New Laser Acquisition and Question

[Brian Leavitt]

Brian,
Take a look at the description I did for you earlier of installing the Corel plug in. That may help with the corel laser issue.

Dang! I forgot the CorelLaser was part of the installation program. I saw it when I installed RDcam, but didn't install it at that time. I forgot about it and ended up downloading it from somewhere. I'll uninstall it and try installing it from the disc.

Is that the only lens you got with the system?

Yes, I only got one lens.

One other note that you havent asked yet. Since this is your first Chinese laser.
With no manual you may get the idea that the only way you have to focus is by raising or lowering the table. The motors for these things are not very finely controlled so if you try to focus like this it will be frustrating.

Instead, use the table to get reasonably close to the right focal length. Then look on your lens tube and you should see a knurled ring or a knurled screw that can be loosened easily and allows you to raise and lower the lens tube inside its receiving tube. Loosen that and lower or raise the tube to the exact focal length using that acrylic guage. Then tighten it to lightly hand tight. No need to really reef on it.

Good to know, thanks. The table motor on this is so dang slow, I could probably use it by itself to focus, but if it's easy to adjust the lens tube I'll have to give it a whirl.

You might check your red dot alignment as well. Get the laser focused on something like a sheet of paper and then do a quick pulse to create a burned dot on the paper. The align your red dot. Oddly enough, I prefer to have my red dot just below where the laser beam will hit when focused. I tried doing it with the dot on the point of the laser beam, but I found the bright red LED light made it hard for me to see what I was trying to line up on. That may just be my vision. Point is....try one method and see if you like it, and if not, try another alignment that works better for you.

Hope you are having fun with this!!! Sounds like it is coming together bit by bit!!

Dave

Yeah the red dot is totally wack - way off.

[Brian Leavitt]

Brian,

On the CorelLaser issue, did you enter the MAC address of the control board into the settings of the software? Also, there's a keyfob that needs to be plugged into a USB port of the computer although I think some versions of CorelLaser don't have the keyfob.

I don't know about the MAC address. I'm not sure if that applies when it's connected via USB, but I'm no computer super guru either. There's the machine ID box that's blank. That one seems like I need to input something myself, but I don't know where to get the information. I'm going to try installing CorelLaser from the disc I have and see if that changes anything. Mine didn't have a dongle with it.

Thanks, guys, for the info!

[David Somers]

Brian and Mark,

Mine doesnt require a dongle or MAC address. But when I do install, if I am not plugged into the USB port of the laser AND have the laser turned on the installation finishes but it never acknowledges laser. And I have to be sure I am using the USB port designated for the PC, not the one that is labeled for use by a thumbdrive. That is an inactive port and the laser company confirmed that for me. That is something specific to the the folks who did my laser however and may not apply to yours.

[Mark Taylor2]

That's interesting, David. Maybe it's a difference in verson level. Mine is 2013.02.08.00289.

Here's a screen capture of the Properties window.... The Machine ID is the MAC address of the control card and it should be on the control card.


Capture.JPG

[Brian Leavitt]

That's interesting, David. Maybe it's a difference in verson level. Mine is 2013.02.08.00289.

Here's a screen capture of the Properties window.... The Machine ID is the MAC address of the control card and it should be on the control card.


Capture.JPG

That's the same thing I see. The Machine ID is what I've been after, but I can't find one anywhere. This is what I'm looking at:


Should it be on the Main Board (white box) in this photo?

[Brian Leavitt]

I tried re-installing CorelLaser with the machine plugged in and turned on, but it didn't change anything.

[Kev Williams]

Dave hit on the 'find the machine' issue earlier, when he said 'try another USB port'- have you tried that?

Your machine is considered by your computer to be a "USB serial port" device. When you install these Chinese programs, it picks an available COM port# to use. All of your USB ports have a COM port number assigned to them. You just need to find the right USB port number that matches what your machine picked out!

In my case, it picked COM3, and it's one of the USB ports on the back of my win7 computer. If I plug the machine into any other USB port, the machine won't connect...

I'm curious if the computer that's running the new machine has LPT or serial (COM) ports?

With your laser turned off, go into your device manager, and see if you have a "Ports-COM & LPT" listing. If you have LPT or COM ports, you will. If not, you probably won't...

Now turn the laser on. If it's actually connected to the computer, you SHOULD have a "Ports" listing pop up (if you didn't before), and clicking on the listing, it SHOULD say something like "USB serial port COM#", the "#" will be the number assigned to the port you're plugged into. If YES to the listing additions, then your computer IS connected to the machine. If the machine says the computer isn't found, then you need to try another port!

OR- just avoid all the above and just try other ports!

[Jeff Body]

That's the same thing I see. The Machine ID is what I've been after, but I can't find one anywhere. This is what I'm looking at:


Should it be on the Main Board (white box) in this photo?

