PMDX-179 Error code light

[Mike Abbott]

I've got a PMDX179 attached to a PMDX424 and almost all of it works but the Error code light keeps flashing about once/sec.  All the other lights behave as I expect them to but kind of concerns me that an error might be going on that I've not been aware of as yet.

Mike

[Bob at PMDX]

Oops - we've out-smarted ourselves.  Originally that LED was labeled "Status", to match the silkscreen label on the PMDX-126 board.  Somewhere along the way (long before the PMDX-424 existed) we changed the text on the PMDX-179 panel to say "Error Code" but didn't update the PMDX-179 manual, which in table 5 on page 8 still calls this "status" (well, calls the corresponding signal on J3).  The change to "Error Code" is because when used with a PMDX-126, that LED really only turns on when there is an error, or when the test button is pressed.

However, when the PMDX-179 is used with a PMDX-424, this LED really is (mostly) a status signal.  A slow flash (on for 1 second, off for 1 second) means that the PMDX-424 is is running normally and communicating with the SmartBOB plug-in.  One short flash every 2 seconds means the PMDX-424 is running but not communicating with the PMDX-SmartBOB Mach4 plug-in (usually this means that Mach4 is not running).  Any other flash pattern indicates an error and you then need to look at the LEDs on the PMDX-424 to determine what caused the error.

Bob

[Mike Abbott]

Ok, yeah I kind of figured it could be something that was due to a newer board being plugged in.  I noted one other item on it that the probe triggered led isn't lighting up at all.  I can see in mach4 status lights and on machine diags that the probe is in fact touching but the led on the panel isn't lighting up.

Mike

[Bob at PMDX]

When connected to a PMDX-424, the PMDX-179 "Probe" LED only illuminates when probing motion (G31) is in progress.  This was done because Mach4 supports 4 different probe inputs (PROBE, PROBE1, PROBE2 and PROBE3).  And we don't know *which* probe signal is the selected one until we see one of the G31 commands (G31 for "PROBE", G31.1 for "PROBE1", G31.2 for "PROBE2" or G31.3 for "PROBE3").

Currently the SmartBOB plug-in and all SmartBOB devices only support the PROBE signal and the plain "G31" command.  We *may* be able to assume that PROBE is the input to monitor.  I'll have to look into this to make sure that is the way to go.

Bob