ShopBot Control Program Locks Up Computer

[pete]

Hello,

Starting up the ShopBot control program locks up the computer just after the little yellow "Trying to Locate Tool" banner comes up and goes away. Input #4 is red (I think that is normal at start-up).

This problem happens with the tool turned on or off or even with the USB cable disconnected. So, the problem would seem to be in the control program as Part Wizard and other programs on the computer work fine.

I have reloaded 3.4.27 software with no change in the problem.

Frank (ShopBot Support) did have me restore the shopbot.ini file to the factory default this AM because the machine was operating erratically in the jog mode following an electrical storm last night.

The machine worked fine after I restored the default .ini file this AM. Later, after operating the machine for awhile, I shut the machine and computer down for a few hours and when I came back later to the machine - the above problem surfaced.

Thanks for any help

Pete

[pete]

Follow up question - it is being suggested that I need to run Windows XP Professional instead of the Home Edition on my control computer - a laptop which has been working fine for a year and a half with no problems until I installed 3.4.27 the other day. And 3.4.26 is not available anymore on the ShopBot site for me to verify that 3.4.27 is not compatible with XP Home Edition. I have tried two other computers, one with XP Prof and another with XP Media Edition and both of those work fine. I don't want to spend $200 on upgrading to XP Prof if that is not the solution. Can anyone verify that I need Win XP Prof for sure. Thanks, Pete

[bcammack]

You shouldn't have to pay $200 for XP Pro.

http://www.surpluscomputers.com/store/main.aspx?p=ItemDetail&item=SWW10645

http://www.oem-avenue.com
http://newegg.com

[steve4460]

I run windows XP Home on all my computers and the latest 3.4.27 and everything is working fine . You must have something running in the back .What speed is your PC and how much memory do you have installed ?.

[pete]

Thanks for the responses. But especially, thanks for the verification that XP Home works with 3.4.27. The HP laptop speed is 1.4Ghz with 1Gb RAM and no programs running in the background - turned off Windows Automatic Update, etc. Everything has been working for over a year. I will look closer at the laptop for problems. Thanks for the help. Pete

[dhunt]

I think I'm right in saying that most ShopBot operations use a stand-alone 'dedicated' computer to run their CNC machine.
Such a machine is usually NOT hooked up to the internet,
since it has no reason to be so connected.
Such a machine usually has nothing more than basic system software,
plus SB Control software, and that's it!

More experienced operators start with either a new HD,
or a HD that's re-formatted(NTFS file system,for XP)
and select "Custom" early in the OS installation procedure,
in order to select a minimum install without all the bells & whistles rubbish assoc. with Internet Connections,Games and suchlike:
i.e. a bare bones system and precious little else, rather than the full,bloated Operating System.

On top of that Spartan installation goes ONE application,
and that is your SB Control software.
Moral of this story being that there's simply very little to go wrong with such a setup.
(At the end of the day, the whole thing Shuts Down with alarming rapidity!!)

If you're running all kindsa other software,
with registry errors from past stuff your kids put in there two and a half years ago, you can expect problems!
You need a squeaky-clean, NEW install for trouble-free running of your SB.
You need a dedicated 'run-SB-only' computer to do CNC duty.

Download the latest version of CCleaner, and run its 'ISSUES' function and both tabs of its CLEANER function.

Defragmentation wouldn't hurt,either..
but do that after running Disk Cleanup,first.
(START>>Programs>>Accessories>>System Tools>>Disk Cleanup)

[scottj]

Hi Peter,
Have you tried deleting the .ini file again? This sets up the software for the machine that you are using and if it gets corrupted for some reason then the software will lock up. Give a call to the office and I will try to walk you through this process.

Scott
Shopbot Support

[trakwebster]

I think I've got the 3.4.26 sitting around, and surely ShopBot has it. If you want me to email it, send request to me with your email address, and I will.

This seems unlikely to be the problem, but if the problem occured after 3.4.27 upgrade, I'd be suspicious, too. At the least, it would be interesting to regress to 3.4.26 and see.

[pete]

Well, my problem of the computer locking up when trying to bring up the ShopBot control software following loading of the latest version (and a rare electrical storm in the area the night before) resolved. Not sure if the storm had any effect on the issue - but I also had erratic behavior in jog mode on the ShopBot after the storm - so, I think the storm did cause problems.

My main problem was that the computer would flash the "Trying to locate Tool" banner and then lock up. It would not say it could not find it - just locked up the computer.

So, after multiple removals and reloads of ver 3.4.27 and the shopbot.ini files - and troubleshooting on the computer in between those removals and reinstalls - all which did no good at all, I found my original CD that I received with the ShopBot. I loaded ver 3.4.5 control software and the computer talked to the ShopBot just fine without locking up. It took a bit of trial and error to find the correct port (5) but after I resolved that issue and some trial air cuts to see if communications between the computer and ShopBot was solid - I loaded the latest ver of 3.4.27 again and everything was back to normal (whew).

So, if I had to guess what was wrong, I would say that when I loaded 3.4.27 the first time, some file, perhaps a hidden one that did not get removed when I was removing 3.4.27 while troubleshooting, got corrupted and only by returning to a very early version and perhaps resetting that corrupt file and then loading the latest version, did things get back to normal. I could be all wet on the hidden file theory, but ...

If I had been able to return to ver 3.4.26 it may have saved days of troubleshooting, but that version was not available.

Sorry to be so long winded, but this might help someone else.

And I would suggest that ShopBot leave the next-to-last version of the control software in the archive folder to allow troubleshooting and a return to a working condition if the latest version does not work properly on someones computer.

Thanks to all, including ShopBot support personnel (love those guys and gals) that offered ideas and assistance. Pete

[trakwebster]

And I have taken a word from the wise, and I'm keeping past versions myself from now on. Just in case.