Hi guys. Haven’t used my 1100MX for a while. Turned it on and it updates Pathpilot but also Dropbox says it needs to be updated. When I select Update it opens a window and asks me to select the correct version of Dropbox, based on Linux distribution name (Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian) and 64 or 32-bit. Otherwise it says to Compile from source. Can anyone provide some advice from experience on what I need to do? I could just go down the Compile from source route, but nervous to do that given the limited access to the Linux system and my knowledge. Thought best to ask here first. Thanks, Nick.
@Nicholas_Jarmany - welcome to the Tormach user forums and thanks for posting!
Unfortunately it looks like Dropbox just dropped support for the version of Linux on which PathPilot runs. I just verified this myself by trying a fresh install on a new PathPilot computer. We will look into the issue and see what we can do to get things running again.
In the meantime you have two options to wirelessly transfer files from your CAD/CAM computer to your PathPilot controller:
PathPilot hub (hub.pathpilot.com) allows you to transfer files, back files up, and will even simulate your machine in a web browser if you want to preview code on your CAD/CAM computer before running it on your machine. This is our recommended solution - it’s easy and offers a lot of extras. Many people use it along with ADMIN SETTINGS BACKUP and ADMIN SETTINGS RESTORE to completely simulate their machine up on the cloud, including tool table, work offsets, etc.
The other option is to add the PathPilot controller to your local area network. This one is a little trickier and may require some Windows networking skills, but would allow you, for example, to post your G-code files directly to the PathPilot controller. More information on this is in the attached tech doc.
TD10345_Networking_PathPilot_0717A.pdf (882.8 KB)
I hope we can get Dropbox back online soon, but if not I hope these two alternatives work for you. Thank you for letting us know about the DB issue!
Thanks Daniel. It’s not a burning issue for me, but sounds like more of a pain for you guys. I am sure you will come up with a solution. Your alternatives, plus the ubiquitous key, will do fine in the meantime. Best wishes, Nick
@Rogge
I currently use the 2nd option where PathPilot Controller storage is mapped as a Network Drive
and this works great -except for a few issues
First and the biggest pain is that of course the machine must be on and connected to be able to access the drive and the .nc files - many days I am not machining but designing and working on toolpaths, so it’s a pain to have to have the machine running just to access the files -
I have not used dropbox - perhaps I should when the issues that you mentioned are resolved
however, is there any change at all that Tormach could implement a connection to OneDrive in the same manner as Dropbox? - I think you would agree that many people have a OneDrive account that comes with their Office 365 subscription and if made available would be widely used.
the only other issue I struggle with is backing up the PP drive - I really need to do this daily
thanks - I hope you consider it
Ed
Ed, I think the problem here is that Pathpilot is running on a pretty old version of the Linux kernel. Hence the issue with Dropbox support - they have dropped support for this old kernel version. I haven’t checked but I suspect the same issue would apply to OneDrive or anything similar. Tormach may be forced to consider implementing a newer kernel version for future releases of Pathpilot. Bit of a pain for them, as probably they have the thinking processes of “if it’s not broken don’t fix it”. However, when it’s a case of implementing third party applications they may have no choice.
Nick
@Nicholas_Jarmany - you are absolutely correct. It’s not just a matter of “if it’s not broken”, it’s also a matter of the challenges our customers face updating a controller to a new OS. The last time we did this (PathPilot 1.x → PathPilot 2.x) we shipped USB sticks to customers and they had to wipe out everything on their file system with a totally fresh operating system. There were plenty of tech support and customer headaches involved with this. For these reasons we really try to stick with a Linux version for as long as possible.
We’ve been working on a different method where we partition the hard drive into 3 sections - two for operating systems, one for user data like G code files, machine settings, etc. This would allow a user to download and install a newer OS while using the old OS, and also to revert if something happens during the install. Also their data would live through the upgrade too. The next time we do an OS upgrade we hope to be able to roll this out. Other CNC companies don’t have to worry about this stuff because they don’t allow users to update any part of their controls - they are frozen at the time of purchase.
Daniel, I can completely understand your comments. You have my best wishes in finding a solution that is relatively pain free for everyone. These issues absorb huge amounts of resources for no real gain for anyone. Good luck!
Thanks for both of your quick responses
Ed
https://tormach.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/IMK/pages/3261726763/Dropbox+Browser+Update+Fix Take a look at this knowledge base article! Replacing Chrome with Firefox should allow DropBox to work again.
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I tried to run this update today and after loaded the new Firefox file, I don’t have anything under Admin Browser to configure it. When I put Admin Browser in the midi line it does not return a not found like other words, it just does nothing. I am running v10.1 so I also tried the last step in the instructions, deleted the line, after reloading dropbox. Got it all the way to a in order to set up this computer go to this link, but with no browser I can’t go there. Really would like to get this syncing Dropbox again. Thanks for any insight.