What Brand Parallel Port Card? Re: Can my CNC controller blow my motherboard?

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "Jim Wilson"
<jwilson002@a...> wrote:

> I don't have any experience wuth Win 2000.
>
> Jim
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael Gamber" <mgamber@c...>
> To: <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2003 10:10 PM
> Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] What Brand Parallel Port Card? Re:

Can my CNC

> controller blow my motherboard?
>
>
> > Does this apply to Windows 2000?
>

The problem is more of a PCI issue than that of XP or 2000. A lot of
after market PC boards that use the PCI buss "remap" the standard PC
printer ports (LPT1 = 0378h LPT2 = 0278h, etc) You have to use a
Windows driver supplied by the card mfg for Windows to see the card.
The PC BIOS does not see the card at the expected addresses. Under
most circumstances this does not matter because a printer prints to
an LPT location and if the card driver maps the strange I/O port
address to LPT2 or 3 or whatever, the printer just does its thing.
It's another matter with software like the CNC controller software we
use because it doesn't use an LPT port call but addresses the port by
its base port I/O address.

MACH 2 which is a Windows 2000 or XP controller allows you to enter
any hex port I/O address you want so it will work with the newer PCI
cards. In order to find out what that address is you have to install
the Windows driver then go look at the hardware resource in the
System in the Control folder. Under Resources tab it will tell you
the hex address for its native I/O calls.

If your computer MB has a ISA slot then there are still ISA parallel
port cards where you can hard set the IRQ and base address for the
port and the PC BIOS will see it without any additional drivers.

All this being said I consider it more prudent to use a buffer card
like the Sound Logic Card that Bob Campbell sells to isolate your
computer from the industrial grade "nasties" that CNC can dish out.
It's not just the drive signals to the motor controller but the
return lines from the limit switches and other inputs or outputs that
can attract stray signals. These cards work both ways to protect
your computer.