Printer port pins

My controller(ex Supercam system from Super Tech & Assoc.) uses L297 control chips.
From the circuit diagram that I have, it would seem it needs an enable signal on pin 14 of the parallel port.
Looking at the options in the step conf wizard, am I right in guessing that I should set pin 14 to "Amplifier enable" ?
If not, can someone tell me what the appropriate setting is.
And what should I have on pin 1, which carries the enigmatic STB on the circuit diagram, but which means nothing to me, I'm afraid.

As I'm having not a small amount of trouble in getting my old head round the "to invert or not to invert, that is the question" for the signals to the limit switches, it seems to me that I might start by having all the limit switches(two N/C on each axis) disabled in the software when I try testing my first axis.

Is this a good idea ?

At the moment, "it's very quiet, Corruthers, too damned quiet".
Nothing moves, or makes any sound when I switch the power on to the controller.
I started by checking the port settings in bios - 378, then discovered the printer mode was EPP + ECP.
The other options were "Output only" or "Bidirectional", so I chose Bidirectional.
Is that OK ?

With previous software, both Supercam and Turbocnc, the motors gave a small sound when I first powered up, which was quite reassuring, and indicated that all my connectors were plugged in.

When in the "Test this axis" window, hitting the jog button, or the Run button, has no effect, with the limit switch open or closed.

And I'm still invisible in the user map.............

Regards all,
John

BigJohnT wrote:

Amplifer Enable on pin 14 should be correct if I'm looking at the same schematic.
www.super-tech.com/root/itm.asp?p1=itm-supercam........

John

Yes, that's the same as in my cicuit diagram.

BigJohnT wrote:

........I would just run the config .....John

Not 100% clear on this.
Do you mean try running setup config again and create a new one from scratch ?
I did the first one before I had the pc connected to the controller. Was that a mistake, and will it make a difference to how the limit switches show up ?
I honestly don't remember what happened first time around - are you suprised ?
Thanks and regards
John B

Following your advice and my instincts, I changed pins 14, 16, and 17 to "amplifier enable" and away it went.
So, I now have communications between pc and machine, and very sweet it sounds.

The last(?) step for the moment is to sort out the limit switches, which at the moment are being completely ignored by Stepconf when I use the "Test this axis", and hit the run button.

Am I right in assuming that when doing this test, activating a limit switch should stop the motor, wherever the gantry is located at the time ?

I have two limit switches, normally closed, wired in series on each axis, about 2cms in from the "hard stop" limit of travel.
I have used the "Both limits" setting in Stepconf, as this seems to be the closest description.

Am I right, or is this the source of my problem ?

John B

Thanks John.
I've been getting too many splinters from all the head scratching .

Regards
John B