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Graig Davis
12-28-2015, 12:40 AM
Hi, I just purchased one of the 50w Chinese lasers. It showed up in great shape and was easy to get up and running. Now I'm having some issues getting the laser to communicate with my computer or a USB with the files on it.

I'm using a Macbook Pro with Windows 7 in bootcamp and using RDworks V8. I downloaded this from a link that I had to ask for.

I have noticed that the screen on my laser does not look like many of yours. (I have been searching and reading like crazy in these forums for days). From what I have seen it should be 4 lines of text, I have a much more complex screen all in Chinese. (see picture below)

Is there a USB key that was supposed to come with my laser that helps it communicate with the computer? I have read a few things to that effect.


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David Somers
12-28-2015, 1:37 AM
Evening Graig!

There is a setting you can access from that LCD that will let you change the language for the display. Chinese is fun but I am guessing you may not be interested in learning to read simplified Chinese? <silly grin>

So....to the right of the LCD display there is a set of arrows with a key labeled Z/U in the center>
Press ZU once. You will get a menu on the left half of the screen. There will be two columns of selections. In Chinese of course.
You want to use the down arrows to scroll to the 9th line which I think will be the top entry in the second column.
That is the language selection.
Press Enter.
Scroll to the 3rd line.
Press Enter.
That should give you English and the screen will change and go to the main screen right away.

Regarding connecting to the machine. At least on mine, I cannot simply plug in a USB thumbdrive. That is not enabled for reasons unknown to me. You want to have your computer plugged into it with a USB port. There is going to be a USB port that is specifically for use with thumb drives, and one specifically for use with a computer. Hopefully they are labeled?

Plug that in with your computer on and then install RDworks. In the installation screen there is an option to install the USB driver. Do that before you install the actual software. And if you intend to use Corel Draw directly with the machine you will want to install the Corel plug in too. If you do not get a connection to the machine after that reboot and see if you get it then. You should. I will check your post during the day Monday and see how you are doing.

If you wouldnt mind, put your machine name, bed size and tube size in your signature here. That is helpful to folks trying to answer your questions. Thanks for the photo. That let me know we have the same controller most likely.

Dave

Graig Davis
12-28-2015, 2:30 PM
David, thank you! I was able to get the screen to English. I plugged into the top port and installed. It still did not connect. So I'm restarting. Of course Windows has 7 updates so I have to wait until they are all done.

Do you know what USB port is the right one for the computer? One says USB interface, the bottom one says USB socket.

Bill Carruthers
12-28-2015, 3:27 PM
David, thank you! I was able to get the screen to English. I plugged into the top port and installed. It still did not connect. So I'm restarting. Of course Windows has 7 updates so I have to wait until they are all done.

Do you know what USB port is the right one for the computer? One says USB interface, the bottom one says USB socket.
Graig - The USB interface is the one to use if you want to control the machine from computer - The one labelled Port or Socket is for a flash drive with files on it that you can then run from the laser itself- But I find it's a bit fiddly most of time and generally use the interface.

David Somers
12-28-2015, 3:57 PM
Graig,

This will vary with the manufacturer. On my laser they labeled the USB ports as UDisk and PC. The UDisk port is not active. The PC port is and is what I connect the PC too.

Try opening RDWorks and look in the bottom right corner of the screen. See if your USB port shows USB:Auto like mine does in the screen shot below.
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Graig Davis
12-28-2015, 4:13 PM
Thanks guys, as soon as I can get away from the kids and back to the laser I'll give it another try.

As for the Machine name, I know these have a bunch of different names but are the same thing. I'm not sure what to call it exactly.

David Somers
12-28-2015, 4:33 PM
No worries Graig. I was just pointing out that this controller is used by many Chinese manufacturers and they put their own spin on their machines.
Since you have kinds, it should be possible to put that sort of key lock on the unit if you wanted. Just for their safety. I dont have kids, but I like the key because I can easily turn off the tube and dry run a job without actually firing. There are other ways to do that, but the key is pretty handy.

If you are interested I will look and see what they attaching to on the circuit board and get back to you.

Also, I double checked and it is the lower USB port on my machine that connects a computer. Labeled PC of course. But that setup is completely up to the manufacturer. Wouldnt surprise me to have this vary company to company.


Dave

Graig Davis
12-28-2015, 5:28 PM
Okay, when I try and install the USB I get the first two windows I attached pictures of below. I have no idea what they mean. But I'm assuming they are errors. Then the last two pictures are the settings and what happens when I click Start.


