Denford Software & Machines

Following on from my previous problems...

I have installed the original floppy discs onto a different computer that has two serial ports.

When I run Fanucm, the message "Security key not connected" is shown.

I do not know what this means for a start, let alome how to fix it.

I have the dongle inserted. I have not checked the BIOS to see if the parallel port is correctly configured (as I read on this forum somewhere, because I don't know if I have to yet)

I have searched the forum and it states somewhere to open DRIGHTS. I opened it and a DOS window opened and closed immediatley. So I don't know what that meant.

Any ideas?

thanks

It sounds like you're running from windows ? XP ? 98 ?... run cmd (command prompt) and then run drights.exe to keep the results in the cmd window visible.
You may have to put the full path to the .exe in eg c:\denford\drights.exe

Yes, now trying to run from windows XP.

Will try as you suggest.

many thanks

Right, did that and it worked a treat thanks.

Said dongle not detected (even though I have it shoved hard into the back).

I read on this forum somewhere that this could mean the parallel port is not configured correctly or something and I had to go into the BIOS.

Would you be able to explain what I do once I get into the BIOS, please?

thanks if you can.
I really appreciate the help.

If a dongle is not recognised. In BIOS try changing the PARALLEL port to an ECP (Enhanced Capabilities Port ).

There are also some other things to try here:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16&hilit=ecp

thanks again guys.

Right, I got in and found that the parallel port was on SSP (I think).
The options I could change it too were, EPP1.7, ECPEPP1.7 OR ECP. So I went with ECP. I will test the machine to see if it works in a moment.
PS when I chose the ECP option, another option opened below it called "ECP mode, use DM3" or use dma1.

I chose DMA 3 for now.

will let you know how I get on.

Many thanks

Ok, did the above and still got the error message.

Feel like I am making progress, but am I?

See attached word doc with screen prints.

Thanks if you can help.

Using Windows 98

When you run drights you should see something like this screen - your screenshot appears to be running fanucsmd

Are you saying the dongle runs Mill Cam Designer & not Fanucm?

If so then the dongle is working correctly but may never have been programed for Fanucm?

From what I can see Fanucm is offline software. Is this what you are wanting. I presume the correct software for the machine is Fanucsmd.

Martin wrote:Are you saying the dongle runs Mill Cam Designer & not Fanucm?

If so then the dongle is working correctly but may never have been programed for Fanucm?

From what I can see Fanucm is offline software. Is this what you are wanting. I presume the correct software for the machine is Fanucsmd.

Thanks for the reply Martin,
I am a novice with CNC and feel really dumb (but honestly I'm not; at least not with other things - I'm just stumbling with something new to me). I bought the machine with the computer (1 serial port), all the floppy discs, etc.

Looks like it has only seen a few hours use.

I am just trying to figure out how to work the machine.

I though I had learnt:
Mill Cam designer designs the project and saves it as G-code.
This has to be opened by the Desktop tutor (hence two serial ports required).
To get things running, Fanucm needs to be run and then the G-code file (say a file called abc.fnc) opened via the Desktop tutor. The manual for NovaMill that someone kindly pointed me to on this forum led me to believe that.

???
How am I doing?

The stumbling block is that the original computer only had one serial port so I got another 2 computers with 2 ports and running windows 98 on one and windows XP on the other, I get "security key not connected" with both machines. I had to jump the pins on the motherboards to reset the password on the BIOS and re-install windows 98 and win XP and ensure the parallel port was set to ECP.

At the moment, I don't know if any of what I have bought works.
The milling machine locks the door when it is powered up and I think I heard a few motor noises from within the cabinet, but for all I know I could have bought a brand new looking piece of scrap metal.

That would be a real shame because I was looking forward to doing some creative stuff that my manual machine and my skill won't do.

I still have to re-run Drights because it is clear from my screen shots that I failed to do that, but as I say the dongle works for MillCam Designer - I am assuming from the posts on here that "Security Key not Connected" means dongle not recognised my Fanucm? Or is "security key" a physical key, or is it a piece of software (the floppy discs have all sorts of certificates in the folders, but they don't do anything when I click on them)

Thanks if anyone can show me the error of my ways or help,
Cheers
Tim

Denford Admin wrote:When you run drights you should see something like this screen - your screenshot appears to be running fanucsmd

Thanks for that.
You are right of course, I didn't run it at all.

I will go back and run it now that I have set parallel port to ECP and see what Drights shows me.

thanks

How am I doing?

That's all correct.

As far as I know (never used the DOS s/w myself), if the machine is connected correcctly and powered up then the DOS CNC software will work whether there is a dongle present or not.

Can you get the original PC to connect to the machine ? (I presume this was working when bought?)
Although, I can't understand why it came with a Desktop Tutor but only one serial port on the PC

I think you should concentrate on getting the s/w to connect to the machine - you will probably have to study the info on .opt and .go files in order to configure the ports etc..
eg:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=58
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2289

Thanks again.

No, when purchased it had not been used for 10 years but was sitting in a corner looking brand new (all together with computer but no leads plugged in).

Guessing that computer was not the one that had it running even though all software was on it and it came with original floppy discs.

Thanks for links - will have a rummage.

This post is the closest to the situation that I am facing. But still does not solve my issue. I posted a new topic - viewtopic.php?f=45&t=423 ; What is the best path forward?

I think the machine I have has the original DOS PC. It has two folders \DENFORD and \STARMILL and seems like the programs are pretty much the same. The autoexec.bat runs STARMILL.APP from the \STARMILL folder. Wierd thing is that it started out in simulation mode couple times and when I closed the application and started I got the security key error and then it would not go away.

I don't have the original disks. There is one disk that does not read from the DOS prompt. Currently I don't have an easy way to copy the software downloaded from the forum to be added into the DOS PC.

Thanks.