Just taking a guess at this one.? I assume your talking about the
'square' not showing up on your board?
By chance do you have that layer turned off.? As shown in the pic
below, (I'm still using V6.2 but should be simular), click on the layer
display icon as shown by the left arrow to show all the layers and then
scroll down to layer 46 as shown by the right arrow and make sure the
layer box is colored in as shown and not with a white background as shown
by layer 47.
HTH
Country
At 8/7/2021 11:40 AM, R Blackman wrote:
hello to group
I have searched the message data base but can't figure out an
answer.
I draw a square using green layer 46,? EAGLE 7.3
I run pcbgcode 3.6.2.4 with milling box checked
I get nothing on the top or bottom milling screens.
simple fix? any help much appreciated
Richard B
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hello to group
I have searched the message data base but can't figure out an answer.
I draw a square using green layer 46,? EAGLE 7.3
I run pcbgcode 3.6.2.4 with milling box checked
I get nothing on the top or bottom milling screens.
simple fix? any help much appreciated
Richard B
|
Hi John, thanks for your suggestions /comments, you will be pleased to know I have eventually solved the problem though not without some hiccups along the way.? I checked the toolpath in 3D and it appeared OK, all the cutting paths were at the specified depth.? To my shame I couldn't at the time find the download link on this website so eventually found it on git_hub!!
Part way through my investigation the "ulp" complained it couldn't find java.exe (I presume javaw.exe had got lost too??), so latest java.exe was downloaded and sanity restored.? A plus was that for the first time the inbuilt previews worked, so I guess java.exe had been missing for years? -? very disturbing!!
Had to reset all the pcb-gcode settings as they now appeared as defaults with BOTH etch files now showing errors!!??? OMG what have I broken now ??? Finally resorted to trial and error adjustment of both Eagle design rules and pcbgcode setting and machine settings and many hours later I have eventually found values for all parameters that produce? apparently good gcode files.?? Happy to share these once proven by milling a board.
Regards,
Peter.
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So as I understand it: - The white/cyan lines are actual cutting? - The red lines are dry haul?
Have you rotated the board to see its third dimension? I just wonder if some of the white lines are above the board?
Did the pcb-gcode you have come from?the files section on this website?
Regards,
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Update on this problem :-
1)?? Problem exists on all versions of Eagle installed (7.7.0 , 9.6.0 and 9.6.2)
2)?? Problem only appears if "Top stencil" is run with Bottom outlines"
3) ? Downloaded a fresh copy of pcb-gcode and used new copy of pcb-gcode.ulp.? Problem still present.
Attempted to run new copy but opening setup screen was incorrect and when run it complained about not finding javaw.exe.? Puzzled by this and dont know where to look for configuration - couldn't find the file anyway even though my working copy of pcb-gcode runs fine!!? Another mystery to solve.
I've attached a number of screenshots the illustrate the problem - hope they help clarify the problem.? All parameters of pcb-gcode were left unchanged for all test screenshots, and are identical to those used for CNC machine operation
<Board.jpg><Board_B.jpg><Bottom_etch_bad.jpg><Bottom_etch_good.jpg><bottom_etch_magnified.jpg><Pcbgcode_settings.jpg><Stencil.jpg><Top_etch.jpg>
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Update on this problem :-
1)?? Problem exists on all versions of Eagle installed (7.7.0 , 9.6.0 and 9.6.2)
2)?? Problem only appears if "Top stencil" is run with Bottom outlines"
3) ? Downloaded a fresh copy of pcb-gcode and used new copy of pcb-gcode.ulp.? Problem still present.
Attempted to run new copy but opening setup screen was incorrect and when run it complained about not finding javaw.exe.? Puzzled by this and dont know where to look for configuration - couldn't find the file anyway even though my working copy of pcb-gcode runs fine!!? Another mystery to solve.
I've attached a number of screenshots the illustrate the problem - hope they help clarify the problem.? All parameters of pcb-gcode were left unchanged for all test screenshots, and are identical to those used for CNC machine operation
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Double sided board etch file problems
#2-layer
I have a newly designed circuit board using mainly SMD components with just? few through hole connectors as well.? The board is double sided to allow connection to the TH components, and 1/32" rivets provide connections between top and bottom layers.? Eagle revision is 9.6.2.
Running "pcb-gcode" with options set for top mill and stencil and both top and bottom outlines,? generated all the top layer files correctly. However the bottom outline is totally garbled!!.?? After much tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth, I found that a proper bottom etch file was only generated if all the top layer options are unticked leaving just bottom layer outline set.? So the workaround is to generate all top layer files first, then run a separate pass for just the bottom etch file.
