Old Machines, Old Software, Dongles and Floppy Disks, Help!

[ccampbellsvc]

Hello all,

I'm a technician for a college, and have been tasked with trying to get two rather old pieces of machinery up and running.

We have a 1996 Novamill
download/file.php?mode=view&id=4812

And a 2004 Microrouter Pro
download/file.php?mode=view&id=4813

I have to admit, I have little idea on what I am doing in order to get these running To make matters more complicated, the XP PC's that were running these machines have burnt themselves out. Fortunately, we have all the original software disks, dongles, an registration floppy disks, along with necessary RS to parallel cables. Problem, the computers we have, including the one we have reinstalled the software onto, does not have a floppy drive, nor a parallel port.

The software we have is:

VR CNC Milling V2.25
Quick CAM 4D Milling V1.3
Quick CAM 3D Milling V2.2
VR Robot V1.1
VR Cim V1.1
MillCAM Designer
2D Design V1 + Denford Extention

I have purchased a parallel to usb extension cable, but alas the software still does not recognize the attached dongles. A floppy to usb drive is also on it's way in an attempt to locate the license files.

What I would like to know is, which of the software is actually necessary to run the machines? If I can get the lisences from either the dongles or floppy disks, what would I do next? And if I cannot get the licenses from these, what can I do?

Any help is greatly appreciated, and please do not fear that you would be patronising in anyway! And please ask if I have left vital information out.

All the best,

Charlotte

[Martin]

VR CNC Milling V2.25 Will run both machines but needs to be updated to the current version (2.32). You can download it from https://website.denford.ltd.uk/software- ... s-support/
Quick CAM 4D Milling V1.3 Converts 4D objects.
Quick CAM 3D Milling V2.2 Converts 3D objects.
VR Robot V1.1 Not required.
VR Cim V1.1 Not required.
MillCAM Designer Can be used to create 2D files.
2D Design V1 Denford Extension Can be used with Techsoft Version 1 to create 2D files.


The serial cables for both machines will need to connect to the computer via a COM port or a USB converter.

You may be interested in upgrading to our current VR CNC Milling version 5 which would require a new control card & connects via USB.

[ccampbellsvc]

Thank you for the reply.

I have managed to use the floppy to usb drive to find the license files. QuickCam 3D ws very happy with this and is running, but the others are still looking for the dongle?

Is there somewhere I need to put the flash.ini files in order for the software to locate it correctly?

I have downloaded the new version of VR CNC Milling. Same question applies about the licenses.

Picture attached is what I found on the floppies.

download/file.php?mode=view&id=4817

And apologies, I had meant RS to COMM port cables, not parallel.

Thank you again,

Charlotte

[ccampbellsvc]

Apologies I have found the thread about moving flash.ini codes into the correct areas.

Hopefully this works!

Charlotte

[ccampbellsvc]

Afternoon all,

I was wondering if anyone had been able to get VRMilling V2 up and running on Windows 7 32bit? The website says it has full compatibility, but I am struggling to get the software to read the flash.ini files.

I have located the flash.ini files on the floppy drives and used the 1021 PDF file to copy them in to the windmill.ini text file, but the software continues to ask for either the dongle or registration disks.

download/file.php?mode=view&id=4823

download/file.php?mode=view&id=4822

I have also tried all the various compatibility modes as suggested by tech support.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received!

All the best,

Charlotte

[TDIPower]

Hi, I haven't got a PC with Vr2 on at the moment and a bit snowed under, I think I have a win7 PC still, I know I def have an XP machine, If I get chance I will run an install but it has been a long time since I last did it. Martin is normally great help for some reason I seem to think the flashed info within windmill shouldn't have the line ini_file=windmill.ini, I think that was just a line to say where to put the licence line into.

Pete

[TDIPower]

Just had a look at a v2 licence file although not flashed onto VR milling, the Ini_File=Windmill.ini is the last line not the first eg

{FLASH}
Flash_User=xxxxxxxxxxx
Flash_Code=xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
Ini_File=Windmill.ini

I don't know if the order would make a difference but worth a try.

Pete

[Martin]

It may be worth checking that VRMilling version 2 is only installed once.

Try searching for the Windmill.ini file to check.

If you want I can check your licence at Denfords if you sned it accross.

Mironmonger@denford.co.uk

[ccampbellsvc]

Apologies for the late reply, I have been absent recently, and thank you so much for your help.

I will try swapping the bits of code around, see if this helps.

I have been emailing Graham from tech support too, he has suggested trying this:

"The only thing I can think of, is to modify the 2nd line in the FLASH listing and put and put the full path in to the Windmill .ini.

Ini_File=c:\************\windmill .ini"

So I will try this too!

If any of these work I will post back to here for future reference.

And I will email you Martin! Thank you,

All the best,

Charlotte

[MadeForThat]

Were you able to get this sorted? I had previously documented my attempts to get vr turning to run on win 10, but have not had much time to push it forward. The concept is the same for VR milling, and if you are at a loss, perhaps reading this will be of some help:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=5757

I have vr milling 2.something also, so if you are still I would recommend trying the "bit modify" thing that I mentioned before. Report back if that works, because there are a lot of people who would love to be able to do this!! (truth be told, it shocks me how much of this I had forgotten until i read through my write up, and that was just a few months ago... I remembered almost none of that... )