine and would different software like EMC2 or Mach3 work OK as is........or could this be done by just replacing the controller board???? I note that Mach3 can be used to run FANUC, which is what the Starturn talks.

My last resort is a complete upgrade. Whilst I see that Ebay have NEMA kits for less than £150 I want to avoid the time and learning curve involved in an upgrade....and seems a shame when I have proved the drives to work fine before and, as I understand it, the existing drives were quite advanced for the time. Thanks for any inputs.

What envioroment are you running the software in? (Windows 98, Vista).

It may be worth trying it directly from Dos.

If you are connecting to the machine by tricking to think it's a mill then that shows that the machine is working correctly if I have understood your'e post correctly.

I would also leavethe Desc Top Tutor to one side until you are have established a connection then connect the Tutor.

Thanks Martin, will try without the tutor and in DOS. Am I right in thinking it is OK to reboot in MS-DOS (in Win 98) or must it be DOS from a boot option?

My understanding of the .go file was that both tutor and machine got "proved" via the file, and also that it was the tutor that was throwing up the 128 error. This I guess is wrong.
Maybe it is the "data" cable from PC to controller????? (my supplied cable is actually 2 cables married together.........it may be better fro me to get a new one.........anything special about it, pins outs etc???

Have a look at this post.

viewtopic.php?f=54&t=765

OK Martin, I see "non-modem" cable in one reply. I assume this is actually "null modem" and a standard 2-3 crossover is what I need ...........this item available off the shelf, without the need to do all those detailed pin outs, which may or not do anything.

Yes pins 2 & 3 are crossed.

It may be easier to buy a straight cable & invert pins 2 & 3 inside the electrical cabinet.