Zero CNC Experience DIY Plasma table THC guidance needed

[shaolincrane]

There's a USB port on tje front of the controller to load files.

It says it needs to be formatted for Fat/Fat32 and not a single flash drive I have tried is recognized by the machine so I cannot upload any files.

[adbuch]

There's a USB port on tje front of the controller to load files.

It says it needs to be formatted for Fat/Fat32 and not a single flash drive I have tried is recognized by the machine so I cannot upload any files.

That's a bummer! Perhaps contact the technical support staff for the controller manufacturer to discuss your problem. Is there another forum where others are using this particular controller? I just took a look at one of my usb "thumb drives" and it says "Fat 32". I think the ones I buy come already formatted, as I have never messed around with actually trying to format one.

David

fat32.jpg

[adbuch]

It is also possible that you have a defective controller. I would say that if you can plug your USB thumb drive into one of your personal computer USB ports and your computer recognizes the drive, then it is formatted correctly. I have no experience with your particular controller, but I have used an Arduino with grbl control for a small cnc plasma table and had no problem communicating with the Arduino. In my case, the g-code is generated on the personal computer and then sent to the Arduino via the com port.

David

[shaolincrane]

It is also possible that you have a defective controller. I would say that if you can plug your USB thumb drive into one of your personal computer USB ports and your computer recognizes the drive, then it is formatted correctly. I have no experience with your particular controller, but I have used an Arduino with grbl control for a small cnc plasma table and had no problem communicating with the Arduino. In my case, the g-code is generated on the personal computer and then sent to the Arduino via the com port.

David

It's possible, it was an Amazon return and I have no idea why it was returned. I was assumed it was for damage since the side of it was caved in. I sent the manufacturer an email to see if it is something stupid I missed, which I think it is. It says USB is available during the bios boot up so I think I'm probably missing something. If not that will be really annoying to buy a new one, but if I have to I will upgrade to the one with homing setup and a remote.

[adbuch]

It is possible that it has some circuit board or wiring damage such that even though is says ''USB is available during the bios boot up" the cpu is not able to communicate with the physical USB port. Perhaps that is why it was returned.

David

[shaolincrane]

It is possible that it has some circuit board or wiring damage such that even though is says ''USB is available during the bios boot up" the cpu is not able to communicate with the physical USB port. Perhaps that is why it was returned.

David

It's absolutely possible but considering how simple this thing is set up It's also possible I missed something or need a different kind of flash drive, poking around I have seen mentioned that people had picky controllers that only liked certain flash drives.

[acourtjester]

Lets get back to square one, the table does function, you cannot load new files to cut using the USB stick, is that correct?? Do the instructions state what the file format needs to be (jpeg, DXF, SVG, PNG, TAP, of others). I am assuming your controller does not operate under windows, Linux but another operating system, there are many due to the CPU the controller uses. The problem need to be identified as a software of hardware problem, some USB sticks have an LED that light if being used. Is the USB drive attached to the main board of the controller, maybe the cable is not connected if it is not on the board.

[shaolincrane]

Lets get back to square one, the table does function, you cannot load new files to cut using the USB stick, is that correct?? Do the instructions state what the file format needs to be (jpeg, DXF, SVG, PNG, TAP, of others). I am assuming your controller does not operate under windows, Linux but another operating system, there are many due to the CPU the controller uses. The problem need to be identified as a software of hardware problem, some USB sticks have an LED that light if being used. Is the USB drive attached to the main board of the controller, maybe the cable is not connected if it is not on the board.

It functions great with the preloaded files. The machine can only read .cnc, .txt and .NC files.

The LED stick is a good idea, the star cam USB has an annoying bright light, I will plug that in and see if it powers.

Fangling got back to me and said there's a ribbon cable that goes from the USB to the mother board and to unplug it and plug it back in. There was mention of checking a wire in the manual that I didn't know what it meant but now I know to open up the controller to look.

Surprisingly, Amazon had one in stock, so I ordered it just in case.

[shaolincrane]

Well I used a flash drive with an LED and confirmed power. Took apart the unit as direct and unplugged the cable and still no dice. I still feel like it is something stupid since the system sees the USB as available and the port having power, guess I'll dig around and try some others.

