Acorn power up process?

[Dan M]

Ok so here's my questions, I've been told a few different times to power up the Acorn then the CNCPC. My problem with this is if I power up the controller first then the CNCPC, the software doesn't always connect to the board. I get the message to cycle the power on the Acorn. Once the power is cycled the software connects no problem.

Upon start up if I start the CNCPC first then power up the controller, the software connects no problem.

Am I the only one who has had this issue? Did I just get incorrect information on the start up process, or is something else entirely going on with either my CNCPC or my Acorn board or am I not powering down properly? I'm just trying to isolate what is going on.

I'm just curious about it since it's a new system for me. I'm also curious to see if anyone else has noticed this since like I said earlier that I've been told to power up the controller first.

Thanks,
Dan

[martyscncgarage]

Ok so here's my questions, I've been told a few different times to power up the Acorn then the CNCPC. My problem with this is if I power up the controller first then the CNCPC, the software doesn't always connect to the board. I get the message to cycle the power on the Acorn. Once the power is cycled the software connects no problem.

Upon start up if I start the CNCPC first then power up the controller, the software connects no problem.

Am I the only one who has had this issue? Did I just get incorrect information on the start up process, or is something else entirely going on with either my CNCPC or my Acorn board or am I not powering down properly? I'm just trying to isolate what is going on.

I'm just curious about it since it's a new system for me. I'm also curious to see if anyone else has noticed this since like I said earlier that I've been told to power up the controller first.

Thanks,
Dan

When you start Acorn first, does it power up and the hearbeat light blinking at 1 pulse per second after it boots?
When then power up the PC, do you see the LEDs on the Ethernet port on Acorn light up and start blinking or no?

Your situation is not typical. Further, you should be able to power up the whole machine computer/acorn and all with one flip of the switch.
Acorn boots faster than the CNCPC (Acorn LED to the right of the ethernet port blinks rapidly when first powered up (booting) then it blinks at about one pulse per seconde when booted and ready)

Marty

[deanq]

Don,
I have encountered the same situation. To consistently connect, I must start the CNC computer first. If I don't, it will only connect about 40% of the time.
I now just start the computer first and then Acorn & drives.
Dean

[Dan M]

Ok cool, that's about the same as what I'm encountering, it's a roll of the dice. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a problem with the CNCPC or the Acorn. It's not big deal to start the CNCPC first.

Thanks for the reply,
Dan

[Dan M]

Ok so here's my questions, I've been told a few different times to power up the Acorn then the CNCPC. My problem with this is if I power up the controller first then the CNCPC, the software doesn't always connect to the board. I get the message to cycle the power on the Acorn. Once the power is cycled the software connects no problem.

Upon start up if I start the CNCPC first then power up the controller, the software connects no problem.

Am I the only one who has had this issue? Did I just get incorrect information on the start up process, or is something else entirely going on with either my CNCPC or my Acorn board or am I not powering down properly? I'm just trying to isolate what is going on.

I'm just curious about it since it's a new system for me. I'm also curious to see if anyone else has noticed this since like I said earlier that I've been told to power up the controller first.

Thanks,
Dan

When you start Acorn first, does it power up and the hearbeat light blinking at 1 pulse per second after it boots?
When then power up the PC, do you see the LEDs on the Ethernet port on Acorn light up and start blinking or no?

Your situation is not typical. Further, you should be able to power up the whole machine computer/acorn and all with one flip of the switch.
Acorn boots faster than the CNCPC (Acorn LED to the right of the ethernet port blinks rapidly when first powered up (booting) then it blinks at about one pulse per seconde when booted and ready)

Marty

Yes the Acorn light blinks, I'll check tomorrow about the ethernet signal. Like I said before it's random. Kinda like when I first did the install, I set it up to auto start and I had to cycle the Acorn every time. Maybe it has something to do with the ping? Does the software keep sending a signal if it doesn't hear back from the board after the first attempt? I honestly don't really know exactly how everything communicates. I'm sure the programmers will get it figured out if it's not isolated to just a couple users. Either way after hearing from someone else who has the same problem I'm not worried about it.

Thanks Marty and if it helps the tech guys out I can make a video or send them a report. I'm also going to buy a Cat6 cable since it's much faster and see if it makes a difference, also I just talked to a tech guy about my Lenovo laptop so now I know how to make sure my Lenovo CNCPC has the latest drivers installed.

I'll let you guys know if it turns out to be the cable or the ethernet driver. I kinda think it's software related though because of the auto boot not working, also it's kinda strange that after you do the machine park and hit the power down button that it doesn't exit CNC12 and just instantly shuts down the CNCPC. I'm not sure if the software is supposed to do that. It seems like you should exit the software first and then do a normal Windows shutdown. The first time I did it I thought my computer blew up lol.

Thnks,
Dan

[martyscncgarage]

Any other information/video you can provide may be helpful.

[Dave_C]

Don,
I have encountered the same situation. To consistently connect, I must start the CNC computer first. If I don't, it will only connect about 40% of the time.
I now just start the computer first and then Acorn & drives.
Dean

Strange! I have two machines, both with Acorn CNC and I have to power up the computer first but not CNC 12, then turn on the power to the control cabinet with the Acorn board, wait for the Heartbeat light and then start up CNC 12.

Any other sequence and I don't connect at all. (tried it many times)


Dave C.

[Dan M]

Any other information/video you can provide may be helpful.

Soon as I have some free time Marty. I've got some fab work going on right now.

Dan

[martyscncgarage]

I don't have power up issues you guys are having.

I do not use notebook computers, I use the Lenovo Tiny computers with latest Bios firmware and updated Ethernet drivers.

I'd like to know if you guys having problems had them when you ran your benchtest. PC and Acorn only

Marty

[Dan M]

I don't have power up issues you guys are having.

I do not use notebook computers, I use the Lenovo Tiny computers with latest Bios firmware and updated Ethernet drivers.

I'd like to know if you guys having problems had them when you ran your benchtest. PC and Acorn only

Marty

I don't use a notebook, my dedicated CNCPC is a Lenovo Thinkcenter m92p and it exceeds the Centroid requirements by a lot. The Lenovo Thinkpad I was talking about is for design only and that one is super built. I honestly don't remember what it did when I first set up the Acorn, at the time I didn't know much about it.

I only know what it does now that everything is hooked up and functional. And like I said I have to start the CNCPC first otherwise it's a crapshoot on if it wants to connect to the board. Also is it normal for the power down button to instantly shut down the CNCPC?

Thanks,
Dan