Trouble using Initialization Button in Motion Bld 640

Software
1

Iam trying to set up a friends older Shapeoko 3.
It had older manual homing switches that were not installed, I have now installed them.
Had originally loaded Motion V3, and discovered the controller had Grbl .9 so I found a copy of Grbl 1.1 upgrade program and installed it.
Then I decided to install a newer version of Motion 6, bld 640 and proceeded to install new machine. Made sure to change machine to Shapeoko3 and put the router in upper right back corner then powered it up and watched it download basic configuration.
Got to screen to load file and initialize machine buttons appeared. When I clicked on the Initialization button, there there were couple of quick little movements of the router, and suddenly the gantry moved to front of the machine, repeatedly banged several times against the front end plates and the router move to the center of the machine.

Turned power off to machine. Tried this sequence several times with same results.

Found section in Homing Trouble Shooting about entering 28.3 in Midi screen so tried that and was able to get the machine to home.

Iam a complete novice regarding Grbl commands, any help would be greatly appreciated.

2

Here is copy of gcode in Motion

Machine: Shapeoko
GRBL Version: 1.1f

Carbide Motion 640
Machine Controller State: INIT
Grbl Cycle: Idle

{
“bitRunnerEnabled”: false,
“bitSetterEnabled”: false,
“bitSetterX”: 0.0,
“bitSetterY”: 0.0,
“bitZeroType”: 2,
“connection”: 1,
“lastConfigSent”: 0,
“lastProbeIndex”: 0,
“lastSizeOption”: 2,
“odometer”: [
{
“cleared”: true,
“minutes”: 1.7955666666666636,
“startDate”: “2024-09-18”,
“travelX”: 709.6000289916992,
“travelY”: 862.4499959945679,
“travelZ”: 261.15000146627426
},
{
“cleared”: true,
“minutes”: 7.880449999999986,
“startDate”: “2024-09-22”,
“travelX”: 4957.474536597729,
“travelY”: 9949.575128510594,
“travelZ”: 1212.1749997138977
},
{
“cleared”: false,
“minutes”: 0.4500666666666666,
“startDate”: “2024-09-25”,
“travelX”: 478.1499938964844,
“travelY”: 843.8500139713287,
“travelZ”: 36.874999046325684
}
],
“showCarbideRouterRpm”: true,
“spindleType”: 0,
“travelX”: -420.0,
“travelY”: -430.0,
“travelZ”: -100.0,
“version”: 0,
“webhooks”: ,
“workOffsetX”: 206.3000030517578,
“workOffsetY”: 161.4250030517578,
“workOffsetZ”: 13.149999618530273
}

0 = 10, Step pulse, microseconds
1 = 255, Step idle delay, milliseconds
2 = 0, Step port invert, mask
3 = 6, Direction port invert, mask
4 = 0, Step enable invert, boolean
5 = 0, Limit pins invert, boolean
6 = 0, Probe pin invert, boolean
10 = 255, Status report, mask
11 = 0.02, Junction deviation, millimeters
12 = 0.01, Arc tolerance, millimeters
13 = 0, Report inches, boolean
20 = 0, Soft limits, boolean
21 = 0, Hard limits, boolean
22 = 1, Homing cycle, boolean
23 = 0, Homing dir invert, mask
24 = 100, Homing feed, mm/min
25 = 2000, Homing seek, mm/min
26 = 25, Homing debounce, milliseconds
27 = 3, Homing pull-off, millimeters
30 = 24000, Max spindle speed, RPM
31 = 0, Min spindle speed, RPM
32 = 0, Laser mode, boolean
100 = 40, X steps/mm
101 = 40, Y steps/mm
102 = 40, Z steps/mm
110 = 10000, X Max rate, mm/min
111 = 10000, Y Max rate, mm/min
112 = 5000, Z Max rate, mm/min
120 = 500, X Acceleration, mm/sec^2
121 = 500, Y Acceleration, mm/sec^2
122 = 400, Z Acceleration, mm/sec^2
130 = 845, X Max travel, millimeters
131 = 850, Y Max travel, millimeters
132 = 100, Z Max travel, millimeters

Maintenance:

Travel (km) 0.00, 0.00, 0.00, 0.01 Hours since 2024-09-25
Travel (km) 0.00, 0.01, 0.00, 0.13 Hours since 2024-09-22
Travel (km) 0.00, 0.00, 0.00, 0.03 Hours since 2024-09-18

Queue Empty

3

Since you upgraded the controller and are running the current CM give this a try.

Power off everything and reboot computer. Power on and connect but do not initialize. In settings menu and debug depress each homing switch one at a time and see if it is activated. If you have a Bitsetter and/or Bitzero test each of them. The BitSetter just depress the button down and see if it registers activated. Then touch the clip/magnet to BitZero to see if it activates. Pay attention to each switch to make sure the X switch activates the X switch and that something has not been mis wired.

