Hi
I hope this is the appropriate forum for this question, if not please move.
I have some American made CNC router machines (I'd prefer not to mention the brand online) and have had a number of occasions where I have had a machine down and needed to re-flash the files on the CF card. Several years ago the manufacturer was willing to do this online through a screen share session and all I had to do was pull the card from the machine, plug it into a card reader on my computer and they could do it. Lately they have changed their policy and will not do it this way anymore apparently because they have to load their proprietary file transfer software onto your computer in order to do it. So now you have to order a new card from them pre-loaded and ship it. Last time I had to do it they didn't even have the cards in stock, the first one they sent didn't work for some reason and by the time I got the replacement (which they made me pay for overnight shipping for both despite being defective)my machine was down for over a week.
So the question is, since I have a copy of these files backed up on my computer, why can't I just do it my self? I'm no computer genius but they just appear to be files in a folder on the card. Why do you need special software to load them and if so what kind? I know the card itself is just a standard industrial CF memory card I can get anywhere.
I'd be happy to deal with the manufacturer if they were just more responsive. The other problem is there have been several times when they have trouble shot a problem, said it was the card and I order a replacement and it doesn't fix the problem. Money and time out the window because somebody takes a guess at it and I lose two days of trouble shooting time waiting. I'd like to control my destiny and income a little more...
Any advice or references to other info would be appreciated.
Thanks a lot in advance.
Jonathan
I hope this is the appropriate forum for this question, if not please move.
I have some American made CNC router machines (I'd prefer not to mention the brand online) and have had a number of occasions where I have had a machine down and needed to re-flash the files on the CF card. Several years ago the manufacturer was willing to do this online through a screen share session and all I had to do was pull the card from the machine, plug it into a card reader on my computer and they could do it. Lately they have changed their policy and will not do it this way anymore apparently because they have to load their proprietary file transfer software onto your computer in order to do it. So now you have to order a new card from them pre-loaded and ship it. Last time I had to do it they didn't even have the cards in stock, the first one they sent didn't work for some reason and by the time I got the replacement (which they made me pay for overnight shipping for both despite being defective)my machine was down for over a week.
So the question is, since I have a copy of these files backed up on my computer, why can't I just do it my self? I'm no computer genius but they just appear to be files in a folder on the card. Why do you need special software to load them and if so what kind? I know the card itself is just a standard industrial CF memory card I can get anywhere.
I'd be happy to deal with the manufacturer if they were just more responsive. The other problem is there have been several times when they have trouble shot a problem, said it was the card and I order a replacement and it doesn't fix the problem. Money and time out the window because somebody takes a guess at it and I lose two days of trouble shooting time waiting. I'd like to control my destiny and income a little more...
Any advice or references to other info would be appreciated.
Thanks a lot in advance.
Jonathan