I've no idea if this problem is unique to my setup or if it is caused by some "feature" of the latest Eagle revision.?
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Re: #eagle #pcbgcode PCB-Gcode Setup window running off screen
#eagle
#pcbgcode
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Re: pcb-gcode viewer is not starting in freebsd/wine environment
#pcbgcode
#viewer
Well, oldies but goldies. The system is shown on that hackaday link. So I would better start programming some viewer thing or adapt something from EMC2/linuxCNC.
So I understand - viewer does not read gcode files.
I configured wine so when it runs some windows program, it opens a desktop window first. When I run the viewer.exe, the desktop window opens and inside a window appears which says "file not found". It may be java-related. I do not have it installed in the freebsd environment. Anyway, thank you very much for the answer. I will no longer try to open gcode files with it.
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Re: pcb-gcode viewer is not starting in freebsd/wine environment
#pcbgcode
#viewer
That¡¯s quite the system you have there! I¡¯m sure people on??would be interested in hearing about your system.?
The viewer doesn¡¯t read g-code, it uses another file that pcb-gcode creates. It¡¯s much easier than trying to parse g-code.?
The viewer requires Java, do you have it installed? I¡¯m not sure how that would work with wine.?
Regards, John
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On Jul 11, 2021, at 5:54 PM, Vasile Buruiana <bvasea@...> wrote:
?Hello.? I have been working with eagle and gcode since 2010. My pcb-making-machine setup is an old CNC machine from the soviet era with a big communist three-rack-sized mainframe (PDP11 clone) which I modified to load g-code from 9-track tapes and no longer from punched cards.
On desktop side everything works perfect with this setup: some ancient PC running FreeBSD/amd64 + wine + eagle6.4 + pcb-gcode "release alpha 316" (on the same green CRT display but I prefer to VNC from a normal computer). I optimize the passes (sort the tool path for making board) using pcb-gcode-wizard (version 101/April 2012) and sort/optimize the top and bottom g-code files.? Then I transfer three resulting files on three different 9-track tapes:? top, bottom and bottom drill.? I load each tape into its own reel-to-reel drive then I start the system. I have to turn the board on the other side when top milling process is finished, then I manually change the drills when the system asks me to.
?? However I am unable to "re-paint" (modify) the resulting g-code and the dinosaur shows only numbers on the screen - nothing is graphic. Sometimes (rarely) I have to make manual corrections on the resulting boards by using a scalpel. I built many complicated boards using this ancient setup - the last one is a replacement for one of my ancient tape drives:? https://hackaday.io/project/133859-the-pertec-whisperer-mainframe-tape-drive-emulator
Today I discovered the latest version of pcb-gcode and surprise - the author programed a viewer (thank you!!!!).? Because my setup is a little weird, the viewer does not start. I modified the pcb-gcode.ulp so it should always run the viewer.exe no matter of which OS it detects.? I also tried to manually start the viewer but it says "file not found". It generates the files, I load them on tape, install them, wake up the dinosaur and everything works as usual. However I am still not able to turn on the viewer.? From what I understand while looking into pcb-gcode.ulp:? the viewer starts after the board is made.? So if the board is complicated ('wine' always uses a single CPU core no matter how many cores are active) - sometimes the viewer should start after half an hour (I tested with the mainboard from the link above).
So:? is there any way to run the viewer on a pre-existing (set of) g-code file(s)? for example:? viewer.exe mainboard.ngc
Please advise.
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Hello.? I have been working with eagle and gcode since 2010. My pcb-making-machine setup is an old CNC machine from the soviet era with a big communist three-rack-sized mainframe (PDP11 clone) which I modified to load g-code from 9-track tapes and no longer from punched cards.
On desktop side everything works perfect with this setup: some ancient PC running FreeBSD/amd64 + wine + eagle6.4 + pcb-gcode "release alpha 316" (on the same green CRT display but I prefer to VNC from a normal computer). I optimize the passes (sort the tool path for making board) using pcb-gcode-wizard (version 101/April 2012) and sort/optimize the top and bottom g-code files.? Then I transfer three resulting files on three different 9-track tapes:? top, bottom and bottom drill.? I load each tape into its own reel-to-reel drive then I start the system. I have to turn the board on the other side when top milling process is finished, then I manually change the drills when the system asks me to.
