Sluggish & Outdated...

[Chris@JNM]

I apologize if I have in one way or another offended you.

Further if I have broadened your interests and caused you to wonder if there is other software out there that can outperform Mastercam and is cost effective to implement in your specific field, therefore allowing you to increase profits I'm truly sorry if that means the programmers at cnc software have to stay late to kick it up a notch.

Indeed there have been many, many CAD/CAM packages that have claimed miraculous capabilities. I've tried just about every last one of them in the search for improved efficiency, quality, quantity, accuracy and safety. I do not fear technology, nor do I fear that I will lose the chance to meet the challenge of today, tommorow or any future challenges because I wanted to improve and raise the bar here and now. I look forward to the challenges of an ever more competitive global marketplace and I will continue to surpass the competition by not allowing myself to settle for any one proposed solution. I will put all proposals to the test and the best will show itself and I will continually raise the bar for everyone else.

If my proffesionalism has been slacking it can only reflect on the hours wasted trying to resolve a problem that should not have existed in the first place and has baffled myself and many others.

 

Sorry...

[Chris@JNM]

Jim, I did take note of your advise to set up a RAMdisk. The last time I found myself in need of setting up a ramdisk was back in the late 80's while running under DOS. It would seem like an extreme measure to have to go to in order to resolve this peculiar problem. However if you believe that this will be the answer to my dilemna, I will setup a Ramdisk and try your suggestion out. As for running ver. 7.2 it seems that if I were to do that, once again I would be tied to the stake and burned by this forum for suggesting that Mastercam has produced a product that is not as good as it predessor. I for one would like to resolve the issue and move on...

[Chris@JNM]

The O/S is a fresh Install, with all updates/ service packs and proper drivers for all hardware. I have run defrag, CHKDSK and even broke down to running Norton Utilities which found absolutely everything in perfect order???

[Allan Brown]

Seems to me that this could perhaps have something to do with associative dimensioning (which can be disabled), but we'll check it out from the office on Monday (where we have V8.1.1, etc.).

 

[ 03-01-2003, 03:19 PM: Message edited by: Dave Thomson ]

[Rekd™]

I've come to the conclusion that the problem is NOT Mastercam related.

The problem is NOT Computer related.

The problem is the mouse.

 

That's right.. the mouse needs a new operator!

 

,.|.,

 

'Rekd

 

[ 03-01-2003, 07:29 PM: Message edited by: Rekd ]

[Charles Davis]

Re: "Indeed there have been many, many CAD/CAM packages that have claimed miraculous capabilities. I've tried just about every last one of them...."

 

 

That would seem to be both a very expensive and time consuming thing to do.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

quote:

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OUT!

 

Sorry James, that just seemed appropriate.

 

C

---

No problem. My post will probably end with that as well.

 

The reason I have not chimed in regarding this guy is because Rekd is right, it's not a Mastercam problem, It's not a Computer problem....

 

quote:

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...found absolutely everything in perfect order...

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Obviously the operator was not checked 'else we wouldn't be having this discussion.

 

He seems like one of those people that will never be pleased with anything. Sure it's great to desire improvement, enhancement, etc... but to just berate an outstanding product like Mastercam and in the manner he's done it is just plain ridiculous. He's not looking for help, he's looking to rant. Rant about things "beyond him" obviously. Not knowing the difference between RAM saver" and "RAM Disk". Sure he claims to know, but that was after he drew the ire of one of our other fine members pointed out his lack so he's got to cover himself, lest his true knowledge be revealed. Sounds a bit like Multass dont'cha think guys ( and girl - Hi Kathy ). For those of you not "Old Enough" to remember - do a search for "Multax" and go as far back as possible for the search criteria and you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

Back to the subject at hand. Chris@JNM, you're making no friends in here with that pompous, condescending attitude in here. If you don;t liek Mastercam, go buy something else. Chris's reseller - some customers just are not worth having. and I think he's a good candidate for the axe.

 

OUT!

 

[ 03-01-2003, 10:13 PM: Message edited by: James Meyette ]

[Charles Davis]

I'm not sure if everyone who visits this site gets it: this is free help. No one gets paid. Our only reward is the satisfaction we get from helping a neighbor.

 

You might be able to get by with it being rude or condescending if you are paying for the service (though there's no excuse for that either). But this is definitely a place where you get more with honey than vinegar.

 

If this guy treats his waiter the way he treats people on this bbs, I'll bet he gets more than he was asking for in his soup.

[Rekd™]

LOL @ Charles!!!

 

(methinks I could be a waiter for an evening...)

 

'Rekd

[Rekd™]

BTW, I thought James was on vacation. Good to see you're not missing out on the stoning.

 

'Rekd

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

quote:

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...Good to see you're not missing out on the stoning...

---

I never miss a good rock throwing session!

 

The only people that get vinegar around here are the ones that deserve it.

[Fig sign]

There are a lot of people that are the best profies in the world only the software is wrong ,or computer ,or tools or machine .

And they always right !

