Personally having used both mach3 as well as LinuxCNC now for awhile, I can honestly say that I would never go back to Mach3. It was quirky at best for me and did a lot of funky things for no apparent reason. The basic system was stable but you could not do to much dancing around on the main screens or between them without running into issues. I now have linuxCNC running my Cincinatti Arrow 500 VMC for some time now and the basic system is dead stable. It ALWAYS runs and does what I expect it to. My build is still not completed as I am working on the toolchanger and spindle feedback but the system is entirely configurable and can basically be made to do anything. It is running closed loop with my servos and it is awesome to see the readouts on the drives showing actual position no matter what the computer is doing. I still have a ways to go with the machine as far as the retrofit being completed but the machine is usable now with three axes and spindle and coolant and power drawbar working as well as the homes and limits and estop circuit. It actually has been sitting quite a bit because I have been unable to find paying work for the machine lately and took on a custom cabinet kitchen build. Since I finished that I went back to the machine after it sat for two months idle and it fired right up and homed out and I ran a program in air without issues. Nice to know it is there when I need it. Just wished I NEEDED it a lot more. Been trying to scrape up paying work for the machine but having little luck. Everyone it seems either wants something onesy or twosy and paying nothing for it or they are things that I do not wish to take on due to legalities like gun stuff or whatnot. I am not up on all the laws and really do not want to get into any trouble. Would LOVE to find someone who has a part that is needed a lot of and on a consistent basis to make here to bring in some good money. Anyways, I cannot imagine why anyone would PAY for Mach3 when LinuxCNC is so capable and more professional in scope and it is free to use... It did take a little more of a programming knowledge to get it working but nothing crazy really. If I did not have Connor to come over to help me with it I am sure it would have taken longer but I think I could have trudged thru with the ample help of folks on here and elsewhere. Peace
Pete On Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 11:59 AM, Dave Cole <[email protected]> wrote: > Sure Mach3 can have hardware issues also.. that is well documented. > The usual solution is to use a different PC motherboard, which is pretty > much what the LinuxCNC guys end up doing also. Mach3 is not > recommended for laptops since their power saving "features" often screw > things up. > > I chatted with Brian Barker of Artsoft/Mach3 fame recently and he told > me that the new Mach4 software is cross platform compatible and they are > planning on being able to run it on Linux and dedicated hardware like > the Beagle Bone.. So smart move.. and I stand corrected. He is still > working on Mach4 vigorously. > > Has anyone heard of any new Intel Mini ITX board announcements? I > thought that Intel was going to release some new Mini ITX boards either > this fall or next Spring that did away with the VR video chips that have > caused so many problems for Linux and were only Windows 7/8 compatible. > > The CPUs are on this list -- at the bottom and show a release date of > 4th quarter, 2013 - NOW! > http://ark.intel.com/products/family/29035 > > They use Intel HD graphics which should fix a lot of things for Linux > users ... I hope! > > Dave > > > On 10/16/2013 9:39 AM, Eric Keller wrote: > > On Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 8:55 AM, Dr.Mclem <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Mach3 gives the impression it will run on any motherboard and it not > clear to new users what advantage if anything the rt kernel gives for that > uncertainty. > > > > I can't imagine that Mach doesn't have the same problems as linuxcnc > > with hardware, it's just that most naive users have step/dir hardware > > so they don't really see the glitches. Unless they miss steps. But > > then it's blamed on settings. > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > October Webinars: Code for Performance > > Free Intel webinars can help you accelerate application performance. > > Explore tips for MPI, OpenMP, advanced profiling, and more. Get the most > from > > the latest Intel processors and coprocessors. See abstracts and register > > > > > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=60135031&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk > > _______________________________________________ > > Emc-users mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > October Webinars: Code for Performance > Free Intel webinars can help you accelerate application performance. > Explore tips for MPI, OpenMP, advanced profiling, and more. Get the most > from > the latest Intel processors and coprocessors. See abstracts and register > > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=60135031&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ October Webinars: Code for Performance Free Intel webinars can help you accelerate application performance. Explore tips for MPI, OpenMP, advanced profiling, and more. Get the most from the latest Intel processors and coprocessors. See abstracts and register > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=60135031&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
