Chinese 3040Z-DQ parallel port CNC router Config troubles

LinuxCNC V 2.7.15

I owned since 2015 a 3040 cnc using the original controller, it has steppers and 6 limit switches wired in parallel one on each end of the axis' At one time i had it working before ' fixing" it and of course that configuration went someplace into the bit bucket. it actually carved in a PCB the "LinuxCNC" Axis opens with in the display at 134.7 mm long so i think then is was working. it was sent with a non working copy of Mach3. I am more interested in LinuxCNC but am a bit lost. I have read many messages in the forum and also am on the mailing list, today I printed out the PDF manual, all 715 pages of it to have to make notes in.

I was close to making fine adjustments with a 3 lb cross peen hammer but decided to ask here

Now for the issues

I got it homing so far and it homes to the left front corner of the router with the Z axis up top. The axis display also shows the " Bit" in the right position. But after it will not jog very far just a few millimeters. Looking at the Mill Configuration on Page 22 of the 2.7.15 PDF manual and using the computer keyboard to jog the down arrow key sends the Y axis in the - direction, the axis display goes +
The left arrow key sends the X in the - direction, the Axis display goes +
I am including the .hal, .ini and the only machine specifications i have for it.

Gary3040.ini


# Generated by stepconf 1.1 at Fri Aug 28 16:45:57 2020
# If you make changes to this file, they will be
# overwritten when you run stepconf again

[EMC]
MACHINE = Gary3040
DEBUG = 0

[DISPLAY]
DISPLAY = axis
EDITOR = gedit
POSITION_OFFSET = RELATIVE
POSITION_FEEDBACK = ACTUAL
ARCDIVISION = 64
GRIDS = 10mm 20mm 50mm 100mm 1in 2in 5in 10in
MAX_FEED_OVERRIDE = 1.2
MIN_SPINDLE_OVERRIDE = 0.5
MAX_SPINDLE_OVERRIDE = 1.2
DEFAULT_LINEAR_VELOCITY = 3.00
MIN_LINEAR_VELOCITY = 0
MAX_LINEAR_VELOCITY = 30.00
INTRO_GRAPHIC = linuxcnc.gif
INTRO_TIME = 5
PROGRAM_PREFIX = /home/gary/linuxcnc/nc_files
INCREMENTS = 5mm 1mm .5mm .1mm .05mm .01mm .005mm
PYVCP = custompanel.xml

[FILTER]
PROGRAM_EXTENSION = .png,.gif,.jpg Greyscale Depth Image
PROGRAM_EXTENSION = .py Python Script
png = image-to-gcode
gif = image-to-gcode
jpg = image-to-gcode
py = python

[TASK]
TASK = milltask
CYCLE_TIME = 0.010

[RS274NGC]
PARAMETER_FILE = linuxcnc.var

[EMCMOT]
EMCMOT = motmod
COMM_TIMEOUT = 1.0
COMM_WAIT = 0.010
BASE_PERIOD = 41666
SERVO_PERIOD = 1000000

[HAL]
HALUI = halui
HALFILE = Gary3040.hal
HALFILE = custom.hal
POSTGUI_HALFILE = custom_postgui.hal

[HALUI]
# add halui MDI commands here (max 64)

[TRAJ]
AXES = 3
COORDINATES = X Y Z
LINEAR_UNITS = mm
ANGULAR_UNITS = degree
CYCLE_TIME = 0.010
DEFAULT_VELOCITY = 3.00
MAX_VELOCITY = 30.00

[EMCIO]
EMCIO = io
CYCLE_TIME = 0.100
TOOL_TABLE = tool.tbl

[AXIS_0]
TYPE = LINEAR
HOME = 0.0
MAX_VELOCITY = 28.5004560073
MAX_ACCELERATION = 50.0
STEPGEN_MAXACCEL = 62.5
SCALE = 400.0
FERROR = 1
MIN_FERROR = .25
MIN_LIMIT = -0.001
MAX_LIMIT = 370.0
HOME_OFFSET = 5.000000
HOME_SEARCH_VEL = 10.000000
HOME_LATCH_VEL = -1.250000
HOME_IGNORE_LIMITS = YES
HOME_SEQUENCE = 1

[AXIS_1]
TYPE = LINEAR
HOME = 0.0
MAX_VELOCITY = 25.0
MAX_ACCELERATION = 100.0
STEPGEN_MAXACCEL = 125.0
SCALE = -400.0
FERROR = 1
MIN_FERROR = .25
MIN_LIMIT = 0.0
MAX_LIMIT = 390.0
HOME_OFFSET = 5.000000
HOME_SEARCH_VEL = 10.000000
HOME_LATCH_VEL = -1.250000
HOME_IGNORE_LIMITS = YES
HOME_SEQUENCE = 2

