X/Y Motors Stalling

[Gary Campbell]

Dude...YA gotta UNGET that Dell!

John...
Can you borrow another computer or laptop to see if the speed issue is computer or machine related? Some motherboards just dont like all hardware. You may have one of them.

[ken_rychlik]

I don't know why for sure but Frank at SB told me once that Belkin is the brand the do not recommend. i have a belkin hub and it works fine though. He said they use IO Gear brand the most.

I had major issues with the factory serial to usb cable. I am running off of one from Radio shack.

The biggest issue I ever had was with a HP pc on comm issues.

I have the little ground wire going from the serial shield to the controller ground and pc case also. That seemd to help.

I run around 70% without the hub. Mid 80's with it.

[jdervin]

Unfortunately, I'm not able to unget the Dell as this is the only platform (other than Mac) provided by the college (who also are the official owners of the 'Bot as well). I'm really feeling like Gene says, that it's time to upgrade to a new computer. I've had this one for three years and the college is on a four-year replacement plan, so getting a new one this year will take some begging, but maybe. In the meantime, I'm working on getting the IT people involved, but matching their schedules to mine isn't easy. Fortunately, I'm heading into a window of opportunity beginning next week. I've also asked SB support to call me on Monday.

As to testing with a second computer, I've got a Dell laptop that runs the 'Bot perfectly. I can't remember what the speed test results on it were, but I think it was in the high 70's. (Direct plug; no hub)

[ken_rychlik]

John for what it's worth, I am running mine on an old GX260 optiplex small form dell. It was suggested by someone else here, but I can't remember who. Maybe Don.

I gave 50 bucks for the pc and spent 100 putting 2 gigs of ram and a usb card into it.

Stripped and unloaded everything it didn't need to run the machine.

I just bought an identical one off of ebay for a spare, if that tells you how it runs the 'bot.

You may can get an older one from IT that they have laying around and have better luck??? Different brand or model may work fine.

Make sure it is stripped from all auto upgrades, and things running in the background. No net, no NOTHING that is not bot related.

If the machine runs good on your laptop, see if IT has a spare old laptop and just use that??

Either way, it seems like you should keep trying differnt pc's to run it till you find the combination that works.

[Gary Campbell]

John...
Dont misunderstand. Just borrow another one from the IT dept. If that one performs like your laptop, then you know the problem is the computer.

[paul_z]

I've been running my bot on a Dell for years and it has worked great; however, there are issues with some Dell computers that can cause almost any symptom.

http://news.cnet.com/PCs-plagued-by-bad-capacitors/2100-1041_3-5942647.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_OptiPlex
http://www.upenn.edu/computing/provider/docs/dellletter200602.html
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2373069,00.asp

[jdervin]

An update:
Just spoke with Ryan at ShopBot. He felt that my 69% speed test scores were fine and not indicative of whatever may be causing the X/Y stalling issue. He thinks it's directly related to my jogging the Standard at 6ips despite this being a relatively recent problem for me (I've been jogging at 6ips, problem free, for close to a year now). I asked him about the higher jog rates that other Standard users have been reporting and he felt that they were possible, but not the norm.

Ryan also wants me to drop the motors and test for freedom of movement, which is what I'll do next, but I still find it difficult to believe that both the X and Y rails would develop the same mechanical problem on the same day at the same time.

As to my in house IT people, they're being sluggish in responding, so that avenue hasn't been explored yet. Maybe I should have my wife make them one of her rasberry pies so I can get on their "preferred treatment" list.

[jdervin]

Later that same day...
Dropped the motors. Everything glides real smoothly, especially the Y-axis which gets propelled towards the front of the table by the Lexan cable guide acting like a spring. Took the opportunity to add another coat of grease to the racks as I figured that couldn't hurt.

Hooked up my laptop and did a speed test. Clocked in at 79-80% (with USB hub in line; 72-73% without). Ran a bunch of tests at 6ips. No problems. Even tried controlling the spindle RPM tool while the spindle was running. Again, everything worked like a charm.

I know Ryan's an expert, but I just don't see how it can be anything other than my dedicated computer.

[kevin]

John or anybody eles this topic has come a bit

My 2 cents a laptop will barely run a shopbot alpha .But wiil run it

Everybody seems to be spending huge money on software ,But little on a decent computer .I have my bot runnung on a computer that I made from parts at tigercomputer.com.

8 gigs of ram
sli video cards
etc for less than a thousnad or pretty close

If you look at Aspire its huge amount of computing power it needs

I learn the hard way I used laptop to run the bot problems

All gateway , HP , etc are loaded wit built in videocard .You need a workstation

[adrianm]

Kevin, don't forget that a lot of people use two computers. One for running the ShopBot control software and nothing else and the other one for running PartWorks, Aspire and other software.

A low powered machine by todays standards is more than adequate for the former purpose.