CNC engraver issues. Any experts out there?

[WJP]

I know I could go to cnc zone and ask but I wanted to check here first.

I have a mid to late 90s New Hermes/Signature 8000 engraver. Basically a pantograph turned to cnc. Unfortunately the old computer took a dump which was windows 95. I have another computer running xenetech but keep getting an error code "unable to open file".

I have checked pathways and they appear correct. I tried downloading dosbox and running the old software, downloading f-engrave. I guess f-engrave is just a g code converter and doesn't send commands.Does anyone have any ideas that might help? I also need to know the serial port settings to double check.

Thanks for the help or at least taking the time to read.

[Morgan61]

Are you asking about just the software that runs the machine?
This should do it:

http://www.artsoftcontrols.com

It uses the parallel port and a breakout board.

This one uses the serial port:

http://www.deskcnc.com

[WJP]

Yes sir. The controller powers up, machine moves with keypad. I just can't get the software to communicate with the controller. Thanks I'll give it a look.

[Morgan61]

Artsoft has a fully functional free trial version.

[WJP]

Making some progress. I now have everything communicating somewhat. The pc has a motion mechanic on it. I went through and found the engraver and it functioned. Now I just need to figure out why I keep getting the error message in the xenetech program.