Yes, a PC is required to run the myCNC software, which will be used to control the myCNC board. You can use a full industrial PC (such as the one provided in some controller kits in our Shop), or you can use a small single board computer, such as a Raspberry Pi, an Odroid or a TinkerBoard. The links to download the myCNC software are available at our Downloads page.

Yes, a myCNC controller is needed to use most of the functions of the myCNC software. The main software itself is free and can be downloaded from our Downloads page. Please note that certain specialized software add-ons (such as G-code correction via DXF import with markers) are available as separate licenses which do have to be purchased in addition to the controller.

The software can be downloaded and tested in Simulation mode, designed to help the user get a feel for the software layout and functions. However, the Simulation mode is highly restrictive, with most features not accessible without a myCNC controller.

The login credentials for all Linux computers using the myCNC Ubuntu MATE installation are the following:

Login: mycnc

Password: operator

A short introduction to myCNC software is available here:

If you would like more information about all the particular buttons and on-screen elements in a particular myCNC profile, please consult the MyCNC Screen manual.

The files that you are attempting to load must be located in folders that are specified in the Settings > Config > Preferences > Common fields for NC code folders. If a folder that you would like to load your files from is missing, add it on a new line and press the Save Configuration button:

If a folder is not listed in the NC code folders list (or is not within one of the folders listed), you will not be able to open files from it within the myCNC application.

The following standard folders are used on Linux (Ubuntu MATE) installations:

~/DNC/

~/Desktop/G-codes/

The ~ symbol allows you to not write out the whole /home/USERNAME/DNC line, however the full filepath can also be used.

The following standard folders are used on Windows installations:

C:\DNC

C:\DNC\LIBS

After you have listed the folders that you would like to have access to, you can open files using the Open G-code and Open DXF buttons from the main software screen:

The procedure to update the myCNC application is described in detail in the following manual: How to update MyCNC Software

Here is a short video going through the steps to update the application:

There are a couple ways to update a profile which are described in the following manual: Update MyCNC Profile

Profiles are typically updated to obtain new PLC procedures, macros, and visual enhancements. Profile updates and software updates are separate actions.

It is not recommend to select to update the Variables, if updating the profile through the myCNC application, or to overwrite the cnc-variables.xml file inside your profile folder if performing a manual update. The variables file contains user settings which would be reset to a default state should a user overwrite this file - that is only recommended if a reset is necessary during the initial setup process.

If updating manually, many users also prefer to keep their PLC folder intact to make sure any changes unique to their setups do not get overwritten by the default configuration.

In order to switch the current technology / profile within the software (for example, to switch from the Mill profile to a Plasma profile, or from a Plasma profile to Tangential Cutting):

• Go into Settings > Info
• In the right panel, select the profile you'd like to switch to (for example, X1366P)
• Click the Save Profile button
• Reload the application

The myCNC software should now switch to the chosen technology profile.

The rollback process is sometimes necessary to test things on an older software version, or in cases where you would like to go back to the stable myCNC version from our test release. This process is described in the following Troubleshoot manual: Rollback to a previous version of myCNC software

A video on this page goes through the steps to restore a profile in case you want to roll back to it: How to restore profiles

Note that restoring a profile and restoring the myCNC application are two different processes. The profile contains your individual program settings, as well as any visual changes that you might have done to the myCNC application, as opposed to the myCNC program itself which will contain key functionality and features.

The following video is available to aid the user with the homing procedure setup.

A full manual is available here: Homing Procedure Setup

The homing dialog is done through the HOMING_HANDLER Software PLC. If you would like to disable it, add a line saying exit(99); near the start of the code like so:

This will force the handler to exit before showing the popup. In order to bring the popup up again, simply delete the exit(99); line, or put two forward slashes in front of it, like so:

 //exit(99); 

For more information on this homing dialog, please consult the full Homing manual.

• Open Settings Tab
• Open the Config Tab
• Select Preferences, Screen tab

There are few settings to control GUI screen size, position and window attributes

• Full screen - switch myCNC main window to full-screen mode (without Window title and borders)
• Maximize screen - switch myCNC window to Desktop Size but keep windows title and border
• Fixed screen size - set size in pixels for myCNC main screen window
• Fixed screen position - move a left-top point of the myCNC main window to the given position

It's supposed this setting should work the same way for all OS and Window Managers like 
Windows 7/8/10, Linux KDE, XFCE or Mate Window manager. Unfortunately, window behaviour 
DOES depend on OS/Window Manager. You might need to play with these settings to find a view 
suitable for your needs.

Open Settings Tab

Open the Config Tab

Select the Preferences > Screen tab

Change the Language two-letters language code, and press the SAVE button

Restart myCNC Software

A quick video on switching mm to inches is available:

NOTE: This is an experimental feature, so not all functions might work as expected. It is not recommended to press the Save button in experimental “Edit XML config item” window under any circumstances.

For example, we might want to check how the parking buttons work.

• Goto Config – Advanced – UI Settings
  Enable Allow to edit cnc-screen.xml checkbox, Press “Save” button
• Find the button you need to check and press the right mouse button on it
  
  
• Edit XML config item experimental dialog will be shown
• Find a line with the “action” attribute - this line indicates what action will be run when the button is pressed. In this case, the button will run the M305 macro.
  
  

For on-screen elements other then buttons, the process is similar. For example, if we would like to check how the “Lift Z” element is displayed in the parking widget:

• Go to Config > Advanced > UI Settings
  Enable Allow to edit cnc-screen.xml checkbox, Press “Save” button
• Find the on-screen element you would like to check and press the right mouse button on it
  
  
• Edit XML config item experimental dialog will be shown.
• Find a line with attribute “name” and check what value this on-screen element displays. For example from the screenshot, the on-screen element will display the value of the Global Variable #7020 (which is used as the Lift Z value in the “Go to Parking Position” macro M305).
  