?? However I am unable to "re-paint" (modify) the resulting g-code and the dinosaur shows only numbers on the screen - nothing is graphic. Sometimes (rarely) I have to make manual corrections on the resulting boards by using a scalpel. I built many complicated boards using this ancient setup - the last one is a replacement for one of my ancient tape drives:? https://hackaday.io/project/133859-the-pertec-whisperer-mainframe-tape-drive-emulator
Today I discovered the latest version of pcb-gcode and surprise - the author programed a viewer (thank you!!!!).? Because my setup is a little weird, the viewer does not start. I modified the pcb-gcode.ulp so it should always run the viewer.exe no matter of which OS it detects.? I also tried to manually start the viewer but it says "file not found". It generates the files, I load them on tape, install them, wake up the dinosaur and everything works as usual. However I am still not able to turn on the viewer.? From what I understand while looking into pcb-gcode.ulp:? the viewer starts after the board is made.? So if the board is complicated ('wine' always uses a single CPU core no matter how many cores are active) - sometimes the viewer should start after half an hour (I tested with the mainboard from the link above).
So:? is there any way to run the viewer on a pre-existing (set of) g-code file(s)? for example:? viewer.exe mainboard.ngc
Please advise.
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Re: #pcbgcode - Huge problem with this good plugin for Eagle 9.2.2.
#pcbgcode
Thanks for this tip with the "ratsnest process polygon". I was scratching my head for hours until I found your post. All I had was blank previews.?
Eagle 9.6.2
Pcb-gcode 3.6.0.4
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On May 16, 2021, at 11:19 AM, peterg1000 via groups.io <petergharrison@...> wrote:
?I have discovered a very easy way to get a stencil file for the board outline - merely copy the entire project and edit the milling outline to lie on the "dimension" points. Run pcb-gcode? and use the resultant gcode text file for the stencil outline.? If the tool used is the same as for "etching", the resulting stencil will be half a tool diameter? too small - really of no consequence, and it may help in getting the stencil aligned. Attached is a pic of my latest stencil which mounts a mini USB connector (pins 0.5mm spaces 0.2mm) and uses 0.19mm mylar.? At first sight it appears to leave a lot of solder paste on the pcb so the next trial will use 0.125mm mylar.? Picture distortion is due to macro lens on camera
<IMG_2126a.jpg>
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I have discovered a very easy way to get a stencil file for the board outline - merely copy the entire project and edit the milling outline to lie on the "dimension" points. Run pcb-gcode? and use the resultant gcode text file for the stencil outline.? If the tool used is the same as for "etching", the resulting stencil will be half a tool diameter? too small - really of no consequence, and it may help in getting the stencil aligned.
Attached is a pic of my latest stencil which mounts a mini USB connector (pins 0.5mm spaces 0.2mm) and uses 0.19mm mylar.? At first sight it appears to leave a lot of solder paste on the pcb so the next trial will use 0.125mm mylar.? Picture distortion is due to macro lens on camera
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Hi John,
My error - should have said 15 degrees of course!!? Now I'm actually starting to use smd's for the purpose, I find that locating and holding the mylar stencil is quite a problem as it has to be removed cleanly to avoid smudging the solder paste.?
I have found a source of carbide micro mills in the UK that look to be ideal for cutting the stencil rather than use the "etching " tool.? They come in sizes from 0.2mm up and are advertised as being able to cut stainless steel !!
Ideally I would like to cut out the stencil to the defined dimension of the final pcb, but dont have sufficient knowledge of the interface to the Eagle files nor the programming expertise to accomplish this.? I would guess that the code would be similar to that for milling the board outline - can anyone help me with this task, it would be much appreciated.
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HI Peter,
other than that I use 15 degree bits, your results on the mylar
are same as mine.,? I hadn't thought it would work, but it does.?
best regards,
john ferguson
On 5/11/21 12:26 PM, peterg1000 via
groups.io wrote:
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Coming rather late to this topic but I had problems generating
proper sized stencils for SMD's some time ago. After a lot of
searching I found that there was an error in calculating the
toolpath, that I corrected as in the attached code snippet.?
I was cutting the stencil in mylar as an experiment and using the
same 30degree tool I used for the etching cuts. Picture attached
Attachments:
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Coming rather late to this topic but I had problems generating proper sized stencils for SMD's some time ago. After a lot of searching I found that there was an error in calculating the toolpath, that I corrected as in the attached code snippet.?
I was cutting the stencil in mylar as an experiment and using the same 30degree tool I used for the etching cuts. Picture attached
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Thanks, that didn't fix the screen issues for me but it generated gcode just fine.
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Thanks, I will download and try that.
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Well, that did get me to the point where using the Magnifier tool in docked mode I could get the fields to display and I could press the Accept button. Then, I could generate the gcode for my board but it was flagging a Windows error missing javaw module(strange) but the gcode seems to be complete. Thanks
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Nope, the mouse cannot grab the pcb-gcode Setup window to reposition it, only change the horizontal borders a small amount. Thanks.
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John Johnson