And their opponents are 4%^ing dumbs !

[Allan Brown]

Chris should be *our* customer actually based on his location, so everyone chill out, try to turn the other other cheek, and we'll try to straighten things out for him tomorrow.

[Jack Mitchell]

As suggested, we are all guilty of saying some strongly worded things within this forum; often we can take our frustrations out on loved ones, strangers, and even fellow forums members.

 

I can recognize total frustration quite easily as I am sure most others can also relate to this. – My suggestion is to let Dave address this issue and to provide the needed support to secure a needing customer.

 

Sure it’s easier to tee the ball up and pound it out there, however; we need to stick together like a team of professionals when the going gets a little rough.

 

This is not the first time for these kinds of questions or responses and certainly will not be the last – let’s all try to tow the line a little longer and Chris will undoubtedly become one of the cherished users right here on this very forum.

 

Your friend, Jack

[Rick Damiani]

quote:

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Chris should be *our* customer actually based on his location, so everyone chill out, try to turn the other other cheek, and we'll try to straighten things out for him tomorrow.

---

When you do, could you possibly let us know what the problem was? Performance issues like the one Chris is experenceing on the hardware he is using are hugely frustrating for everyone invovled, so even odd-ball soluitons that fix odd-ball problems can be useful.

 

One of the odd-ball things I would check is the paralell port configuraiton. If MasterCAM isn't able to communicate with the lock right away, it will pause while it tries again. A flaky port, port set to the wrong mode (EPP is evil) too many things connected to the port (scanners/zip drives, ect.), or a DNC cable inadvertently connected to the port are all things that can cause severe performance problems.

[Mark Linder]

Chris,

 

This is my first post to the Mastercam board. I own a small job shop in San Diego county. Charles Davis is my Mastercam reseller.

 

I can say, without a doubt, that Mastercam has made my life SO much easier. 13 years ago I opened my shop using Smartcam. A couple of years ago, I "upgraded" to Surfcam. Last year I moved UP to Mastercam.

 

The reseller is the most important link in the chain. Charles spent a lot of time developing and fine tuning the posts for our machines. During this time, I must admit I had one frustrating occasion that almost made me want to bail out of the software. I was frustrated about toolpaths not working correctly. Charles had me send the file to him, and - guess what - there was a check mark in a settings box in my configuration that didn't belong. I jumped to a conclusion that was hasty. Thank God it was my own infamiliarity with the software. Not the software itself.

 

The moral of my story is, don't bash unless you have all the facts straight. The reseller should know the software inside and out. If he/she doesn't, find one who does. Then and only then will you find out what is going wrong.

 

That's my .02

 

Mark Linder

[Rekd™]

 

 

'Rekd

[Jack Mitchell]

Rick,

 

Interesting fact that I found out last month.

The parallel port sim can be traded for a usb sim at your dealer, I only found this out about one month ago; this makes sim swapping ultra convenient for front mounted usb's - it also allows for simple security rather than crawling under the desk everyday.

 

Regards, Jack

[cadcam]

Jack I posted about the usb key over a year ago and have talked about it a few times.

I have a standerd and then on my Key chain I carry the usb with a quick connect.

 

This is my old one I have a new one as of last week.

 

[ 03-02-2003, 08:04 PM: Message edited by: cadcam ]

[gcode]

Jack,

I use a 4 ft RS-232 extension cord hooked to a parrellel port. The other end is twist tied to my pull out keyboard drawer. I can install or remove

a sim without ever getting out of my chair.

Last week I had to inventory and upgrade 12 MC sims at work.

Having the connection right next to the keyboard made it very easy.

A lot of the RS-232 cords sold in stores are wired null modem. You've got to make sure you get

one with all the pins connected to each other.

I think I paid about $6 for the one I have now.

[Keith Graydon]

Chris.

 

Are you manipulating 100+mb files over a network? what kind of network is this? novell, microsoft?

 

 

James...rolmfflmaogdsob

quote:

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For those of you not "Old Enough" to remember - do a search for "Multax"

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Webby should let Multax back in when times get slow. What a guy! remebemer he did get the old /kick command. lol

 

 

/keith

 

[ 03-03-2003, 08:11 AM: Message edited by: Keith L. Graydon ]

[Zero]

quote:

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No one gets paid. Our only reward is the satisfaction we get from helping a neighbor.

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What do you mean nobody gets paid?!?! I thought once i got to 500 posts I would start getting salary

Hmph

 

 

Oh yeah..did someone say something about an axe?

[ScottyB]

Chris,

You seem like a highly educated programmer. You obviously have CAD/CAM experience that a mear mortal like I can only dream of. After all, compared to others on this board, I barely consider myself a novice.

YET

My program works and yours doesn't.

Makes ya wonder...

 

 

 

ScottyB.

 

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

quote:

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Makes ya wonder...

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It does indeed me me wonder....

[Greg Williams]

My dad would always say to me,

 

Son if you don't have anything good to say about somthing, Don't say anything at all!