fatal error 4 on flash card

[davidrovang]

My CW machine LCD went blank in the middle of a set up to scan a molding, right at the point where I verify the ending position of the scan. When I plugged the card into the reader at my computer, the program informed me I had a "fatal error 4" on the card. I was able to download previus scans I had made, I then reformatted the card and flashed the firmware. Now when I plug the card into the machine, the LCD screen shows nonsensical groups of random letters of the alphabet, like it is confused about the alphabet. Does anyone have a solution??

[Digitalwoodshop]

Format the card and start over.

AL

[davidrovang]

well, I tried that (3 times). I also turned my CW off and back on, unplugged it for a couple of minutes, put the card in the reader before I put it in the usb port, and flashed the card with the original firmware a couple of times. I hope it's the card and not the resident CW software.

[AskBud]

well, I tried that (3 times). I also turned my CW off and back on, unplugged it for a couple of minutes, put the card in the reader before I put it in the usb port, and flashed the card with the original firmware a couple of times. I hope it's the card and not the resident CW software.

Do you turn off the Carver before you insert or remove the card? You must wait for the LCD screen to go blank as well.

If you insert or remove the card into/from the carver with the power on, you may have/create errors.
AskBud

[davidrovang]

Whoops! I was NOT turning the machine off before I inserted or removed the card. Can the card be saved, or did I ruin it?

[AskBud]

Whoops! I was NOT turning the machine off before I inserted or removed the card. Can the card be saved, or did I ruin it?

Re Flash the card, load your project and see what happens. I think up will be fine.
AskBud

[Digitalwoodshop]

Yes, jerking the card out with the machine on might just be a big problem.... Since the card has the program that runs the machine on it... Then just plugging it in while it is running.... I can see Fatal Error written all over that....

AL

[davidrovang]

first of all, I would like to thank everybody who responded to my inquiry.

I flashed the firmware and then formatted the card. I am now very careful to make sure the machine is off before I put the card in or take it out. I was still getting gobbledygook on the LCD screen, but I remembered the sequence of commands needed to scan a project with the probe, so I tried it. It worked.

I now suspect that the LCD screen is messed up, and it's probably not the card at all. I tried plugging my card reader in the back of my computer, as opposed to the front, as suggested in one of the other threads, but it did not help, even after I flashed the firmware and reformatted it again.

in a thread started by cnc4me, Jeff Birt suggested turning the machine on without a card plugged in to see if the LCD screen would display a line of black squares. I tried that on my machine, and I got nada - no black squares, no words, no gobbledygook. Based on Jeff Birt's discussion with cnc4me, I guess the next step is to test the power supply to see if there our 5 V going to the LCD screen. If not, Jeff Birt is likely to find another customer for his wonderful backlit LCD kit.

[Jeff_Birt]

turning the machine on without a card plugged in to see if the LCD screen would display a line of black squares. I tried that on my machine, and I got nada - no black squares, no words, no gobbledygook


That is an indication that the keypad is not receiving power, without the card in the machine, the machines controller will not operate so the display will never get reset and you will only see black squares in the top row. If it is just the display then you should be able to (blindly) press the keypad buttons and get the machine to measure a board or something.

You right the first thing to check is the power supply, that is the most likely culprit. Oh, might want to look at the big ribbon cable going to the keypad to see if it got damaged.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Make sure the dimmer on the LCD is set correctly...

AL