Centroid Community CNC Support Forum

I am doing initial setup of the Mach3 controller and when I start Mach3 I get a message saying "You must setup spindle bits in machajax.xml". What does this error mean and what do I need to do to fix it? I am not currently trying to control a spindle with the system, just 3 servo motors. I have the MPU11 and DC3IOb.

Thanks.

I set the "spindlehighbit" to 1 (was 0) in the xml file and the error went away. Unless someone foresees this causing problems down the road, I will leave it like that.

Thanks.

Hello,

In answer to your question:

The "spindle bits" are a 12 bit value representing the programmed spindle speed that Mach sends down to the Ajax hardware. The Ajax hardware converts this 12 bit value into a 0-10VDC signal which is used to control a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) -also known as an Inverter.

So, even though you aren't using programmable spindle speed, the plugin expects the spindle bits to be mapped and thus the error message. The good news is that the latest version (v1.08) of the Ajax Mach plugin will map it automatically for you all you need to do is download it from this link and install it. http://www.ajaxcnc.com/tech/downloads/software/

For those that like getting their hands dirty, you can also configure the spindle bits manually in the machajax.xml file found in the Ajax sub directory inside of the users Mach3 install directory (usually c:\Mach3).

When you open the machajax.xml file with notepad, look for the SpindleLowBit and SpindleHighBit nodes (bolded below)

<profile>
<Version>1.08</Version>
<FastJogRate>100</FastJogRate>
<SlowJogRate>10</SlowJogRate>
<CommandBuffer>200</CommandBuffer>
<TimeOut>300</TimeOut>
<SpindleLowBit>0</SpindleLowBit>
<SpindleHighBit>0</SpindleHighBit>

<snip>...


For DC3IOB systems:

change <SpindleLowBit>0</SpindleLowBit> to <SpindleLowBit>17</SpindleLowBit>
and <SpindleHighBit>0</SpindleHighBit> to <SpindleHighBit>28</SpindleHighBit>


For GPIO4D systems:

change <SpindleLowBit>0</SpindleLowBit> to <SpindleLowBit>305</SpindleLowBit>
and <SpindleHighBit>0</SpindleHighBit> to <SpindleHighBit>316</SpindleHighBit>