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New Controller?
Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2019 2:42 pm
by ctwo
I was still running Mach3 on my Boss3 Bridgeport with the original stepper motors. Has always worked well enough for me, and I use the blue screens with probing feature.
That is until last week when the PC locked up and would never boot again, no POST and all supply voltages measure in spec.
I recall there was a full hardware/software solution that seemed reasonably priced, like from $100 up to around $500, but I do not recall what it was called and don't see it in the short list here.
Re: New Controller?
Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2019 3:50 pm
by rrnut-2
Are you looking to upgrade the CNC controller?
One that comes to mind is the Centroid Acorn, it works with stepper drives.
Jim B
Re: New Controller?
Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2019 5:55 pm
by FKreider
Hopefully soon I will be installing a Centroid Acorn on my cnc. I have spent a lot of time researching Mach3 vs. the Acorn and it seems like the Centroid has overall better support and is extremely reliable.
Re: New Controller?
Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2019 8:57 pm
by Ianagos
Maybe Masai is what you are talking about?
Re: New Controller?
Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 10:49 am
by ctwo
It was the Centroid Acorn system that I was looking for. Reading more, I see it requires Windows 10. Somehow I thought it was a fully contained controller and would just need a monitor and HID. I also see it wont support my pendant - which I never got set up anyway.
I guess I'll have to read about Masa and LinuxCNC.
I don't really need new hardware but the many times I have already bought a Windows OS makes my stomach turn. At first it was fun, starting with a few versions of DOS, then upgrading to Windows 1-3, 95, 98, and then the horrendous ME, the fun was gone and it started going downhill quick with XP, 7, 8, and 10. I got to play plenty with NT and 2000 at work, and now it's all going to Win10 - even the corporate images are pushing the silly MS store and all that useless UI. Computers used to be tools to get work done rather than tools of exploitation.
Thanks for bridging my memory.
Re: New Controller?
Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 7:02 pm
by John Hasler
ctwo wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 10:49 am
It was the Centroid Acorn system that I was looking for. Reading more, I see it requires Windows 10. Somehow I thought it was a fully contained controller and would just need a monitor and HID. I also see it wont support my pendant - which I never got set up anyway.
I guess I'll have to read about Masa and LinuxCNC.
I don't really need new hardware but the many times I have already bought a Windows OS makes my stomach turn. At first it was fun, starting with a few versions of DOS, then upgrading to Windows 1-3, 95, 98, and then the horrendous ME, the fun was gone and it started going downhill quick with XP, 7, 8, and 10. I got to play plenty with NT and 2000 at work, and now it's all going to Win10 - even the corporate images are pushing the silly MS store and all that useless UI. Computers used to be tools to get work done rather than tools of exploitation.
Thanks for bridging my memory.
Switch to Linux. Try Ubuntu first, though you may eventually want to switch to Debian. By all means consider LinuxCNC for your machine.
Re: New Controller?
Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 7:20 pm
by Ianagos
Yes Mesa cards and Linux cnc is what I think I may do. Masso is another option a more integrated setup like the acorn but cheaper I think.
Re: New Controller?
Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 9:12 pm
by FKreider
Yes Acorn does require a Windows 10 PC. All technology needs upgrading over time, nothing lasts forever.
Re: New Controller?
Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 11:50 pm
by ctwo
I was explaining the situation to a friend and he asked, "can't you just turn the knobs?"
Re: New Controller?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2019 12:26 pm
by ctwo
Just to update the thread, I found a Dell OptiPlex with WinXP. The driver test runs "excellent" up to 100kHz. This PC only runs the CNC with Mach3 and a few test runs worked just fine.
Now I'm going to install the old PCI parallel port card and try to configure the pendant again. I forgot what happened last time but I could not get it to work. And now I've already forgotten how to get the virtual pendant to show.