Mach 3 Windows 7 Problem

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dbrook
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Mach 3 Windows 7 Problem

Post by dbrook »

I am running Mach 3 under Windows 7 on my 4x5 cnc router. After I successfully run a job and letting the computer sit idle for an extended period of time (an hour or so) Mach 3 locks up. Hitting the reset button or clicking anywhere on the screen produces no result. On occasion Mach 3 will lock/stop in the middle of job for no apparent reason with no indication of an emergency stop. In both cases Mach 3 has to be shut down and restarted to gain back control.

Has anyone run across this same problem? Anybody know how to solve this issue?

Dan

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Adrian
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Re: Mach 3 Windows 7 Problem

Post by Adrian »

Have you disabled all the power saving features in Windows? Sounds like something is shutting down when it's idle for a while.

A google search for "mach3 lockup windows 7" shows lot of other possible scenarios and fixes though.

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Leo
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Re: Mach 3 Windows 7 Problem

Post by Leo »

I shut off all of the sleep modes, screen savers, energy savers, auto upgrades..........

I was running on win7 without probelm

I just upgraded to win10 and all seems well
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dbrook
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Re: Mach 3 Windows 7 Problem

Post by dbrook »

Thanks for the feedback. I did more checking and I thought I had all the typical things disabled but I found that the hard drive was set to shutdown after 90 minutes. Also found a tip through Google on the Mach support page to download a memory override registry patch (Mach3-vista). I installed the memoryoveride patch and changed the hard drive setting to 16 hours.

We will see what happens.

Thanks

Dan

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Re: Mach 3 Windows 7 Problem

Post by ger21 »

In General Config, uncheck "Use Watchdogs" as well. It might help.

Unfortunately, Mach3's parallel port driver doesn't always get along well with some PC's. Especially more modern ones.
If you can't keep it working reliably, you might want to look into using a UC100 motion controller instead of the parallel port. It's the parallel port driver that causes the lock ups, and you don't need it when using a motion controller.

And the UC100 gives you the option to run the UCCNC control software, which many are finding to be superior to Mach3.
Gerry - http://www.thecncwoodworker.com

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martin54
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Re: Mach 3 Windows 7 Problem

Post by martin54 »

Why the UC100? There are lots of motion control cards available that don't use the parallel port & work fine with mach3 so you only need to change the hardware, no new software to learn. Ethernet seems to be a better option than USB but the cards do tend to be a bit more expensive from what I have seen.

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Re: Mach 3 Windows 7 Problem

Post by ger21 »

martin54 wrote:Why the UC100?
Because it's the cheapest quality option, and it's the simplest to connect. Just unplug your parallel cable and plug it into the UC100.

USB is only an issue with Smoothsteppers. I've never heard of any issues with any of the other USB controllers.

And you don't have to change software with the UC100, as it still works with Mach3.
But it does give you an option to use their software, which is better than Mach3, although missing a few small features.
Gerry - http://www.thecncwoodworker.com

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Re: Mach 3 Windows 7 Problem

Post by IslaWW »

One additional item to consider IF you are using USB communication. Windows will/may suspend a USB connection if it perceives no user input. This is keyboard or mouse input. Your CNC controller could be putting out thousands of line of code per minute, but your USB could be suspended due to "inactivity". "USB Selective Suspend" settings are located in the Control Panel > Power Options > Advanced Settings
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