# Almost At The End Of The Line



## papermaker (Aug 21, 2013)

I bought my Little Machine Shop Mill back in April and immediately set to work converting to CNC with new ball screws and the works. Great....well not so much.:angry:  Some of the issues were of my own doing but I've just about lost my patience with the whole project. 
1.Ordered the electronics. They sent the wrong breakout board.
2.Sent breakout board back Via USPS and they lost the package for about 21 days.
3.Received the USB board couldn't get the software to install. Supplier less than helpful in their customer support.
4. Sent USB board back and requested the parallel port back.
5. Located an older PC with a parallel port Pit things together. Working at last!
6.Shorted out the parallel port breakout board. ( my fault being a neat freak )
7. Ordered a new breakout board. Installed new board and only one axis worked. Called customer support they suggested that the parallel port shorted out too.
8. Bought and installed a new PCI parallel port card.
9.Bought 2 new driver boards because the Z and Y axis still didn't work. 
10. Bought another PCI parallel port card and installed . Still no go.
11.Had another computer built today and tried that this evening and guess what still no go. 

So I've reached the end of the line ! Not sure what else to try and I'm tired of throwing money at something that may or may not work!


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## DMS (Aug 21, 2013)

I would recommend taking a voltmeter and just going through the signal lines one by one. It sounds more tedious than it is. Just figure out what line does what (should be in Mach). Most voltmeters (even cheap ones) have a "frequency" mode, which will be useful on testing the step lines.

Something else occurred to me. If your add-on parallel card never worked with the setup, it is possible that Mach, or your computer, is confused by having two. Try disabling the on-board port in the BIOS.

This may also help

http://download.cnet.com/Lalim-Parallel-Port-Control-Basic/3000-2085_4-10442590.html


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## papermaker (Aug 21, 2013)

I wasn't sure what the parallel port should be set at in the bios. I assumed it should be ECP and there was another setting ...DMA that was off.


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## DMS (Aug 21, 2013)

For the on-board port (since you think it's busted), most BIOSs have a listing for "onboard hardware". Then there should be an entry for enabling the parallel port. Try that if you are using your PCI parallel port card. If you are using the on-board one, the ECP mode is the one you want.

Give that parallel port software I linked to a go, and see if you get any life out of your breakout board. Also, I sent you a PM.


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## komatias (Aug 22, 2013)

The solution to all my issues with the parrallel port was...the Ethernet smoothstepper. It made my machine run better and faster too.


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