Starmill/PC Communication Issue

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NylonAdmiral
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Starmill/PC Communication Issue

Post by NylonAdmiral » Mon 14 Oct , 2013 21:54 pm

Hi,

Up until recently my PC connected to the Starmill most of the time.

I found that on occasion, it wouldn't be possible to establish a connection between the mill and the PC.

I'd have to restart the mill a few times and then it would be possible to make the connection.

I found that over time the frequency with which I would have to do this was increasing, and then I found that the mill seemed to lose communication with the PC.

I didn't have time to look at the problem at the time but have now come back to it.

I went to switch the mill on today and found that the 7 segment display wasn't lighting up properly.

At the moment, when I turn it on it just shows a red dash (the central segment).

I found and downloaded the Denstep 7 Segment LED status and fault display.pdf but it doesn't seem to list this "dash".

Does anyone have any idea what this indicates?

Thanks in advance.

Martin
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Re: Starmill/PC Communication Issue

Post by Martin » Tue 15 Oct , 2013 5:41 am

What software are you using to connect?

Does the red - stay illuminated?

NylonAdmiral
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CNC Apprentice
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed 03 Dec , 2008 13:43 pm

Re: Starmill/PC Communication Issue

Post by NylonAdmiral » Tue 15 Oct , 2013 8:39 am

Hi Martin, thanks for the response.

I'm using the last release of VR Millin V2.

Yes, I left the machine on for a while last night and the red - stayed illuminated the whole time.

Martin
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Re: Starmill/PC Communication Issue

Post by Martin » Tue 15 Oct , 2013 22:20 pm

The Mint file may be corrupt.

Try right clicking on the Machine icon then select search for machine. If it finds it it may ask you to download the latest mint file.

Otherwise use MintMan which will be in the VRMilling directory, C:\Program Files\Denford\VRMilling & download the mint file.

NylonAdmiral
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Posts: 48
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Re: Starmill/PC Communication Issue

Post by NylonAdmiral » Wed 16 Oct , 2013 20:03 pm

Hi Martin, thanks for the help.

I tried right clicking on the machine icon and doing as you said.

I got the following error message:

"Machine not found!
Com5 may be in use by another application"

I also have VR Milling installed on another computer so tried it again with that machine. The software starts searching for the machine then just hangs.

I tried connecting with MintMan and it just gives me the error message: "comms not OK".

The whole time the red "-" stays constant.

NylonAdmiral
CNC Apprentice
CNC Apprentice
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed 03 Dec , 2008 13:43 pm

Re: Starmill/PC Communication Issue

Post by NylonAdmiral » Sun 10 Nov , 2013 20:13 pm

I ended up resolving this issue by replacing the card. It appears the original was faulty, swapping it out for a replacement solved the problem straight away.

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