2001 PRT96 all original - no upgrades - v3.30 control board

[artbot]

early shopbot software does not run on win7, perhaps "win7" is describing the computer by origin but it has win98, win98se, win85, or DOS installed on it. i believe there were several threads of unsuccessful attempts to run shopbot software on an emulator as well.

one other thing. small cut files (12 parts on a 4x8) will easily fit on a floppy. larger engraving files 5-10mb will not. these require a flash drive (USB) and the patch installed on a Win98 pc to "see" the drive.

[Tom Bachman]

Well, my computer is running Win7 as the OS. I have not been able to check the version on the board as I've been busy with other things.

I'll have to check what version of control software I'm running. I have Aspire 8.5 running on it as design.

[Tom Bachman]

Tom, where you said: "I'm running a Win 7 machine. There is a cable that runs from the board to the computer that goes from Serial to USB. I recently had the board rebuilt (to the tune of $550). Now as far as price, I think you are in the ballpark."

Is that a simple cable with 9 pin serial on one end and usb on the other? We tried one of them from his XP machine to the serial port in the sb control box and the ShopBot Control Module said it can't connect. That's just not playing nice IMHO.

And what was your board rebuild about. Did SB do it? Rebuilt but not upgraded?

BTW: This morning I replied to your reply but I must not have hit the reply on your post. Somehow it ended up down below this a few slots... What version is your control board? I couldn't quite read it in the pic you pasted (which is a great pic BTW) looks like v2.04? maybe?

Thanks much.

Yes, the serial port on the control box to USB on the Win 7 OS computer. I don't know how it was done, this is exactly the setup as I bought it. The rebuild consisted of having three of the drivers replaced and a few things resoldered, the power supply rebuilt to put out accurate voltages. I went with a place in Indiana for the rebuild, I'll have to look up the company name later. I'm thinking that the board is 3.04 but I will have to double check that.

[Tom Bachman]

http://www.emd-display.com/ is the place that repaired my board. Highly recommended.

[chiloquinruss]

You say he is already a good wood worker, so he should be able to figure out that at $5k that's just $20 a day to cover the cost of an incredible machine! Russ

[Knothead]

You make a great point there chiloquinruss. I like the way you think. Wish I had thought to tell him that. I need to have you on retainer so I can consult with you on a moment's notice! Thanks for the input. Always appreciated and considered. Keep on Bottin'

[Knothead]

Tom, the "patch" for serial would be a software patch in addition to the 9pin to usb cable right? Something I could find online? We are now trying to run sb on a Windows ME OS. Finally got them talking nice to each other and able to move cut where we could only preview. Ran the preview in PW2 and in the SB3 installed on the ME complicator, all looked perfect. Run the same part file in SB3 on the ME machine and it stops partway through the file every time, time after... ... different lines each time, don't see anything wrong with the code... Further investigation shows when we move z axis either by keyboard or by command MZ, 1.0 it actually moves 1.25" tried 2.0 it moved 2.5, tried MZ, 3.0 , it moved 3.75". Tried MX and MY 1.0 and it moves 1" as supposed to. Wondering if that could have something to do with the file not being run completely. Actually doesn't get far in before it stops and hourglass comes up. Windows ME too slow to feed commands to SB control Module? Having discussion with tech hoping this latest info switches on a light bulb for them. Oops, got carried away again. Sorry. Thanks. Best, Thom Tolson AKA Knothead (for obvious reasons)

[Tom Bachman]

Tom, the "patch" for serial would be a software patch in addition to the 9pin to usb cable right? Something I could find online? We are now trying to run sb on a Windows ME OS. Finally got them talking nice to each other and able to move cut where we could only preview. Ran the preview in PW2 and in the SB3 installed on the ME complicator, all looked perfect. Run the same part file in SB3 on the ME machine and it stops partway through the file every time, time after... ... different lines each time, don't see anything wrong with the code... Further investigation shows when we move z axis either by keyboard or by command MZ, 1.0 it actually moves 1.25" tried 2.0 it moved 2.5, tried MZ, 3.0 , it moved 3.75". Tried MX and MY 1.0 and it moves 1" as supposed to. Wondering if that could have something to do with the file not being run completely. Actually doesn't get far in before it stops and hourglass comes up. Windows ME too slow to feed commands to SB control Module? Having discussion with tech hoping this latest info switches on a light bulb for them. Oops, got carried away again. Sorry. Thanks. Best, Thom Tolson AKA Knothead (for obvious reasons)

Thom, I don't know for sure. As i said, this is just how I bought it. It almost sounds like the calibration changed when you went to ME. Not sure why you went to ME, that OS sucked bad, but hopefully SB Tech Support can get you going.

[Tom Bachman]

Pulled the cover off the side of the control box today. The board has V2.06 on it.

[Knothead]

Thanks Tom. Yeah, I gotta check the Unit Values, tho I'm not sure I understand what value should be there. ShopBot Support told me "The Unit Value for your Z is likely going to be the same as your X and Y or a bit different. Check what value was on the old PC and put it on the new on." I like that: "or a bit different" ... They have been very responsive and helpful. I will report back what I find out on this. Even tho the HP that is running ME is newer and may be faster (haven't checked the system resources yet), I think the DOS machine may be able to keep up cuz it's running in a simple OS, where the ME machine doesn't keep up because it's going through the windows running in DOS and that seems like it would hog more memory and speed for the windows GUI ... We went to ME cuz the potential buyer had it. They don't want to run in DOS. Thanks for checking the control board, I appreciate it. Mine is a v 3.30. We are just trying to get to something that gets them up and running and allows them time to see what their needs are and upgrade down the road. Thanks again.