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Jerome Stanek
12-28-2015, 6:01 PM
When you installed the software did you install it in english. Also you need to install the usb drivers

David Somers
12-28-2015, 6:06 PM
Graig,

Communications Error is what I usually see when I have plugged the USB Cable into the wrong port on the laser. Or if I don't have it plugged into my computer but not the laser. I get those first two errors every time I install the software.

Try this.

When you run the setup file for RDWorks dont double click it to start it. Instead, right click it and choose Run as Administrator. Then go through all the steps.

Dave

Keith Sherwin
12-29-2015, 10:41 AM
Craig,
I had similar problems installing, but in the end, this is what worked for me: I had the USB cable hooked up to the Engraver & Computer, the Engraver powered ON, then I installed the USB driver, then installed RDWorks V8.01.12 in English with inches. It then worked with the USB Auto setting (checked the way you did it and yes Chinese appears) but eventually in that process it does say connected. After that, I did a read of the machine and saved those settings as Original. Then changed the settings in User to the required settings, sent to the machine and also saved as Setting 2. I had to make changes to the user settings to allow the rotary to function properly - and that is quite a trick in "Simplified Chinese" as that was how my instructions were sent! I would put the name of the machine if I had it but I am not sure Alan the vendpoor has told me. I am in Dispute Resolution with AliExpress as the vendor did not supply what I had ordered (RECI tube, Auto Focus, 900 mm/s speed). One learns.

Jerome Stanek
12-29-2015, 11:22 AM
You have 2 things going against you the Chinese and an apple computer. Even though you are running boot camp it still is an apple and some things don't play well with them.

David Somers
12-29-2015, 1:50 PM
Morning Jerome!

Obviously this is may not apply to all machines. But I have never had problems over the years connecting a Bootcamp Windows installation to anything via USB, let alone my laser since I got it. For whatever that statement is worth. <grin>

Graig Davis
12-29-2015, 2:03 PM
Okay great news!! Its communicating! Now to figure out why its not burning the whole thing and why it's not consistent. I'm assuming I just need to spend some quality time with the manual on how to run the program. I also need to get the mirrors aligned.

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Keith Sherwin
12-29-2015, 2:54 PM
Craig, There is a great series of videos on You Tube from a guy in Great Britain called "RDWorks Learning Lab" 01 is the start, but there is some stuff from before the beginning!! So do a search. He has about 35 videos on RD Works (some are multi-part) and I have found it to be quite informative. I watched them before I got my POS Machine and it helped a lot.

Matt McCoy
12-29-2015, 5:24 PM
Okay great news!! Its communicating! Now to figure out why its not burning the whole thing and why it's not consistent. I'm assuming I just need to spend some quality time with the manual on how to run the program. I also need to get the mirrors aligned.

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I would align the mirrors before doing anything else.

Jeff Body
12-29-2015, 5:42 PM
Craig,
I had similar problems installing, but in the end, this is what worked for me: I had the USB cable hooked up to the Engraver & Computer, the Engraver powered ON, then I installed the USB driver, then installed RDWorks V8.01.12 in English with inches. It then worked with the USB Auto setting (checked the way you did it and yes Chinese appears) but eventually in that process it does say connected. After that, I did a read of the machine and saved those settings as Original. Then changed the settings in User to the required settings, sent to the machine and also saved as Setting 2. I had to make changes to the user settings to allow the rotary to function properly - and that is quite a trick in "Simplified Chinese" as that was how my instructions were sent! I would put the name of the machine if I had it but I am not sure Alan the vendpoor has told me. I am in Dispute Resolution with AliExpress as the vendor did not supply what I had ordered (RECI tube, Auto Focus, 900 mm/s speed). One learns.

Sorry to high jack this thread but how did you get it to instill with inchs. My RDworks is in english but all the measurements are still metrics.
Just to clearify the rulers are all in mm as well is the size of the objects.

David Somers
12-29-2015, 6:19 PM
Graig,

Definitely do the mirror alignment. And also, check your table. Be sure it is absolutely squared with the gantry for each corner. Look at the center too for giggles. And then, at some point due a focal length test. Do a search on the forum and you will see how to do that. Then you can be sure whatever you are using to measure the distance from the tip of the lens cone to the surface of what you are burning is spot on.

Dave