[acourtjester]

What is the software operating system I assume other then windows. If so you may look to see if it has a similar thing to looking at the BIOS before boot up like windows has to see if it will recognize there is a USB port. Or if there is another type of enable switch in the software you can find.

[shaolincrane]

What is the software operating system I assume other then windows. If so you may look to see if it has a similar thing to looking at the BIOS before boot up like windows has to see if it will recognize there is a USB port. Or if there is another type of enable switch in the software you can find.

Bios says the USB is available and operational. Not sure what kind of operating system it is but probably Linux.

The engineer said they had a batch issue with some USB and to try not inserting it all the way or to pinch the center of the drive square, I'll give that a shot tomorrow

[adbuch]

Even it bios shows it is available, bios can't test the connection between the physical on-chip port and the usb connector at the end of the ribbon cable. I would wait until you receive your replacement controller you just ordered from Amazon. Then you can test that one to see if it does indeed read your thumb drive.

David

[shaolincrane]

Even it bios shows it is available, bios can't test the connection between the physical on-chip port and the usb connector at the end of the ribbon cable. I would wait until you receive your replacement controller you just ordered from Amazon. Then you can test that one to see if it does indeed read your thumb drive.

David

True but at least it can tell if the circuit is complete and operational. Controller won't be here for a week so I'll give what he said a try when I'm back in the shop again

[adbuch]

Is the USB drive attached to the main board of the controller, maybe the cable is not connected if it is not on the board.

Tom - that was my thought exactly! Particularly since he said this controller was purchased from Amazon as a "damaged" unit. I know that when I insert a thumb drive (usb stick) into my 3D printers, it reads the contents and shows any compatible files on the LCD display screen. Then I can push the up or down arrows to scroll thru the files to find the one I want to print. The files need to be in .gx format for the controller to recognize them. My other thought is that perhaps the OP does not have the files in the correct format to be recognized by the controller - as you have suggested.

David

[shaolincrane]

Is the USB drive attached to the main board of the controller, maybe the cable is not connected if it is not on the board.

Tom - that was my thought exactly! Particularly since he said this controller was purchased from Amazon as a "damaged" unit. I know that when I insert a thumb drive (usb stick) into my 3D printers, it reads the contents and shows any compatible files on the LCD display screen. Then I can push the up or down arrows to scroll thru the files to find the one I want to print. The files need to be in .gx format for the controller to recognize them. My other thought is that perhaps the OP does not have the files in the correct format to be recognized by the controller - as you have suggested.

David

They are in .cnc format as the manual calls for, the cable is connected, when disconnected during the boot process it says "USB Unavailable"

I'm sure the primary reason it was returned was damage(I buy a lot of returns can generally tell why something was returned) , the entire side of the housing is pushed in about 3" and wouldn't have operated properly, that's not to say other things weren't damaged at the same time. I am going to tinker with the USB placement and try some other drives I have while I wait for the new controller

[acourtjester]

Well you are doing the best you can and have checked thing others have suggested.
You have said it will recognize .CNC file format I have not seen that before, yes for .TXT and .NC. There has been posts here in the past talking about file format and problems with different software. What software are you using to generate the .CNC files. Even with .DXF file format if you use the wrong year version they will not work with some other software packages, many being well used and known names.
I hope the replacement electronic do work out and you get full function from you table at that point. You have put in the effect and may have learned more then you wanted at the start.

[shaolincrane]

Well you are doing the best you can and have checked thing others have suggested.
You have said it will recognize .CNC file format I have not seen that before, yes for .TXT and .NC. There has been posts here in the past talking about file format and problems with different software. What software are you using to generate the .CNC files. Even with .DXF file format if you use the wrong year version they will not work with some other software packages, many being well used and known names.
I hope the replacement electronic do work out and you get full function from you table at that point. You have put in the effect and may have learned more then you wanted at the start.

Definitely supports .cnc, seems to be the default file type.

