I was wondering if anyone has had this issue... Mastercam X7 SP2 seems to work fine on my 64bit Windows 7 workstation.. that is until I go to exit out of Mastercam - it then basically crashes after the "Are you sure you want to exit Mastercam?" message. It first becomes unresponsive then presents the "Mastercam Crash Reporting" dialog. I then get the "Mastercam X7 has stopped working..." message from Windows followed by a greyed Mastercasm screen that eventually closes. Checking Taskmanger, Mastercam appears totally unloaded from memory. Now in the end I do get out of Mastercam X7, but I do not think that this is the intended "exit" scenerio. <smile> Does not matter if I actually work with a file and post any code OR simple open Mastercam and then immediately CLOSE/EXIT... crash. I have also tried it running Mastercam "As Administrator..." just to see. Apart from the usual suggested uninstall and install, does anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance...

I would suggest that you contact Thermwood's Software Support department. 1-800-221-3865 or [email protected]

Bringing this back to the top... I just noticed that in X MR2 that you cannot pre-select or select multiple splines to BREAK into many line and arc segments. I seem to remember that you use to be able to do this - if not in X and X MR1 at least in v9. It can be really useful when needing to break TrueType lettering up into tangentail line and arc segments. Anyone have an idea if I am doing something wrong, or is this something that was left out?

Yes, 8.11 is "long in the tooth" but our client "has not had the time to load up their v9 yet." I have been told that everything was fine until they purchased a new computer with Windows XP Pro on it. SP2 and all. They have installed the updated HASP drivers and Mastercam (8.11) is starting up fine. The problem comes when they go to SAVE a file. They are unable. I have had them check rights and permissions. They can save files to the intended directoy using other applications... The client is in the Atlantic provinces up here in Canada, so I am now awaiting a response to an email that I send with some further questions. Once I have more facts I will follow up with In House Solutions and/or CNC Software. Based on what I have so far, anyone got an idea or direction? (Besides telling the client to update to X... ) Any help would be appreciated...

I remember my early days with version 4... (not fondly ) You had to worry about mouse and video drivers. Page after page of ENTER-ENTER-ENTER... through parameters.... Post blocks in specific orders. OMG.

Amazing Alan... I have been switching the old HW ACCEL almost off for MC 9.x and then back on for other software way too long. Your advice worked beautifully for me! A great big thank you....

I had noticed that occassionally someone will mention PFE32 that has been supplied as one of the editors in the Mastercam product over the years. I have been using it as a post editor for many years and even have it associated to standard TXT files in place of Notepad. For those of you that may use it, you have probably noticed that version 0.06.002 (the one still shipped with MC) does not support a mouse scroll wheel... Well many years ago I came accross the very last version of PFE32 that was released by it author - version 1.01.000. This version supports the mouse wheel (and may have a couple of other fixes in it). I have uploaded this newer version of PFE32 to CADCAM's FTP site. The ZIP file can be found in the TOOLS directory as "pfe32-v101i.zip". Once you have downloded it, you can unzip it right into the /macam_/common/editors/pfe/ directory. Overwrite the existing old PFE32 files.

I second the suggestion for an option to have text labels on the icon bars and dialogs. Sometimes a simple word can jog your memory and/or clarify what one of those pictures is about. (I realize that there is the HOVER-TEXT that is of help but... you have to keep hovering over everything!) Another thing that I believe someone has mentioned, either is this or another thread is a more simplified way of handling posting. I understand that to some (or many) the new Meachine/Control Def system is great, but to some it may be overkill and can actually leave one quite unsure of what you have selected/configured/etc and what it is you are going to get spewed out! I deal with lots of clients that I write custom posts for and everytime I have a unique post I am checking, rechecking and checking the R?MMD and .control setups again. Most of these clients only have one machine - one control... (Not Lathe - no Wire - just a router using either the Router or Mill product - 3 or 5 axis.) In these situations I long for the v9.1 and earlier days of just selecting the PST file. Maybe it is just me...

Tom's company contacted us to get an updated version of his 5 Axis post for his Thermwood CNC router. After checking our records and having him check the the post and the output from it, if appears that it was provided by CNC Software and/or one of their dealers. My assumption is that it is based on the old v8 MPTHM5 post that is on the Mastercam Extranet or on one of the variations offered by some Mastercam dealers that we have heard about over the years. CNC Automation should have the updated version of our post for X ready this week. Thermwood owners should contact Thermwood's software department if they are interested in updating CNC Automation's v9.x post to the new X version. If Tom cannot get his current post updated and operating correctly by his dealer and/or CNC Software, we will endeavour to work out something special in order to get him up and running with his Thermwood and X as soon as possible.

David, You may want to try using the DAY$, MON$ and YEAR$ internal variables to access the individual components of the current date. Seeing as we may assume that the year starts with "20" for the next couple of years, you could sent up a formatting statment like: fs 14 1 0n # or an FMT statement similar... fmt 14 day$ fmt 14 mon$ fmt 20 14 year$ You could then have your output line read: SPACES$=0 "(PROGRAM CREATED ON - ", year$, "-",mon$, "-", day$," @ ", time$, " )",e$ SPACES$=1 Your output should then look like this: (PROGRAM CREATED ON - 2005-11-30 @ 14:10 )

What these 'pleas for assistance' with the standard 'multi-million dollar thank you' are really after is: as much personal info as possible AS WELL AS your banking information (account numbers, bank address, etc). With this info, they will of course deposit loads of cash into your account. (RIGHT! LOL) The real intent is probably to use all of this info to create false identities, credit applications, etc... I've received versions that actually ask for this info out-right. The latest ones have become a little more 'personal'. At first, all they want is your phone and fax number. If one sends them the phone/fax info, one will probably get contacted for the remaining info. (Email is iffy, but a phone call or fax from the otherside of the world? Now you can really trust them! ) I use to receive faxes like this in the 'before-email' days! They ended up in the same place as now....the trash can!

