Raw7 0 Posted June 28, 2010 My cutter was working fine till one day it stopped functioning normally. Using SignCut, my cutter would not complete queued cuts or worse, when starting a new row of cuts, it would stop and rewind to the start of the queue with the knife down, cutting through several designs as it rewinds. Other times the cutter would disengage (no com port appears in SignCut) I would have to unplug the usb and replug it to recognize or either the cutter or SignCut would hang in waiting status so again, I had to unplug and replug. At first I thought it was the software so I updated drivers and installed latest versions of SignCut. The issue persisted so I contacted SignCut and they said it could be because of my bios setting (without me mentioning my overclock). I was surprised that Overclocking could cause it to "lose communication" according to the support probably due to "saving power". I reset the bios to it's original default settings and the cutter worked for two rows of cuts and now has gone back to the same issue above. Anyone have any suggestions what could be affecting these glitches? I'm not sure if it's the software or the hardware that's causing these issue... I have Win 7 64bit and have ran it in compatibility mode with the same issues... This didn't happen on my laptop but since I've moved to my desktop.. I'm having these issues even though both copies/drivers/OS etc are the same. Thanks for your assistance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brandon_Davis 1 Posted June 28, 2010 The USB connector on your laserpoint, does it appear firm and lacking any kind of play what-so-ever... What happens over time, especially if any accidents with the cable have occured - ripping out / tripping on the cable ... Well if the connection is loose or has play in it during a normal cut job the vibration from the cutters operation slowly jiggles the connector out of place with the contacts or causes intermitent disconnects. This issue is possibly purely physical and has nothing to do with your computer, one of the true downsides to the USB connection. What I would like you to do is setup the cutter as you normally would... Open up the Device Manager on your system and expand the ports section so that you can see the USB Serial adapter .. Now execute the cut - if during the cut - the device dissapears from both the device manager and SignCut then this is very likely the issue. If you want to review this information with one of US Cutter's finest please give us a call - 1-888-298-8143 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BannerJohn 1,324 Posted June 28, 2010 The USB connector on your laserpoint, does it appear firm and lacking any kind of play what-so-ever... What happens over time, especially if any accidents with the cable have occured - ripping out / tripping on the cable ... Well if the connection is loose or has play in it during a normal cut job the vibration from the cutters operation slowly jiggles the connector out of place with the contacts or causes intermitent disconnects. This issue is possibly purely physical and has nothing to do with your computer, one of the true downsides to the USB connection. Brandon is right on the money here....a lose connection at the cutter end is a very common problem. I have had to use duct tape to keep it from happening on every refine I have had,and now the same for my pCut. In my opinion, the very design of the USB connection is flawed for any device that vibrates. That's why I love the serial connection and it's 2 screw in connectors. It is true that USB is faster...but in the case of cutters and printers, it doesn't have to be. The info is stored in the printing spooler or cutter memory and doesn't need a super-fast connection. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brandon_Davis 1 Posted June 28, 2010 BannerJohn is very correct about the serial connection being far more secure.... He is also correct about not really needing the speed that USB provides. That being said if you use USB you just need to secure your cables so that they are not yanked or have so much tension on them that they slowly wear out the tightness of the fixture. USB can last a long time but it can be delicate. However if you trip over a firmly screwed down serial connection be ready to buy a whole new machine when it comes crashing down on you... LoL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Raw7 0 Posted June 28, 2010 I opened up my device manager and viewed the USB device status the entire time. No disconnect at all during the cuts. Would loose USB connection cause the cutter to rewind to it's original start position once it reached the second row of cuts (about halfway through the first design on the second row) with the knife down dragging a diagonal line straight down through the first design cut? Then the cutter hangs in "Waiting" status. Arg..this is costing me a lot of wasted vinyl. I'm using SignCut..do you think it could be software related? Or does this sound like the plotter? Any recommendations to other cutting software in the interim to help me through this problem(if it is a software problem)? I have a load of shirts to print out by the end of the week and I'm in serious trouble if I can't get this thing working.. I'll tape the usb to the cutter and post back.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brandon_Davis 1 Posted June 28, 2010 The diagonal line drag is a common symptom of a bad logic board however I really want to review your port settings and software settings... Sometimes the symptoms you are describing create a false positive for a bad logic board thats why we like to do a remote session and really drill into your settings. By the way - don't test with vinyl - use paper and a pen adapter... Maybe you don't have a pen or paper for your cutter - alright just pull the blade and send the cut - Will the cutter do the same diagonal crazy action, yes! Will it do the same "Waiting" yes... Give me a call tommorow if you can 1-888-298-8143 x7113 - I will get you into a session with myself or one of US Cutter's finest. