A. Yes we have customers
using Win 7 (32bit & 64bit) no problem at all. dnc4U will
run on Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME, NT4, XP, Vista & Win
7. We do not really recommend Win95 though.
Q. Will
it run in the Windows Vista?
A. Yes we have customers
using Vista no problem at all. dnc4U will run on Windows 95,
98, 2000, ME, NT4, XP, Vista & Win7. For more info on
Vista click here...
Q. After
I install dnc4U for the first time, it will not load when
I click the icon.
A. Right mouse click the
dnc4U icon, and "Run As Administrator". That should
make the software run everytime.
Q. After
I install dnc4U for the first time, it says there are zero
days left.
A. Right mouse click the
dnc4U icon, and "Run As Administrator". That should
make the software run for 60 days.
Q. Why
isn't my USB to Serial adapter working?
A. Since the release of
Windows XP many laptop manufacturers no longer have a "proper"
serial port at the back. Notable exceptions are quite recent
IBM Thinkpads and some Dells with the docking station. Instead
there are only USB ports. As a result users are finding that
a USB to serial adapter is the only way they have to communicate
with their CNC machines.
Unfortunately all USB convertors are not created equal, especially
if they contain the "prolific" chipset. Devices
intended for use at home are now expected to work in the harsh
industrial environment, and unfortunately many are not up
to the job. Many manufacturers of USB to serial adapters are
not 100% compatible and communication to with CNC machines
is either unreliable, very slow, or limited to one way transfer.
For laptops we recommend you use a PCMCIA/Express to serial
card, they are far superior and often not much more expensive,
preferably with some form of isolation. We have several Quatech
cards and found them to be very reliable, in addition they
have all the required drivers for all versions of Windows.
If you must use a USB device, then we have used Keyspan USB
to RS232 adaptor cables - they work great when others just
don't >> Click
Here or Here
and are reasonably priced. We have reports from several users
that MOXA
are also reliable.
Please take time to watch this video for additional information
and resources about USB devices from BB-Electronics. This
company sells more robust rugged USB devices (albeit more
expensive) much more suited to industrial applications www.bb-elect.com.
Often it is worth spending more money initially, than wasting
time when you cannot get the USB to work.
Unfortunately it's not as simple as listing USB to RS232 devices
that work for one user, because sometimes the same one will
not work for another. So whilst we list several options above,
there is just no 100% guarantee that any will work with your
computer.
Quite often we think that it is well worth the while to buy
a secondhand laptop off ebay with a proper serial port. In
many cases this would work out cheaper and far more reliable
than having to buy things such as USBs or Express cards.
Q. When
I try to change the CNC settings, it says I have insufficient
access to save the changes away.
A. This is because you
do not have rights to edit the settings file. This file is
called "dnc4u-settings.ini" and is located in the
dnc4U folder.
Right
click the "dnc4u-settings.ini" file, and then click
properties Click
the security tab Under
group or user names, click your name and see the permissions
you have. You need full control
Q. Will
dnc4U work with my CNC?
A. This is one of the most
commonly asked questions. All we can say is that if your CNC
supports the RS232 protocol, then yes it will. We even supply
a list of predefined CNC templates to get you started for
many popular machines. We do not support exotic proprietory
protocols that are outside the scope of RS232, such as LSV2,
Fidia etc.
Q. What
computer access rights should I give?
A. dnc4U needs to be able
to create temporary files and be able to write to your system
registry. If it can't it may lock you out saying its expired.
If you get this, then you should do the standard thing of
giving users full access and then gradually tighten things
up. For typical use, a standard "power user" would
be just perfect, they have Modify, Read/Execute, Read and
Write properties.
You should
install dnc4U using Admin rights and run the software at least
once with admin rights to ensure correct operation and installation
of dnc4U.
Q. Do
I need any specific hardware to use dnc4U?
A. Depends. If you are
using a PC computer or a laptop that has a free com-port in
the back then no you dont need anything extra. If you are
using a newer laptop, then the odds are that you may have
a USB port only, in which case the cheapest a USB to Serial
cable convertor, they are cheap only about $30 However, we
always recommend either PCMCIA or EXpress cards as they are
usually far more reliable than USB
Q. Can
I send and receive to more than one CNC machine at a time?
A. Yes you can run up to
64 CNC machines at once, simultaneously, all you need do is
load dnc4U as many times as you need it, because you can run
up to 64 "instances" of dnc4U at the same time.
You do however, need a free communication port for each CNC
transmission. You can get multi-port serial cards, we really
like MOXA
we've used them for years and they are really easy to setup.
Q. How
much is all this going to cost me ?
A. You can see our latest
price list click
here.. We give great discounts for multiple purchases,
and once you have bought there are no upgrade costs, ever.
Q. Does
dnc4U support Heidenhain Blockwise for drip feeding large
files?
A. Yes.
Q. Does
dnc4U support Haas Xmodem for drip-feeding large files?
A. Yes.
Q. I
receive files from my CNC and after a while the data is garbage
then OK then garbage again.
A. You need to either turn
off your communication port receive FIFO buffer or reduce
the receive value to its smallest level. You access these
by going into Windows Control Panel, Device Manager, LPT &
Com Ports. Select your com port and click the advanced tab.
