The video cards are the regular on-board video that came with the computer, which was here before I started. I did update the drivers. I'm going to have him turn down the quality of the verify and see what happens. Thanks for all your help guys.

No. XP SP3

Tony, I've posted the part to the FTP site. In the X3_Files folder, it's called breadboard config test. I have no files older than version X. Thanks for all your help.

Ok. I change the settings in the Config EA, apply them, and save them. If I start a new part file, the changes stick. I can go to config/Cad settings, and the box is checked and the attributes I set are still good. This includes the attribute bar in the tool manager. If I open a file, and go to config/Cad settings, the box is unchecked, and none of my changes have stuck. If I open the SAME config file while in configuration, then the changes are applied. Make sense? I'm using X3 MU1. Contrary to my post count here, I'm not a Mastercam Noob. I just like changing colors every now and then. But if it's such a pain, I guess I'll stick with the good 'ol black background.

When I open an old file, and click the attributes in the lower part of the screen, the EA Manager box is not checked, I essentially have to do the EA manager for each part. At that point, it's simply easier to just change the colors via right clicking the color thing at the bottom of the screen. It seems that nobody else is having a problem with this. I wonder why I can't get my config options to stick. I have the right config file loading when I start, but they don't stick. If, in the config dialogs, I open the same config file, it will apply the settings. Any thoughts?

Hi Tony, quote: are you hitting the apply button before you exit config? does it ask you to save current config? do you have the right config open? do you have apply to non mastercam entities checked? Yes to all of those. Perhaps I'm not phrasing my question the right way. Let me try a different way. With your configuration, when you open a MCX file, and check your CAD settings, is the check box called "Active" in the EA Manager settings checked? If I start a new file, then the EA Manager settings stick. If I open an old file, they do not.

I must be doing something wrong. I've tried to setup my EA Manager from the config menu, but whenever I bring in a new file, and try your method, I find that none of the settings have stuck, so I have to do them again. I have to open my config file EVERY time if I want to access those settings. Why are they not sticking when I open a file?

You may want to play with your verify settings, specifically the parameter of "Tool Profile". I had this problem as well. MU1 defaulted to Auto, so all my threadmills looked like endmills. Once it's changed to "As Defined" it was OK.

Hi All, I've recently changed my geometry and background colors. I've found that when I open an old MCX file (old = before I changed my colors), that the geometry comes in with the old colors. I was just curious if there was a setting so that when I open an old file, my new colors are applied. Thanks.

Ok. The problem with manipulating the graphics view was fixed with checking the "USE True Solid" box in the verify settings. But the deal now is that with the disable hardware acceleration box UNchecked, the stock model in verify is all weird. With the box checked, the background color changes to the same color as the stock. Perhaps fooling around with DirectX will solve this?

Ok. Now I've unchecked disable hardware acceleration, and the color problem goes away, but it won't let me manipulate the part afterwards. Same error message..."Changing the graphics view is not allowed at this time"

Just wanted to give an update. I updated his graphics drivers, and the problem is still there. Backplot works OK, but verify does not. I also get a weird error message after the verify is complete, and I try to manipulate part in verify. If I try to do a rotate with my mouse button, it says "Changing the graphics view is not allowed at this time." Any ideas?

Hey Gang, A guy in our shop is having difficulties when using Verify. When he clicks the verify icon, everything is good, but when he hits play, the background color changes to the same color as the stock, and the tool motion makes weird colors on the screen. I've done disable hardware acceleration on his settings, and made his settings duplicate mine, but the problem persists. I'm going to try and update his video card drivers, but I was just curious if anyone else was having this problem. He's running X3 MU1. Thanks.

Is everything set correctly in your filters when you do select library tool? Check the dropdown for tool diameter.

JEL, Be sure that the sweep is set to 90 under the arc settings: I had this problem when I upgraded to X3 as well. Hope this helps. Cheers.

I'm surprised the Mpmaster post doesn't have a switch for choosing G28 or G30. Our Haas post does. Hmmm... All those above were good ideas. Probably the easiest is changing the G28 to G30 as sheffer said.

+1 Toolman. I've never messed around with the material library for a couple reasons. First, our shop does mostly aluminum parts. Second, I would always forget to change back and forth between steel/alum. Lastly, it's so much easier to just define a tool with a given feed/speed like you have done, and simply fine tune them. My 2 cents.

