Need help connecting tinyg to tgfx

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  • May 26, 2014 at 3:48 pm #5962
    Lchampag
    Member

    Ok, I have to admit I am in over my head. I am a complete noob when it comes to this stuff. I figured I could just take it slow and figure this stuff out but no. Anyways…

    I just got my tinyg, I got the drivers installed. When I open TGFX I hit connect. It sits there for a second. I can even type a motor command while it waits and the green lights light up on the board. But after about 5 seconds I get a message that says “TGFX has timed out while trying to connect to tinyg” then it disconnects.

    Same thing happens when I try to update on TGFX. The board will start blinking red lights everywhere and then I get the same message after a few seconds that it has timed out.

    I hope that made sense. I have no idea what I am doing and step by step instructions are hard to find for something like this. I am in way over my head with this stuff.

    May 26, 2014 at 4:12 pm #5963
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    Let’s start here, as next steps will depend on some of these answers.

    What OS are you connecting from: Win, MAC, Linux ?
    tinyG Hardware version: v8, v7, earlier
    What tgFX build do you have installed?
    If not build 3256, then look here for it and install it

    What machine are you connected to: ShapeOko, ShapeOko2, etc?
    (not important at the moment, but will be at config time)

    May 26, 2014 at 4:32 pm #5964
    Lchampag
    Member

    Windows 7 64 bit
    tinyg v8
    I had tgfx 3259, I just tried 3256 also and got the same thing

    Will be connecting to shapeoko 2

    When I hit update firmware online in tgfx the D3,D4, and D7 flash red for a little bit and then it flashes all the green lights but after that I still get the timed out error. The message says I might have outdated firmware then has an option for me to update firmware. I click on that and the process just repeats itself.

    Thank you so much for the help!

    May 26, 2014 at 6:13 pm #5965
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    Hmmm, perhaps I am out of sync a bit; where did you find tgFX build 3259?

    Anyway, build 3256 (or probably 3259) should work OK.

    First off, when you start tgFX, before you select connect, are you selecting the Comm port?

    When starting tgFX, after selecting connect, wait until you see tinyG respond in the scroll window, lower left of display.

    When you think you are connected, enter a $ and CR, or $$ and CR in the command line window, bottom left corner.
    You should see the tinyG response scroll by.

    May 26, 2014 at 6:37 pm #5967
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    OK, I found build 3259, which is the most current.
    Proceed with which ever one you have loaded; build 3256 should work OK as well, at least for getting connected.

    Ultimately, you will want to be running the latest (build 3259)

    May 26, 2014 at 10:31 pm #5972
    Lchampag
    Member

    Yeah I am selecting the port, then I hit connect. It just sets there for a few seconds. I can type in a command for motors during these few seconds and it will work. It is like it is connected for those few seconds but then I get a message that it has timed out. The message says that my firmware might be out of date or wrong port. So I go to machine settings and try to update. There is lights flashing all over the board during this time. And then again the same message pops up. It does take it a little longer to pop up at this point.

    Last night I was able to connect to CoolTerm but not tgFX. Now I can’t even connect to CoolTerm. I get an error message that says “an error occured while attempting to open the port, 102:invalid option”

    I am about to just give up… Thanks again for the help.

    May 26, 2014 at 11:31 pm #5973
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    Try a $[CR] in the command window, to see if you can grab the tinyG FW version from the short status report. Or look on the tgFX Machine Tab.
    You might also try the reset button (on tinyG), in case, perhaps, of an un-clean powerup.

    I have not experienced this behavior.

    May 27, 2014 at 6:46 am #5974
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    Have a look at this thread

    It sounds somewhat like your situation.

    Entering “$defa=1” on the command line in tgFX or in CoolTerm will do the factory defaults reset.

    You will have to re-enter config parameters again, but it sounds like you have not done that yet anyway.

    May 27, 2014 at 4:53 pm #5978
    Lchampag
    Member

    OMG thank you so much. Seriously. I had to type that command in tgFX within the couple of seconds before it disconnected, but it worked. Everything looks fine now.

    I still can’t connect to CoolTerm but that is probably something I messed with while trying to get this thing to work because at one point it did work.

    So is this not normal? Should I try to send back the Tinyg or do you think it will be ok in the future.

    Anyways thanks so much!

    May 27, 2014 at 5:17 pm #5979
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    So is this not normal? Should I try to send back the Tinyg or do you think it will be ok in the future.

    Normal – no, I don’t think so.
    Send back – no, you should be good to go now.

    CoolTerm – I am not sure what your issue might be – I don’t use it. Perhaps someone else will add some flavor.

    Now that you are up and running, time to configure tinyG to interface to your machine.

    When you get a chance – what FW build was in your tinyG? What tgFX build you running?

    Good luck with your first cutting job!!

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