Looking for JobControl 6 for Trotec Speedy 100 8003

[Valentin Degenhardt]

Hello Everyone.
I got a faulty Trotec Speedy 100 8003 for cheap and was able to get it working again.
Unfortunately the laser came without software, the previous owner said he used JobControl 6.4.5
I asked Trotec for help, but unfortunately they cannot provide such an old version.

Does somebody maybe have the software lying around
I think any Version of JobControl 6 would work.

Thanks in advance
Valentin

[Mike Null]

I would try newer version of Job Control. I'd be surprised if you found a version that old as there wouldn't be much need to keep it.

The latest version won't install unless there's a prior version already installed. You might find somebody at Trotec Austria who could help you.

[Valentin Degenhardt]

Thanks for the tip, but i dont think a newer version will work. The laser is from 2002 and has only a parallel port.
I read somewhere, that the mainboards with parallel port will only work with version 6.

[Chase Williams]

I have a copy of JC 6.4.5, however I know from experience you can get a parallel machine to JC10 and I would highly recommend upgrading to JC10 over 6. Trotec even recommended it over USB as it was incredibly stable. You do need a high end serial to usb converter (it makes a difference really). Also dont just assume that you dont have USB because you cannot see it on the back. I had a 2002 or 2003 Speedy II (300) that i thought was only parallel until i looked over the motherboard one day and noticed there was usb, just no cutout on the back. PM me if you need the old JC

[Chase Williams]

I have a copy of JC 6.4.5, however I know from experience you can get a parallel machine to JC10 and I would highly recommend upgrading to JC10 over 6. Trotec even recommended it over USB as it was incredibly stable. You do need a high end serial to usb converter (it makes a difference really). Also dont just assume that you dont have USB because you cannot see it on the back. I had a 2002 or 2003 Speedy II (300) that i thought was only parallel until i looked over the motherboard one day and noticed there was usb, just no cutout on the back. PM me if you need the old JC

Just so you dont accidentally brick your machine the upgrade process should look like this 6.x -> 6.4.5 -> 9.4.4 -> 10.7.1 (max level for parallel only). I believe you will have to contact Trotec if you want to get to v10 as they will charge you for the v10 license but have to issue a v9 license as well (free) just to get the upgrade completed.

[Mark Sipes]

Hello Everyone.
I got a faulty Trotec Speedy 100 8003 for cheap and was able to get it working again.
Unfortunately the laser came without software, the previous owner said he used JobControl 6.4.5
I asked Trotec for help, but unfortunately they cannot provide such an old version.

Does somebody maybe have the software lying around
I think any Version of JobControl 6 would work.

Thanks in advance
Valentin

How is your effort to get the 8003 up and running again?

I have a Speedy 100 I purchased in 2000. The only port I have to the machine is the old 25 pin Serial port I am able to run Win XP with JC 6.3.1 with no problems.


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[Valentin Degenhardt]

Chase was really nice and did send me the copy of JC.
Unfortunately I am not able to connect to the laser via serial, i always get the error code 201, which means that no connection can be established.
But i am certain that my PC or the cable is the problem, because i am also not able to connect to another device i have lying around via serial.
I didnt work with serial connections before, so this is kinda new to me.

So now i am currently stuck at figuring this out . I dont have that much time, so my progress is slow

But I am sure that I will get the laser up and running

[Mark Sipes]

Chase was really nice and did send me the copy of JC.
Unfortunately I am not able to connect to the laser via serial, i always get the error code 201, which means that no connection can be established.
But i am certain that my PC or the cable is the problem, because i am also not able to connect to another device i have lying around via serial.
I didnt work with serial connections before, so this is kinda new to me.

So now i am currently stuck at figuring this out . I dont have that much time, so my progress is slow

But I am sure that I will get the laser up and running

When you installed the JC software did you load the TROTEC Engraver Printer Driver It will show up in the printer files as a local port.


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[Thomas Dudek]

I just acquired a Trotec 8003 C25 for cheap in very good mechanical condition. However having a big communication issue with it. Machine has a 25-pin serial port on back. Have what appears to be original cable and 25/9-pin adapter. Get a -201 error when in Job Control (6.4.5). Have driver on a seperate Windows XP PC loaded properly. What Com1 port setting are needed for this engraver? What is the serial port (9-pin) that is on the mainboard of the engraver for? I suspect firmware. Trotec isn't much help as this is such an old machine (but was able to get the older JC and an INI file from them since we have a Speedy300Flexx already).