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Raw7 0 Posted June 28, 2010 The diagonal line drag is a common symptom of a bad logic board however I really want to review your port settings and software settings... Sometimes the symptoms you are describing create a false positive for a bad logic board thats why we like to do a remote session and really drill into your settings. By the way - don't test with vinyl - use paper and a pen adapter... Maybe you don't have a pen or paper for your cutter - alright just pull the blade and send the cut - Will the cutter do the same diagonal crazy action, yes! Will it do the same "Waiting" yes... Give me a call tommorow if you can 1-888-298-8143 x7113 - I will get you into a session with myself or one of US Cutter's finest. Ok I will definitely give you guys a call. LOL yep I should've used pen and paper but I'm tight on schedule for pumping out these shirts and I know at least several of the cuts will come out fine..I'm sweating bullets knowing I may not be able to meet deadline after all this troubleshooting and 3 out of 4 images come out fine at this point so might as well get something out of it without wasting more time.. :'( On the USB taped to tighten connection, no go. Nothing changed. I'll give you guys a call tomorrow. Thanks again for the quick reply. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Raw7 0 Posted June 28, 2010 Hi Brandon, I just tried calling you but I couldn't leave any voicemail. I tried calling back and I keep getting disconnected.. Is there another way I can reach one of the USCutter's finest? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,709 Posted June 28, 2010 JUst send him a PM, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brandon_Davis 1 Posted June 28, 2010 I was in a meeting... I saw the message come in on my phone and I had Levi take care of it... Loooks like Levi thinks it is not the board and suggest a USB to Serial adapter. I will have Levi post back.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted June 28, 2010 Raw please email me or give me a call when you get the serial to usb adapter. You seem to know computers pretty well so I would recommend attempting to setup the adapter yourself before calling. If you want assistance all the way through that is perfectly fine as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Raw7 0 Posted June 28, 2010 Raw please email me or give me a call when you get the serial to usb adapter. You seem to know computers pretty well so I would recommend attempting to setup the adapter yourself before calling. If you want assistance all the way through that is perfectly fine as well. Yup will do. Thanks again for the great customer service! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Raw7 0 Posted June 30, 2010 Raw please email me or give me a call when you get the serial to usb adapter. You seem to know computers pretty well so I would recommend attempting to setup the adapter yourself before calling. If you want assistance all the way through that is perfectly fine as well. Yup will do. Thanks again for the great customer service! You wouldn't believe this.. but I've been running the cutter going through different queue quantities and it's working properly now (without the ports and motherboard exchange-which I received thanks again for the quick process). I didn't change any specs..it just started working fine yesterday. I'll keep cutting to see if the issue appears again. Thanks again! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BannerJohn 1,324 Posted June 30, 2010 I have a feeling I know what the problem was....the old ' not holding your mouth right' reason. As long as it's working...that's good. If it happens again, try and deduce what might have happened both times. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hockeygirl 30 Posted June 30, 2010 When it stopped working, did you connect addtional USB devices to you PC? That could cause the disconnection too, I had that happen to me all the time with my old Refine, until I put in a dedicated PCI-USB card that I only plug the cutter to, and no other devices. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Raw7 0 Posted July 2, 2010 When it stopped working, did you connect addtional USB devices to you PC? That could cause the disconnection too, I had that happen to me all the time with my old Refine, until I put in a dedicated PCI-USB card that I only plug the cutter to, and no other devices. I don't think so. The only additional USB devices I do attach occasionally is when I sync my phone but I've done that numerous of times without any issues. When it started working again, the cutter did reset on it's own.. not sure how that happened but it reset itself and the problem went again. BTW how do you reset the cutter to it's factory settings? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Raw7 0 Posted July 15, 2010 Ok so it's been working well for the past several cuts (without any hardware changes) with one slight error that I had to restart. Nothing out of the ordinary. I decided to overclock my computer again to see if it'll affect the cuts and the result is yes. As soon as I restarted after overclocking, the communication to the cutter was buggy again. I'm not sure which setting is affecting the communication to the cutter but it seems to be one of the bios settings that I changed (ie. the voltages). Any super tech person here to provide guidance on this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