Thanks for your candor Andy. Looks as though that is what I'm going to have to do. I guess I was just being whiny. Our lathe has the turret in the front, so whenever we make a new tool, it's not as easy as simply modifying speeds and feeds...we have to do setup tool, bottom turret, etc. It makes me go . I digress... Cheers.

Thanks Roger, I'll give that a try. When I started working here, the guys were using the conversational programming that came with the lathe. I've had some experience on a Haas using conversational programming for mill and lathe. Consequently, after about 15 minutes of Milltronics conversational lathe programming, I was determined to get Mastercam lathe up and running. FWIW, of course.

You should also check to see that your config and control def is accurate for the milltronics machine. We have a craptronics lathe here with a centurion 7 control, and we had to give our control def a complete enema to make it work. For example, our control won't recognize files with .NC or .TXT after. They have to have no extension to work. Just 1 of many examples. Cheers

Calvin, quote: I don't want to define 3 lathe tools exactly the same except for feed/speeds. Please let me lock feeds/speeds in each operation. You've described a problem very similar to what I'm dealing with. Would love to see a little "check" box in the blank space between feeds/speeds and home position in lathe that would lock the settings. I suppose I could try doing a user defined setting. I've never messed around with the material library. What do most do? Do you prefer to use the material library for feeds/speeds, or make your own tool library?

This is true, but I would have to have a ton of different (but the same except for RPM's and feeds) tools and libraries. I have a library set up for both mill and lathe. For the lathe, I have speeds set for aluminum and for finishing passes. But when I change Feeds/Speeds, accept the operation, go back to double check or change something, I sometimes find (at the machine as I mentioned in my previous post) that the changes have reverted to what the default was. So the solution I guess is to make a "Rouging" library and a "Finish" library, or have duplicate tools with different feeds/speeds in the same library.

Hey Gang, One thing that I would like to see change in new versions of Mastercam is that spindle speeds and feeds could optionally be "locked" so that they don't change when you mess around with the parameters. I can usually avoid this problem in the mill, but it seems like it always happens in the lathe. It makes me UBER upset when I get to the machine, and the boring bar that was supposed to be going 800 CSS and .012"/rev is going 1200 CSS and .005"/rev. What's everyone think?

Hi All, Having some problems with our lathe program. We're using X3 with a Centurion 7 control on a Milltronics lathe. Here's the deal. I programmed a part last week that worked great. All the moves were fine. On the part I'm doing now, after the tool does it's lead out move, it just goes straight home without clearing the stock. Here is the good program: code: (A16 (M/L) BORING BAR TOOL - 4) G0X7.Z10. G0T0404M6 G50S2500 G97S1883M3 X2.4342Z.04M8 G96S1200 Z-.0046 G99G1X2.6342F.005 X2.5842Z-.0296 G3X2.575Z-.0406R.0156 G1Z-.3556 G3X2.587Z-.368R.0156 G1X2.912Z-.4949 Z-2.8836 G2X2.8794Z-2.9R.0163 G1X2.6412 G3X2.61Z-2.9156R.0156 G1Z-3.1336 G2X2.5774Z-3.15R.0163 G1X2.539Z-3.1038 G0Z.04 <--------- Note the Z move!!!!!! M9 G0X7.Z10.M5 T0400 M01 And here is the bad program: code: (LARGE BORING BAR TOOL - 4) G0X7.Z10. G0T0404M6 G50S2000 G97S1234M3 X3.0942Z-.0046M8 G96S1000 G99G1X3.2942F.005 X3.2142Z-.0446 G3X3.205Z-.0556R.0156 G1Z-.5156 G3X3.2162Z-.5276R.0156 G1X3.7698Z-.7599 G2X3.77Z-.7657R.2344 G1Z-5.8556 G2X3.3014Z-6.09R.2344 G1X3.2952 G3X3.2732Z-6.0946R.0156 G1X3.0092Z-6.2266 G3X3.Z-6.2377R.0156 G1Z-6.2556 G2X2.5312Z-6.49R.2344 G1X2.3312 M9 <--------Z move should be here...CRASH!! G0X7.Z10.M5 T0400 M01 M00 (CLEAR CHIPS) I used the debugger and where the Z 0.04 move is, in the good program, the post calls the rapid block, but in the bad program, it doesn't. I've posted both good and bad Z2G files to the FTP site in the lathe folder. The good one is called 3 IN Proj, the bad one is 4 In Intermediate. Thanks. Regards, Steve