Does anyone know of a control software program that will use Windows 7 installed on a laptop to control my CNC router? I currently am using Mach3 on a Win XP desktop and it's so very slow it drives me crazy.
Mach3 will run on a windows 7 laptop. I use it on a win7 64bit laptop with a warp9 ethernet smoothstepper. There are a lot of people that run it on XP just fine. Try a fresh install of XP. Should be faster after.
Thank you. I did a little research on the web about this SmoothStepper you mentioned. Sounds like what I need. Next question-Would anyone reading this happen to have a photo or drawing of a Geckodrive G540 connected to an Ethernet SmoothStepper? I've checked the Internet and have come up empty.
You need a 26pin to a db25 connector. the db25 connects to the g540 and the 26pin to port 1 on the smoothstepper. the smoothstepper then connects to the ethernet or usb port on the laptop. The smoothstepper isnt exactly the cheapest route though. I think its been mentioned here before that one can find a used desktop with a db25 parallel port for less than the cost of a smoothstepper. I purchased a warp9 ESS and cable for somewhere to the tune of $200US. Its not unreasonable to find a used desktop for that price on ebay. This cable I purchased seperatly from amazon. The shipping time was long. If you go the route of ess then order the cable together.
I got my ethernet Smoothstepper today. Trying to connect it to a spare Windows 7 laptop and my Geckodrive G540. What a nightmare. I'm not a networking guy (I'm a woodworking guy) so I don't understand all this IP address, Gateway stuff. I've been reading the install instructions online and most of it I don't understand. Could someone please help me with this configuration?
