I’ll be using the CNC machine from about 13:00 to about 18:00 on Saturday (July 21).
John2pt0
I’ll be using it from about 10-1 tomorrow too.
Coy
Ventric Software is down so CNC is down unless you are using another tool to generate gcode.
Coy
What happened? It was a
Working fine earlier this week!
Tried turning the firewall off, internet is working on the machine, restarted, etc. Working on getting support access now.
I think Kevin was using VCarve on the CAD machine Tuesday. There were a lot of updates that had to happen, but it finally worked, so you should be able to use that one to create the Gcode.
Brad
Any chance the subscription expired??
Totally possible.
I think we went to a subscription model back in the day, instead of buying the $800 package.
Be nice if it said that. 
I seem to remember it was ~$125 for a year.
Brad
Yeah the computer by the windows was working just fine for vcarve and vectric. Idk if the program was ever setup on the cnc machine as the idea was people were supposed to use the cad machine to generate the gcode and then use mach3 on the cnc computer. Keep people off the cnc computer unless they were actually using the machine
I'll be at the Hive in the morning tomorrow, 22nd, using the CNC Router for the majority of the morning.
Mach 3 is running properly right?
Thanks.
Mach3 3 is running. If you need to generate gcode with the Vectric Software you are out of luck.
Coy
I dug around my email and couldn’t find anything about which version of Vectric we bought. I know we got a yearly subscription, but not sure how many years we bought.
Coy dug into the software at the Hive and found a “funky” email (something like vectric@hive13.org). I wonder if that email got some messages about things expiring.
I think Ryan or Ian setup Vectric on the machines. So they may know a bit more about the licensing. We can contact Vectric and get things working again.
Sounds like Vectric is offline for now, so plan accordingly. Not being the Manufactory, it will get fixed in due time. Folks have jobs and other lives. So let’s keep things civil as we figure it out. We will probably have to pay for another year (something like $150) so we will vote on that week after next. I’ll put a vote up on the mailing list so things can get started.
The CNC is not offline, Mach3 can still receive GCode and run.
The vectric on the cad machine is not working also?
I’m not sure at this point what is causing the problem but best as I can tell it doesn’t seem to be at our end. I have a ticket in with Vectric support to investigate.
- Ian B.
Heard back from Vectric support. Apparently it wasn’t just us, they had a server-side certificate issue that effected anyone using the makerspace edition. It should be fixed now.
- Ian B.
Fusion 360 is working well with the CNC.
If you’re a Fusion360 user, you need to take a couple extra steps to export gcode that is compatible with our machine:
Right click your toolpath and choose “post process”
First, for the machine, select Mach3Mill from the drop down.
In the window, disable “G28 Safe Retract” and “Use M6” (this disables a Z-homing operation our machine shouldn’t do, also tool changes)
When you hit “post” it will open up the gcode.
There is an additional line, G43 that should be commented out or deleted.
In the screenshot here, I commented out G43 by putting parentheses around it.
IMPORTANT: when running g-code from a post processor for the first time, STEP THROUGH the first section of code. If an initialization Mcode or Gcode is does something weird, you can stop the machine, identify that line, and “step over” it. This applies to any post-processor or gcode from a program you’re not completely familiar with.
Why: Fusion 360 and other CAM software often writes instructions for features our machine is not programmed to do. In some cases, like the M7 and M8 (which turn on coolant), the instruction will be ignored. For the above, cases, the instruction can be misunderstood and do weird stuff. For instance, if the G28 safe retract is set, then the spindle may try to zero to Z-Max endstop – on our machine, that trigger an emergency stop, not a calibration.
L
PS. Coy, when I did that CAM for your files yesterday, I forgot to change the mill model to generic Mach3, and you ended up with even more weird Gcode than normal to hand edit…
I ended up taking the starting/ending lines from a Vectric gcode file just kept the movements in the middle. My file was so simple I should have just written it manually. Fusion 360 has a lot more features and if I had to guess gives you a lot more control over tool paths and 3D design. Vectric would still be the way for me for ease of use with less of a learning curve since you basically start with 2D drawings apply tool paths. It also has simple 3D design but at that point I’d switch to Fusion.
Lorin, thanks again for your help!
Coy
Sounds like the cause has been identified as a server side problem, but I did successfully use Vcarve on the CNC computer on Thursday or Friday (I forget which) and used it on the CAD computer Tuesday evening.
Any ETA for when vCarve will be available again?
Thanks,
Kevin
I haven’t been down to test it but according to Vectric support it should be fixed.
- Ian B.
Woah! Go out of town for a couple weeks and who knows what will happen!