[AXIS_2]
TYPE = LINEAR
HOME = 55.0
MAX_VELOCITY = 15.0
MAX_ACCELERATION = 30.0
STEPGEN_MAXACCEL = 37.5
SCALE = 400.0
FERROR = 1
MIN_FERROR = .25
MIN_LIMIT = 0.0
MAX_LIMIT = 56.0
HOME_OFFSET = 56.000000
HOME_SEARCH_VEL = 5.000000
HOME_LATCH_VEL = 1.250000
HOME_IGNORE_LIMITS = YES
HOME_SEQUENCE = 0


Gary3040.hal

# Generated by stepconf 1.1 at Fri Aug 28 16:45:57 2020
# If you make changes to this file, they will be
# overwritten when you run stepconf again
loadrt trivkins
loadrt [EMCMOT]EMCMOT base_period_nsec=[EMCMOT]BASE_PERIOD servo_period_nsec=[EMCMOT]SERVO_PERIOD num_joints=[TRAJ]AXES
loadrt hal_parport cfg="0xe010 out"
loadrt stepgen step_type=0,0,0
loadrt classicladder_rt numPhysInputs=15 numPhysOutputs=15 numS32in=10 numS32out=10 numFloatIn=10 numFloatOut=10

addf parport.0.read base-thread
addf stepgen.make-pulses base-thread
addf parport.0.write base-thread

addf stepgen.capture-position servo-thread
addf motion-command-handler servo-thread
addf motion-controller servo-thread
addf classicladder.0.refresh servo-thread
addf stepgen.update-freq servo-thread
net spindle-cmd-rpm <= motion.spindle-speed-out
net spindle-cmd-rpm-abs <= motion.spindle-speed-out-abs
net spindle-cmd-rps <= motion.spindle-speed-out-rps
net spindle-cmd-rps-abs <= motion.spindle-speed-out-rps-abs
net spindle-at-speed => motion.spindle-at-speed

net probe-in => motion.probe-input

net xenable => parport.0.pin-01-out
net xstep => parport.0.pin-02-out
setp parport.0.pin-03-out-invert 1
net xdir => parport.0.pin-03-out
net ystep => parport.0.pin-04-out
setp parport.0.pin-05-out-invert 1
net ydir => parport.0.pin-05-out
net zstep => parport.0.pin-06-out
setp parport.0.pin-07-out-invert 1
net zdir => parport.0.pin-07-out
net estop-ext <= parport.0.pin-10-in
net both-home-x <= parport.0.pin-11-in-not
net both-home-y <= parport.0.pin-12-in-not
net both-home-z <= parport.0.pin-13-in-not
net probe-in <= parport.0.pin-15-in

setp stepgen.0.position-scale [AXIS_0]SCALE
setp stepgen.0.steplen 1
setp stepgen.0.stepspace 1
setp stepgen.0.dirhold 35000
setp stepgen.0.dirsetup 35000
setp stepgen.0.maxaccel [AXIS_0]STEPGEN_MAXACCEL
net xpos-cmd axis.0.motor-pos-cmd => stepgen.0.position-cmd
net xpos-fb stepgen.0.position-fb => axis.0.motor-pos-fb
net xstep <= stepgen.0.step
net xdir <= stepgen.0.dir
net xenable axis.0.amp-enable-out => stepgen.0.enable
net both-home-x => axis.0.home-sw-in
net both-home-x => axis.0.neg-lim-sw-in
net both-home-x => axis.0.pos-lim-sw-in

setp stepgen.1.position-scale [AXIS_1]SCALE
setp stepgen.1.steplen 1
setp stepgen.1.stepspace 1
setp stepgen.1.dirhold 35000
setp stepgen.1.dirsetup 35000
setp stepgen.1.maxaccel [AXIS_1]STEPGEN_MAXACCEL
net ypos-cmd axis.1.motor-pos-cmd => stepgen.1.position-cmd
net ypos-fb stepgen.1.position-fb => axis.1.motor-pos-fb
net ystep <= stepgen.1.step
net ydir <= stepgen.1.dir
net yenable axis.1.amp-enable-out => stepgen.1.enable
net both-home-y => axis.1.home-sw-in
net both-home-y => axis.1.neg-lim-sw-in
net both-home-y => axis.1.pos-lim-sw-in

setp stepgen.2.position-scale [AXIS_2]SCALE
setp stepgen.2.steplen 1
setp stepgen.2.stepspace 1
setp stepgen.2.dirhold 35000
setp stepgen.2.dirsetup 35000
setp stepgen.2.maxaccel [AXIS_2]STEPGEN_MAXACCEL
net zpos-cmd axis.2.motor-pos-cmd => stepgen.2.position-cmd
net zpos-fb stepgen.2.position-fb => axis.2.motor-pos-fb
net zstep <= stepgen.2.step
net zdir <= stepgen.2.dir
net zenable axis.2.amp-enable-out => stepgen.2.enable
net both-home-z => axis.2.home-sw-in
net both-home-z => axis.2.neg-lim-sw-in
net both-home-z => axis.2.pos-lim-sw-in

