Denford Software & Machines

Hi,
We are trying to get a mirac lathe running again, however the auto toolchanger flatly refuses to operate. Everything else on the machine works. The software used is VR Turning and the machine parameter in the software is set to 2. Inputting a tool change command changes the tool number in the software. I've attached an image of the machine info plate. Any help would be appreciated.

It should be fitted with a DM8 toolpost so needs to be set to 2.

If you are trying to perform manual toolchanges then you need to be in Auto.

What happens when you try a toolchange within a program ?
It should hangup and timeout if you have the wrong toolpost type selected.
If it just tells you to change the tool and press OK, then the toolpost is being read as 0 (manual toolchange)

When run in auto mode as continuous the tool change works perfectly, so at least we know it's working. However, running the same program in single step mode, the tool changer doesn't make any attempt to rotate. The egg timer comes on for a few seconds, then the information in the window updates to the requested tool and offset number. There is no time out error. This is also the same in MDI mode. Switching back to run in continuous mode changes the tool perfectly and updates the incorrect tool number and offset to the correct number.

Can you just confirm you are using VR Turning v1.28 ? Then we can try to replicate it here.
Thanks

The version of VRTurning we have is 1.2.2.222

Ok, that's really old now.
In effect it's release 2 and we are currently on release 28.

Try the latest from here:
https://website.denford.ltd.uk/index.php ... -downloads

I tried to find the licence in vrturning on the machine, but couldn't find anything, I am therefore unable to try the new version. Am I right in thinking this is usually the flash code in the vrturning.ini file? Is it possible that the licence is hard coded into the exe file in this version?

The computer that was originally with the machine was bolted to the underside of the table the mirac sits on. We copied the contents of the denford folder in program files to the new computer and I was wondering if the computer and machine were supplied pre-installed as we cannot find any disks relating to this machine other than Lathe Cam Designer. This disk and all the other software relating to the other machines are stored in one place, so it seems odd that there is no licence disk and no sign of a licence code in the installation.

It's possible the computer had a hardware dongle fitted to the parallel port on the original PC.
If not then the vrturn.ini will have a [FLASH] section in it.
There have never been any hard-coded licenses in the .exe files

Upgraded to 1.28 and everything is working correctly. Thanks for the help.

You were right .ini did have a [FLASH] section but it was at the bottom of the page. We expected to find it at the top so over looked it.