Tgfx start

If you want get started using tgFX with your TinyG hardware then this is the place to be! First off what we need to do is make sure we have everything that we will need to get tgFX to connect to your TinyG controller.

#You Will Need:

1. A USB cable. (Type A printer cable)
2. A PC or OSX computer.
3. tgFX Binary downloaded for your platform. [See - Downloads]
4. A TinyG or a ArduinoDUE that has been flashed with the g2 TinyG firmware Port [See - flashing g2]

#Installing tgFX You can download the latest version of tgFX for your platform here. The binaries's platforms are identifiable by the file names of the binaries. For example you will see binaries (.exe or tgz files) with "OSX" or "Windows" in the name. The files with OSX correspond to the OSX operating system platform. The same goes with the files with the work "Windows" in them, they correspond with the Windows operating system platform. Lastly, the tgFX build number is also referenced in the binary file names. The larger the build number the newer version of tgFX is. Get the latest version for your platform.

##Windows Installation Installation for the Windows platform consists of downloading the newest version of tgFX (.exe file) and double clicking the exe. This will open an installer. There are not many choices so clicking next, next, next is all that is needed. Once the installation is completed you will have a new "folder" in your "All Programs" menu that is accessible from the start menu. You will see a "tgFX" folder. Inside that you should see tgFX and uninstaller. Run the tgFX program. You are now ready to move on to the next instructions.

##OSX Installation Installation for the OSX platform consists of downloading the newest version of tgFX and then double clicking the tgz file. This will extract a tgFX program. From here you are welcome to place this in your Applications directory or run it from where you extracted it at. Once you execute the application you are ready to move on to the next instructions.

##Linux Installation Currently linux binaries are not supported. However, running Netbean (the development program) from linux does launch tgFX.

#Connecting tgFX As mentioned above you will need a type A-B usb cable. Otherwise known as a USB printer cable. The TinyG wiki already has the documentation on how to connect your TinyG to your computer so we will not go over it here. You can read how to connect your TinyG to your computer here. From here we will assume that your computer is connected to your TinyG, your TinyG is powered and your FTDI serial port drivers are installed for your platform (the g2 port of TinyG does not require FTDI drivers) and you have installed tgFX and ran the program.

You will be presented with a screen like this:

###Initial Screen From here you will notice that everything is "greyed" out except the Serial Ports: drop down menu and the Connect and the Re-Scan buttons. Before we can do anything we have to connect tgFX to the UI. From the drop down menu you will need to select your TinyG serial port. If you have more than one port show up you can take note of what ports are there, then remove the usb cable and Re-Scan the serial ports. Once you do this you should notice that one port dissapeared. This is your TinyG serial port. Go ahead and plug the usb cable back in and try the Re-Scan button again. The new port that shows back up in the Serial Ports: drop down menu is your TinyG.

Once you have selected the correct serial port you can click the connect button. This will attempt to connect tgFX to your TinyG. The first thing that occurs when connecting tgFX to TinyG is a firmware version check. This check will check to see that you are running a compatible version of firmware on your TinyG that works with the current version of tgFX. If you are in-fact not running an up to date version of TinyG then tgFX will present to you instructions on how to upgrade your TinyG firmware.

#Sending Gcode Files This is a rough draft and will be updated! To send files to TinyG from tgFX you will need to make sure you are connected to your TinyG in tgFX. You then will click on the load button which resides in the Gcode tab of tgFX. This will present you with a typical file chooser window in which you are to select the gcode file you wish to send to tgFX.

After you select this file, tgFX will process your gcode file and attempt to locate bad characters. Bad characters are characters that are used in TinyG for specific functions. For Example: The ! character is used to pause the current operation that TinyG is executing. So if your gcode file contains a ! character then once it reached this character your TinyG would pause (cycle stop) and be stuck waiting for the resume (cycle start) character ~ before it would continue on the operation. So to avoid this tgFX will check your gcode files that you load for these bad characters.

Once your file has been loaded and does not contain any bad characters then tgFX is ready to send your file to TinyG. Before you go ahead and click the run button, you should consider your machine's physical position. Is your machine in the correct area to start cutting? While for most people this may be obvious, you should always check to see if your CNC machine is in proper position for your gcode file you will be sending. You are now free to push the Run button to kick off the job.

**BEWARE: TinyG nor tgFX contain a EMERGENCY STOP function. There are stop operations but in no way are they the same as an EMERGENCY STOP. ** With that in mind it is prudent to be able to kill power to your CNC motors quickly. The only true form of an EMERGENCY STOP is a hardware solution, where you are able to kill power to your source voltage instantly!

##Jogging & Machine Positioning

tgFX supports precise jogging as well as quick jogging. Precise Jogging and Quick Jogging are preformed while your mouse focused (read that as having been clicked on) the 2d preview window (your machine workspace, inside the yellow box) and by pressing the keyboard arrow keys as well as the - and = keys.

###Precise Jogging The X axis is jogged by using the left arrow and right arrow keyboard keys. The Y axis is jogged by using the up arrow and down arrow keys. The Z axis is jogged by using the - and = keys. To note the - key will move in the Z axis negative direction and the = key will move in the Z axis positive direction.

###Quick Jogging Quick jogging is used to traveller your tool head to your desired position at the max travel velocity for that axis. In TinyG this this is the $xvm setting. (or yvm, zvm etc.) In order to preform a quick jog you do the exact same steps as mentioned in the precise jogging instructions with the additional modifier of holding down the SHIFT key. For example if you wanted to jog the X axis in the positive direction with a Quick Jog you would hold down the SHIFT key (while you mouse is focused on the 2d preview window) and click the Right Arrow button. The tool head will continue in the X positive direction until the Right Arrow key has been released.

This wiki page is not complete and will be completed shortly.