Denford Software & Machines

Hi

I have an Easiturn PNC3 lathe, which I am trying to get to talk to an old windows XP computer via Easiturn so that I can transfer files to the lathe. I know that this function has been working ok prior to me purchasing the lathe as the previous owner made good use of it. The Serial to RS232 cable is wiored as per the diagram on viewtopic.php?f=34&t=3899 and I have downloaded easiturn from https://www.denfordata.com/downloads/dos/easiturn.zip and have unpacked the zip file into C:\EASITURN. Based on the thread viewtopic.php?f=54&t=1040&hilit=7+pin+din I have shorted out pins 2 & 3 at the PC end of the cable and the display changes from O/C to S/C so I know the cable is working and the machine is receiving. Hence I can only conclude that it must be the serial port settings, which I have tried to find on the forum but there seems to be no definitive set stated anywhere. At present the computer is setup with COM1 set to:

Baud rate = 1200 (same as lathe)
Data bits = 7
Stop bits = 1
Parity = odd
Flow control = none

I have seen suggests that the stop bits should be 2 and the data bits 8, but having worked out the possible number of combinations of all of the settings I thought I would stop and ask what the most likely combination is please? In addition, should Fifo buffers be on or off?

Thanks

Andrew

From my experiences regardless of drawings it is worth trying the tx/rx pins both ways round. So that should be pin 2 and 3 swapped. You never know if a previous owner had swaped them in the machine as the lead they had was moulded and wired the other way if that makes scense. Doesn't hurt to try it. I had spent ages going through diagrams for my starturn 5, I posted a fair bit on
Lead pinouts

Just found ten minutes to resolder the pins on the RS232 lead but to no avail, it still sits there trying to send the first block but not completing. I have tired changing Data bits to 8 and the stop bits to 2 but hasn't made any difference either. Have also tried parity set to none but still hasn't allowed easiturn to get past the first block. So I think I will swap the pins back tomorrow so they are back to the configuration that the previous owner was using. Am really stumped, pretty sure it must be a setup thing in windows, as that usually seems to be the issue with RS232 from the limited experience I have had with it and the fact that shorting pins 2 & 3 causes an O/C to S/C change when the lathe is in test mode. Could really do with knowing what someone else has as the settings in windows for their COM1 port, thanks.

This morning I have tried changing the 7 pin Din from pins 1 & 7 with ground to 4 to pins 6 & 7 with gournd to 2 but no change, so have gone back to the original setup. Have tried all manner of combinations of serial port settings but it still won't transfer the first block. What I have noticed though, is that if I press the reset key on the lathe with the computer still in transfer mode then it moves on to the next block although nothing has in fact been transferred. Could this imply that the computer is waiting for the lathe to acknowledge the end of the block or visa versa and when I hit the reset key it sends such a handshake?

This really is bugging me but I do not know where to go from here as nothing appears to change the situation.

Have managed to move a few steps forward by changing out the PNC3 interface board for a spare one that came with the machine. Previous to this I did a loop back test and confirmed that the serial port was working ok. However, I still seem to have a setup issue as if I use Data Bits = 7, Stop Bits = 1 with Parity set to Even or odd then I get Transmission Error Code 4 "illegal character for this block" coming up in the Easiturn software. If I set parity to none or mark or space then the error code changes to 01 "Parity error in received character". Similarly, if I use Data Bits = 7, Stop Bits = 2 with Parity set to Even then I get Error Code 01 "Parity error in received character", as I do if I set Data Bits = 8, Stop bits = 1 and Parity = even. Does this behaviour look familiar to anyone? Thanks!