With new driver 0.4.4 "CARVE" does not move axis. Homing works, Jogging works

Easel
1

I sent the following to “Support”. Waiting to hear back…

Macbook Air
Apple M2 Chip
MacOS Sequoia v 15.3.1
16 GB Memory

Xcarve 1000x1000, Arduino with sheild

VER:1.1g.20170629-Inventables:
Latest driver 0.4.4

Tried with latest versions of both Firefox and Chrome.

(Problem exist with this and another Mac that I’ve been using).

Problem exist with a program that was running fine a couple of weeks ago and also with creating a new program.

Problem started after being forced to install the latest driver.

I’ve deleted and set up a new machine profile several times.

I found an inventables suggestion to change the DNS settings.
Ref: https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using
Changed them to the supplied addresses. Browsers still work fine, but did not change the problems in Easel.

Computer is connecting to controller fine. Homing works fine. Going to Work Zero works fine. Simulate displays tool path correctly.

When I select Carve and confirm material, tool, etc. Confirm Spindle is on. Click the final Carve! button. The screen displays the feedrate and the progress bar, but there is NO machine movement, NO progress happening. If I go to Machine Inspector at this point, it shows “Alarm 2” and [MSG:Reset to continue]. If I click the “X” (stop) it brings up the Carve complete screen. That -briefly- shows - “Homing is disabled”-. Trying to carve again the first window says Home Machine or Unlock Without Homing. From that point in Machine Inspector I can $X and $H, or use the Home or Work Zero in the Jog Machine area. Which brings me back to the same scenario. I’ve been trying to get this going for three days now. Tried rebooting computers, rebooting the controller, unplugging/plugging in the USB cable. And every combination of those things that I could come up with.

You bricked my setup a short time ago. I had a Windows machine dedicated to the Xcarve. You depreciated that and I had a very expensive boat anchor for a while. As of right now I’m in the same boat again (pun intended).

Now what?

2

Latest suggestion from Support- Reflash the GRBL to the Arduino.

Successfully did that. Still the same problem. Communication with Xcarve works; can jog machine, home, simulate etc. So communication between computer and Xcarve is not a problem. But it doesn’t budge an iota when trying to execute a Carve.

Right now I just need them to acknowledge their forced driver update has borked my use of the Xcarve, and fix it.

Replied back to support person this morning around 8AM, that I had reflashed the software. About 2PM. As of right now haven’t heard back anything further.

:face_with_raised_eyebrow: . . .

3

So support says:
“Thank you for sending the error report.
Your machine has Soft Limits enabled. This could be the reason the machine is not moving when you start the carve.
You can disable soft limits by changing the $20 value from Easel’s Machine Inspector console.
You can open up the Machine Inspector by going to Machine > Machine Inspector. In the Console, you can disable soft limits by typing the following command:
$20=0”.

My reply:
Odd. I have a printout next to the Xcarve of the GRBL settings, from several years ago when I set up the machine. $20 has always been set to 1. And has worked fine for years. Setting it to 0 did get the machine to carve.
???

and

I’ve been mulling it over and something still doesn’t add up. I did a little digging and found that I’ve had my Xcarve since 2016. Time flies, eh? As I reported in previous reply, $20=0 did get it carving again. But it had worked fine for the last 9 plus years. What gives there? My understanding of Soft Limits was to preclude crashing the machine. Good thing right. So why are programs that run fine before suddenly starting to throw Alarms and locking up the machine? The only thing I can point to at this point is the forced easel driver update. (0.4.4 ?).

4

It seems that the soft limits were enabled, which was the root of the issue. According to the published X-Carve Firmware guidelines, How to Check Your Firmware Settings, soft limits are disabled by default. It may be worth double-checking your settings to ensure they align with the recommended configuration.