UPDATE - John Paris - gcode Help (a recapping an issue)

[Thee Rickster ™]

I posted a file last night and saved and closed the file.

 

I was at the machine watching the first path because it is a huge tall slide and

wanted to monitor the speeds and feeds.

 

i noticed in the posted code it showed the stock to leave(in brackets) at .05", so I put feed hold)

so i could go kick the cat, if you will.

 

i opened the file and the value .025" that i put in the parameters was still there???

i re-posted the file and called it test, icase that was a yesterday issue, an the posted code did it again.

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.

.

 

.

 

 

hmmmmmmmmmm......i says to meh self.

 

So i got in-house on the horn and zipped to go the file.

 

I also suggested that this error, may have something to do with it (happens everytime I create a new path)

 

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So him that i did the migration to a tee as you describe in your X6 install .pdf

and he said he thinks that may be an issue, that the x5 ops and x6 op defaults are conflicting

from the update migration thang.

 

So he sent me his Mill_inch/Mill_MM./ .operations and .Defaults, to replace my mine with

(back up the migrated one first)

 

(not sure if they are original pulled out of the install or if he modified them at all.)

 

With the file i had open (went to create a path)......it did not give the "not found in your operations default error"

but normally it will in a toolpath group, ( I only see that once per path that I create.)

 

I am starting a new job from scratch today and i will go about my programming ways as per

usual to see if many of my problems get fixed with these newly replaced

Mil_Inch.OPERATIONS-6 and Mill_Inch.Defaults-6, are the answer to the error and stock to

leave issues.

 

Regards,Rick

[peon]

Rick, I created a new default file in X6 and have the same issue now and then.

[Thee Rickster ™]

:Edit:

 

 

I'll keep ya posted on my finding

 

This issue on with the stock (sticking for a change)being .025 and the posted value having that infamous .05"

is proof that MC is buggy, maybe because of the migration. the software 'should be' compatible with itself

for version to version, else-wise its a bug or the action during migration is creating an error <-----Edit

 

 

:edit:

[Guest]

They're not conflicting, the fix for adding the ops back in is ridiculously simple

 

But Rick, I'm sorry but this is something you did.

 

Those instructions have been downloaded several hundred times and there haven't been any real issues besides you and a couple of others.

 

I'll let someone else handle it the next time

[Saultspics]

Rick,

 

I believe that my operations default is corrupt also. After talking with Rob at QC we narrowed it down to my operations default that has been imported for years.

 

 

[Thee Rickster ™]

Sorry John, I typed that improperly.

 

Your install/migration procedure worked flawlessly

IT is NOT the procedure that is flawed, but the action that MC does during the procedure.

 

I did not mean to imply anything on the procedure, what so ever!!!!

 

If all this time all i need to do was put the install defaults in

to fix some issue I would have backed them up before the update

or migration or whatever is causing my issues.

 

What is that simple procedure for adding the ops back? I dont know how to extract the original

defaults from an (install.EXE file) as I do not have a X6 disc to copy them from,other than the

obsolete version I got at the ROLL OUT.

 

I did not ask if the ones in-house were the install defaults or

one he modified.

 

If importing is not the way to go maybe we should not ever import?

 

my apologies for not proof reading thoroughly, I am excited to see if this indeed

is my fix to get my jobs done in a timely manner.

 

Regards

Rick

[Guest]

What is that simple procedure for adding the ops back? I dont know how to extract the original

defaults from an (install.EXE file as I do not have a X6 disc other than the obsolete version I got at the ROLL OUT.

 

Open your op defaults, right click and select the toolpath that is missing, green check and and out.

 

Now it's added

[mayday]

seems these problems werer never around untill they dicided to create my mcam, shared mcam directory's

can you say re-write

[Guest]

In relation to the Ops Wes, no, that has been able to happen since X and that was root "C" directory based

 

Moving the op default from one version to the next, the operations in the new version didn't exist in the previous version, so if you migrated op defaults files, you had to add the newer paths to it to not have that issue at least.

[Saultspics]

In relation to the Ops Wes, no, that has been able to happen since X and that was root "C" directory based

 

Moving the op default from one version to the next, the operations in the new version didn't exist in the previous version, so if you migrated op defaults files, you had to add the newer paths to it to not have that issue at least.

 

+1000

I have had the stock to leave problem for years. I sent it into QC back in 2006. I am working on new operations for X6. I hope it fixes the problem.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

seems these problems werer never around untill they dicided to create my mcam, shared mcam directory's

can you say re-write

Can you say Windows protocol? It's not a CNC issue. Maybe their implementation needs some work but most of it still sits in the lap of Microsoft.