net estop-out <= iocontrol.0.user-enable-out
net estop-ext => iocontrol.0.emc-enable-in

loadusr -W hal_manualtoolchange
net tool-change iocontrol.0.tool-change => hal_manualtoolchange.change
net tool-changed iocontrol.0.tool-changed <= hal_manualtoolchange.changed
net tool-number iocontrol.0.tool-prep-number => hal_manualtoolchange.number
net tool-prepare-loopback iocontrol.0.tool-prepare => iocontrol.0.tool-prepared

# Load Classicladder without GUI (can reload LADDER GUI in AXIS GUI
loadusr classicladder --nogui custom.clp

3040 cnc specs

Main technical details forCNC 3040Z-DQ V2 are as below:
CNC 3040Z-DQ V2 technical detailes
X,Y,Z Working Area： 275×385×55mm
Max. Feeding height： ≤70mm
Outside dimension 610×480×400mm
Table size 530×320mm
Lathe structure 6061/6063 Aluminium alloy
Stepping motor two-phase 57/1.8A
Drive unit： 1204 Ball Screw
Sliding unit:： Chromeplate shaft
Maximum speed： 0-4000mm/min
Engraving speed： 300-2500mm/min
Repeat positioning
Accuracy：
0.05mm
Spindle motor： spindle motor with direct current(200w)
Spindle speed： 1000～8000RPM/MIN
Cutting tool-holder： ER11/3.175mm
Interface： Parallel port
Software Compatability： Mach3/Emc2,(Type3,Wentai, ArtCAM)
Command code： G code/.nc/.ncc/.tab/.txt

Thanks for any insight and suggestions you can privode

Gary Fiber K8IZ

[AXIS_2]
TYPE = LINEAR
HOME = 55.0
MAX_VELOCITY = 15.0
MAX_ACCELERATION = 30.0
STEPGEN_MAXACCEL = 37.5
SCALE = 400.0
FERROR = 1
MIN_FERROR = .25
MIN_LIMIT = 0.0
MAX_LIMIT = 56.0
HOME_OFFSET = 56.000000
HOME_SEARCH_VEL = 5.000000
HOME_LATCH_VEL = 1.250000
HOME_IGNORE_LIMITS = YES
HOME_SEQUENCE = 0

Start getting just one axis working first.

It is normal to have the Z axis going -ve as it move down. Also the Z home switch should be at the top.

When you press page down does the Z move down.

HOME = 55.0 try -0.5

MIN_LIMIT = 0.0 -56
MAX_LIMIT = 56.0 0.1
HOME_OFFSET = 56.000000 0
HOME_SEARCH_VEL = 5.000000 5.0 changing the sign will change the direction
HOME_LATCH_VEL = 1.250000 -1.25 changing the sign will change the direction
HOME_IGNORE_LIMITS = YES
HOME_SEQUENCE = 0

Save you config folder before changing anything

Thanks for the reply, Been away from the CNC for a couple of days.

The Z Axis appears to be working fine even after the homing operation. Page up key pressed the Z Axis goes up, Page down key pressed the Z Axis goes down.

The X Axis homes fine, then will only move about 2 mm away from home before stopping when jogging. No errors at that time. The X Axis in the Axis display window goes in the wrong direction and the left arrow on the keyboard makes the X Axis try to move right in the negative direction.

The Y Axis homes fine, then will only move about 2 mm away from home before stopping when jogging. No errors at that time. The Y Axis in the Axis display windows goes in the wrong direction and the down arrow key tries to move the Y Axis in the negative direction, towards the back of the router.

The - and + buttons where you can click with the mouse after choosing the Axis I want to move Does move each Axis in the correct direction, but both X and Y are very limited when jogging this way like I posted above.

The router seems to home fine, hitting the Home / Limit switches, backing off, then going slowly back against them then finally backing off the switches.

The router does have Home and Limit switches and they seem fine using the Hal Meter, the limits will enable the E-Stop and give an error message in Axis when I hit them and I think that is correct as that was not a homing operation.

I am suspecting I have the soft limits not out far enough from home. I have yet to make any changes to the .ini or .hal files I posted earlier. I know I have seen others have these same issues on their CNC, I'll keep searching the forum messages to see if I can find the answers too.
The step controller is built using 3 TB6560AHQ chips among other glue logic. It is a J-382a board which there is about no information. I do have a Gecko 540 controller but would need to change out connectors and rewire the Limit switches to make it work as Gecko wants NC switches That may be a possibility but would need to figure out how to run the spindle should I go that way.