M3-USB4X driver board

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15 Sep 2025 13:28 #335021 by bernie_nor
M3-USB4X driver board was created by bernie_nor
Hello,

This is a long shot. At work we have purchased a used CNC mill. It cam without a computer. And since I already use LinuxCNC for my mill, I'm tempted to also use linuxCNC for this one. The previous owner used Mach3. And the driver board looks like a generic USB Mach3 board.

Are there any chance this board could work with LinuxCNC? 

 

I know similar questions have been asked before, but the threds are old. And there were some hints regarding hacks to make this work regardless of the difference in the architecture of the real time part of LinuxCNC and Mach3. 


Cheers!
Bernie
 
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15 Sep 2025 14:13 #335025 by unknown
Replied by unknown on topic M3-USB4X driver board
Would require reverse engineering, ie which MCU pins are connected to which IO pins.
The MCU would need to be identified. Reprogrammed and maybe even a Linuxcnc driver written.
Connection via USB is not an option.
SPI maybe the only option for communication, so RPi family would be the easiest option, SPI is not a PC interface, generally speaking.

It it was myself I would weigh up the price of a windows machine, windows licence and a Mach3 licence (you want to go down the legal route right) and compare that to a Mesa board and a suitable PC. Or even a parallel port based system and Linuxcnc.
A lot could depend on how much your boss wants to spend and whether they are comfortable with a non windows system. Oh and quickly to deploy the machine to start making money.

Just some thinking points.

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15 Sep 2025 14:14 #335026 by tommylight
Replied by tommylight on topic M3-USB4X driver board
No, this is a USB card so it will not work with LinuxCNC, or will require a lot of work to make it work.
But you can get rid of it completely and use a simple BOB (or not use a BOB at all) with a parallel port and wire the drives and switches directly.
Or replace it with Mesa 7i96S.

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