The weirdest Mastercam error I have ever experienced...

[Mick]

I'm curious to see if anyone has experienced the errors I have encountered below. QC cant give me a solution, and I'm plain curious if anyone has struck the same problem. Whats weird, is that it happens with X MR2 on two seperate machines, with two seperate Hasps.

Unfortunately, even X2 Beta does the same thing.

 

Note, I also get the SIM Disconnection error, quite often, and that is on both machines as well.

 

Below is the email I sent to the QC department. I'm not knocking them at all. I purely want to find out if anyone has struck this:

 

Message to QC:

 

Hi there,

 

I am experiencing some major issues with the X MR2 release. At any time

during the use of a file, the system Z axis will distort (refer to the

attached JPG files). When this happens, various errors or faults occur,

such as attempting to use Verify results in a "Profile Is Incorrect",

attempting to switch to an

Isometric view will revert to a top view (basically, the user is unable

to

switch views and maintain them). Attempts to trim geometry result in a

"Intersection Not Found" message, even though the entities physically

intersect. I also cannot select certain geometry, and I notice if I go

into

System Configuration, the tolerances page lists the same value in all

the

boxes. After restarting Mastercam, the figures return to their correct

values.

Any of these errors are corrected by shutting down Mastercam and

restarting

it. Indeed, the "untrimmable" entities are able to be trimmed once the

system is restarted, and the file reloaded.

 

These errors mentioned above are only some of the errors I have

experienced. At first, I suspected a hardware issue, but all other

applications function fine on this machine (A Toshiba M60 notebook, with

a

1.8 Centrino CPU, 1Gb ram, and an Nvidia G-Force FX graphics card)

Mastercam Version 8.1.1 and version 9.1 MR0105 function fine. I have

uninstalled X MR2, and reinstalled, but the problems still exist.

 

Screen Dumps:

 

(The bright blue line you see running from the system axes in the lower left corner of the graphics window is in fact the distorted Z axis)

 

[Pete Rimkus from CNC Software Inc.]

Mick,

It might all be SIM-related. Are you running Hasp or NetHasp? If Hasp, is it parallel or USB? Can you put another SIM on the machine for a while and see what happens?

 

I don't want to give away any secrets, but when you say that each field in the Tolerances page contains the same value, what is that value?

[Guest]

Yes Mick, I am,

 

Here's a link to teh issue I am having

Linky

 

Working with QC, I have not been able to come to a resolution yet?

 

Are you using a USB hub? Is it powered?

 

It was suggested to me to try connection directly instead of the hub, for me that did not work, I still got the SIM disconnection error and the origin error you see. I sent in a list of all the installed programs, I guess certain spyware/virus scanners can cause issues, I still have one more thing to try but it has to wait until tomorrow.

[Mick]

Pete,

 

I cant recall the figure, but I can check. One thing I did notice, is sometimes, when exiting Mastercam X, and then restarting, I get the error "Invalid SIM Hasp Error Code 3" or words to that effect.

I'm working with it right now, to generate the error again, so I can give you the tolerance values.

 

Regards,

 

Mike

[Mick]

Bingo John, that is the exact same problem. Wow! Finally! I asked QC about it, but they said they hadn't encountered it before, although maybe I was one of the first.

 

Seriously, this problem causes me enough headaches, that I would class my system as unstable and almost unusable. Unfortunately, it also occurs on my desktop PC as well.

 

I haven't been able to find a trigger for it. It seems to be rather random.

[Mick]

BTW John, I'm not using a powered USB hub. I get the disconnection error on both my desktop PC, and my notebook.

 

The SIM is a USB Hasp.

[Guest]

Anyone else seeing the above mentioned problem, are you also see this one as well?

 

Linky

[Pete Rimkus from CNC Software Inc.]

Mick,

When things go kerflooey again, please let me know that tolerance value, and please use Alt-V (or Help/About) and let me know SIM # it reports.

[_]

I think I've seen this problem since X-MR1SP2,

 

 

http://www.emastercam.com/cgi-bin/ultimate...ic;f=1;t=018873

[Mick]

Pete,

 

The Z axis error just occurred. The tolerance values are as follows:

 

System Tolerance: (Not checked) .00000002

 

Chaining Tolerance: .02

Planar Chaining Tolerance: .02

Minimum Arc Length: .05

Curve Minimum Step Size: .02

Curve Maximum Step Size: 100.0

Curve Chordal Deviation: .02

Maximum Surface Deviation: .02

Toolpath Tolerance: .002

 

Now, I restarted Mastercam, and the values are as follows:

 

System Tolerance: (Not checked) .00005

 

Chaining Tolerance: .02

Planar Chaining Tolerance: .02

Minimum Arc Length: .05

Curve Minimum Step Size: .02

Curve Maximum Step Size: 100.0

Curve Chordal Deviation: .02

Maximum Surface Deviation: .02

Toolpath Tolerance: .002

 

So, the only value that changed was the System Tolerance. However, there have been cases when all the values were something like .000002.

