I’m suddenly getting the oddest startup behavior on path pilot. I’ve searched here and the rest of the web and no one else seems to have gotten this “Error setting up machine control communication method Ethernet” error popup. It comes up at startup. I hit OK, which is the only option, and then it goes to the machine setup page like it’s forgotten my machine. I reset up my machine and click save. 9/10 tries it just cycles right back to the error and the loop restarts. On random tries it will accept the new setup and actually start up and work as expected. Machine then runs flawlessly from there. And it doesn’t seem to have actually forgotten machine because my files, offsets, even prove effective diameter are all still there.
Version is 2.10.1. I’ve never had Ethernet set up on the machine. Maybe previous owner did? But I’ve had it for a good amount of time now and it never complained before.
Check the Ethernet cable. It’s probably got some corrosion on the end (look for the green). Depending on where it’s routed the wire could get coolant / oil in the pvc sheath.
You didn’t say what machine you have so this is all assumption. Newer machines use an ethernet connection between the controller and the main control board. As Harold mentioned, you could have a bad ethernet cable. However, don’t bother looking for corrosion, just replace it. Ethernet cables are flexible, but less so than most people think. In my time as a quasi-IT tech, more network related problems than not were solved by replacing what appeared to be a good ethernet cable. The wiring is actually fairly stiff so wrapping too tightly or constant flexing resulted in a broken wire internally.
The cables themselves are cheap enough that it’s an easy thing to try as an initial diagnostic step. If that doesn’t work, then I would suggest opening a ticket with Tormach, but you might find you need to reflash PP. Assuming ahead of time that might be the case, next time you are able to successfully boot up, I would run a backup of your tool tables in case a reflash is necessary.
I actually had checked that cable even though for some reason my mind wanted to think it was complaining about internet connectovity. Maybe because the Ethernet cable to the machine looks absolutely pristine in all ways. But it was in a pretty tight coil inside the machine with a twist tie to shorten its length. I’ll have to see if I have one of these relics sitting around somewhere to test with before ordering a new one. Thanks guys!
Switching up cables didn’t seem to do the trick. However, it wasn’t a new cable either. But I figured the likelihood of two cables, randomly back to back, both being bad was lowish. Thankfully, while testing I got the flash screen saying that the motherboard battery was dead. It didn’t stay, it was only there for a second before disappearing again. But that told me maybe it’s on its way out. My old machine did weird things prior to that battery dying too so I figured why not just replace it now in case?
Seems to be working now.
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Well, the fact it seems to be working after the battery change appears to have been a fluke. Started up fine 5 times in a row back to back. But came back the next day and it’s back to the same old tricks. Bought a brand new, high end, waterproof just in case, Ethernet cable. No luck. Same error. If I could lift this machine right now I’d throw it.
There’s always the nuclear option of reflashing PP completely. It’s possible something got corrupted in the installation that’s affecting the network driver or something in the communications protocol. Just make sure you backup your tool tables and programs first.
If that doesn’t work, might be time to look at a replacement network card (if it’s separate from the motherboard) or control board in the machine. If you happen to have someone near you with a similar machine you could try swapping parts to see if the problem follows one or the other as a diagnostic step.
770M with Brix controller. Talked to Tormach today. Tried the low bar next step which was plugging Ethernet directly into the board, not the side of the machine. No luck.
Next step will be to reflash the controller.
Reflashing led to some very nasty, red errors on the Particlone screen. Errors like “Failed to restore partition image” and what not. Once that happened I couldn’t even get it to load in the bad ways it was before. As luck would have it I had a spare SSD drive in the right size. Swapped. Used PP 2.0 USB to flash it. Appears to be working well now. Assuming that trend continues, it looks like the hard drive just wanted to die.
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