 

Seeing this whole topic... it's becoming crystal clear to me why I don't a lot of these issues even though I use almost all the toolpaths at one time or another... I NEVER migrate my ops from version to version. I eat the hour or so each release to change my defaults manually. Should migration work flawlessly so you don't have to manually do the update? Yeah, sure. No question, but the practical coder in me sees some BIG red flags so rather than fight the insanity, I do it manually and enjoy using the software and fight the occasional bug instead of the daily head banging ones. The hour you eat configuring your new release sure beats the hours of constant bitching about crappy buggy software... maybe anyway.

 

Just sayin'

[Joe788]

Can you say Windows protocol? It's not a CNC issue. Maybe their implementation needs some work but most of it still sits in the lap of Microsoft.

 

Seeing this whole topic... it's becoming crystal clear to me why I don't a lot of these issues even though I use almost all the toolpaths at one time or another... I NEVER migrate my ops from version to version. I eat the hour or so each release to change my defaults manually. Should migration work flawlessly so you don't have to manually do the update? Yeah, sure. No question, but the practical coder in me sees some BIG red flags so rather than fight the insanity, I do it manually and enjoy using the software and fight the occasional bug instead of the daily head banging ones. The hour you eat configuring your new release sure beats the hours of constant bitching about crappy buggy software... maybe anyway.

 

Just sayin'

 

I always migrated mine, until I moved X5 to a new 64 bit computer. It messed up a lot of stuff, and I just limped along with it until X6. Then I started fresh with X6.

[Saultspics]

CNC Apps,

 

How do you handle different machines with the same default? I am running in to some problems using the same default for multiple machines.

 

 

[Thee Rickster ™]

Not be a technical guru like you guys, I know how to use the software 1000x better then I Know

how to set it up.

 

That hour as percentile is relevant to how much knowledge you have on the setting up end.

 

i wish I know a fraction of the do's and dont's...... so I rely on the available documentation whether

CNC offers or one of the great guru's Like John Paris add to the Forum.

 

Either way , i can not help that I am a plug and play guy, after just today hearing that

it is not advisable to migrates ops from X5 to X6, i will definitely keep that in mind and

ask more ?'s before assuming it can be done easily by a simpleton like me....lol

 

The time bitching is alot less timely then you think James(hours....hahahah). Since today i have only

spent 12 minutes typing and posting, and did not take a break at all, i would say

my work time was 100% efficient. (i type about 60 words a minute when on a roll).....

 

Thanks for your understanding of us plug and play types that are Frustrated

not Bug-bitching, while waiting for someone to point out our inadequacies.

 

 

I am on break as I type this BTW ...1st real break of the day

[Thee Rickster ™]

Back on topic,

 

I will let any one concerned with my original stock issue, know

by noon tomorrow if replacing the original default ops solve the differences

in the stock to leave from the different parameter value to the different posted value, is working for me.

 

Thanks

Rick

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

CNC Apps,

 

How do you handle different machines with the same default? I am running in to some problems using the same default for multiple machines.

 

 

I create a different default for different machines. It's a little more time consuming but it makes it easier to take advantage of each machine's strengths and minimize each machine's weaknesses. It just works better for me that way.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

...after just today hearing that it is not advisable to migrates ops from X5 to X6, i will definitely keep that in mind and

ask more ?'s

before assuming it can be done easily by a simpleton like me....lol

...

Thanks for your understanding of us plug and play types that are Frustrated

not Bug-bitching, while waiting for someone to point out our inadequacies.

...

The only reason I said it like that was because someone... Neurosis IIRC wanted to know why I did not have as many issues as others, and at the time, I really could not put a difinitive finger on it. He actually intimated that because I don't spend half my day pulling my hair out with it, I was not using it as much as others... but I digress...Starting from scratch on default ops and posts... I've been doing for so long, it's not even somethign I have though about since maybe V8 or V9. That's a long time. But as far as not knowing, I'm pretty sure gcode has been sounding the alarm about migration since the X2 days I'm pretty sure. I think I chimed in once or twice in the last 5 years about it saying I don't do it.

 

The reason I do not migrate is fairly simple, software changes from version to version and sometimes even release to release. Functions are added, functions are taken away. If somwething is pointing to a field that is no longer there, that field has to be remapped. There are so many fields, some are bound to wind up missed, mis-mapped, something is just bound to go wrong. So, with that knowledge, I just want to remove that variable from the equation. My job is about variables. Many are out of my control, so the variables I have control over, I take control over them and it's helped me ALOT. I did not mean my statemetns to sound demeaning or condescending. Not at all. But because I've been asked, what do I do differently, well, those are some of the things I do differently. Posts... I update those from time to time. 90% of the changes I make to posts are plug and play changes. I've got it down to a science. I add post blobks, I declare variables, I change M-Codes, and I have some equasions I put in for different things. I can take a stock MPMaster and make the necessary mods for the different machines in about 45min to an hour. SInce I have a dozen or so to do, I'm done in roughly a week since I take my time. Like I said, for me, it's all about variables, I try to mionimize them as much as possible.