I'm using Fusion 360 with the Eastwood post processor. The eastwood table uses the same controller, THC. I then run it in their "StarCam" software to make sure the file is visible and I run a simulation.

There was a few times to post processor didn't catch I guess. Worked fine in Fusion but when I loaded it into star cam, it was completely blank. It's such a difficult program to use I basically just use it to confirm file simulation.

[acourtjester]

Forgive me if I say things you may already know or do. I do not use fusion and and not familiar with StarCam, so this is a "SWAG" as to where you are or may not be doing something. The Cam software is to plan an operation using a drawing as its base to produce a G-code. The drawing needs to be in a path form, DXF or SVG. Using Fusion and the Eastwood postprocessor should do that in place of a Cam program and produce a usable G-code. And should give you the option as to the file extension (.CNC, .NC, .TAP, ect) to save. I know a non-path drawing will not show in a cam program.
Since you say Eastwood uses the same controller have you gone to their forum to see if they can help??

Scientific Wild-Ass Guess

[shaolincrane]

Forgive me if I say things you may already know or do. I do not use fusion and and not familiar with StarCam, so this is a "SWAG" as to where you are or may not be doing something. The Cam software is to plan an operation using a drawing as its base to produce a G-code. The drawing needs to be in a path form, DXF or SVG. Using Fusion and the Eastwood postprocessor should do that in place of a Cam program and produce a usable G-code. And should give you the option as to the file extension (.CNC, .NC, .TAP, ect) to save. I know a non-path drawing will not show in a cam program.
Since you say Eastwood uses the same controller have you gone to their forum to see if they can help??

Scientific Wild-Ass Guess

No, it's good to have things restated, I don't want to come across or act like a know it all so I want to confirm what I'm doing in case I missed something.

Files start out as a DXF in Fusion, or if I'm making artwork. I convert to DXF in Inkscape first.

Starcam looks to be a Chinese copy of Sheetcam, Autocad and a flame tool program too.

I have checked around, I don't see any specific errors like mine.

I tried a different USB today, one that has an LED for power and an LED when being accessed. When I open the USB setting, I get a brief flash. So I'm going to pull apart the controller again and inspect all the related USB stuff to see if there's a weak solder or something.

[acourtjester]

The flash of the USB may just be the Plug and Play looking at it when you plug it in. Not reading the contents may be a failure of the electronics, Bummer.

[shaolincrane]

The flash of the USB may just be the Plug and Play looking at it when you plug it in. Not reading the contents may be a failure of the electronics, Bummer.

Could be, but it only happens when I attempt to access the USB. The other LED is lit immediately when plugging it in, but the other LED only flashed when accessed, so it gives some indication its at least attempting to work

[shaolincrane]

Well, I tried another USB with an LED on it and this one actually has activity every time I try to access it. There is a good 3-4 seconds where it does *something* then shuts off and stops until I remove and replace the USB. I'm betting there's a weak solder somewhere or something, I just haven't had time to touch it

[shaolincrane]

Well I don't know what I did but it started working. I was tinkering with a different USB and got distracted, left the unit powered on in the shop overnight, when I came back and realized it was still on, I went to turn it off and noticed the USB files were being displayed.

Tested out the file without cutting and it worked. Powered it on and off a few times and everything is still working. Fingers crossed it stays that way for a while.

My R300 drag chain came in and boy what a monster. I'll ne running the torch and gantry wires asap to get this thing making some parts.

[adbuch]

Happy to hear you've got it working! Maybe it just needed to be warmed up.
David

[shaolincrane]

Instead of FAT/FAT32, try formatting the flash drive with exFAT. Try a different USB port if that doesn't work. Make sure that the driver can read the USB drive. You could also try using another USB drive. Also, if you want the CNC machine to work as well as possible, you should hire a professional CNC Machine Service to keep and fix it. https://www.want.net/cnc-machining/ is a great way to find out more about CNC cutting and how it can be used.

The manual calls for Fat/Fat32 only. There is also only one USB port, and it's also working now. Your post seems awful spamish. Why would I hire a professional to fix and maintain a table I designed and built myself. I may be a noob but there won't be a professional out there that knows how the table is built better than me.