Then turn off the FIFO option. You may need to do this for
each of your com ports. Also tweak the size of the receive
buffer inside dnc4U, this can affect older computers.
Q. I
try and send or receive a file and all I see are XXXXXX.
A. dnc4U has expired. To
purchase we need your computer software code. You get this
by clicking the register menu and entering this info onto
our webpage.
Q. I've
purchased dnc4U but I haven't received anything yet.
A. If you purchase using
WorldPay then you will automatically receive the licence immediately,
so please look in your spam folder if nothing arrives. Also
please do make sure that you enter your own e-mail address
correctly or we may find it impossible to contact you until
you contact us asking where it is!.
If you use PayPal, then we do not automatically generate your
unlock file, each one is done specifically for a customer.
There may be a delay of a few hours, but it will never be
more than 12 hours.
If you have an email address from an ISP like AOL or maybe
a free-account, then we have recently noticed their e-mail
filters are actually blocking e-mails coming through, and
customers assume that we have not sent anything, but we always
do!. We now send the information as a URL within the e-mail
rather than an attachment, as anti-virus and firewalls may
block those with attachments. Just click the hyperlink and
save the unlock file to your desktop- then follow the easy
to use instructions in the e-mail.
Q. After
I receive the unlock file it does not register.
A. Please follow the instructions
in our e-mail that we send you after purchase. You have to
do it in a specific sequence. We have never had a code fail,
we are afraid it is always down to incorrect input or failure
to follow our instructions.
Q. I
need to change computer will the software code still work?
A. No it won't, however
we are happy to replace the code FOR FREE.
Q. dnc4U
changes my system date : Why?
A. We may, under certain
circumstances, change the system date to a universal
format whilst it is in demo mode. This is just because some
date formats are very wierd (to us anyway). If this happens,
then once you have loaded dnc4U a couple of times and you
change the format back to your normal format, dnc4U changes
it only whilst it is running, and it swaps it back when you
close it down. Once you are registered it no longer changes
the date at all, so it is always what you want even when running.
Q. Do
you charge an annual maintenance fee?
A. No we hate that idea,
unlike other DNC software vendors we don't do it, once you
have paid for dnc4U that's it. You can download the latest
version at all times free of charge. We do not notify you
either as we don't want to send you any spam, its entirely
up to you if and when you want to upgrade. FREE LIFTIME UPGRADES
Q. I
want to run dnc4U on more than one computer, can I copy dnc4U
onto more than one computer with a single license?
A. You need a license for
every computer you run dnc4U on. We look at it this way. If
you made 100 parts for one of your customers, would you charge
him for 1 part or for 100 parts ? However, we have price breaks
and we offer very good discounts for multiple licenses.
Q. Which
languages does dnc4U support?
A. dnc4U is only available
in English BUT - you can fully customize the texts, menus
and buttons into your own language
Q. After
I purchase what else will I get?
A. dnc4U is only available
via electronic-download, so you won't receive any boxes, CD's
or printed manuals. We e-mail you a sales receipt, you should
get this immediately or a few days after your purchase.
Q. I'm
drip feeding large files and it stops after a few hours with
a timeout message?
A. dnc4U sends data in
bursts, usually block by block, but also in constant sized
chunks. Either way it will stop if an XOFF is sent (or the
CTS goes low) and will not start again until an XON is received
(or CTS goes high). If your CNC is taking a long time to interpret
the NC code then dnc4U will timeout after 600 seconds - it
assumes that transfer has stopped because nothing has happened
for this length of time. If this happens to you, increase
the timeout to say 36000. This means dnc4U will not timeout
for 10 hours, enough time to restart drip-feeding - there
is no increase in cycle time whatever value you use (we also
recommend that you turn off the receive FIFO buffer and turn
off all power saving features such as screen savers etc)
Q. Its
says its expired, I have never run dnc4U before?
A. If you have NEVER run the software
before, then you do not have sufficient access rights and
permissions to run the software. You should log in as administrator
- this will see if that cures the problem. Then get your IT
guy to slacken up on some of the access rights. The installation
setup has a file called diagnose.exe, run this and run the
test. You need read/write access to the registry - use regedit
and set permissions for users to access the registry. For
XP, Vista and Win7 we always recommend that you run the software
"as administrator" simply by right mouse clicking
the dnc4U icon and selecting that option from the list.
Q. I'm
drip feeding large files do I need to do anything special?
A. Not all CNC will drip-feed,
so you should consult your manual to see if it uses special
protocols. But basically drip-feeding on CNC's like Fanuc,
Haas and many Japanese and US CNC's is simply a case of handshaking
between your PC and CNC. We would always recommend that you
turn off or reduce to minimum value the receive FIFO buffer.
If you use a com port that shares an IRQ with another device
such as a mouse or modem, that this other com port is not
used. ie com1 shares an IRQ with com3 and com2 shares an IRQ
with com4. All screen saving devices and power management
devices are turned off. Some USB devices can "go to sleep"
after a while and if data is sent every 20 minutes, which
is common, then the USB may not respond either fast enough
or not at all to any XON/XOFF etc.
