I have a 3XXL with a CNC4Newbie Z slider, and therefore some nonstandard gcode configuration, and am currently assembling my 5 pro 4x4. A couple of questions.
A) I see that newer versions of CM have a machine setup wizard. Is that a mandatory step such that CM knows the details of the machine(s) it connects to or just a step to send configuration to the machine? I would like to skip the process for my already configured xxl.
B) Any issues or challenges flip flopping back and forth between machines as far as CM is concerned?
Yes, it is necessary to run the Setup Wizard for each machine a given computer and copy of Carbide Motion are connected to.
Once a machine has been set up it will be recognized, and it is possible to either customize the Grbl settings, or edit the JSON config for that machine (or both).
William
How about running the old version of CM for use with the old machine and a newer version for use with the new machine? That should work, no? I’m on a Mac where I can just give the old version of the software a different name to keep the new software from installing over the top of.
If you run Cm V6, it should be fine to run a 3 and a 5 on the same machine since the config is stored separately for each machine. (As far as I remember)
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I had an SO3 XXL and an SO3 XL. When I switched machines I had to run config because CM remembered the last machine. The SO3XL had a Z-Plus and the SO3XXL had an HDZ. CM is more than a gcode sender. That is why CM only works with C3D machines. I would assume that when moving from the 3XXL to the SO5 a configuration would need to be run. The two machines have different Z axis and unless the 3rd party Z has the same characteristics as the as the HDZ. On a C3D machine with a Z-Plus or and HDZ the two Z axis run in opposite directions and have different steps per MM.
Although painful you might need to run two different computers to keep from reconfiguration your 3rd party Z each time you switch from machine to machine with the same computer.
However if anyone knows it is @robgrz so defer to his comments.
Can one run two instances of CM at the same time if they are installed in separate directories?
Edit: might be a conflict with configs if they are saved in the same folder under the win-user profile.
It is not necessary to have two directories.
When we were testing CM6 I was able to use the same copy installed on a computer to control the following models which it would identify automatically:
- Shapeoko 3
- Shapeoko Pro
- Shapeoko 5 Pro
and switch the computer between the different machines and have it correctly identify each.
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I was thinking of controlling two shapokos at the same time from two instances of CM on the same computer.
Folks have done that, but it’s not something which we recommend.
A work-around is to have one or two Raspberry Pi computers each running Carbide Motion, then control both from a single computer using a suitable remote software.
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I’ve never tried, but I think it would work. We’d probably never explicitly support/recommend that, because it’s highly likely that you’re going to run the wrong file or set the wrong zero on the wrong machine at some point. (I know I would)
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So on my Mac I:
- looked at what was stored under the CM data directory prior to installing v6. Very little there except for a saved macro.
- renamed the Carbide Motion app to Carbide Motion V5
- Installed The latest v6 Carbide Motion
- Observed that CM6 uses a different data directory than CM5
Conclusions:
-I should still be able to run my 3xxl with CM5 as nothing affecting CM5 appears to have been modified by the install of CM6.
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I should be able to use CM6 for my S5 pro.
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Theoretically I could probably run both machines at the same time with their respective versions of CM if connections are made in the right order. This isn’t my use case but since others have asked I think it could work.
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