There is also a grey wire dangling off the back of the machine that I have not found what it is for. I suspect a compressor? It has 4 pin Molex plug with 3 conductors used. When machine is powered up flashes most of its LED's and beeps about once per second - I want to link to Job Control to find out the exact state the machine is in so I can hopefully address what's wrong. But for now I am stuck.

I have the operators manual and service manual, and neither are an assist in getting thsi thing running.

[Valentin Degenhardt]

I couldnt get the Laser running, so i dont know if I can help you with your Problems .
I suspect mine has a broken Serial Port.
The Molex plug is for controlling a compatible filter/exhaust.

Does your machine reference? (Are the axis moving at startup to the upper left corner?)
If not maybe a "door open sensor" isnt closing properly.
The axis will only move if the lis, the right door and the front door are closed.
On every door are two sensors.
I think if they arent all closed your machine will beep like you described.

[Thomas Dudek]

The machine attempts to "home" (reference), but the table itself does not move at all from the bottom (the gantry will home when manually moved to the center of its travel before powering up). When it arrives at the back left corner, it is at that point I get the flashing LED's and beeping.

I just found out I have some faulty magnetic switches on the top and front doors (3 out of the 4 were bad) that I just checked on a wild guess. That may be contributing to my problem, but I still can't communicate with the thing yet in Job Control (still get the 201 error).

Edit: Since I ordered new sensors from Amazon, I thought I would short out the wires to each of those 4 switch locations (the 2 from the right door were fine) in order to see what happens. Well, nothing changed. So there must be some issue with the laser itself and/or the electronics (which I am dreading). If I didn't have a newer Trotec I never would have bought this one off of E-Bay. Oh well. I have some serial port testers coming that may shed some light on things, I don't know. The saga continues...

[Chase Williams]

You can override the hall sensors if you go to the motherboard and I believe it’s the purple wires at the bottom (closest to you) that you can put a jumper in-between. Keep in mind this isn’t the safest route and we don’t do it or recommend it but it will override the sensors. Have you checked that the z axis is spinning freely by manually rotating it? It should have a belt connecting the left and right sides. It’s also possible that someone the z-trigger switch is hit and you are in a loop of error, the fix for it is to manually move the z-axis to where the switch in question is no longer triggered.

[Thomas Dudek]

Thank you. I will try that. Do you know the com port settings that this engraver needs by chance? I have used the standard 9600, 8, none,1,none (and I have tried "hardware" flow control too to no avail).

Edit: I DID find that the table was down too far - past the bottom limit switch for some reason. I disassembled the left side just in case there were switches there (there were none). So I just have to put it all back together and test. I have a feeling this machine may have other issues, but I've been surprised before (I have a few older rotary engraving machines I have resurrected in the past that run well yet today).

Update: The limit switch did the trick for getting rid of my flashing lights and beeping. Now I just need to communicate with the engraver somehow (still getting error 201).

[Chase Williams]

Thank you. I will try that. Do you know the com port settings that this engraver needs by chance? I have used the standard 9600, 8, none,1,none (and I have tried "hardware" flow control too to no avail).

Edit: I DID find that the table was down too far - past the bottom limit switch for some reason. I disassembled the left side just in case there were switches there (there were none). So I just have to put it all back together and test. I have a feeling this machine may have other issues, but I've been surprised before (I have a few older rotary engraving machines I have resurrected in the past that run well yet today).

Update: The limit switch did the trick for getting rid of my flashing lights and beeping. Now I just need to communicate with the engraver somehow (still getting error 201).

What year is the machine, I know at least part of year 2003 and everything past then has a motherboard with a USB, but the cutout on the back panel isnt necessarily there for the USB plug-in. I highly recommend you look to see if there is a USB even though there may not be a cutout to allow you to plugin to. If it has USB it can run Ruby, which again i highly recommend, but be careful about upgrading the firmware as going from JC6 to JC11 firmware all at once isnt good. I think you have to go from v6 -> v9 -> v11. As for the serial connection, check some of my previous posts as I know I address a specific USB to serial converter/controller that did a really good job as the cheap ones didnt do great. I cant remember the details on the serial specific stuff but you should beable to tell which comm port by going to device manager and tracking down what is what, for the baud rate, its got to be in an old manual somewhere.

[Thomas Dudek]

Machine is from 2001. No usb on mainboard - just a 9-pin serial port (for doing firmware upgrade?). I have found nothing in either the user manual for this machine, nor the service manual, regarding COM port settings (which I find very odd - every other manual for other pieces of equipment I have make mention of it, but not Trotec apparently). I still have the error 201 (can't communicate with engraver).