Thanks everyone... I'm not losing my mind. phew!

Jay, I know that the DWG C-Hook needs codes prior to v9. What I need to affirm is if Mill Entry v7 can actually run the DWG C-Hook (if purchased and the access codes setup). Again, I thought I remembered that CNC Software modified Entry starting with v6.12(??) so that it could run their DWG C-Hook (if purchased and the access codes setup). Anyone remember such a thing?? Thanks in advance....

I must be getting old... I seem to remember that starting with version 6.12 of Mastercam Mill Entry that the DWG C-Hook was 'allowed' to run. Was this not the case? Anyhow, can someone confirm for me if Mill Entry v7 could run the DWG C-Hook? Thanks

fiveAXE, Email me your test MC8 and the output that you got. (I'll also need to know what tool length you used.) I'll take a look at it and will get back to you

Just to update everyone.... tcraft is now up and running under MC v7. Their problem was related to the MP.DLL version that they were trying to use with Mastercam version 7.2b/c. They were sent the correct files and are now able to generate ouput. =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= tcraft's post processor was for their Thermwood 5 axis router and was written for Mastercam Version 7.2c/b by CNC Automation. The post is compiled, as cadcam put it: "to protect a post writers valuable time and energy.". CNC Automation's Thermwood 5 axis posts (v5/6/7/8/9) are being used in Canada, the US and Europe. The tcraft's post will not run with version 8.1 for two reasons: 1. Since the post was compiled with version 7's MPBIN, the MP.DLL in version 8 cannot read it. 2. Due to various changes between MC version 7.2 and 8.0/8.1, the post's output (if compiled for v8.x) would have errors due to variations in the NCI format and MP.DLL version. (Forum Moderator: The following is not intended as any type of promotion. We are hoping to keep Mastercam uses who are upgrading aware of the post issues and allow them to remain operational if they do so.) ** As a note, there were also changes required between version 8.1 and 8.11 (again due to NCI changes). Although verion 8 and 8.1 of the post will run under MC 8.11, the output may contain errors or ommisions depending on the operation type and parameters. Mastercam users that purchased the version 8.0 or 8.1 version of the post (through Thermwood or another authorized dealer) may request a free update to the 8.11 version. Contact the dealer that sold you your original post for further information. ** Mastercam users running CNC Automation's Thermwood 5 Axis post and upgrading to Mastercam version 9 should note that their have again been changes to the NCI/MP.DLL. Contact Thermwood or your post supplier for information on the new post version and if you are entitled to an update at no charge .

Thanks for the input. I found a package that will import the VRML 2.0 and export out to a DXF format. Did an excellent job.

We have been given a file in VRML 2.0 format of a 3D part that we would like to translate/convert into format editable in Mastercam. It is understood that it will probably not be 100% accurate and that we will have to fix it up but we will at least have a starting point. Does anyone know of a way to convert a VRML V2.0 file into a DXF, DWG, IGES or other importable format? We have found an application that will convert VRML V1.0 to DXF/DWG but it is unable to read VRML V2.0. Thanks in advance,

Mastercam does not save in a particular order. It is Windows that is 'sorting' the file listing. In your case the sorting order has probably been set to 'By Date', resulting in the most recent file created/modified being listed first. Again, I am sure that this is a Windows issue and can be easily changed by selecting a different view sorting method. (I know how to do it...just can't cover all the steps and variations found in the complete Windows family of OS's!)

I asked the client about that. SOrry I didn't mention it originally. Although he was unable to give me an exact control model reference, he did state that the machine accepts 'standard' G&M codes and not the 'point-2-point' ascii blocks.

'Spaces...the final frontier.' In order to control the number of spaces between outputed parameters/variables use the SPACES variable. (By default spaces=1) : spaces=0 # (set spaces to 0) n, parameter1, "=", parameter2,... spaces=1 # (set spaces to back to 1 ) If you NEED a space inbetween one of the parameters, inset a literal space string into the line. spaces=0 # (set spaces to 0) n, " ", parameter1, "=", parameter2,... spaces=1 # (set spaces to back to 1 )

One of our 5 axis Thermwood router clients also has a Biesse Rover 23 and is looking to write/tweak their own post for this machine. They have asked us if a base/generic or 'ready-to-run' post is available for this machine. Can anyone help?

Jody, Has Service Pack 6a been installed/applied to your NT 4.0 system. It was the latest/last full service pack release for NT4. If not, it may help. Microsoft NT 4.0 Service Pack 6a

Charlie, In 8.1.1 you can set a scale factor for the dimensioning. (Could be available in all 8.x versions.) Go to: Create-Drafting-Globals On the Dimension Attributes Page, in the Coordinate section, change the Scale to 25.4. You can also adjust the number of decimal places to 1 or 2, if you so wish. Dimension away. Presto! Now you have an imperial (inch) drawing with metric dimensions.

Daryl, May not help but... In general we have found that Mastercam runs smoother when the operating system is set to balance foreground and background performance equally. Mastercam seems to be performing a number of tasks (file I/O, etc) in the 'background'. We have found that having your op sys prioritizing foreground application performance tends to slow MC down. This can be adjusted under your operating systems SYSTEM PROPERTIES under the tab labeled PERFORMANCE (NT 4.0). Maybe this might help.