That looks alot like my controller from Ruida. RDC6442G
I use RDworks to run it. Are you sure you're using the right software? I'd try just loading RDworks and the driver?

You can download the software at Thunder laser's website. In that software package will be a driver install also.

This is just a suggestion.
Here's what my controller looks like.
IMG_3446.jpg

[Brian Leavitt]

Dave hit on the 'find the machine' issue earlier, when he said 'try another USB port'- have you tried that?

Your machine is considered by your computer to be a "USB serial port" device. When you install these Chinese programs, it picks an available COM port# to use. All of your USB ports have a COM port number assigned to them. You just need to find the right USB port number that matches what your machine picked out!

In my case, it picked COM3, and it's one of the USB ports on the back of my win7 computer. If I plug the machine into any other USB port, the machine won't connect...

I'm curious if the computer that's running the new machine has LPT or serial (COM) ports?

With your laser turned off, go into your device manager, and see if you have a "Ports-COM & LPT" listing. If you have LPT or COM ports, you will. If not, you probably won't...

Now turn the laser on. If it's actually connected to the computer, you SHOULD have a "Ports" listing pop up (if you didn't before), and clicking on the listing, it SHOULD say something like "USB serial port COM#", the "#" will be the number assigned to the port you're plugged into. If YES to the listing additions, then your computer IS connected to the machine. If the machine says the computer isn't found, then you need to try another port!

OR- just avoid all the above and just try other ports!

There is no connection problem. I actually did check the device manager when I first installed RDCAM and the driver because it didn't seem like the driver actually installed. It did and it comes up as COM5. I bought a new laptop specifically for this laser and it's running Windows 10 so no serial ports. So far I have had no issues with Corel X7, RDCAM, or the Macros that RDCAM installed in Corel. The only issue I have at all is the CorelLaser "add-on" for CorelDraw, and that seems like it's only because I need to input the Device ID of the controller. If I can't get CorelLaser to work, it's really not that big a deal as I can use Corel and RDCAM to run the machine.

[Brian Leavitt]

That looks alot like my controller from Ruida. RDC6442G
I use RDworks to run it. Are you sure you're using the right software? I'd try just loading RDworks and the driver?

You can download the software at Thunder laser's website. In that software package will be a driver install also.

This is just a suggestion.
Here's what my controller looks like.
IMG_3446.jpg

Jeff, is there a Device ID or MAC address labeled somewhere on your controller? I'm wondering if I'm looking in the wrong place.

[Matthew Grant]

I needed to fill in the device ID as well. Mine was on a sticker on the mainboard where USB connected.

[Jeff Body]

I'm so confused. You're saying RDworks works on your laser as well as the Macro plugin?
Is this another program you're using? What is CorelLaser?

Isn't Corellaser just a plugin or Macro for corel? You design all your work in corel and than hit the button in the toolbar and it automaticly imports your design into RDworks and from there you can send the job to the laser? At least that's what mine does.
It's just a bridge from corel into RDworks.

[David Somers]

Hey Jeff,

That is correct, at least for me. I can work in just RDworks (I have V8) by itself directly if I want. I prefer to use Corel X7 however and then hit the icon in the toolbar to transfer the file over to RDWorks which will then pass the file on to the laser with whatever cutting/engraving parameters I have provided. The same installation process permits me to install the driver, and the plug in.

I have the installation file if any of you want me to email it to you. It is about 7.5 mb and is in a RAR file so you would need an unpacker program that handles RAR. There are lots of free ones you can download.

If you want that you can PM me your email. Or email me directly at d underscore somers at hotmail dot com.

[Mark Taylor2]

Brian,
It may not be a "sticker" as such. Look where the cable from the PC plugs in. It might also be "etched" into the circuit board in that it will either be copper or solder traces. The white cover might have to come off to see it. Mine is etched into the circuit board right next the connector. A different model I have, but in digitalland, the ID should be on the equipment.

[Brian Leavitt]

I'm so confused. You're saying RDworks works on your laser as well as the Macro plugin?
Is this another program you're using? What is CorelLaser?

Isn't Corellaser just a plugin or Macro for corel? You design all your work in corel and than hit the button in the toolbar and it automaticly imports your design into RDworks and from there you can send the job to the laser? At least that's what mine does.
It's just a bridge from corel into RDworks.

CorelLaser is separate from RDworks. The installation file for RDworks had options to install RDcam, as well as the Macros for Corel which would import the design file from Corel to RDcam. These macros have nothing to do with CorelLaser. It is a totally separate installation. CorelLaser is a plugin for Corel which, as far as I know, will send the engraving file directly to the laser. You can change the speed and power settings from within the CorelLaser popup window in CorelDraw.