Firmware 2060 update

[nwflycaster]

I have never done anything via cnc before so I know I have a rather large learning curve to go through. My new CNC Shark Pro Plus arrived the other day and I have now assembled it as per the instructions. On page 5 of the instruction manual it says to do a firmware update, every time I try this I simply get the message "failed to connect...1". Do I skip this part and go on or keep or keep trying to figure it out.

Jeff

[jeb2cav]

Hi Jeff,

Your computer is not successfully talking to the control box. There could be a number of minor, yet not documented reasons for this. You may find an answer in this post - http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=260 - which I wrote a few weeks ago. If the document doesn't help, just post back to this topic and I'm sure others will have ideas to try out as well.

Bottom line - the firmware update didn't work because the computer doesn't recognize the control box.

[nwflycaster]

i'm guessing I will have to try the patch. I went out to costco when it arrived and purchased a Dell laptop specifically for use with the Shark. It has Windows 7 Home Premium, 6 GB of memory, and a 64 bit op system.

Jeff

[jeb2cav]

Well, if the basic panel didn't successfully install - maybe. In your case (Win 7) the driver install I've been told is a little more straight forward than it is for XP. However, are you sure the controller is actually powering up? Do you see a blue LED light on the controller when you plug in the usb cable to the computer? Does your computer indicate a usb device is connected? I had some failures early on until I discovered that the estop button actually can lock down and after rotating it to the unlock, the controller powered up and the computer indicated a usb connection. It's probably nothing major - the doc I wrote covers my experience - not all OS's, etc. But, I've been told a lot of folks have found it useful to read through. Again, if these steps don't resolve, post again.

The software and drivers have to install correctly before the computer will "talk" with the control box.

[nwflycaster]

Went out and checked the lights. I have a flashing blue, steady yellow, and no red whatsoever.

Jeff

[jeb2cav]

That's all good - open the basic panel and see if you can jog the gantry. If so, exit the basic panel and run the firmware updater routine.

[nwflycaster]

Well I got a little further, after doing a jog in all directions I tried the update again. I restarted my laptop and noted again flashing blue, steady yellow and now a steady red. When I tried the update this time it started then haulted giving me an error message of "access violation at address 00000000. Read of address 00000000." I will have to continue this tomorrow I must leave to get to an appointment.
I very much appreciate all of your help.

Thanks,
Jeff

[jeb2cav]

Hi Jeff - I would try running the update after opening the basic control panel, jogging, and closing basic control panel. I wouldn't reboot in between. That said, if you get the same kind of error message the next time your run the update, rerun the basic control panel install. It may be that installing the non-NextWave/Shark software after installing that last MS component resulted in a minor hiccup with the application.

If you still get this error when running the firmware update, I'd contact NextWave directly - or someone else may have some ideas on this as well. Good luck.

[acxsasx]

For just running the CNC, you have more than enough hardware in that laptop! I am using my Dell Atom, 1gb ram, 16gb ssd, windows xp which runs it just fine. I use another computer for the VCarve and Cut3D software.

Have others had success running the control panel on a x64 processor? Being a software developer myself, this kind of error leans me in that direction.

[tonydude]

Here is a manual for the shark and shark pro and plus updates. Very important materials.
http://www.nextwaveautomation.com/Downl ... on_1_4.pdf

http://www.nextwaveautomation.com/DownLoads.aspx