How to report a problem, what to tell us

[Bob at PMDX]

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This page is obsolete and maintained here for historical purposes.
Please visit the page on the new PMDX FAQ site here:

http://faq.pmdx.com/content/2/4/en/how-to-report-a-problem-what-to-tell-us.html

or

http://faq.pmdx.com/index.php?solution_id=1003

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There are several pieces of information that we almost always need to know in order to help figure out what might be happening (or not happening) with your machine.  It helps to have that information when you first report an issue.  That saves us the time of replying and asking you a bunch of questions, and then you having to reply again.

So here is a list of things you should include with any problem report:

(1) What version of Windows are you running, including whether it is a 32-bit or 64-bit variation.  For example, XP 32-bit, Win7 64-bit, etc.

(2) What version of Mach4 (see http://www.pmdx.com/PMDX-Forums/index.php?topic=73.0)?  And please don't tell us "the latest version".  By getting the version number from Mach4 as it is running, you help us verify that you are indeed running the version that you think you are running.

(3) What version of our plug-in (see http://www.pmdx.com/PMDX-Forums/index.php?topic=73.0).  And again, please don't tell us "the latest version".  We need to verify that you are indeed running the version that you think you are running.

(4) If there is any message in the Mach4 message box (in the lower left corner of that mach4 screen), then click on the "History" button and save the contents to a file (alas, you cannot copy it directly to the Windows clipboard), then copy the contents of that file into your post.  Or attach the file to your post if it is a large file.

(5) Did you see any pop-up error messages?  If so, try to tell us what they said

(6) When describing your issue, try to describe the exact behavior that you are seeing.  If the motion is not what you expect, describe HOW it is not.  Did it move more or less than you expected.  Did the actual motion match what the DRO shows?

(7) Is the issue reproducible?  Every time?  Or once in a while?

[Steve Stallings]

As of build 2580 Mach4 now has a function to capture the
machine configuration and profile into a zip file. This is
useful when there are doubts about how the machine is
configured.

This function is under the Help > Support dialog. If you
use it, be sure to edit the email address to send it to
PMDX instead of MachSupport.