[Thee Rickster ™]

James, I do have to learn to manage variables.

 

I switch from Surfcam to X2, and was busy as heck, i knew nothing about .mmd's or con-defs and still know little about them

in-house create or made them for me when we purchased MC and set up everything including a post for our hass machines

that work without him editing it.

 

X2 to X3, inshouse just copied the .mmd and con-def and ,config or what ever to get the next one running for me

 

X3 To X4 bout the same cept i open each version and copied all the setting one by one in the configs.

X4 To 5 i believe I did the initial instal and the copying of said stuff, I don't believe a migration tool was used.

 

X5 to X6 I gave it a stab.

 

If I were to do everything from scratch, make a .mmd and Con-def, and use the old post, do you think it could

eliminate most of my alien to most, issues and just leave me with the common bugs?

 

If so then would a complete reinstall be good for me?

 

How do I find out how to make a .mmd and control def?

 

Could I open the .mmd and condef in X5 and copy all the settings for X6 and thats

all there is to it?to make them from scratch?

 

Any help is always greatly appriciated.

 

Rick

[Newbeeee™]

James / John / GCode / et all!

So what's the general feeling about updating to X6 (going to do it very shortly).

Obviously it's a no-no to copy/migrate the config file and it now looks like the OP's file as well, but is it 'safe' for everything else (machine/control defs, toolbars, etc).

IE everything else BUT config and OP's.

Thanks

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

If I were to do everything from scratch, make a .mmd and Con-def, and use the old post, do you think it could eliminate most of my alien to most, issues and just leave me with the common bugs?

I would say if nothing else has worked so far for you, yeah, there's a real good chance you'd be left with just the usual suspects that lead to occasional hair loss.

 

If so then would a complete reinstall be good for me?

I'd go one step further. I's suggest what I do between Beta releases. Uninstall. Regedit, clean out the X6 Hives (I believe that's what they are called) in the HKEY_Current_User/Software/CNC Software, Inc.,HKEY_Local_Machine/Software/CNC Software, Inc., and in the HKEY_Users (you may need to look in a few places here depending on your machine's configuration . Then go to the MyMcamX6 folder. Zip up the whole thing, and delete the unzipped folder. You may need to recover something from it in the future. Do the same for the Shared MCAMX6 folder. Do the same for the \Program Files\McamX6\ folder. Now you should have as fresh an install as you can get.

 

How do I find out how to make a .mmd and control def?

I always start with an existing one, then edit to suit and save as whatever I want. I've made one from scratch just to do it but there is no real benefit to it that I could see. I'd say most people probably just use the post update for their posts. Most of the time this is sufficient. I will do one from scratch when InHouse adds functionality to MPMaster, otherwise it's just update and go.

 

For someone not accustomed to doing this, take your time. It may take you a little while, but it is time well spent. I wish CNC swould make somethign that would automate this process but I'd imagine they have bigger fish to fry.

 

James / John / GCode / et all!

So what's the general feeling about updating to X6 (going to do it very shortly).

Obviously it's a no-no to copy/migrate the config file and it now looks like the OP's file as well, but is it 'safe' for everything else (machine/control defs, toolbars, etc).

IE everything else BUT config and OP's.

Thanks

What has been fine for me is Tool Libraries, Tool Bars and Key Mapping as well as MD/CD. FOr MD/CD, when I've copied them over fro mprevious versions, I open them up and save them. Then they have seemed to function as expected.

 

 

HTH

[Thee Rickster ™]

Thanks James!

 

When i have a few hours to kill i may get my support team to help me through this so i don't

mess (up a small yet important factor) and I will at least learn more about this stuff.

 

Cheers

Man

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Glad to help RIck!

[Mick]

Out of curiosity, does anyone here keep their machine/control definitions and post processor files, in one folder? I keep mine in machine specific folders. It makes it easy to use the update utility.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Out of curiosity, does anyone here keep their machine/control definitions and post processor files, in one folder? I keep mine in machine specific folders. It makes it easy to use the update utility.

 

 

Never thought of doing that but it sounds like a good idea.

[Josh Kinney -Elite Engineering]

Out of curiosity, does anyone here keep their machine/control definitions and post processor files, in one folder? I keep mine in machine specific folders. It makes it easy to use the update utility.

 

Yes. Always.