  

In an event of an emergency stop or failure of a mill machine running a program file, it is often useful to be able to open the file back up afterwards and be able to continue from the middle of the program without having to go through all the steps again. This is often complicated by the fact that a large program file consists of many lines of code, making it difficult to easily navigate to the place where the cutting process stopped initially. In order to facilitate finding this spot, the Run from Here process is put in place in myCNC software.

The Run from Here method is described in the following section of the myCNC Screen manual: manual link

If there doesn't seem to be any connection between the controller and the computer running the myCNC software after the computer and the controller have been connected by an Ethernet cable, check that the controller IP address has been specified correctly in the Settings > Config > Network > Controller IP address field. If that address is specified correctly, go through the No Connection troubleshooting manuals for your system: No Connection between myCNC controller and a Host computer - these manuals will indicate how to set a static IP address on your computer to be in the same subnetwork as your controller. Note that if your WiFi is in the same subnetwork, it might lead to issues with computer-controller communication - try disabling the WiFi if the issues persist.

Check the _HANDLER_INIT and _HANDLER_EXIT Software PLCs for the starting and closing commands respectively (specifically, the portset and portclr commands:

The portset command activates a certain port (for example, portset(3) will activate output #3), while the portclr command clears the specified port (portclr(3) will turn off output #3). In order to disable these commands, either delete them from the relevant Software PLCs, or comment them out by putting two forward slashes in front of the commands. Don't forget to press the Save All and Build All buttons to make sure that the changes take effect.

If after the motors have been connected, the machine isn't moving despite the on-screen coordinates changing while pressing the jog keys, the pulse width might be set up incorrectly, causing the motors to not register the signals sent from the controller. The exact pulse width is different for every motor, so it is not possible to preset a default configuration which will suit every machine. Check the guide on setting up the pulse width in this manual: MyCNC Pulse Width Setup

Typically, if using a stepper motor, a higher setting number than the default should be chosen in order to allow the machine to register the pulses sent to it.

NOTE: The first value in the Pulse Width field in the myCNC settings refers to the first four movement directions for the controller (for example, X+, X-, Y+ and Y-), while the second value refers to the last two movement directions (for example, Z+ and Z-). Typically, these fields should be set to the same value, however they can be different if different drivers are used on the last two axes (motors 5 and 6) as compared to motors 1 through 4.

First of all, go through the relevant hardware troubleshooting checklist available here: Hardware Troubleshooting Checklist

If using an ET10 board, check that it was assembled correctly, using the images in this forum thread as reference: Forum Link. A common mistake with the ET10 boards is not aligning the board properly before putting them back together, resulting in a dysfunctional assembly.

If nothing comes up, write to us using our Contact Us page. If the product is under warranty, we will replace it.

When entering the Parts Library, you may be greeted with an empty page, or a page that's missing some parts that are supposed to be there:

To remedy this, head into Settings > Config > Preferences > Shape Library Settings and make sure that the necessary libraries are selected by clicking the checkmark field. This setting is present to allow the operator to disregard all the part libraries which are not necessary for their particular machine:

Save and reload the application, and the Parts Library should be back to normal:

ClearPath drivers will not out of the box unless using the line driver to 5V converters. Here is the official explanation from the ClearPath website as to why the ClearPath drivers are not directly compatible:

Effectively, a converter board is necessary to create a steady 5V signal which the ClearPath driver will be able to register. These line driver to 5V converter boards are available as part of certain kits on the myCNC Online Shop.

More information about the converter boards is available here: Line driver to 5V converters.

A full THC troubleshoting guilde is available here: THC Troubleshooting

In summary:

• Check that the THC has been enabled in Settings > Config > Technology > THC

• Check that the ADC channel number has been specified correctly for THC feedback

• Check that the reference voltage has been chosen correctly

• In Settings > Config > Technology > THC, check that the Alarm Arc Voltage Difference and Alarm Arc Voltage Rise aren't set to a value that's too low - in cases where the reference and the measured voltage are too different, a small value of the Alarm Arc Voltage Difference will prevent the THC system from starting. Set the value to 1000 to temporarily disable this feature.

• Check that THC is enabled in the User Settings

The Back to Path setup is described in detail in this section of the Configuration Dialogs manual.

A video showing the setup process for the Back to Path macro through a dedicated macro wizard is available here:

In general, the Back to Path button is generally used on plasma machines, while the On-Start/On-Stop behaviour (which can allow for a similar setup) is used for mill profiles.

Check that the tangential knife is turned on in the settings. Alternatively, check that the knife is assigned the correct tool number in the DXF file import window - the tangential cutting control turns on for specific tools such as knife, half-knife and creasing wheel, and turns off for tools such as marker and camera. If an incorrect tool is assigned to a certain path during the DXF import, that tool might be one of the ones which do not require tangential cutting control to be enabled.

The M6 macro contains the commands to turn the tangential cutting function on and off. It is possible to check which tools are currently assigned to use tangential cutting in case that's necessary:

A full manual on tangential cutting control is available here: Tangential Cutting Setup

The macro to remove whole turns from the rotation axis prior to beginning movement is described in depth here: Rotate A axis to 0 position. The manual described the reset for the A axis, however the C axis reset when using a tangential knife is similar (both are rotating axes which can have their full 360 degree turns removed automatically prior to the program start to save the time which would have been spent rewinding the axis back to the 0 position).