No Valid Axis Combinations Defined - corrupted machine def file

[wesright]

Hello, I was trying to make a change in the Machine Definition Manager and inadvertently overwrote the default Wire Machine Definition INCH file in Mastercam 2018. 

WIRE DEFAULT.MCAM-wmd is there but it doesn't load properly any longer and I get an error about there not being a Valid Axis Combination Defined and that it can not be used in the Toolpath window, etc.

I logged into my Mastercam account and went to their Download section but I could not find a copy of this file. I suppose I can go with a complete reinstall of Mastercam 2018 but that seems a bit harsh.

Can I bother you all for some advice or ideas? Obviously I welcome any comments.  Thank you all in advance.

--Wesley

[nickbe10]

 

39 minutes ago, wesright said:

Can I bother you all for some advice or ideas? Obviously I welcome any comments.  Thank you all in advance.

I have had a couple of instances of files going corrupt and not loading. The last one was INSERT.TBL, can't remember what the other one was.

Re install of MC was the answer in both cases. I was lucky, I (or rather our IT whiz) did a straight forward uninstall  then reinstall. When it first came up none of my original file paths to things like .config were working and I thought I would have to set the whole thing up again. But I did a computer restart and it picked up all my old settings and I was off to the races.

I have heard stories of people having more problems than this and having to go into the registry files and clear them of all the references to the version in question before they could get it to function properly again. Don't know if they had to "redo" their .config files etc....

Seems to me you should just be able to reload a new machine def though, no copy on file? I always make a copy of my machine and control defs before I link all the files for use.....nothing in the defaults you can use to make a new one?. Might be the quickest way.....

 

[crazy^millman]

Contact your dealer or install on a different computer and take a copy from that computer and you should be good do go.

[CEMENTHEAD]

Every once and a while, I'll right click and "send to zip" easy backup of my shared folder.

Saved my xxxx more than once.

[jlw™]

I save mine several times a week.  Shared and mymcam.  Load it to DB too.

[Trevor Bailey]

check here: C:\Program Files\Mcam2018\common\SharedDefaults

there may be a backup copy there.

[Jayson Kramer]

Ask your dealer for the machine install for 2018 and only install what you need. As reinstalling 2018 will not reload all the posts as 2018 only shipped with a bare minimumof machine defs compared to the past.

[wesright]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. I will be trying to fix this again this coming week. Too much work these last two weeks to give me much time to try and get Mastercam up and running again. (fwiw I am using the original Fanuc FaptCut I software so I am not dead in the water).I w

I will post the results of my attempts. That you all for the suggestions. I have access to another PC that has it installed. It isn't a wire EDM but a Haas mill but I should be able to swipe a couple of control definition files from it I hope.

[wesright]

I copied the contents I needed from the Shared Mcam 2018 folder on the PC we use from the Haas machine to the network and copied them over to my PC.

I didn't copy them all but the Control Definition File and the Machine Definition Files (I guess they are separate problems I was having) I had listed in my settings seemed ideal candidates. I copied over the 2 Wire Default files as well as the Generic Fanuc 4X Wire files. They were WMD as well as MCAM-CONTROL file types.

For anyone having this kind of problem the exact locations are:

c:\users\public\Public Documents\shared Mcam2018\CNC MACHINES

and I copied over the MCAM-CONTROL and WMD files to the same directory on my PC.

Also, just copying them over did not fix the problem completely. I also had to open the Machine Definition Manager. Go to the MACHINE tab in Mastercam 2018 and click on the Machine Definition button. That will bring up the manager. I had to choose the Post Processor again (I had a selection now for the Generic FANUC 4X Wire PST since I copied the above mentioned files over. I didn't before. I didn't think they were POST files exactly but what do I know. I assumed the machine definition files and the posts were seperate)

Regardless, to fix the Axis Combination error I had to drag over some of the components to the Machine Configuration file. If you clock on the Help ? in the Manager and click on the red Machine Configuration link you can see a description of what I did. I had 3 options listed under the Machine Base. Wire Table Group, Upper Wire Guide Group, and Lower Wire Guide Group. They did not have and child components listed under them though and that was the problem.

I scrolled through the Components window and dragged over the needed components. In my case I dragged Wire EDM Table from the Component Window to the Wire Table Group in the Machine Configuration window. Then I dragged the axis components over to their locations as shown in that HELP link. Wire U Axis, Wire V Axis, Z Axis, and Upper Wire Guide were all dragged over to the Upper Wire Guide Group. Then the Wire X Axis, Wire Y Axis, and Lower Wire Guide were dragged over to the Lower Wire Guide Group.

I had tried to click on the Green Checkmark OK button but it didn't save properly for when I restarted Mastercam. I had to do it all over and click on the Save "disk" icon up top to save the settings and that finally fixed it. 

I can now start Mastercam 2018 without the definition file error and the axis combination error is gone as well. 

Sorry for going into every little detail and writing a book but sometimes the help files don't explain things very well and I know I love seeing detailed instructions when I'm super frustrated trying to fix a problem.

Thank you everyone for your help and especially your time.