I've retrofitted an old Router Master with a TinyG. Using my own laptop, which runs Linux, everything seemed to work. Got all the axes set appropriately, figured out an appropriate maximum speed for each axis, and even ran some jobs under ChiliPeppr.
Then today, I began setting everything up on the owner's Windows 7 PC. Suddenly, things have started to get interesting, but the problems seem to be with both the Windows PC and my Linux laptop. On both machines, I've loaded up Chilipeppr, jogged around a bit, but when I zero out the machine before starting a job, it is like it severs the connection to TinyG.
Actually, playing around with it a bit more, it doesn't take long before TinyG stops accepting commands... No. That's not it. It's like the machine is constantly rezeroing itself. So I can only move in the positive direction. I'll play with this a bit more and see if I can narrow down what triggers the behaviour, but it seems like it is either changing the units between mm and inches (G20 or G21) or zeroing out one or more axes.
That bit about it only moving in the positive direction was my mistake. But it still seems to lose its connection on the Windows machine after a bit of jogging. Give me a few minutes to explore this a bit more fully.
It would be helpful(should this behavior continue)if you describe your setup a bit more.
You have mentioned Linux, Win7 and Chilipeppr.
What fw is running on tinyG?
We'll assume you are using a current Chilippr by running with Force refresh Mode
What release of serial-poort-json-server?
Does spjs run on the Linux or Windows computers , or separately?
If separately, on what sort of computer?
What browsers do you use in Windows and Linux?
Sorry for the delay, but I was helping shear sheep yesterday. (No. I'm not kidding.)
I did my initial testing under Linux (Ubuntu 14.04). Whenever I have issues, the Linux machine gets used for trouble-shooting. Otherwise, a Windows 7 PC controls the TinyG. Can't check the serial-port-json-server at the moment, but I downloaded it on March 9th, so... Probably 1.79.
The good news is that we did a successful run on a reasonably complicated job. We actually used TGFX. But before the successful cut, after several dry runs, we did a pass to score the waste board. During that run all motion stopped mid-job. The TinyG was unresponsive to console commands, TGFX wouldn't disconnect, restarting TGFX didn't help as it wouldn't connect to the TinyG. We ended up power-cycling the TinyG (and external drivers). After using some compressed air to clear out all the USB connections, and hooking it back up, we successfully ran a couple air-jobs, and then the actual job, without problems. But with this sort of intermittent failure, I'm still nervous.
Next week, we're going to attempt a job that will require repeatedly running a job. That will be a good test, and provide opportunities for potential fixes. I'll try ChiliPeppr again too, with everything as up-to-date as possible.
Well, you call yourself Rural, so sheep shear is appropriate.
A bit tough on the 'victims' this time of year, but I'm sure you have a plan.
What tinyG FW are you currently running?
What version of tgFX are you running?
Running from Linux or Windows7?
A problem you will face sooner or later is that the last release of tgFX was in the 435.10 firmware time period, I believe. Improvements contiue in the buffer and queue management FW, tgFX will fall further and further behind.
FYI, back in the days I ran tgFX and tinyG, each time I ran a new job or even reran a loaded job, I started by resetting tinyG and tgFX and reloading from scratch. It eliminated some issue like yours.
I'll be sitting in front of the machine in a few hours and can answer all questions at that point. But before changing anything, I'll use tgFX to do a couple of air runs of the job we ran on the 11th, just to see if I can get everything bunged up again. Then I'll upgrade to the latest versions of the firmware, Chilipeppr, Chilipeppr's serial port server, and give it a again.
At this point, I am pretty sure that we will be making the switch to Chilipeppr. The only thing holding me back was jogging issues, and a troublesome version of the serial port server, but those issues look to be resolved.
Believe it or not, shearing actually that stressful on the sheep. If they are held right, they just relax. I didn't believe it until I witnessed it first hand. But I digress.
The TinyG is running FW 435.10.
tgFX is the latest (ie. last) version from GitHub. But I'm definitely moving away from it.
I had the lock-up problem mostly under Windows 7 running tgFX. I may have had the same issue under Linux, but now that I've looked at it some more, I'm no longer sure. If it was happening, it might have been the serial-port-json-server issue.
I here you on tgFX getting stale. Just a matter of time.
I think most of my issues were due to a bad USB extension cable. I can't say for sure yet, but I do know that using my Linux laptop which can be moved close enough to the machine that the extension cable isn't needed, I've been able to jog around and run air jobs for quite a while with no issues. Moving back to the Windows machine results in issues.
I suppose it could be an FTDI driver issue as well.
The machine's owner dug into his box of miscellaneous computer cables and found a USB A-B cable of just the right length. We plugged it in restarted TinyG. It jogged around fine. Ran half-a-dozen air jobs successfully. Ran a real job successfully. Ran a bunch more air jobs with no issues.
So it all came down to a bad cable. Nice.
440.14 is on the TinyG now. Chilipeppr and SPJS are the latest versions too.
The owner is very happy with the quality of the cut. I think his machine was running without micro-stepping before where we're at quarter stepping.
He's a little apprehensive about the TinyG and Chilipeppr being...more tightly linked to the hobbyist market than the manufacturing market. He is definitely oriented towards production and wants production-oriented features. But now that things are cutting, he's pretty happy.
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