c.Herring

Hi Gregs and Curt, I have tried with a better supply and it works. When I turn down the voltage I hear the relay open at around 10.88V as expected. When this happens I do not see any red watchdog LED. So it must be the interlock circuit. When not connected, the supply from the amps provides around +10.9v and -11.1v. So it seems that when connecting to the PMAC, the load due to being connected to the sensors as well as analogue circuitry is sufficient to drop it low enough to trigger that interlock relay. The only reason I can think of why this happens on the new card and not the old card is perhaps the old card has a little wider tolerance. Does that sound likely? Or is there a possibility that a PMAC hardware fault may be causing the voltage drop? Thanks Chris

Hi Gregs, Yes the power supply reads only 11V always. I tried re-initalizing with $$$***, same problem. The IDC seems to be fine as when I reconnect the old PMAC, the problem is not there. Something interesting happened today however. When I came into the lab to test these these things, the problem only exists for 5-10 seconds on power-up and several seconds on power down of the amps (also, it appears to last less time with only 58, 59, 60 attached than it does with the full JMACH connected). It is looking like this is an issue with the amps. Approximately what voltage would 59 & 60 need to fall to in order to trigger then watchdog? Also, I rely on the HMFL flags for homing, and LIM flags for safety. If the voltage drops during operation, will these flags be affected? When the watchdog is tripped, does it kill any motion that may be running and open loops such that it will not continue when the watchdog de-activates moments later? Thanks Chris

Hi Gregs, I have isolated the problem to the analogue 15V supply. When both the +15v (pin 59) and -15v (pin 60) are connected (not individually) the sound starts. AGND is connected too of course. Pins 1-3 are not connected. Pin 4 is GND. I read a voltage of approximately ±11V over these pins (58-59 and 58-60) however. So it seems that this was sufficient for the old card, but not the new card. I am currently in the process of obtaining a power supply to provide sufficient voltage to test if this solves the problem, does this 1v discrepancy sound like a likely cause? Is there any other troubleshooting I may be able to do whilst I await a new power supply? Thanks Chris

Hi gregs, The watchdog LED is normally green and turns red when a watchdog occurs. I see, it is not green nor red. The I-vars should be OK. Does this happen when the amps are powered even if PMAC is not enabling any axes? Yes, as soon as the main power to the amps is enabled the noise starts. The emergency stop switch is held all the while - so no amps are actually active. A fairly likely culprit is conflicting supply voltage connections along with jumper settings. The 5V supply comes from the bus if PMAC is plugged in a computer in which case 5V must not be supplied on the JMACH connector. It is supplied on JMACH (pins 1-4) in a standalone setup. Which do you have? The PMAC card is connected in a PCI slot, as was the old one. Perhaps the old setup is not actually drawing from the bus and 5v is subsequently being applied via JMACH, I will investigate this. If I see 5v across 1-4 then that would indicate that this is the case? With your jumper settings, +/- 15V should be supplied on JMACH1 (J8) pins 58, 59, and 60. Note that the unmentioned E88 must also be off. I was unable to find E88, is it likely to be underneath the CPU board? I assumed as much, in which case it is most likely to be default (off). The diagram of the board is different to any that I could find in the manuals (ASSY No. 603588-103) Thanks, Chris Herring

Hi Gregs, Thanks for the reply. The watchdog LED is inactive, unless it is switching on for a very short period of time, the ticking is of fairly high frequency so perhaps this is possible? I look a long exposure picture and couldn't see any red in the LED. (The watchdog led is right next to the power led on the top board, correct?) The IC driver in the new board is 2803A, E1 and E2 are both configured to connect pins 1 and 2, which I believe is the correct configuration. Unfortunately the old board is currently inaccessible, is there a way to tell the type of driver via software? I have all the I-variables configured the same (aside from homing and Jog speed). Are there other variables that need to be configured that may cause this problem? I will try connecting each pin one at a time. Are there any pins that could cause damage if connected independently (like a voltage rail with no ground connected?) Which jumpers may be a likely culprit? I am looking through the documentation so see which jumpers may affect the 5V rail; I have E40-E43 all on. (although the card is not installed in PCI 0 slot, but that doesn't matter, does it?) E28 connects ping 2 and 3. E85 and E87 are OFF. E89 is ON and E90 connects pins 1 and 2. Regards, Chris

Hello all, I am working on a project upgrading a system from an old PMAC1 card to a newer version. I have very little information (read: none) on the wiring of the amps at the other side of the JMACH1 cable. I am operating under the assumption that the JMACH1 pins are consistent between versions - as such I assume that if I configure the the new card the same as the old one, there shouldn't be a problem. (please, correct me if I am wrong). I have connected the new card, however when I power up the amps, a loud buzzing sound comes from the back of the PMAC card. Similar to a fan spinning with an obstruction. I am not sure what could be the cause of this. Is it likely to be mis-configured jumpers? It is a very concerning noise. OLD PMAC CARD: VERSION: 1.16D TYPE: PMAC1, ISA/VME, FLASH, PID, CLK X3 NEW PMAC CARD: VERSION: 1.17C TYPE: PMAC1, ISA/VME, FLASH, PID, CLK X2 Regards, Chris Herring