 

Pretty much all the other errors in relation to this issue, which have been mentioned in previous threads, I have experienced. I'm running a USB Hasp, (Dealers license, as I am the local tech support engineer).

 

I'd really appreciate some help here, as I'm having trouble maintaining a stable system for training and demos :/

 

If you need any further information, dont hesitate to contact me

[Mick]

And also, I just ran Mastercam with a different Hasp. I get the same Z axis error etc.

 

No Hasp disconnection (yet), but the other problems still exist.

[Pete Rimkus from CNC Software Inc.]

Mick,

Puzzling....

Do you have any non-CNC Software C-hooks installed?

[_]

I've removed all chooks in the chooks folder.

 

 

ftp://mastercam:[email protected]/Ma..._Jpg,gif,bmp's/

 

ftp://mastercam:[email protected]/Ma.../tolerance3.JPG

[Jim at Gentex]

Mick,

This may be irrelevant, but did you install MR2 from a disk or a download? I remember someone else having a similar problem but when they reinstalled MR2 from a CD instead of the download version it was corrected. I can't recall who it was at the moment but I do remember them saying it cleared up with a MR2 reinstall directly from a CD from their reseller instead of the download version. Might be worth a shot in your case.

 

OR...you could just wait for X2!

 

Sorry...I simply HAD to do that!

[Mick]

It was an install from downloaded CD's (from the dealer, as I am the tech support rep for that dealer) so effectively it was from the dealer.

 

Pete: No, I dont have any after market c-hooks installed. To be honest, its that bad, I'm seriously considering going back to X SP1 or even 9.1

[Pete Rimkus from CNC Software Inc.]

Mick,

Can you narrow it down to exactly when the Z-axis and/or the tolerances go nuts?

And my suspicion is still that it's SIM-related. I'm wondering if you can get your hands on a copy of Demo or DesignLT and see if you can run all day without it giving you trouble.

[Mick]

Pete,

 

My suspicions are that it is SIM related as well. I'm going to do two things. 1) Buy a USB powered hub, and run the SIM on that. That may cure the SIM Disconnection errors I get and 2) I will run Design LT. I have it installed on my notebook as well, so I will test it to see if it behaves properly.

 

I cant narrow it down to any specific trigger which sets off the Z axis error, or the crazy tolerances. It seems to be erratic.

[Mick]

Reliving an old post....

 

I tried a powered USB hub. It reduced the amount of times the error occurred, but it still happens.

 

Design LT works fine. :/

[Kevin Herzog - Steeplechase Tool]

i had the same problems, so i reinstalled windows xp. everything is normal now. it had to do with the hasp drivers and not the actual hasp.

[Mcam Nut]

+1 to Kevin, we have the same problem with one of our systems, we have tried everything, tried my sim on it, went to usb sim, and ALL settings are the same on my pc as his, I know now it is a windows issue, just need to take the time to reinstall windows.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

"...Do you HAVE to use a hub..." would be my first question.

 

I've run MCX since Alpha on my HP Notebook and the only annoying issues like yours that I encounter are that when I'm running MC and I close the lid without exiting MC, when I open the lid and restart the laptop I get the SIM Disconnection notice even though it remained conected. That, I find annoying but I understand how/why that could ocurr.

 

The System Tolerance thing... you're running Metric right? Why on earth would you have a System Tolerance of .00005? That's 0.0000019685 INches and holy crap thats a long ways out there on precision. I remember back when I was Beta Testing V8 I decided it would be cool to run MC with my system tolerance out 10 decimal places, I encountered a number of strange things when creating geometry, solids, etc.... When I returned it to .0001 or .00005 things were fine. Perhaps it was a floating decimal point error or something. Has floating decimal point error been looked at as a possible problem?

 

Just thinking out loud.

[Guest]

James,

 

When a tower is under a desk and you don't feel like crawling under the desk everytime you place the key, a USP hub is a necessity.

[Mick]

I dont *have* to use a hub. I was asked to try it by tech support.

 

The system tolerance I am running is the default for the metric installation.

[gcode]

I used to run my SIM on a 6 ft extension and it timed out all the time. I switched to a 3ft

cord and it never happened again.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Ok John, I'll buy that.

 

Maybe gcode's onto something...