If all the homing switches and accessories check out ok then power off Shapeoko. Slowly move the gantry front to back a few times and then the router side to side and make sure everything moves smoothly. If you move too fast the stepper motors produce EMF and it will sound like a belt is slipping. Depending on what Z he has for belt just lift and lower the Z several times. If Z-Plus then turn the lead screw top to bottom. If HDZ turn the ball screw top to bottom.

If there are no mechanical problems power up and connect. Run the configuration and make sure you pick the correct machine type, std, XL, XXL and the propere Z Belt, Z-Plus, HDZ. If it has a BitZero you can set the position and be sure to send the configuration. Then try initialization.

The homing sequence is as follows. First thing is the Z travels to the top to activate the Z homing switch. If that is successful then the machines heads to the right rear corner and X and Y are homed depending on which one gets there first. If you have a BitSetter then the router will move forward near the BitSetter. If no Bitsetter the gantry stays in the back right corner.

The Belt Z and HDZ run the same direction. However the Z-Plus runs in the opposite direction. So if your homing starts with the Z going down you picked the wrong Z. This direction I think is only true for the SO3. The SO4 and 5 all run the same direction but the Z-Plus and HDZ have different settings in MM per step so if you have a Z-Plus but tell configuration it is an HDZ all pockets will be deeper than designed.

4

Thank you for your reply Guy.

I have followed your instructions to test the manual homing switches, and each one lights when i press the switch.

Tried reconfiguring the machine in CM. It is a Shapeoko3 with Belt Z
With Dewalt DWP611 Router
NO Bitzero or BitSetter

When i start CM and connect following screen appears:

Screenshot 2024-09-26 174946
Screenshot 2024-09-26 174946787Ă—509 11.2 KB

If i load file, following screen appears:

Screenshot 2024-09-26 175325
Screenshot 2024-09-26 175325799Ă—509 12 KB

If i click on either “initialize machine” button is when the jiggle and y axis moves all the way to front and repeatedly bangs aginst the end. The x axis moves to center of the machine. T z axis ends up beyond the front of the machine.
I have activated the MDI option, and restarted everything, and if if click on MDI and type “$H” the machine will home to the right rear corner.
Does any of this make sense.

5

Do you have the BitSetter enabled under Settings | Options?

6

No the BitSetter is not enabled.
Earlier in the post is a $$ copy of gcode. What does the value 2 mean for the BitZero?

7

It indicates a v2 BitZero.

8

Currently do not have a Bitzero attached.

9

Any chance you got the two Y motor connections swapped on the control board?

1 Like
10

I don’t believe so Ed, when I go to Jog screen all three axis move in the correct directions.

11

The only other thing I got is to try connecting to your machine with Carbide Motion on a different computer. If that’s not an option, delete your CarbideMotion6 folder, restart your computer and reinstall CM640.

On a side note, LightBurn does a weird homing thing. That’s one of the reasons I never home my S3 with LB. My laser jobs are run a point of origin I select.

12

Unfortunately Ed my other computers are either Vista or Windows 7.

I uninstalled Motion, rebooted machine and reinstalled Motion 6 bad 640. On first screen after connecting to cnc, clicked on “initialize machine” same results, y-axis moved to front, x-axis to center and z-axis ended up bout 2 1/2 in front of machine. Had to enter $H in MDI screen to get it to go to home position.

Is it possible to enter a “homing “ command into the “.NC” file to get it to home automatically? If not will have continue to manually enter command. Once I’ve done that, I have been able to get the Create file execute, when done carriage does not return home, but moves to back y-axis position and stops.

13

This part is normal, it just seems to move out of the way.

It’s almost like it’s bypassing the homing routine and going straight to a BitSetter position. I think there’s another piece to the puzzle missing only because when you send $h in the MIDI panel it seems to go home.

One thing you might try that may help shed more light: Connect to your machine. Before you Initialize first go to Settings then click Show Log. then Initialize your machine.Does your log show something like this:

Screen Shot 2024-09-28 at 4.02.05 PM
Screen Shot 2024-09-28 at 4.02.05 PM1920Ă—1200 145 KB

Is that $h there about half way down?

14

Ed here is screenshot of my log.

image

15

Ed, tried what you said again, this time before connecting and initializing, i manually move everything so the homing switches were touching on all three axis. Now you can see all the axis on CM screen. If I enter $H, all three show -3.00.
If i press “initialize machine” now they are showing same coordinates as first line the log>

image
image1246Ă—711 92 KB

16

This is where machine goes to.

``

image
image900Ă—675 212 KB

17

What version control board does the Shapeoko have and are the homing switches of the mechanical or inductive type?

18

The homing switches are the manual ones, not inductive. Here’s photo of controller board .

image
image900Ă—675 177 KB

19

I think it would be worth a call to support to see if that board version, the mechanical switches and the version of GRBL that’s loaded all work together. With the combination of what you have on the machine you may need to revert back to an older GRBL version and an earlier copy of Carbide Motion. I’m just guessing on that and really would like to suggest you check in with support on this.

20

Ok Ed, I will call support Monday morning and ask them. Thanks for your help, and I’ll post whatever they say I should do.

1 Like