Need help with PC/Shopbot issues

[laconcepts]

I am hoping that someone out there has some ideas.
I am at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana and we have a PRT 48X96- 4g that we have had since about 1999. Unfortunately we have not used it a lot until recently due to many government circumstances. Hehe
Anyway we are now using Aspire V3 and have also purchased a new HP laptop to run the machine with. We had been using desktops that were on the government LAN system and causing us many problems.

Now with all that said here is our problem.
During any significant VCarving, engraving, 3d etc, our machine will come to a complete halt (generally early in the program). SB3 will be locked and will not close unless you do a Control Alt del.
Before we do that we have to write down the coordinates since where ever the machine stops at will be “0” on all axis’s when it is restarted. We also have to touch off the tool again as well. No matter what we do the tool will stop in the exact same spot. Sometimes those dimensions can change if some changes are made in the toolpath.
Since we have been working with Shopbot tech support and been unable to find a solution we have everything set up on a new desktop that the base has let us use without being on the LAN. We also set up all of the shopbot software on one of the supervisors personal laptop. Both of those computers do exactly the same thing in exactly the same spot as the laptop that we bought for the machine. Since we are having the same problem you would think that maybe it is in the program. Well it works perfectly on my personal laptop. I have used mine on the machine numerous times and is the only one that will work. It is the oldest one out of the bunch and the least powerful.
Here is a bit of rundown on the PCs
My HP laptop--- 3gig Ram, 32bit (the only one that works)
New HP Shopbot laptop--- 6gig ram—64 bit
Rons new HP laptop---- 4gig ram---64 bit
New HP desktop__ 4gig ram----32bit

Here is different things that we have tried both with Shopbot tech support and without
1. different feed rates, stopovers, depth of cuts etc
2. turned off all power saving settings (shopbot suggestion)
3. turned off anti virus
4. let PC perform all updates (Base IT suggestion)
5. added a USB hub (shopbot suggestion)
6. took off USB extension cables from 4g IO gear
7. ran a three different shopbot post processors in Aspire
8. checked for grounding issues (problems seem to be way to consistent for this to be an issue between three CPUs)
9.


No matter what we try we just cant get either of the 3 computers to work. I am hoping that somewhere out there, someone has had the same problem and can tell us what the deal is. I have a feeling that there is something turned on/off in either those computers and is not letting them work. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Its probably something very simple that we are not aware of.
If anyone has any ideas please let me know. We are about will to try anything at this point.

Thank you in advance

[ken_rychlik]

It makes me wonder if the "government pc" is different than a regular pc.

Is your old laptop that works a government issued pc or a normal store bought unit?

If yours is store bought and the three that won't run it are all from the base, it may be that you have to buy one off base for it to work.

If you check around I bet someone has an old desktop at home that they would donate to the project.

It's just a guess, but thats what I would try.

[laconcepts]

Thank you for your reply.

I posted this in the message board as well.

That doesnt seem to be the issue either. My laptop, Rons Laptop and the new laptop that we bought for the shopbot are all local purchased and are not governement.
The desktop is government but is standalone but does more than likely have some government security stuff on it.. with all that said it hasnt seemed to make any difference at all.

We did have govenment desktops operating it once before but securty does change naturally.
We got away from it because we just couldnt get support from our CSA when we were having issues.

Thank you for any assistance or advice.

Kelly

[chiloquinruss]

It sounds like you could be getting a pulse or lack of it from somewhere. Can you run any files through to completion or do you have similar problems with ALL files? When it stops take a real good look at all of the wires. Look at all the connections. Are there any that might be under stress. Take the bit out and rerun the file as an air cut (this may show the wire stress problem).

But it also sounds really suspicoius that it stops at the same place. As others have suggested, what happens when you run the file in preview mode? What is the command that it stops at? Can you reset x=0, y=0 to a different place on the sheet and retry the cut? What happens?

What ever it is, it sure is wierd! Russ

[laconcepts]

I copied my reply from the shopbotters message board catagory and posted it here..



[B]Thank you all for the suggestions.
Lets see if I can remember everything and reply to the all. hehe
First I have not disabled the screen savers in any of the computers. My computer works fine but the screen saver is on. With that said not all computers are the same so I will give that a try.
I will also try turning off the circuts to see if the control box memory is an issue.
Regarding loading the software on all the computer.. I was the one that loaded it on 3 of the computers and I was with Ron when he loaded it on his so everything was done the same there.
The only computer out of the bunch that is a government computer is the desktop and that one is not on the LAN system so there is a little bit of a positive. I do know that it would naturally be configured for the government but it acts just like the other computers do.
When I mentioned that they stop in the exact same spot everytime... it happens right down to the exact .001 of an inch on all of the PCs except mine
The table works great from one end to the other while on my laptop. WE can make any jog or move commands that we want anywhere on the table. Also there has been several 4'X4' size simple cutouts (2d) made on the table and those files work great. It seems like any 2.5/3d moves or when there is alot of code working at one time it is just too much. We have ran numerous files with engraving and vcarving in them and have the same problem. IN some cases where we were vcarving a name for instance and the machine would stop earlly in the file, we would delete the previous text that were ran and start where it left off. It would maybe cut the next letter and hang up again. We almost had to cut one letter at a time. So it would eventually get past a point in the file if you started deleting things. WE have had luck a couple times of making some change in the file like slowing down the feed rate or changing the depth of cut and it would at least push the point where it would freeze up furthur in the file..
Weird stuff. I just dont get it. i would love it if it were something simple like the screensaver.
Regarding the dust collector grounding.. hmm well the only dust collector we have is the operator standing there with the shopvac hose in his hand or connected to the boot. Also tech support mentioned some noise coming from the porter cable router motor back through the system.. Welll it lock up just the same with the router completely off so we can rule out dust collectors and routers....
It will probably be Monday before we can try a few more things. Keep the suggestions coming please.. I certainly appreciate them all

Merry Christmas
Kelly